Clipmarks | Aribeth's 'words' clips

Must read Essay by Tony Judt, historian.

Mon, 05 May 2008 06:30:33 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: When you've time if you are interested in history. There's no way in 1,000 words that I can do justice to this essay.

Clip Source: www.nybooks.com

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What Have We Learned, If Anything?

By Tony Judt

In the US, at least, we have forgotten the meaning of war

In much of continental Europe, Asia, and Africa the twentieth century was experienced as a cycle of wars

War in the last century signified invasion, occupation, displacement, deprivation, destruction, and mass murder. Countries that lost wars often lost population, territory, resources, security, and independence

those countries that emerged formally victorious had comparable experiences and usually remembered war much as the losers did

war in the twentieth century frequently meant civil war: often under the cover of occupation or "liberation."

Civil war played a significant role in the widespread "ethnic cleansing"

World War I led to an unprecedented militarization of society, the worship of violence, and a cult of death that long outlasted the war itself and prepared the ground for the political disasters that followed

Dissent or opposition was stifled by universal fear

dysfunctiona

Tags: history, false, memory, usa

Pain as an art form

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:51:32 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth
clipper's remarks: Mr. Collen wrote to pain doctors around the world to solicit examples of art from pain patients. Working with San Francisco college student James Gregory, 21, who suffers from chronic pain as the result of a car accident, the two created the Pain Exhibit, an online gallery of art from pain sufferers. The images are evocative and troubling.“Some of them are painful even to look at,'’ Dr. Basbaum said.

Finding ways to communicate pain is essential to patients who are suffering, many of whom don’t receive adequate treatment from doctors.Mr. Collen said the main goal of the exhibit is to raise awareness about the problem of chronic pain.“People don’t believe what they can’t see,'’ Mr. Collen said. “But they see a piece of art an individual created about their pain and everything changes.'’

Clip Source: well.blogs.nytimes.com

Pain as an Art Form

Pain doesn’t show up on a body scan and can’t be measured in a test. As a result, many chronic pain sufferers turn to art, opting to paint, draw or sculpt images in an effort to depict their pain.

“It’s often much more difficult to put pain into words, which is one of the big problems with pain,'’ said Allan I. Basbaum

“The Broken Column,” by Frida Kahlo

“It was only when I started doing art about pain, and physicians saw the art, that they understood what I was going through,” Mr. Collen

who suffers from chronic back pain

said.

“Words are limiting, but art elicits an emotional response.'’

Some of the images from the Pain Exhibit, like “Broken People” by Robert S. Beal of Tulsa, Okla., depict the physical side of pain. Others, such as “Against the Barrier to Life,” convey the emotional challenges of chronic pain.

Clip Source: www.painexhibit.com

Broken People

Clip Source: www.painexhibit.com

Against The Barrier To Life

Artist Statement

I feel I am constantly fighting against a tidal wave of pain in order to achieve some quality of life.

The Meaningless of Meaning

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:43:21 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: <<<To Nabokov, skimming the Present without sinking into the Past is a miracle that befits only the most experienced: "Otherwise the inexperienced miracle-worker will find himself no longer walking on water but descending upright among staring fish" (if I may add) under the weight of past associations.>>>

Thus do we think we have thought and felt and experience the One, the Abyss, the Edge, the Love.... yet the graceful lightness of being is elusive and we are weighed down always, especially 'Now' (oh, its 'Power'!) by the depreciating luggage of our conceptual memories and ossified identities.

Clip Source: blogs.psychologytoday.com

Meaning is a process of filling in the blanks of the mind… with words… that trigger other words… that trigger more words… As we grow and acquire language, we, in essence, acquire a baggage of associations that weighs us down as we try to skate the thin ice of presence.

Nabokov, in Transparent Things, writes: “When we concentrate on a material object <…> the very act of attention may lead to our involuntary sinking into the history of that object. Novices must learn to skim over matter if they want to stay at the exact level of the moment.”

“A thin veneer of immediate reality is spread over natural and artificial matter, and whoever wishes to remain in the now, with the now, on the now, should please not break its tension film.”

Meaning is an artifact of the Past, not the actual fact of the Present.

instead of seeing reality as it is, we see a “so-called” reality

Language constructs perception: first, the word, then, the perceived reality.

Tags: nabokov

The 7 habits of highly effective propagandists

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:17:03 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth
clipper's remarks: citing a qualified source is a good way to emphasize a legitimate idea. But you should consider whether or not the source being cited is really qualified to make judgments about a particular issue.

5. PLAIN FOLKS

The “Plain Folks” technique is at work whenever a speaker promotes the idea that he or she is “of the people,” just an Average Joe despite the fact that he or she may go home to a mansion at the end of the day.

6. CARD STACKING

“Stacking the deck” is a gimmick used by magicians where a deck of cards appears to be randomly shuffled but is in fact arranged in a specific way. The IPA borrowed the term to describe a technique where only one side of a topic is favored, or another side is ignored or played down.

7. BANDWAGON

The idea behind the Bandwagon technique is that, since everyone else is doing it, so too should you.

Clip Source: www.ironicsans.com

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Propagandists

1. GLITTERING GENERALITIES

The IPA used this term to describe virtuous words that mean different things to different people, but are used in such a general way that you can project your own meaning into the speaker’s words. So when people talk about freedom, strength, Democracy, or patriotism, you are likely to assume they think of those words the same way you do.

2. NAME CALLING

“Name calling” is a technique where someone uses words to link a person or proposal to a negative or emotionally charged symbol. The idea is to get you to reject the person due to the association with the symbol rather than actual evidence, which may or may not be there.

3. TRANSFER

There are institutions and objects that you have positive associations with, so politicians try to appear with symbols of those institutions in the hopes that you will transfer your positive associations onto them.

flags

cross

4. TESTIMONIAL

The IPA pointed out that sometimes

Tags: propaganda, politics, critical thinking

intellectual

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:57:32 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: More is better, when it comes to wealth and intelligence.

Better is better, when it comes to looks and intellect.

It's always OK to be intelligent.

Being an intellectual is another matter.

Clip Source: www.niquette.com

intellectual n. One who exercises intellect, the doctrine that knowledge is the product of pure reason; rationalism rather than emotionalism.

An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows.

-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Not me, Ike. I don't take more words than necessary to tell more than I know. Here's what I know:

One might speak of an intelligent dog but never an intellectual one.

Intelligence implies the ability to cope with novel situations and new problems, to apply what is learned from experience, and to use the power of reasoning and inference effectively as a guide to behavior.

Intellect extends beyond learning and reasoning to a capacity for reflection and understanding. Intellectuals enjoy the ability to think abstractly.

Intelligence acquires facts then manipulates knowledge.

Intellect observes relationships then contemplates ideas.

A curious candlepower -- from dim to bright to brilliant -- calibrates intelligence.

Not so with intellect.

The Origin of the Crossword Puzzle

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:24:14 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth
clipper's remarks: Crossword Casualties

Some folks were driven over the edge by the craze. In 1924, a Chicago woman sued her husband for divorce, claiming "he was so engrossed in solving crosswords that he didn’t have time to work." The judge ordered the man to "limit himself to 3 puzzles a day and devote the rest of his time to domestic duties." In 1925, a New York Telephone Co. employee shot his wife when she wouldn’t help with a crossword puzzle. And in 1926, a Budapest man committed suicide, leaving an explanation in the form of a crossword puzzle. (No one could solve it.) Eventually, the craze died down. It took The New York Times to revive it.

Today, The New York Times crossword puzzle is considered the puzzle of choice for hardcore addicts, but that hasn’t always been true. Believe it or not, the Times resisted crosswords for more than two decades.Here’s the story of how the newspaper changed its mind...<<

Clip Source: www.neatorama.com

Arthur Wynne was a writer for the game page of the New York World at the turn of the 19th century. One winter afternoon in 1913, while trying to think up new types of games for the newspaper’s special Christmas edition, he came up with a way to adapt the "word squares" his grandfather had taught him when he was a boy.

But in the new puzzle Wynne came up with, the "across" words were different from the "down" words.

Wynne’s puzzle, which he called a "Word-Cross," debuted on Sunday December 21 as planned. And it was well-received.

Four weeks after the puzzle first appeared, typesetters at the newspaper inadvertently transposed the words in the title to read "Cross-Word."

the name stuck

M. Lincoln Schuster (R) and Ricahrd L. Simon (L)

made a deal with the paper’s crossword puzzle editors

They would pick the newspaper’s best crossword puzzles and

publish them in a book. The pair then used all their money to print The Cross Word Puzzle Book.

literally an overnight success

nine most terrifying words in the English language

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:52:06 GMT

clipped by: swampfoxz
clipper's remarks: Greener grass.....

Clip Source: aslowerpace.com

Greener grass.....

It's important in life to reach out, to strive for greater achievements, to go for that greener grass that is on the other side of the fence.....

But one must also be careful……

Sometimes you can reach too far!

But when you find yourself overextended and you’re stuck in a situation that you can’t get out of, there is one thing that you should always remember.....

Not everyone who shows up is there to help you.

It kind of reminds me of Ronald Reagan's quote --

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' "

Tags: greener grass.....

Diminished by Words

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:33:06 GMT

clipped by: Sheroug

Clip Source: alenaswebpage.blogspot.com

"The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them - words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revalations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller, but for want of an understanding ear."

- Stephen King

Tags: quote, stephen king

Masters of Chiasmus

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:21:26 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth

Clip Source: www.drmardy.com

The Oxford English Dictionary

defines chiasmus as

"A grammatical figure by which the order of words in one of two of parallel clauses is inverted in the other."

Clip Source: www.drmardy.com

Winston Churchill
(1874-1965)

"Now this is not the end.
It is not even the beginning of the end.
But it is, perhaps,
the end of the beginning."

Clip Source: www.drmardy.com

John F. Kennedy
(1917-1963)

"Let us never negotiate out of fear;
but let us never fear to negotiate."

Clip Source: www.drmardy.com

Oscar Wilde
(1854-1900)

"I wrote when I did not know life;
now that I do know the meaning of life,
I have no more to write.
Life cannot be written; life can only be lived."

Clip Source: www.drmardy.com

George Bernard Shaw
(1856-1950)

"Standing between you the Englishman,
so clever in your foolishness,
and this Irishman, so foolish in his cleverness,
I cannot in my ignorance be sure
which of you is the more deeply damned."

Clip Source: www.drmardy.com

William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)

"The shepard seeks the sheep,
and not the sheep the shepard;
but I seek my master,
and my master seeks not me;
therefore I am no sheep."

Tags: words, language, history, literature, writers

You only get one chance to make a last impression

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:26:42 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth
clipper's remarks: "In your face,Death..."

Clip Source: www.mentalfloss.com

Famous Last Words: the Animated Musical

It’s just like the Grim Reaper says: you only get one chance to make a last impression, so you’d better start planning your parting words now!

In this darkly comic, toe-tappin’ cautionary tale — mental_floss’ first-ever bona-fide cinematical production — Death himself highlights some of history’s strangest, funniest and most unintentionally ironic last words … Broadway-style!

[Video]

Tags: famous last words, funny, video

Words about Words

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:24:06 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth
clipper's remarks: To communicate about their work, copy editors use a number of terms that most people forgot after their last course in English composition (or maybe never knew at all). In addition to knowing how to make a poor sentence better, a copy editor has to be able to defend his or her decisions to writers, editors, and fellow copy editors. That means being able to talk the talk. This list also provides a good indication of the errors that copy editors commonly catch and correct.<<

More at the source.

Clip Source: www.well.com

Words About Words

antecedent

A word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers, usually (but not always) one that precedes the pronoun.

appositive

A noun or noun phrase set off by commas that follows a noun to which it is equivalent.

clause

A string of words containing a noun (subject) and a finite verb. It may be:

A complete sentence (e.g. Hanna went home. Paul laughs.); or
Part of a longer sentence (e.g. Joe sings and Lisa plays guitar. [2 clauses])

dangler

Also called a dangling participle; a phrase, usually at the beginning of a sentence, that is grammatically attached to the subject of the sentence but in fact refers to something other than that subject.

direct object

hyperbole

An immense exaggeration, usually intentional.

indirect object

metaphor

Figurative use of a word or phrase in place of another; a comparison without the use of as or like (compare with simile).

mixed metaphor

A combination of two metaphors that do not match up or that present contradictory images.

oxymoron

simile

Tags: words, language, english, writing

For The Love Of Words...

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:25:49 GMT

clipped by: carrerinyes

Clip Source: www.writinghood.com

For the Love of Words: Seven Wonderful Websites Where Words Matter

Words are beautiful, and these seven wonderful word websites illustrate the reason why they are.

For passionate writers around the world, choosing the right words to communicate are more than just clever wordplay, it's an obsession. Wordsmiths who routinely exercise their extraordinary vocabulary are continually positioned to learn new words, thus making them outstanding communicators.

Word Spy

Devoted to lexpionage, “The sleuthing of new words and phrases”.

Write Express

Confusing Words

The English language is one of the most difficult languages to learn in the world and here at Confusing Words the reason why is apparent. Confusing Words is a collection of 3210 words that sound alike, but are spelled and used differently. A great website for both readers and writers to learn the difference and stop being a confused word victim.

Virtual Salt

100 Words

101 Words

Wordie

Commonly overused words

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:47:33 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth
clipper's remarks: "When you write, use the most precise word for your meaning, not the word that comes to mind first. Consult this thesaurus to find alternatives for some commonly overused words. Consult a full-length thesaurus to find alternatives to words that do not appear here. Keep in mind that the choices offered in a thesaurus do not all mean exactly the same thing. Review all the options, and choose the one that best expresses your meaning."

Clip Source: www.phschool.com

about approximately, nearly, almost, approaching, close to

absolutely unconditionally, perfectly, completely, ideally, purely

amazing overwhelming, astonishing, startling, unexpected, stunning, dazzling, remarkable

awesome impressive, stupendous, fabulous, astonishing, outstanding

better preferable, superior, worthier

certain unquestionable, incontrovertible, unmistakable, indubitable, assured, confident

easy effortless, natural, comfortable, undemanding, pleasant, relaxed

far distant, remote

funny comical, ludicrous, amusing, droll, entertaining, bizarre, unusual, uncommon

get obtain, receive, acquire, procure, achieve

go proceed, progress, advance, move

good satisfactory, serviceable, functional, competent, virtuous, striking

great tremendous, superior, remarkable, eminent, proficient, expert

hurt injure, harm, damage, wound, impair

important significant, substantial, weighty, meaningful, critical, vital, notable

keep retain, control, possess

main primary, foremost, dominant

seven quotes

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:18:28 GMT

clipped by: rogerlinda76

Clip Source: garypresley.blogspot.com

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion and desire," said Aristotle.
"Marriage is three parts love and seven parts forgiveness of sins," said Lao Tzu.
"Fall seven times and stand up eight," according to Japanese wisdom.
"We shall never understand one another until we reduce the language to seven words," said Khalil Gibran.
"I can't write five words but that I change seven," Dorothy Parker.
"You may poke a man's fire after you've known him for seven years," an English proverb.
"Naturally we would prefer seven epiphanies a day and an earth not so apparently devoid of angels," Jim Harrison.