AWADmail Issue 218
July 16, 2006
A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day
and Other Interesting Tidbits about Words and Languages
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From: Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org)
Subject: Interesting stories from the net
California Man Makes Bad Writing Judges Cringe:
http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2006/07/10/calif_man_makes_bad_writing_judges_cringe/
Mind Your Language, This is Malaysia:
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=12831155
The Language Police and the Quesadilla:
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/July06/Brasch10.htm
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From: Erfert Fenton (erfertfATaol.com)
Subject: Iridule
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/iris.html
Vladimir Nabokov coined the word "iridule", derived from "iris", in his
delightful Novel "Pale Fire". Here's a link to a book excerpt that mentions
Nabokov's predilection for using colors (including rainbows) in his
writings: http://www.gingkopress.com/_cata/_arph/alpco-for.htm
I don't think "iridule" ever made its way to the dictionary, but it's a
lovely word nonetheless.
Nabokov (and his wife) had synesthesia, so they probably would have
appreciated the name "eyemusic" in the guest wordsmith's email address.
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From: Steve Herald (steve.heraldATheartland.edu)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--vitreous
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/vitreous.html
Many readers of today's message will recall John Ruskin's description of
London's Crystal Palace, constructed for the Great Exhibition at Hyde Park
in 1851. Ruskin termed the structure a "ferro vitreous bubble". With more
than a million feet of glass, the building, designed by engineer Joseph
Paxton in only ten days, certainly lived up to Ruskin's description.
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From: Kathryn Kaser (kkasercoATbossig.com)
Subject: vitrification
At the Hanford Nuclear Site they perform "vitrification", which is the
glassification of radioactive materials by encasing it in silica, then
heating it to a very high temperature to turn it all into glass. They are
in the process of building the "vit plant" now.
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From: Sue McLaren (twenty4pawsATecoisp.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--cataract
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/cataract.html
I was delighted to read your description of the visual effects of cataracts.
This year, I've had cataracts OD & OS removed, with -13D implants OU.
I am absolutely staggered by the improvements in acuity and especially in
color acuity. While I may be in the honeymoon phase, I hope I never lose the
sense of awe that I can now see better than ever before in my 65 years. The
only comparable experience was when I got my first pair of corrective
lenses, and could see individual leaves on trees.
Your reference to Monet's colors is especially poignant. I've visited three
art museums/exhibits since the surgery.
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From: Anup C. Goyal (acgoyalATatt.com)
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cataract
The word cataract is so appropriate for me. My daughter Anamika who is in
11th grade is trying to raise money to support 200 cataract operations in
India. She is doing this hemp/Shell Jewelry sale and a few other things. All
the money raised from the sale will be used to fund eye care for the needy
people through FOCUS Foundation. Anamika's goal is to raise enough money to
screen 1000+ patients and select 200 patients who urgently need cataract
surgery.
You can help her in many ways -
o Buy one of her jewelry pieces (each item is $5)
o Sponsor x numbers of cataract surgeries - total cost is $15/surgery.
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From: Art Haykin (theartATwebtv.net)
Subject: Cataracts
I had cataract surgery 16 years ago, and at 77, my vision is perfect and
unchanging with my lens implants. But for me a "cataract" will always be
the one at Lodore that Robert Southey immortalized in his stunning poem
"The Cataract of Lodore". Here, he yields to pleading of children to recite
the description:
"For their recreation
That so I should sing;
For I was laureate
To them and the king."
(He was appointed Poet Laureate of England in 1813).
The poem is a glory hole of magical description where Southey uses around
150 adjectives to describe how the water comes down at Lodore. Read it and
become a child again: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/652.html
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From: Jarrett Gonzales (shmoovioATgmail.com)
Subject: Cataract
My favorite use of cataract is in Ambrose Bierce's masterful and darkly
hilarious short story, "My Favorite Murder" http://tinyurl.com/ljqs7 or
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=BieFavo.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1
In it, the protagonist discovers an opportunity beyond his twisted dreams,
and he says that it "caused my cup of joy, already full, to overflow on all
sides, a circular cataract of bliss." The first time I read that sentence,
which is one of my favorites, I nearly gasped from its perfection. Bierce,
whose vocabulary seems surpassed only by Shakespeare's and Woodrow Wilson's,
is an underappreciated writer, who is too little read beyond his witty,
sardonic Dictionary http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/
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From: Karthikeyan M. (mkarthikeyanATimpelsys.com)
Subject: eyes
While learning words associated with eye and vision, I wish to share
something about Govindappa Venkataswamy, a well-known ophthalmologist who
died recently.
Dr. Venkataswamy, a pioneer in mass eye care delivery, founded the Aravind
Eye Hospital which is famous in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu for its mass
free eye-camps, in 1976 at Madurai, where millions of poor people were
benefited with world-class eye care.
He was a legend in the ophthalmologist community and was always looking at
people's good health, especially their good vision. He wished to start at
least 100 hospitals across India. He was a bachelor, and was 'married' to
his vision mission. Even after he was ailing for some time a few weeks ago,
he was treating patients by roaming on a wheelchair around the hospital.
WHO Award for Health for All, Helen Keller International Award, India's
prestigious Padma Sri Award and Academy International Blindness Prevention
Award are a few of awards conferred on him.
............................................................................
A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a
living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the
circumstances and the time in which it is used. -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.,
jurist (1841-1935)
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