akimbo – adjective or adverb: having the hand on the hip and the elbow turned outward
I heard this word, maybe for the first time, while listenining to the radio on the way to work last week. It’s a strange word to me. While many people may interpret the posture with arms akimbo as an agressive or belligerent one, I can’t help but recall the image from the movie, Forrest Gump, of Forrest looking out over a field with the sunlight glinting off of the water from irrigation sprinklers.
nonchalant – adjective: having an air of easy unconcern or indifference.
I loved this word.
That is until one of my son’s teachers used it to describe him: “He has a very nonchalant approach.” My boy is 12 years old, and school work is not the thing he loves to do, but no parent wants their child to be nonchalant about school.
Now here’s the rub: I am generally nonchalant about the things that happen around me or to me. So my response to the teacher’s assessment of my son was one of, well, nonchalance.
I guess you cannot be something you are not. I cannot be nonchalant, so how can I demand that he not be nonchalant?
Oh, well. It will just work out.
The diet plan, based on research published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, is to stop thinking. That’s it. Stop doing mentally challenging things. Apparently, if you do things that require higher brain function, your insulin and glucose levels get out of whack and you have cravings for food, specifically food with high levels of simple sugars.
So, as a strategy to not sabotage your healthy eating habits, stop thinking! The world might benefit if if everyone were to take this approach.
the act of throwing a thing or esp. a person out of a window
I saw this word used in a political commentary in the British newspaper, The Guardian, in the context of comparing the American political process to that of Britain.
I like this word. I would imagine that the literal use of the word has limited application in a civilized society, but in a figurative sense, I think this is the perfect word as a theme for the 2008 presidential election. The constant disassociation the candidates are engaging in so that they can be seen as agents of change has resulted in defenestration becoming the unofficial sport of the political campaigns. Obama alone, has defenstrated the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, his mother, Jim Johnson, and William Ayers to mname a few. McCain has defenestrated Phil Gramm, President Bush, and may be ready to throw Carly Fiorina out the window.
After logging in this morning, I saw something which I thought I would never see: a celebrity with integrity.
Many celebrities speak often of their support for green issues. But because many generate their living by entertaining live audiences, they are forced to travel with large entourages of people and equipment. Thus, the rhetoric of green living appears hypocritical.
Bette Midler has seen the light of this hypocrisy, and in her quest to live by her convictions, she may be doing the world a greater favor than she believes. Bette Midler will no longer have a travelling show, but instead will perform in Las Vegas as a regular show. As a voice for everyone outside of Las Vegas, let me offer a resounding “Thank you!” Not only are you reducing your carbon pollution, but now you also do us the honor of reducing your noise pollution.
