Sit on it — couch, davenport, divan, etc.

Flickr mbaylor

So, there we were last weekend slogging through furniture stores.  As my mind glazed over, I thought about the different words for seating.  (I also was watching for lions, tigers, monkeys, etc. at that one furniture store.  None spotted, not even a leopard.)

A couch is armless like the “fainting couches” used in Victorian times and by some of us when we look at our investment statement these days.   Those who know French say it comes from a word derivation that means to lie down.

Over time, arms have been added, and in some cases, the legs removed to evolve into what we now call a sofa.  The term sofa seems to come from an Arabic word that means a bench or something else to sit or recline on but not for laying.  Typically, they have a back too, the furniture not the Arabs.

Oxymorons–a few of my favorite

Flicrk Wordridden

Oxymoron?  Do you know what or who this is?  Will it’s not an imbecile from a place called Oxy.  Actually, it means contradictory terms that are combined.   Old standbys include jumbo shrimp, airline food (remember that?), military intelligence and postal service.  

A couple that may hit close to you are home office and working vacation. Interesting concepts that are becoming more popular.  Some who don’t work at a home office may be in an industrial park.  

How many times has someone asked you for an exact estimate or a detailed summary?  What a challenge. 

I think it is funny when they call the dump (post on euphemisms to appear soon) a sanitary landfill.  The ones I have seen don’t look all that sanitary.  

An oxymoron that has always puzzled me is the phrase legally drunk.  I guess this is as opposed to illegally drunk.  Try that argument on the police officer next time you are stopped. 

I am not a golfer, but the term metal wood seems odd.  So do some of the clothes golfers wear, but they are not oxymorons. 

Lastly, many senators and representatives in our government make lots of political promises. I’ll let you decide if these promises are classified as an oxymoron.

 I know there are tons more, so act naturally and send me an original copy of your favorites.

 (A reply to this blog will also work)

Bobby pins, Fort Collins and recession

flickr nimbus

Bobby pins, part two.  Thanks to catfc a blogger in Fort Collins for offering more information on the “bob” hairstyle and bobby pins.  If you don’t read her blog called lostfortcollins, you should. 

She pointed out a song by Blind Alfred Read.  Reed was very religious, and could be thought of as an early “protest” singer.

He wrote. “Why Do You Bob Your Hair Girls?” that raged against women’s hairstyle fashion of the 1920s.   Here is part of the lyrics from Why do you bob your hair, girls?
You’re doing mighty wrong;
God gave it for a glory
                                               And you should wear it long .
                                              You spoil your lovely hair, girls,
                                              You keep yourself in style;
                                              Before you bob your hair, girls,
                                             Just stop and think a while.

I found another song he wrote in 1929 when the stock market was crashing.  Check this out:

How Can I Poor Man Survive Such Times and Live? Lyrics: 

There once was a time when everything was cheap,
But now prices nearly puts a man to sleep.
When we pay our grocery bill,
We just feel like making our will.

What goes around, comes around?

Sanction — good or bad?

 Sanction, as a verb is one of those interesting and quirky English words. If you slept through high school English class (and who didn’t?), a verb is an “action” word. Like sleep for example.

This elusive word has two meanings, and they are opposites. The label for them is auto antonyms which has Greek roots meaning a word is opposite of itself. I hesitate to have the word auto antonym in the heading. I did this with my retronym blog post, and got next to no hits on that post. Nevertheless, I forge onward.

Guest post Thanks to Brian Fromme

Thanks to Brian Fromme of Cyborgsavvant for letting me be a guest blogger.  I talked about self-promotion and blogs/web sites.

(Thanks to writer/author Diane Fromme, too)