Brogans — what are they?

Brogan is kind of a funny word. I never heard the term until I enlisted
in the Air Force.  When we were being issued our clothing, the pile included two sets of brogans. Trivia note: The dress shoes worn with our blue formal uniform were called low quarters.  The military used funny words.

For the uninitiated, a brogan is a thick, heavy shoe that usually covers
the ankle.  In Iowa, we called this a boot.  Go figure.

In basic training, we were required to alternate between the two pairs
every day. On Sunday, wear pair one, Monday switch to pair two, and so on.

The good news is that the boots had a day to dry out or air out between
uses.  The bad news for us was that we had two pair of shoes to polish.

How do you tell the pairs of black leather apart? The clever minds in the
military solved that by having us cut notch in the heels of one pair.

Signs, signs–everywhere signs

Loveland has lots of good places to walk. I mostly walk a couple of different routine in my neighborhood. A couple of days ago, when I was out for my morning stroll, I came upon a parked truck with a sign on the back that said (in very large letters), YOU NEED PIE! Even at 9-something in the morning, that it difficult to argue with. The truck was from a bakery shop in Estes Park. I didn’t try to raise the sliding door on the back to see if there were any pies inside. I took a picture of it with my camera phone, and I was just going to post it on Facebook.

Then I got thinking about the slogan, and its marketing value. It does get your attention. In another blog I write on fun with words, I posted one some time ago about another truck. Ironically, this was a bakery truck too. It was for the Aspen Bakerry (located in Denver) and it said WHERE YOUR ASPEN? See my prior post on Where’s Your Aspen. Unfortunately, traveling at 75 (or more) m.p.h., I did not get a picture of it. Why do I bring this up? Well, all the pie truck said was YOU NEED PIE. If I was following it down the road, I would have no idea where the business was, or how I could purchase a pie from them. It would have been nice to have the name of the company or a website listed on the back too. Since I was walking, I was able to discern the location of the business. But for a few more drops of paint, more people would have known. They may not be able to drive beside, or walk by the truck as I did.

Cravat or ascot — all tied up

deCravat vs. Ascot

Why is this on my mind?   I’m really not sure.  Maybe it is the hot weather that gets me thinking how thankful I am that I don’t have to wear a necktie to work.

This was not the case a few years ago.  When I was on the faculty at College America in Fort Collins, I had to wear a necktie all four days of the week that I taught.  Some days this was from 8 in the morning until after 10 at night.

Boy, am I glad the “uniform of the day” for me now is shorts and a polo shirt.

Anyway, back to the difference between a cravat and an ascot.

A cravat can best be described as a band or scarf work around the neck.  (So far, this also sounds like an ascot, tie, Apache tie and boa.)

The cravat is usually a wide, straight piece of material. It is commonly work loosely tied with the neck of the shirt of the wearer being open or not fully buttoned.

It is tied in a slip knot. The ends hang vertically, and overlap.

Ascots on the other hand (or neck) are defined as a necktie or scarf. It is tied, and the ends hang flatly, one across the other.   Many times, a decorative pin is used to secure the ascot.

Like its cousin the cravat, it is worn with an open neck shirt, but used for more formal occasions.  I have seen ascots word with tuxedos at weddings too.

The ascot gets its name from the Royal Ascot Racetrack in England.

line

line

Dread — or fear

Dread?   Have you ever said you dread doing
something?  Chances are you may or may not be using the word correctly.

Note that dread is different that phobias.  I did a blog post on phobias  a couple of days ago.

Dread is defined as terror or apprehension about something in the future.

It is a great fear or apprehension

Dread is somewhat different from fear. Fear seems to be a natural reaction or instinct. On the other hand, dread is more of a self-projected fear. It in, one imagines the effects and potential possibilities of the situation.

What do you dread (or fear?)

line

line

Fear this!

Phobias or fears were the topic of a recent blog post I did.  Actually, this blog entry was on odd, weird, offbeat or unbelievable  phobias.

In that post  in www.wordsbybob.com  I did not define phobia.   A phone is usually an exaggerated and usually inexplicable/illogical fear of an object, class of  objects or situation.

Here  are some to add to the list of real but unbelievable fears:

Linonophobia is the fear of string.   (I didn’t find a name for the fear of red tape

Pogonophobia  is the fear of beards.  Did Pogo have a  beard?

Pentheraphobia is the fear of your  mother-in-law.  Feel free to insert your
own joke or comment here.

Nephophobia   is the fear of clouds.  It is probably  more prevalent in the Northwest United States.

Lutraphobia  means the fear of otters.

The  fear of long words is either sesquipedaliophobia
or hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia  depending on which source you believe.   Ironic, huh?

Allodoxaphobia  is the fear of opinions. I definitely know people who DO NOT suffer from this.

Genuphobia
relates to the fear of knees.  It did not say whether it’s your knees or someone else’s.

What do you fear?

line

line