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To: MtnClimber; EQAndyBuzz; rdcbn1; mewzilla; unread; Billie Bud; Da Coyote; stanne; Pontiac; ...
That was an excellent article, thanks for posting it.

The most recent example of her "word salad" was her use of the word "holistic", and in hearing her do it, I realized it was one of the most egregious examples of her "dumbness" (as the author of this piece would have termed it) that really sticks out for me.

Now, in my whole life, I have never looked up the definition of the word "holistic". But I apparently inferred the definition (accurately, from just verifying it after I read this article) though it is a word I rarely use.

But I am a firm believer in the meaning of words, and sometimes when I am writing, it seems to me only a certain word will really fit. Many words can generally share the same meaning, but often, there is a particular word, used in a specific context, and I find myself at my age pausing, thinking, knowing that word is out there, pausing, squinting, trying to recall what it is.

But I am doing it not to impress someone, I am doing it because it is the right word for that context.

When I was 14, my dad got orders to a new duty station, and I made a friend pretty quickly who was a year younger than me. His father was a civilian on a military base, a severely henpecked man in his late fifties, I think, and his mother was an extremely obese, unattractive woman with a very, very unpleasant, bossy disposition. His father, having the stringy, sparse gray beard that seems somewhat reminiscent of an older Amish man, spent almost no time at home. Any spare time he had was spent operating a backhoe in the nether regions of the base aimlessly digging trenches that appeared to have no purpose.

Anyway, I was over at his house one day, and his mother was admonishing him about something, and he took exception with it and said "Mom! Don't be a dildo!"

I didn't know what a "dildo" was, and it was pretty obvious he didn't know either. (I am pretty sure he heard some other kid use it, and understood it was a derogatory term without knowing just exactly what it was)

But she knew what that word meant, and in the blink of an eye, hauled off and delivered a heavy, stinging backhand to my new friend's face while I looked on in stunned perplexity!

Point is, while "holistic" is not a bad word, she used it repeatedly the same way my 13 year old friend had used the word "dildo", likely having no idea what it meant, but grasping the context just barely enough to use it to try to impress any listeners (in that case, his new friend-me!)

Her repeated, inane use of that word "holistic" did impress many listeners, but not in the way she intended it.

I hope on November 5th, she gets a roundhouse backhand from the voters for using it.

22 posted on 10/02/2024 5:24:01 AM PDT by rlmorel ("A people that elect corrupt politicians are not victims...but accomplices." George Orwell)
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To: rlmorel

Interesting anecdote. For me, it was calling my brother a “douche-bag” in front of my mother. That didn’t go so well. But the recently-learned word sounded like the ultimate insult, so I had to use it.


33 posted on 10/02/2024 6:33:42 AM PDT by NonValueAdded (What is the cost of lies?)
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