“Bad Hair Day” And Words About Hair

by Kevin Burton    Today’s list from Merriam-Webster, words about hair, got me thinking about the term, “bad hair day.”    Is bad hair day an idiom?    The dictionary says an idiom is, “an expression in the usage of a language that has a meaning that cannot be understood from the combined meanings of its …

What Makes You Think You’re So Smart?

by Dictionary Scoop    We all had that friend who seemed to ace every class without even trying. But as it turns out, intelligence isn’t always about grades or test scores. Sometimes, it shows up in the most unexpected ways. Neuroscientists have revealed several everyday behaviors and habits that often characterize highly intelligent people. Do you fit …

Rise Of The Road Dogs, A Perseverance Tale

by Kevin Burton    I was so sure it was going to happen, I had the headline written: “Bad Dogs! Cellar Dwelling Fantasy Team.”    That was two weeks ago. My K&J Road Dogs, in 9th place at 2-4, were playing the last place team, which was 1-5.  If The Dogs lost, the teams would …

Ten Hard-To-Explain English Language Quirks

by Kevin Burton    I went to college to become a journalist. But before I got there I was, briefly, an English teacher. And I had to defend some of the nonsense you will see below.    English got to be the dominant language of the world (the lingua franca for aviation, among other industries) …

Challenge And Opportunity On Sweetest Day

by Kevin Burton    Guys, Sweetest Day is Saturday. I am posting this on a Wednesday to give you time to react and prepare appropriately, as is my wont.    Let me break it down for you in a way you can understand:    According to social.com, 36 percent of sales in the $7.9 billion …

Now The Dictionary Is Speaking My Language

by Kevin Burton    At one of my newspaper stops I was introduced to readers as speaking “fluent Spanish” That wasn’t, and isn’t, quite true.    But I do speak some Spanish and it has done me some good over the years.    How much Spanish do I speak? I once described it as “enough …

This French Hubby Got Some ‘Splainin To Do

by Kevin Burton    Ok baby bubba, let’s hear you talk your way out of this one!    Under the headline “Mislaid Mrs.,” The Sun newspaper of London ran a painfully short story about a Frenchman who drove nearly 200 miles on a vacation trip before realizing he had left his lawfully-wedded wife at a …

A River Of Words, Words About Rivers

by Kevin Burton    Residents of one Alaska neighborhood in my newspaper’s coverage area sought to correct a flooding problem by putting rocks in a river.    Riprap, they called it, which is, as I would learn, “a foundation or sustaining wall of stones or chunks of concrete thrown together without order.”    From that …

Penny For Your Thoughts, Feline Daughters

by Kevin Burton    They have ways of expressing themselves, but my cats don’t speak any English or Spanish, so I don’t always know what they are thinking.    Do I really want to know what they are thinking?  Well, we can’t know, which is probably for the best.    But I did stumble upon …

Quibbles And Bits: Cats, Beatles, Fantasy

by Kevin Burton    Our younger cat Lakin is a great leaper, has a good set of lungs and is eager to communicate.    And she’s wild about exercise. I should be so wild about exercise.    You share your living space with two cats, you find out a few things.    Like on a …