Plant Idioms To Grow Your Vocabulary

by Dictionary Scoop    In honor of summer solstice tomorrow we have cherry-picked 10 expressions related to plants and flowers that will make you want to go outside and smell the roses! 1-Beat around the bush    Some people are direct and cut to the chase, and others take their time to say what they have to say. When …

“Killing Me Softly” Singer Roberta Flack Dies

by Kevin Burton    Roberta Flack had an ear for music as good as her legendary voice, and she knew she was on to something.    The vocalist-composer-arranger was on a cross-country flight when she first heard “Killing Me Softly With His Song” over headphones on the plane’s sound system. Flack would re-shape the song …

One Last Try, For the Love Of The Music

by Kevin Burton    It is very much like me that I saved a fortune cookie message which reads: “share your musical talents generously, for they are a gift to others.”    Saved it even though I know sayings in cookies from my favorite Chinese restaurant can be amusing, but they are not messages.    …

Braille Gives Literacy, Independence, Access

by Megan Dausch Helen Keller Services    The Louis Braille Museum in Coupvray, France, smelled like history—aged wood, old paper, and the faint mustiness of time. It was a small house, but it held the weight of a remarkable legacy.     I remember running my fingers over the dominoes Louis Braille played with as a …

Panning For Gold In The Discount Word Bin

by Kevin Burton    I missed it and didn’t get to participate, but Merriam-Webster had a notice on social media inviting readers to vote for their favorite underused words.    The dictionary published the results under the headline “12 Underrated Words That Deserve More Love.” I don’t agree with all the choices, but there was …

You And Me, Digging Credence, By The Bog

by Kevin Burton     The Page 7 blog publishes five days a week, usually, and almost every time I post it, I tease it (verb) on Facebook.    A tease (noun) is like a little commercial. Mine are two or three-sentence previews that I write to try to get people interested in reading it.     …

Dave Barry Saves Sanity of Kansas Man

by Kevin Burton    When there is a Dave Barry book on your front porch, you’re having a good day.    Every writerly thing in me, now wants to write, “nothing else matters.”  But we both know that isn’t entirely true. Nothing else?    Tell you what though Sugarbear, nothing else matters for the next …

Latin, Like Ancient Rome, Never Gets Old

by Merriam-Webster Dictionary    Over the centuries, certain Latin phrases have been used widely enough in English to get included in the dictionary. This list contains some of our favorites: In Vino Veritas Definition – “there is truth in wine”:    The classy thing to say when you’ve had too much to drink and have just …

Blind Author Shows Disabled As Real People

by Victoria Ivie San Gebriel Valley Tribune    Growing up blind, Fullerton-based author Melissa Whitney voraciously consumed representation of the blind community in media, hoping to connect with inclusive characters that reflect her and her disability.    “I always wanted a book where I could see myself as a main character,” Whitney said. “I can …

Friending Shakespeare And His Word Creations

by Kevin Burton    Today we continue a sampling of words and phrases coined by William Shakespeare compiled by the Dictionary Scoop website. Five words and phrases Sunday, five more today.    The first one on today’s list is a good description of me. The last one is a word I am sure you thought …