by Kevin Burton The television shows produced by Norman Lear were a cultural backbone for 1970s America. In this case, the backbone was connected to the funny bone. When I read that Lear died Tuesday at 101, my mind went immediately to that instrumental piano-driven song that played over the closing credits for …
Category Archives: writing
Last Of The Original Temptations Looks Back
by Nick Krewen Special to the Toronto Star Sixty-three years on, Otis Williams is still at the helm of one of the greatest Motown acts of all-time, the Temptations. Not only does the tenor and baritone vocalist continue to tour with the group into its seventh decade as its only original member, but …
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12 Words We Need In The English Language
by Kevin Burton What a glorious toybox is language. Words and their shadings and peculiarities have been one of the few constants I can count on in life. The little sticks-and-stones bromide which states “words will never hurt me” is false in its context. Words can hurt a lot when used improperly, especially …
Dictionary Highlights Man’s Best Friend
by Kevin Burton I have suspended my devotion to cats long enough this week to share some dictionary words from Merriam-Webster that pertain to dogs. Before we continue with their list, here is one the dictionary curiously left out – dog days. Dog days is “the period between early July and early …
New Beatles Song Is Neither Now Nor Then
by Kevin Burton Think of the individual Beatles’ colossal talents, with egos to match. Think of the group putting together an album. It’s John Lennon trying to get his songs on the record, Paul McCartney doing the same and George Harrison fighting to be heard at all. There is creativity, artistry, but …
More Middle Words From Merriam-Webster
by Kevin Burton Today we continue a look at words and phrases about the middle from the Merriam Webster dictionary. We start with two phrases about being forced into difficult decisions: Devil and the deep blue sea Many phrases that evoke in-between-ness also situate the speaker between two undesirable end points, like the …
Stuck In The Middle With Merriam-Webster
by Kevin Burton I hope you don’t find this a middling effort, but today we bring to you, words about the middle. This is a list from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, but it reminds me of the late, great Gerry Rafferty. While a member of Stealers Wheel, Rafferty wrote “Stuck In The Middle With …
How Long Is A Jiffy Exactly?
by Kevin Burton Last month on Page 7 we looked at words such as several and handful that defy exact definition. Here’s another: Jiffy. How long is a jiffy? Merriam-Webster says a jiffy is “a very short period of time: moment, instant.” The Cambridge dictionary lists synonyms “flash, heartbeat, instant, split second.” …
Words About Words From Merriam-Webster
by Kevin Burton The second offering from today’s word list from Merriam-Webster strikes me as something Bob Dylan might slip into a song to confuse the matter. The dictionary mentions that “epithet” has a meaning without negative connotations. I say that meaning has been completely swallowed up and that using it in the …
Lowes Hates Me And I Hate It Right Back
by Kevin Burton Please know up front this is not one of my angry product/company boycott posts….but I hate Lowes. Please know that Lowes is our go-to store for all things home improvement. Just about all the problems we’ve ever had at Lowes were our own fault, because we bought the wrong thing. …
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