|
Home
|
Apr 2, 2023
This week’s themeWheels This week’s words trochilic rotiform zodiac exorbitant encyclical How popular are they? Relative usage over time AWADmail archives Index Next week’s theme There’s a word for it 
Like what you see here?Send a gift subscription 
AWADmail Issue 1083A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and LanguageSponsor’s Message: “Wondrous bits of colorful snippetry.” The Old’s Cool Wiseacre’s Guide to Life is one of four absolutely FREE e-books that’ll show you exactly how to live the life of a recalcitrant (or a king), the difference between a javelin and a javelina, and why the wounds of a friend can be trusted, while an enemy... Smarten up -- for nothing! From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) Subject: Interesting stories from the Net What Killed Penmanship? The New York Times Permalink Going Beyond English Is Critical for Conservation ScienceDaily Permalink From: Jay Schrier (jay.schrier56 gmail.com) Subject: Bicycles Do you know why bicycles need kickstands to keep from falling over? They’re too tired 😎 Jay Schrier, La Jolla, California From: John Lutz (jlutz uvic.ca) Subject: Bicycle Loved your introduction about the bicycle in today’s post. The bicycle is the perfect machine, it converts 99% of energy into motion, is the most efficient form of locomotion ever invented, it costs less to operate and is better for the environment than any other transport machine, and because it keeps you fit, it lengthens your healthy life span. Perfect. John Lutz, Victoria, Canada From: Richard Benish (rjbenish comcast.net) Subject: Bicycle Efficiency In 1973 Scientific American published an issue featuring the marvelousness of bicycles. On page 90 is a graph whose caption begins: “Man on a bicycle ranks first in efficiency among traveling animals and machines in terms of energy consumed in moving a certain distance as a function of body weight.” Richard Benish, Eugene, Oregon From: Ingrid Lisauskas (ialisauskas comcast.net) Subject: Trochilic In the 1950s, my parents managed to buy a bicycle for their three daughters for Christmas. We were thrilled with this beautiful blue bicycle. We set up a schedule for allotted time for each kid. Ingrid Lisauskas, Chicago, Illinois From: Marc J Chelemer (mc2496 att.com) Subject: Bicycle I loved the first bike I ever had, a 20” touring model with just a coaster brake. But it was stolen before the training wheels ever came off, and my late father didn’t factor in how much bigger a 24” bicycle would be when he came home with the replacement. Too many bleeding knees and elbows after so many falls with that then-accursed object led me to shove it into the shed for more than two years, but then one day, I asked my father to try to teach me again. I became a bicycling fanatic and the leader of far-ranging missions deep into Nazi Germany, with friends who had smaller “sissy bar” bikes as fighters, and those of us with big 24- or 26-inch bikes as B-17s, screaming down the long downhill of Highland Avenue in Pittsburgh to lay waste to the Axis factories. Fast forward to the end of my freshman year in college, when I really really wanted a derailleur-equipped bicycle. Extensive research led me to decide on a Motobecane Mirage. I found a dealer in Sewickley, PA, twenty miles from my home. My heart leaped with joy when I saw this beautiful, sleek electric blue device with shiny chrome brake levers and deep black wrapped drop-handlebars. When I pulled out the $150 I’d been saving up to buy it (minimum wage was $2.65 an hour, and that’s what I was making), my father, never a terribly generous man, told me to put my money away. I could’ve cried. Forty-five years later, I still have that bicycle. Marc Chelemer, Tenafly, New Jersey From: Mark Taratoot (taratoot peak.org) Subject: Bicycles with engines Bicycles with engines. Around here, some friends call them chainsaw bikes because they are loud two-stroke power-plants somehow made to turn a perfectly good bicycle into a pollution machine. We don’t allow two-strokes for marine use anymore even though they produce a lot of power for their weight. They are the most efficient way to put unburned hydrocarbons directly into a waterway. I don’t understand how they are legal. They are too fast for the bike lane. They have an engine, but don’t apparently require a helmet. They apparently don’t even require a title or license unlike a small motorcycle or scooter. Clearly they aren’t adequately muffled for use on the road. Yet there they are. So sad. Mark Taratoot, Corvallis, Oregon From: Steve Benko (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Subject: The Dutch bicycle culture The articles you cited reference the fact that Holland has more bicycles than people. Here we have more guns than people. It brings to mind a twist on the Joni Mitchell song “Woodstock”: And I dreamed I saw the pistols And the shotguns and the rifles Turning into bicycles Across our nation [original: And I dreamed I saw the bombers Riding shotgun in the sky And they were turning into butterflies Above our nation] Steve Benko, New York, New York
Email of the Week brought to you by The Wiseacre’s Guide to Life -- A FREE Wicked/Smart e-book. Learn more.
From: Nyra Bensimon (bensimon bensimon2.com.au) Subject: Trochilic Story Your story on bicycles, particularly Dutch bicycles reminded me of a dear Dutch friend (since passed away) who was a child at the time of Nazi occupation of Holland. All bicycles were confiscated from local people, as they were seen as a mode of transport enabling Dutch resistance fighters to contact each other. Our friend Gerald had a small tricycle which was confiscated along with adult-sized bikes. After the war he wrote continuously to the German government asking for the return of his tricycle, when I say continuously I mean relentlessly, weekly year-in, year-out, even after he relocated to Australia. He took the trouble to get the name of the current Minister of Transport, or whatever department he considered responsible for the theft. Finally, the appropriate department caved in and sent him a tricycle of correct vintage. As it was not his tricycle, he returned it to them, stating he wanted HIS tricycle, keep looking! It was never returned to him, but the letters continued until he died. Nyra Bensimon, Adelaide, Australia From: David Walker (sixtiescycles yahoo.com) Subject: What the bicycle means to me Bicycles have been the one constant, unwavering pillar of my life. I started buying and rebuilding clapped-out bikes of all types as a young teenager, then moved on to fancy Italian racing bicycles (I bought a circa-1970 Masi Special when I was 15 years old) and then never looked back. While pursuing a 26-year-long career as a research scientist at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) in Boulder, Colorado, I moonlighted building custom bikes of all types for several hundred clients, including, most notably, two Nobel laureates in Physics: Eric Cornell and Dave Wineland. Eric’s story is an interesting one, as not long after he was awarded a Nobel prize in 2000 for the discovery (proof) of Bose-Einstein Condensation, he had a near-death experience with necrotizing fasciitis aka flesh-eating bacterial disease. He lost his whole left shoulder and arm, and was within maybe an hour or two of a fatal attack, according to his wife, who saved his life by taking him to the ER late on a Sat night.
To paraphrase a popular theme, “They persevered.” They still wanted to ride, so they approached me to build them a tandem that would allow them to ride together. I built them a Bilenky Viewpoint tandem (I’ve had several, plus a triplet Bilenky custom-built for me in 1998) that puts the captain in the rear, upright, and the stoker in front in a recumbent position. They’ve ridden the crαp out of the bike -- I’ve performed maintenance on several occasions--as a couple and with their kids. It’s a testimony to Eric and Celeste’s indomitable human spirit, and I’m forever grateful to be a part of that when it comes to cycling, which is central to my life. Bikes really can save the planet. I know you get it. Dave Walker, Limoux, France From: Tom Montgomery (tommont82 outlook.com) Subject: Bicycles I was stunned by your (unsupported, I will note) assertion that bicycles are inventions. In fact they are so elegant and perfect it is clear that they have existed for all time, and that humans evolved two legs and two arms (and rear ends) to be able to exploit bicycles’ healing (body and mind) and energy-saving powers, just as we have noses to inhale air. Look it up. Tom Montgomery, Bothell, Washington From: Kenneth Kirste (kkkirste sbcglobal.net) Subject: Bicycle by the inch As a kid, I had a 26” Schwinn bicycle, which I no longer rode by the time I graduated from high school. I thought I was clever when I ran my ad in the classified section of the newspaper, saying: “For Sale: boy’s 26″ Schwinn bike -- a dollar an inch.” I was upstaged by the first caller who said “I’d like to buy 5 inches, please.” Ken Kirste, Sunnyvale, California From: Chuck Dinsmore (salamanderdoc gmail.com) Subject: Bicycles Your comments on the importance of bicycle transportation, especially to the Dutch, brought back fond memories. After my first year of grad school, I spent the summer of 1971 doing research at the Hubrecht Laboratory in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The first piece of equipment that the lab issued to me was a bicycle, which I used every day to commute from the city out to the lab, located in the suburbs! The supportive infrastructure was already in place: the bike lanes were separated from car lanes by slightly raised brickworks, and EVERYONE obeyed the rules. What a novel idea ;-) Chuck Dinsmore, Damariscotta, Maine From: Jeff Copeland (jeff.copeland gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--trochilic Re: the cartoon, there is a bicycle shop here in Bellingham which is attached to a cafe and bar. You can grab a beer or coffee while your bicycle is being repaired, or just bike in for a beer. It’s around the corner from my daughter’s office, so we often stop there for coffee when I visit her. We, of course, refer to it as the biker bar. Jeff Copeland, Bellingham, Washington From: Ida Reichardt (idare383 gmail.com) Subject: Bicycles! I loved my secondhand, no frills bicycle, inherited when my sister outgrew it. But I loved horses more! My parents wouldn’t let me have a horse, probably because we lived in a city and had neither room or money for what they regarded as, well, craziness 🥴. So, for a time, I tied ropes to the handlebars and pretended I was riding a horse! It was only marginally satisfying. Ida Reichardt, Winnipeg, Canada From: Fernando Faria (fernando.faria magna.com) Subject: My relationship with the bike I learned to ride a bike as a six-year-old, and since than I never stopped loving bikes. I fell sometimes during my teen years and twice trying to use bike shoes. I got some scars but I never got any broken bones (yet). My son is four and is almost getting out the support wheels of his small bike. Fernando Faria, São Paulo, Brazil From: Bindy Bitterman (bindy eurekaevanston.com) Subject: Bicycle, or rather, the lack of I am perhaps one of a very few adults who never learned to ride a bicycle -- well, that’s not entirely true, but if you read this you’ll understand. I grew up living on a very busy street in Chicago and my parents were sure that we girls would be hurt -- or worse -- if we rode, so we had cyclically deprived childhoods. After I grew up and was married, sympathetic neighbors determined that I should learn, and one in particular took it upon herself to teach me. No sooner had I mastered it in my 40s, however, and before I could actually become comfortable with it, it was stolen out of our garage. At that point I said to myself, “Maybe I was never meant to ride a bicycle at all”. Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois From: Blayney Colmore (blayneycolmore gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--trochilic I still ride my nice aging (like me) road bike. I confess a certain envy as I see friends who have given in to motor-assisted bikes ascend hills my 82-year-old lungs will no longer climb. Even some purists have told me it has added pleasure to their rides which were gradually shortening. When they tell me they have returned to 50-mile rides, it sets up a longing in me. But so do a lot of things now. I doubt I’ll go that route. Blayney Colmore, Jacksonville, Vermont From: Deborah Carey (boiester gmail.com) Subject: Triking around Corvallis in my 70s Wheee! I’m twelve joyfully flying down hills, charging up paths, disappearing in the mist. What immense pleasure comes from the wind against my face as I glide down farm roads and race across logging truck highways with my electrified three wheeler. How can I better immerse myself in the moment moving with the rhythm 🥁 of the birds and the animals around me? I can think of no other way to get such a thrill. It should be illegal. Climate change is an existing emergency for all life. Do something. Deborah Carey, Corvallis, Oregon From: David Davis (jerseydavis gmail.com) Subject: Bikes! It was and is such a privilege to be one of the children on this planet to have experienced the gift of a shiny new bike. The kid-red Schwinn Typhoon rolled into mine when I was about 7 or 8 years old. The joy. The free feeling. The independence and adventures that go with. It breaks my heart now to think of all the children who won’t know this. If I were God, I’d make sure that all children have such a “moment”. Since I’m not, I think maybe I’ll adopt a village somewhere nearby and be the Pied Biker. Maybe. David Davis, Scotch Plains, New Jersey From: Andrew Pressburger (andpress sympatico.ca) Subject: trochilic One doesn’t need a bicycle. It is possible simply to run, since the derivative of the Greek word trokhaios is from trecho, which means exactly that: I run. Of course, the distance is somewhat limited, depending on your training. I shouldn’t push it too hard though. Andrew Pressburger, Toronto, Canada From: Jean Lambert (j-lambert comcast.net) Subject: Bicycle information My ancestor Kirkpatrick Macmillan invented the pedal bicycle we know today in Scotland in 1839. Jean Lambert, West Newbury, Massachusetts From: Mark Flynn (markkflynn gmail.com) Subject: Anything with two wheels I have been a bicyclist from age 8. At age 10, 1963, I rode my Schwinn Stingray alone for a 20-mile round trip. At age 3 I had my first motorcycle ride on my uncle’s Harley. I continue to ride both motorized and human-powered bikes. I find no conflict between the two kinds of two-wheelers. Riding the bicycle makes me much more fit for long motorcycle rides. (In two weeks, a week-long trip Richmond to Austin, TX, and back.) Both kinds of riders face prejudice, disregard, and antipathy from some drivers of cages. Both kinds of riders have a joy in being in the environment, instead of seeing it like a TV. Mark Flynn, Richmond, Virginia From: Al Padilla (glands gmail.com) Subject: Trochilic As a retired academic-oriented endocrinologist, and a long-reformed former rat-grinder, I was fascinated by your latest word choice, trochilic, and its relation to the anatomic term trochanter. Trochanter shares the same Greek word root of “wheel” and initially referred to the rounded ball at the top of the femur. Over time, however, it migrated distally, down the bone to refer to the bony protuberances, now known as the greater and lesser trochanters, where the muscles attach. And entomology further complicated etymology by using it to refer to the second segment of an insect’s leg, whose joint does not rotate, wheel-like or otherwise, alas. Al Padilla, Armonk, New York From: Pierre-Alexandre Sicart (PA_Sicart hotmail.com) Subject: If only riding were safe ... My father used to ride his bicycle to work. Then one day a car, trying to pass another, threw him into a ditch -- and quickly drove away. From that day on, my father never rode a bicycle again; he drove to work instead, and his health suffered as a result. Nowadays, he can hardly walk. France boasts that hundreds, even thousands, of kilometers of bicycle lanes have been added over the years, but most are just paint on the road, they offer no protection from cars, which use them all the time to pass other cars. Methinks a lot more people would use bicycles if doing so were safe. Here in Taipei, bicycles are readily available; you can pick one here and leave it there (something that didn’t work in France). Pierre-Alexandre Sicart, Midi-Pyrenees, France From: Rob Eichler (robeichler comcast.net) Subject: Cycling resources Based on your expressed interests and reading lists, I think you’d enjoy: It’s All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels. Author Robert Penn interweaves the story of his acquiring parts for a bespoke bicycle with tales of cycling the world (25,000 miles); and the history of the development of bicycle design, technology, and culture. Rob Eichler, Peterborough, New Hampshire From: Sandeep Prasanna (s.a.prasanna gmail.com) Subject: rotiform What a wonderful coincidence that an Indian chef might also describe a wheel-shaped object as roti-form. Sandeep Prasanna, Washington, DC From: Sara Hutchinson (sarahutch2003 yahoo.com) Subject: zodiac When my father was dying, I would read the newspaper to him as he lay in bed. I always included the astrology column, and one morning his Taurus report stated “Good day for long walks and healthy activity.” My father said, “Does that tell you something about astrology?” Sara Hutchinson, New Castle, Delaware From: J.R.S. Hansen (jrshcoup1 gmail.com) Subject: zodiac As an amateur astronomer (NOT astrologer, thank you) who almost chose that path as a career, I must tell you that the term zodiac is also used in astronomy to describe the actual constellations that are located along the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the plane in which the sun’s and the moon’s apparent orbits appear to be located, as well as the orbits of all the planets in the solar system (and more). One exception is poor, demoted, Pluto which orbits at an angle to the plane. The constellations in the sky (not on an astrology chart) can be used as locaters to describe where to find objects there; because their paths always go along it, the zodiac constellations specifically can be used to describe the location of the planets. Jul Hansen, New Hartford, Connecticut From: Jerry Diener (nhoncology gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--zodiac Zodiac is also a type of small boat that has inflated pontoons and a hard bottom and is propelled by an outboard motor. It originally referred to the manufacturer, Zodiac, but has been a commonly used word for similar watercraft much in the way people ask for a kleenex instead of a tissue. Jerry Diener, Bethlehem, New Hampshire From: Barbara Fix (baafix earthlink.net) Subject: Encyclical How extraordinary that the word encyclical arrived yesterday on the same day that the Vatican formally repudiated the 15th century Doctrine of Discovery, which justified the European colonialism seizure of Indigenous peoples’ lands and destruction of their cultures and beings. Whether the Vatican statement is a formal encyclical or not, it shows that what goes around, comes around. In our three steps forward and two back, or the reverse, let’s hope that the basic concepts of human dignity and responsibility progress. Barbara Fix, Santa Fe, New Mexico  
Subject: encyclical and rotiform Pope Francis’ 3rd Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers) was issued on Oct 4, 2020, in Assisi, Italy. It was a call for a more profound understanding of social friendships, community, and our shared responsibility to promote the common good. The Pope also highlighted the inalienable dignity of every human being and the importance of world peace. Here, I’ve borrowed from John Lennon’s 1969-released ode to global amity, “Give Peace a Chance”. Pope Francis and John Lennon, kindred spirits in their shared mission to foster a kinder, gentler, more peaceful planet. 
Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California Anagrams
Make your own anagrams and animations. Limericks Trochilic Using wheels, every miller of flour Knew to harness their trochilic power. Water driven, the stones Ground the grains that made scones, Which were sold by the dozen each hour. -Tony Holmes, Launceston, UK (tony_holmes btconnect.com) When a caveman created the wheel, It was quite an achievement, I feel. For getting around That troglodyte found, “My trochilic invention’s ideal!” -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “The Wheels on the Bus,” I would sing, And along would sing all my offspring. They sang with devotion Of trochilic motion, Which very fond memories bring. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “My wife say invention trochilic,” Sighed Oog, “no is good, won’t climb hillock. So me working on gears, But this likely take years; Until then, things in cave not idyllic.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Rotiform “Hula hoops?” “They are rotifom things -- As are DVDs, frisbees, and rings. Also buttons and Os And a lot of logos. It’s a shape to which culture now clings.” -Tony Holmes, Launceston, UK (tony_holmes btconnect.com) The caveman quite clever could see A rotiform shape was the key. He thought that his wheel Might have great appeal -- Folks playing roulette would agree. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “This place is a port in a storm,” Said Clifford one evening to Norm. “Nothing’s better than Cheers! Not since Oog in past years Carved a rock into shape rotiform.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Zodiac Superstitious, my nature inclines To be trusting of zodiac signs. So I don’t make a move, Or decisions approve, Till each star in my quadrant aligns. -Tony Holmes, Launceston, UK (tony_holmes btconnect.com) I asked him his zodiac sign To see if it matched well with mine. That contemptuous bum Said my question was dυmb -- I doubt that our stars will align. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “A leader,” says my zodiac sign; But I’m quite self-effacing, benign. Friends jokingly wonder If it was a blunder, The timing of this birth of mine? -Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com) “They’re so dυmb they believe in the zodiac,” The Grizzly bear said to the Kodiak. “We should tell ‘em the stars Say that fuel for your cars From Alaska is cursed. White folks, go ye back!” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Exorbitant “That’s exorbitant!” “Yes, so you said.” “All I want is a room with a bed. But a thousand bucks down?!” “The convention’s in town, So, the problem, you’ll find, is widespread.” -Tony Holmes, Launceston, UK (tony_holmes btconnect.com) I don’t think, though you’ll say that I’m mad, That exorbitant prices are bad. Give them credit for stopping My mindlessly shopping. I’m miserly now and so glad. -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) “Since I’ve gained so much weight,” declares she, “there’s a problem I didn’t foresee. Clothes for the corpulent carry exorbitant price tags. Too costly for me!” -Anne Thomas, Sedona, Arizona (antom earthlink.net) Trump said to his lawyers, “Oh, Jeez! Just waive your exorbitant fees! With all of my woes, I pay through the nose -- So charge me your wholesale rates, please.” -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “Fish prices these days are exorbitant; I should sell half my catch,” said the cormorant. His wife grinned. “Very shrewd! And you’ll look better nυde, For by eating it all, you’ve grown corpulent.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Encyclical Encyclicals sent by the Pope Are meant to help Catholics cope. I think it’s quite neat That he also can tweet, Or issue a bull, which is “dope!” -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) In our minds there is never a doubt When encyclical letters go out. We good Catholics enact Them with meaning intact; I bet rabbis wish they had such clout! -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) Said Pope Leo, “My latest encyclical Declares Martin Luther an imbecile. His ninety-five theses Are nothing but feces; To sell you salvation’s permissible!” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Puns “Should the ice cream from my trochilic-ustomer, am I covered?” the Good Humor man asked his insurance agent. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Albert Einstein rotiform-ula, E=MC². -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) Said Lou Grant to Ted Baxter, “Some pair of friends Mary and Rotiform, huh?” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “Did some bo-zodiac-tivate the flow of reactor coolant?” asked the Chernobyl control room technician. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “I dream of my astronaut exorbitant-oo close to the sun,” the divorcée told her therapist. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “If you’re feel-encyclical-l the body parts you can reach,” the dog instructed the alternative medicine class. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) 
Subject: Some like it hot A David and Goliath scenario is playing out in the hot springs-fed wetlands of Dixie Meadows, Nevada, between the geothermal industry behemoth Ormat Nevada Inc. and the rare, tiny Dixie Valley toad. This endangered toad thrives in the warmer hot springs. Fish & Wildlife Service contends that if Ormat Inc. is allowed to drill into the geothermal aquifer, there’s a strong possibility that the surface spring-fed pools that the toad depends upon, might disappear, as would this rare creature. Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
A neurosis is a secret that you don’t know you’re keeping. -Kenneth Tynan,
critic and writer (2 Apr 1927-1980)
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise
© 1994-2024 Wordsmith