"I love mankind. It's the people I can't stand." Do you ever find yourself
repeating these words of cartoonist Charles Schultz? Maybe you just happen
to be around persons described in this week's AWAD. We have all been
somewhere when almost everyone around seems less than charming. But remember,
just like the fingers of a hand, it takes all kinds to make this world.
Well, i try to remember that everyone brings joy to my life (or job, or what ever),
Some do it when they arrive, and some do it when they depart.
I try to live my live, so that most people are pleased to see me arrive, but, alas for me, for sometimes I bring joy with my departure.
Linus, one of Charles Schultz`s Peanuts characters was of the same mind. I remember reading a comic strip when I was younger in which he had shined only the front of his shoes. When Charlie Brown asked him about it he said it only mattered what people thought of him when he came in, not when he left.
Well, i try to remember that everyone brings joy to my life (or job, or what ever),
Some do it when they arrive, and some do it when they depart
That's a great one, Helen! Wish I'd thought of it!
And, belM, I remember that strip, too! Cool.
thank you jackie,
by nature, i am sour, dour, and nasty! its taken me years to learn to be happy. one trick i have learned along the way is "positive reframe".
So I never get lost anymore--but sometimes i take a scenic detour.
and no one at work is difficult to be with, they are just people who cheer me immensely by leaving!
I have made it such a habit, that there are people who have only known me a short time, and they think I am friendly, outgoing, cheerful!--and they are right!
If i could be as successful with my weight as I am with my mind, I could be a model!
I think the extremes of things are interesting. I have dislexia, and i love words. I am not sure that there is a word to decribe someone quite like that--but if there is some one will let me know!
I have dislexia, and i love words. I am not sure that there is a word to decribe someone quite like that--but if there is some one will let me know!Helen,
I think the word is
lignuaphlie. I have had a lot of support from DNA, the National Association for Dyslexia.
I believe it was H.L. Mencken who voiced a similar sentiment--he said he hated everybody equally. Or was it Mark Twain who said that? Or was it Mark Twain who said he loved mankind but hated people? Somehow, I don't believe the remark was original to Charles Schultz, much as I love his work.
KWKnox, welcome, neighbor! Delighted to have someone from a city that I have strong ties to.
I couldn't find a source for that quote, but I have a
feeling you're right.
Marty, you said: DNA, the National Association for Dyslexia.. AND...?
I just learned a new word to describe people in a recent game of Balderdash (is that considered sacrilege on this website?):
fefnicute~ A two faced sneaky person.
Sounds like a word I'd never otherwise use if it wasn't for A Word A Day.
In reply to:
I just learned a new word to describe people in a recent game of Balderdash (is that considered sacrilege on this website?):
fefnicute~ A two faced sneaky person.
it's a sacrilege only to the extent that Balderdash is a [shudder] crass commercialization of the old dictionary game wherein all you needed was some scraps of paper and any old dictionary.
incidentally, the only place I've been able to find 'fefnicute' is in Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words, which itself claims that all the words therein can be found in at least one *real dictionary. I hope somebody can tell me where that is....
Mrs. B. defines it as: 'hypocrite; sneak'
Welcome to you, blast! Did you choose that name because you expect to have one here?
I know I do!
May I recommend tsuwm's website? It sounds like it's right up your alley. It is his Worthless Words for the Day, at:
http://members.aol.com/tsuwm/
Helen, I am dyslexic too. Not to any great degree anymore, but it was hell when I was growing up. It still affects me, though, and that's why it takes me so long to write. My motto is:
"Dyslexics of the world, untie!"
In reply to:
I believe it was H.L. Mencken who voiced a similar sentiment--he said he hated everybody equally. Or was it Mark Twain who said that? Or was it Mark Twain who said he loved mankind but hated people?
I thought it was either Dean Swift who said he hated mankind but loved individual Toms, Dicks, and Harries, or somebody (Dr. Johnson?) who said it of Swift. I have been trying to trace the quotation but can't find it.
Bingley
Swift hated mankind? I thought he loved the irish-- stewed, roasted, or potted--Well maybe not potted, since they sometimes get that way themselves! Made into pies and sausages...
(yes, i know it was satire! and have read the essay and not just the rants against it by idiots (or eegots!) who didn't have a clue!)
Bingley, a.m. I found this on tsuwm's link, Xrefer:
Swift, Jonathan (Dean Swift) (1667 - 1745)
Anglo-Irish poet and satirist
I have ever hated all nations, professions and communities, and all my love is towards individuals...But principally I hate and detest that animal called man; although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas, and so forth.
Letter to Pope, 29 September (1725), in H. Williams (ed.) Correspondence of Jonathan Swift vol. 3 ( (1963))
Thank you, I knew somebody would be able to track it down.
Bingley
Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac? She tossed and turned all night wondering if there is a dog.
Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac? She tossed and turned all night wondering if there is a dog.
Oh my God. (no irreverence intended!)