Tag Archives: Dictionary

Thought For the Day: I Was Reading the Dictionary. I Thought It Was A Poem About Everything

Posted on October 6, 2021 by alohapromisesforever

“I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything.” – Steven Wright, comedian (b. 1955)

Posted in Thought For the Day | Tagged Dictionary, Everything, Poem, Read, Steven Wright, Thought, Thought For the Day | Leave a comment

An Incident of Oxford Compilation

Posted on December 25, 2020 by alohapromisesforever

An Incident of Oxford Compilationby Michael DoyleIn my mind gathered so silentlyI pray against evil so vigilantlyIn the darkness of a blind alleyLost among the madmen in the galleryThough words come at me namedLanguage itself will not be tamedIt grows … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry and Poems | Tagged Agreed, Alley, Approach, Best Laid Plans, Capability, Cast, Change, Charade, Clear, Compilation, Contrary, Crumble, Darkness, Dictionary, Eloquent, Encroach, English Language, English Tongue, Gallery, Incident, Known, Lairds, Language, Lexicon, Linguist, Madmen, Mind, Nation, Need, Nuance, Oxford, Poetry and Poems, Pray, Proctor, Propriety, Quotation, Refine, Rubicon, Search, Shown, Silent, Sketches, Study, Supplication, Symbols, Tamed, Tumble, Turn, Vigilant, Volumes, Wise Men, Words | Leave a comment

Attached In Meaning

Posted on December 4, 2020 by alohapromisesforever

Attached In Meaningby Michael DoyleWords are mainly symbolsSomething that vaguely resemblesAn agreement between we human beingsAs to what it is that we are meaningWe need a little less of the dictionaryAs we each act out our own PictionaryOf all that … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry and Poems | Tagged Actions, Actions Speak Louder, Actual, Agreement, Allow, Arguments, Attached, Blur the Lines, Burst Out, Co-Construction, Come and Go, Communicate, Communicated, Communication, Complicated, Conflict, Contemplation, Contrary, Conventionality, Deceived, Deception, Defy, Destruction, Development, Dictionary, Encoded, Factors, Factual, Foolish, Forged, Hit That Restart, Human Beings, Intended, Intent, Intentionality, Interpretation, Late, Learn, Life, Look On Your Face, Meaning, Message, Nonverbally, Optimism, Perception, Pessimism, Photograph, Pictionary, Poem, Poetry, Prouder, Reach, Reassurance, Received, Relation, Resembles, Rut, Satisfying, Say, Says It all, Simple, Sink, Splash, Still, Symbols, Tender, Think, Truth Perceived, Unnecessary, Vague, Wall, Weight, Words, Words of Trust, Wounded Hearts | Leave a comment

Thought For the Day: The Only Place Success Comes Before Work Is In the Dictionary

Posted on July 27, 2020 by alohapromisesforever

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vince Lombardi, former Green Bay Packers coach

Posted in Thought For the Day | Tagged Before, Dictionary, Only, Place, Success, Thought For the Day, Vince Lombardi, Work | Leave a comment

Ring, Ring Rings the Phone

Posted on December 28, 2019 by alohapromisesforever

Today is both National Call A Friend Day and National Chocolate Candy Day! In honor of this, to paraphrase a military tradition, ‘eat them if you got ’em’ and call a friend if only to tell that person or persons … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry and Poems | Tagged Bliss, Box of Chocolate, Care, Choice, Christmas, Coco, Coconut Curry, Confectionery, Dares, Days, Dictionary, Dreams, Good, Happiness, Hours, Hurry, Imagination, Lose, Minutes, National Call A Friend Day, National Chocolate Candy Day, Nights, Phone, Photograph, Pleasant, Poem, Poetry, Quiet, Realize, Ring, Seconds, Seem, Share, Sit, Spent, Squares, Sudden, Text, Three, Tonight, Voice | Leave a comment

Webster’s Calling

Posted on May 31, 2019 by alohapromisesforever

At one time, Noah Webster called for a unifying national language of American English. On learning that the English were buying his dictionary, he decided instead it was a better thing to recognize that English is English with more in … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry and Poems | Tagged America, Authority, Civility, Clarity, Destruction, Dictionary, Dilect, Dissertation, Effort, Elite, English, Expressive, Independence, Linguist, National Language, Original Construction, Photograph, Poem, Poetry, Pronounce, Rules, Standard, Unity, Webster, Words | Leave a comment

Thought For the Day: A Dictionary Might Be Read As A Poem About Everything

Posted on November 19, 2018 by alohapromisesforever

“I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything.” – Steven Wright

Posted in Thought For the Day | Tagged Dictionary, Everything, Poem, Read, Steven Wright, Thought For the Day | Leave a comment

Subversive Words

Posted on August 20, 2018 by alohapromisesforever

It’s funny to think of a dictionary as subversive isn’t it? Yet, there was a maelstrom of resistance to changes in how to approach English in 1961. Subversive Words by Michael Romani In 1961, wordsmiths grew defensive Declaring Webster’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry and Poems | Tagged Coinage, Critics, Dictionary, English, Equalizer, Flux, Inclusion, Kerfuffle, Leveling Effect, Photograph, Poem, Poetry, Political Consequences, Preference, Reference, Shakespeare, Slang, Subversive, Webster, Word Misers, Words, Wordsmith | Leave a comment

Thought For the Day: Language Is the Tie That Binds

Posted on October 20, 2017 by alohapromisesforever

“Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to … Continue reading →

Posted in Thought For the Day | Tagged Abstract, Affections, Dictionary, Intellectuals, Langauge, Noah Webster, Tastes, Thought For the Day | Leave a comment