Tag Archives: dictionary.com

March 23, 2018

Deracinate – Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman

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Today’s word of the day at dictionary.com deracinate is a new one for me even though I am very familiar with the concept of being deracinated.

Deracinated means: to pull up by the roots; uproot; extirpate; eradicate, to force (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location, to isolate or alienate (a person) from a native or customary culture or environment, o liberate or be liberated from a culture or its norms.

It originated in the 1590’s from the French word, déraciner, “to pluck up by the roots”,  from Old French desraciner, “uproot, dig out, pull up by the root”, which which is linked to the Latin des- and racine, “root”, from the Late Latin, radicina, a diminutive of the Latin word, radix “root”.

Whether we’re talking about plants deracinated by the roots from the ground or people deracinated from their homeland, it is an unsettling word. Its very tone and tenor sounds harsh when I say it out loud. One can’t help but feel empathy for the deracinated. No one likes to be plucked from the roots and “liberated”, unless, of course, it is their idea in the first place. However we find ourselves plucked, there is a certain element of the unknown lurking in the shadows.

Even liberated, a synonym of deracinated, is a tricky word. I remember the first time I learned of a colleague’s firing. The management explained that “so and so” had been liberated from said company to pursue new opportunities. It almost made me feel hopeful and happy for my former co-worker. Liberated did not adequately describe the reality of the situation. No income, no benefits, unemployed. That does not sound liberating to me. but deracinated? Oh yeah…that’s the word for it. It’s a good word. An honest word. Deracinated is not a thing I’m eager to experience. It smacks of change after all, and who likes change? But it’ not necessarily a bad thing. Some people choose to deracinate themselves. And in that case, it is very liberating. At any rate, it is a word I am glad to know. For now, I’ve plopped it into a few haiku. Have a great Friday.

Deracinate

diversity’s extolled,
peace kept, deracinated
by don’t ask don’t tell

deracinated
by war and terrorism
they’ve no place called home

beautiful roses
deracinated from beds
wilt in sterile urns

expats are expert
at deracination to
assimilation

~kat

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Essays, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

March 2, 2018

Phub – Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman

Today’s word of the day is phub. Dictionary.com defines phub as a slang word that means to ignore (a person or one’s surroundings) when in a social situation by busying oneself with a phone or other mobile device: hey, are you phubbing me?

Wiktionary tells us it’s a word that was created by combining the words phone and snub sometime between 2010-2014. But we’ve probably been phubbing for a bit longer, even though there was not a word for it yet. Phub, they explain, was coined by Adrian Mills at the McCann advertising agency as part of a campaign to promote the Macquarie Dictionary by creating a new word.

Have you been phubbed? It’s certainly a thing. We are attached to our phones these days, what with tweets and posts and texts that bombard us on a minute by moment basis. And by game apps; those addictive,mindless diversions that divert our attention from everything around us into a strobing screen…just one more round…a win, at-long-last. I’m must come clean. I have probably been a phubber. I may not have intentionally phubbed anyone, but I’m most certain I have done it. Not that I can recount a clear example. It’s all a blur.

I think it’s a good practice to establish rules of etiquette in this age of pocket media devices by setting up situational “no mobile device zones”. For example meal times, forcing everyone around the table to engage in conversation. Remember conversation? You don’t? When I finish this post I’ll send you a text link to Wikipedia so you can learn about it. 🤪 better yet, here’s the link…CONVERSATION. Sorry…didn’t mean to shout at you. 😊

you know, we should talk
true friends don’t let friends flubber
texting is for bots

~kat

11 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Humor, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Senryu

February 24, 2018

Rasputin – Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman

Friday’s Word of the Day at Dictionary.com is Rasputin. It is defined as

1. any person who exercises great but insidious influence;

2. named for Grigori Efimovich Rasputin, 1871 – 1916, a Siberian peasant monk who was very influential at the court of Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra.

Dictionary.com gives the following summary on the origin of this eponym (a word relating to, or being the person or thing for whom or which something is named: of, relating to.):

Grigori Efimovich Rasputin (c1871-1916) was a Russian peasant and self-proclaimed mystic and holy man (he had no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church). By 1904 Rasputin was popular among the high society of St. Petersburg, and in 1906 he became the healer of Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov, heir to the Russian throne and the hemophiliac son of Czar Nicholas II and his wife, Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna (a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a carrier of hemophilia). In December 1916 Rasputin was murdered by Russian noblemen because of his influence over Czar Nicholas and the czarina.

Rasputin, I learned, is something of a legend. He was a towering man at 6’4”, believed to be a healer with clairvoyant powers. He had a wild appearance, that earned him the nickname, the “mad monk”. Though he was married and had a daughter and two sons, he earned notoriety as a philanderer and drunkard. Oddly his promiscuous behavior was, according to him, a religious practice. He believed that in order to be redeemed of sin, one must immerse oneself in it. Word of his orgies, that he called sessions of “rejoicing”, spread, much to the displeasure of the Orthodox Church. Despite his horrible hygiene, he had plenty of willing partners and hundreds of followers who called themselves “Rasputinkis.”

Eventually his wild living caught up with him. Several attempts were made on his life. The first was made by a masked woman who stabbed his abdomen so violently his entrails spilled out. The intervention of a surgeon saved him that time.

He would eventually meet his end but, as his murderer would learn, Rasputin was not an easy man to kill. On a single night, he was poisoned, which only seemed to give him a buzz, shot four times, with one bullet directly to his head, followed by a severe bludgeoning and finally he was bound and tossed into a frozen river. An autopsy later showed that he died from drowning and hypothermia, even after being poisoned, shot, beaten and, some believe, castrated. His pickled member was supposedly displayed throughout the region, a relic of sorts, said to have properties that could cure men of impotence.

Everything about Rasputin was larger than life. But it was his sinister control over the Romanoffs that eventually led to his demise and soon after, the fall of an empire.

Today we use the word Rasputin to describe someone who has evil influence over someone in power. I can think of a few examples…

Frankenstein’s Igor,
Bush’s Cheney, Trump’s Bannon,
ruthless Rasputins

~kat

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Essays, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

February 16, 2018

Messan – Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman

Today’s Word of the day at Dictionary.com is Messan.

Its definition from the Dictionary of the Scots Language states that a messan is…
1. A small pet dog or house dog, as opposed to a dog used for some form of work, a lap-dog 
2. (a word) used contemptuously: a mongrel, a cur 
3. A term of contempt applied to human adults signifying lack of stature or dignity; or to a child.

Dictionary.com tells us that, The English noun messan “small dog, lap dog” comes from Scots Gaelic measan “small dog,” cognate with Irish Gaelic measán, both of which are diminutives of Gaelic mess “favored (one).” Messan entered English in the late 15th century.

It’s not a word that is used often, and I couldn’t find a lot of additional info online. It is a timely word, nonetheless, for today’s celebration of Chinese New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Earth Dog. Happy New Year!

I also learned that messan is a valid Scrabble word, so if you are a game board enthusiast, keep this one in your brain vault of useful words. According to Merriam-Webster 59 playable words can be unscrambled from this gem that has a letter value of 8 points.

Of course, before I close I must admit that I have a few messans of my very own, though they do not fit the physical description as defined. Still, they think they are messans and I have a few bruises to show for it! I was able to find an obscure dictionary reference (Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: Including Atlas of the World …, Volume 5) that actually mentioned ‘mastiffs’ in the definition. So perhaps there is an instinctual reason why my big lugs find my lap so appealing!

Have a great weekend! 😊

messan-dogs find laps
their favorite place to be
that’s a lot of love

~kat

13 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

February 9, 2018

Intersectionality – Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman

intersectionality
Today’s word of the day at Dictionary.com is a modern word coined by the American feminist legal scholar, critical race theorist, and civil rights activist, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in 1989. Intersectionality is the theory that the overlap of various social identities as race, gender, sexuality and class, contributes to the specific type of systemic oppression and discrimination experienced by an individual (often used attributively): Her paper uses a queer intersectionality approach. It is also defined as the oppression and discrimination resulting from the overlap of an individual’s various social identities: the intersectionality of oppression experienced by black women.

From Wikipedia:

In her work, Crenshaw discussed Black feminism, which argues that the experience of being a black woman cannot be understood in terms of being black and of being a woman considered independently, but must include the interactions, which frequently reinforce each other. Crenshaw mentioned that the intersectionality experience within black women is more powerful than the sum of their race and sex, and that any observations that do not take intersectionality into consideration cannot accurately address the manner in which black women are subordinated.

Intersectionality is a theory which considers that the various aspects of humanity, such as class, race, sexual orientation and gender, do not exist separately from each other, but are complexly interwoven, and that their relationships are essential to an understanding of the human condition. When systems of justice or other entities attempt to look at each aspect in isolation, then misconceptions may occur and essential understandings may be lost. The theory proposes that individuals think of each element or trait of a person as inextricably linked with all of the other elements in order to fully understand one’s identity.

In 2011 Columbia Law School, under the direction of Professor Crenshaw, established the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies. “The Center’s existing projects focus on race, gender, and incarceration; substandard education and low-wage work; race, sexuality, and masculinities; and the generation of new disabilities and illnesses among communities of color.” You can read more about their work HERE.

Kimberlé Crenshaw is also featured in a variety of lectures and TED talks. A quick Google search will give you an opportunity to learn more about intersectionality from Dr. Crenshaw herself.

Here’s a quick haiku (which wasn’t easy, considering that this is a SEVEN syllable word!)

Have a great weekend…

it’s just a theory
intersectionality
unless it’s your life

~kat

 

 

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku