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OF PISSANTS, POLITICIANS, AND CUPIDITY
The breadth of the title of this essay might lead you to believe that it is a formidable undertaking. But when taken by its individual parts it is not necessarily so formidable operation. Let us take the pissant part to start. The word pissant is far from a vulgarity. It identifies a living creature who…
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THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS AGAIN REVISITED
It goes without saying that your Uncle Ezra has no to investigate the subject of the language that Americans speak. Yet while I lack the academic credentials, as a wordsmith from my essay writing I have an abiding interest in words. In this case, there are four words that have fallen into disuse that I…
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OH SAY CAN YOU SEE…
According to historical facts, this country declared its independence from the English monarchy some 235 years ago. But judging from the comments about a wedding taking place on Friday of this week, it would be hard to discern that we were at last free of the constraints of the English monarchy. From what I can…
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PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALLETH
Those of you who are familiar with the literature of the Bible will recognize the title of this essay as a corruption of a verse from Proverbs. Specifically the verse comes from Chapter 16, Verse 18. That verse in its unexpurgated form holds that pride goes before a fall. Because this essay is being dictated…
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UPON BEING SELF-HOODWINKED
This essay pivots on the origin of a popular folk song written in 1835 called “Kathleen Mavourneen.” Like many Irish people and the world at large, I had long assumed that “Kathleen Mavourneen” was the epitome of Irish folk music. The word “mavourneen” is an ancient Gaelic word for “my darling.” The name Kathleen is…