Commonly Misspelled and Confused – Letter R!

Here is a list of some of the more commonly misspelled/misused words (courtesy of the Internet Accuracy Project) beginning with the letter “R.”  Enjoy!

Commonly misspelled words

R – raspberry, realistically, realize, really, recede, receipt, receive, recognize, recommend, reference, referred, refrigerator, relevant, relieving, religious, remembrance, reminiscence, renowned, repetition, representative, resemblance, reservoir, resistance, restaurant, rheumatism, rhythm, rhythmical, ridiculous, roommate.

Commonly Confused Words

RAIN – precipitation in the form of water The mosquitoes will soon be out in force, as a result of all the rain we’ve had lately. REIGN – period of a monarch’s rule; the act of presiding over a country or group The King’s reign ended abruptly when he was killed in battle. REIN – the strap used to control a horse (usually plural) He frantically pulled the reins to stop the runaway horse. ROLE – one’s position; a part in the theatre, movies or television Angela Lansbury played the role of Jessica Fletcher, on the long-running television series, Murder, She Wrote. ROLL – revolve; turn over The car rolled several times before coming to rest on its roof.

Source: Internet Accuracy Project’s commonly misspelled, confused and misused words is a helpful collection of some of the most commonly misspelled, confused and misused words.

Fun Fact Friday, Number 168!

Today’s real facts (courtesy of http://www.snapple.com) are all about Los Angeles.  Did you know that . . .

• the city of Los Angeles has about 3x more automobiles than people? (Real Fact #137)
• if you drive from Los Angeles to Reno, NV, you will be heading west?  (Real Fact #282)
• Los Angeles was originally founded as El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles?  (Real Fact #1245)

Source: http://www.snapple.com/real-facts

A Full Faculty!

Did you know that the College of William and Mary (in Williamsburg, VA) was the first college to have a full faculty?  In 1729, the college realty was transferred from the trustees to the faculty (a president, six professors, an usher, and a writing master).

Some other famous “firsts” that occurred on February 27th throughout history include:

• the first Supreme Court nominee who was rejected by the Senate (William Paterson, NJ, 1793)
• the first mail delivery by steamboat (1813)
• the first vaccination law enacted by Congress (smallpox, 1813)
• the first sugar substitute (saccharine, 1879)
• the first cigar-rolling machine (Oscar Hammerstein, 1883)
• the first American combatant to die in World War I (Edward Mandell Stone, 1915)
• the first national organization for the hard of hearing (American Association for the Hard of Hearing, 1919)
• the first movie by a major company for an African-American audience (Hearts of Dixie, 1929)
• the first surgical operation televised on a closed circuit for physicians (1947)
• the first armed occupation by Native American protesters in the modern era (Wounded Knee, SD, 1973)

Source: Famous First Facts, by Joseph Nathan Kane, Steven Anzovin, and Janet Podell.

A Beggar By Any Other Name!

“Commonly, people pursue alternative treatments simultaneously, visiting a fakir for an amulet, an imam for blessed oil, and a physician for medicine.”

fakir

\ fuh–keer, fey–ker \, noun;

1. a Muslim or Hindu religious ascetic or mendicant monk commonly considered a wonder-worker.

2. a member of any Islamic religious order; dervish.

Source: The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate by Eugene Ehrlich, and http://www.dictionary.com

Always Good Advice!

Here are some oxymoron statements related to advice.   Enjoy!

“Never take anybody’s advice.”  (George Bernard Shaw)

“I always advise people never to give advice.”  (P.G. Wodehouse)

“Most people when they come to you for advice come to have their own opinions strengthened, not corrected”  (Josh Billings [Henry Wheeler Shaw])

“We hate those who will not take our advice and despise them who do.'”   (Josh Billings [Henry Wheeler Shaw])

“Always live within your income, even if you have to borrow money to do so.”  (Josh Billings)

“Never work before breakfast; if you have to work before breakfast, get your breakfast first.”  (Josh Billings)

Source: oxymoronica by Dr. Mardy Grothe

College Basketball 2020, Week Sixteen!

The Spartans of Michigan State had just one game this week (at Nebraska) which they were able to win.  Following a sluggish first half, the Spartans pulled away in the second half (despite 22 turnovers).    The Big Ten conference has four (4) teams in the AP top-25: Maryland [#7], Penn State [#9], Iowa [#20], and Ohio State [#25].  San Diego State suffered their first loss of the season this weekend — there are no undefeated teams remaining in Division I college basketball.  And, after the slew of top-25 upsets this week (included many in the top-10), the rankings should be shuffled up a bit this week.

Next up for the Spartans: at home against Iowa (Tuesday), then on the road to face Maryland (Saturday).  Go Green!

The upsets this week included:
Baylor (#1) losing to Kansas (#3) by three (3) points.
Gonzaga (#2) losing to BYU (#23).
San Diego State (#4) losing to unranked UNLV by three (3) points.
Duke (#6) losing to unranked NC State.
Maryland (#7) losing to Ohio State (#25).
Penn State (#9) losing to unranked Illinois by six (6) points.
Penn State (#9) losing to unranked Indiana.
Auburn (#13) losing to unranked Georgia.
Oregon (#14) losing to unranked Arizona State by five (5) points.
West Virginia (#17) losing to unranked TCU.
Colorado (#18) losing to unranked UCLA.
Marquette (#19) losing to unranked Providence.
Houston (#22) losing to unranked Memphis by one (1) point.

The close calls this week (won by six points or less [two scores] or in overtime) included:
Kansas (#3) defeating Baylor (#1) by three (3) points.
Dayton (#5) defeating unranked VCU by five (5) points.
Florida State (#8) defeating unranked NC State by six (6) points.
Kentucky (#10) defeating unranked LSU by three (3) points.
Kentucky (#10) defeating unranked Florida by six (6) points.
Oregon (#14) defeating Arizona (#24) by one (1) points.
Colorado (#18) defeating unranked USC by four (4) points.

Top-25 match-ups won by the higher-ranked team included:
Oregon (#14) defeating Arizona (#24) by one (1) points.
Creighton (#15) defeating Marquette (#19).
Creighton (#15) defeating Butler (#21).
Seton Hall (#16) defeating Butler (#21).
Iowa (#20) defeating Ohio State (#25).

Artist Documentary: Velida Palmer!

“More Than a Brush.”  Here is the next installment of the artist documentaries that were produced by students from the Jenks High School Documentary Film Class under the tutelage of their instructor, Clifton Raphael, in partnership with artists from both the Tulsa Artists Guild and Tulsa’s Alpha Rho Tau (a civic art association).  This posts features the artist Velida Palmer.  Enjoy!

Source: https://youtu.be/FItKQ0TjV_E

Laughter . . . the Many Stages!

Would you believe that there are fifteen (15) stages to laughter?  (Kuhn, 1994)

1.  SMIRK: slight upturning of the corners of the mouth (voluntary and controllable).
2. SMILE: more perceptible than a smirk, begins to release endorphins (silent, voluntary and controllable).
3. GRIN: uses more face muscles — eyes begin to narrow (silent, controllable).
4. SNICKER: the first use of sound with facial muscles (still controllable).
5. GIGGLE: you have a 50% chance of reversing this to avoid a full-blown laugh; the sound is amusing; efforts to suppress could increase the strength.
6. CHUCKLE: involves your chest muscles with a deeper pitch.
7. CHORTLE: will originate even deeper in the chest and involves torso muscles; usually causes others to laugh.
8. LAUGH: involved facial and thoracic muscles as well as the abdomen and other extremities; the sound of barking or snorting.
9. CACKLE: this is the first involuntary stage; the pitch is higher, the body begins to rock, the spine extends and flexes, head is upturned.
10. GUFFAW: this is a full-body response; feet stomp, arms wave, thighs are slapped, torso rocks, sound is deep and loud; may result in crying, an increased heart rate, and breathlessness; this is the strongest solitary laughter experience.
11. HOWL: the volume and the pitch continue to rise higher and the body become more animated.
12. SHRIEK: this has greater intensity than a howl; there is a sense of helplessness and vulnerability.
13. ROAR: lose your individuality (i.e., the audience roars!).
14. CONVULSE: your body is completely out of control (fit of laughter), resembling a seizure; your extremities flail aimlessly, you lose your balance, the listener gasps for breath, collapses or falls off their chair.
15. DIES LAUGHING: an instant of total helplessness; a brief, physically intense, transcendent experience.

Source(s): Professors are From Mars, Students are From Snickers, by Ronald A. Berk (2003),  p. 6., and Kuhn, C.C. (1994). The stages of laughter. Journal of Nursing Jocularity, 4(2), 34-35

Fun Fact Friday, Number 167!

The category for today’s trivial imponderable is “origins.”  Do you know . . . where did the polka originate?

I too would have guessed “Poland,” but the polka actually originated in eastern Bulgaria.  From here is spread to Prague (Czechoslovia) in the 1830s.  This dance reached Paris by 1840 and then swept through Europe and the United States.  A variation did develop in Poland (the Polish polka).

Source: Sorry, Wrong Answer: Trivia Questions That Even Know-It-Alls Get Wrong, by Dr. Rod L. Evans.

Happy National Cherry Pie Day!

On this, National Cherry Pie Day, here is a delightful poem by A.E. Housman entitled “Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now.”

Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

(Note: this poem is in the public domain.)