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Wisdom and Wit About the Wonderful and Often Wacky World of Words
Published by Bob Kelly
Resident Wordsmith and Quotemeister
WordCrafters, Inc.
www.wordcrafters.info
Providing the Right Word for Speakers, Writers, Ministry Leaders, Business Executives and Just Plain Folks – since 1979!
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Volume 7 – Number 3 March 2009
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Welcome to Issue 75 of The KellyGram!
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I've just had the opportunity to view a very inspirational video titled "Walk the Talk," which struck me as a very timely message for these tumultuous times. Produced by Simple Truths, LLC, it's only three minutes long, but it focuses on such important values as commitment, honesty, respect, integrity and courage. Its theme: "Believe you can make a difference because you can."
To preview the video, please click on the following link: http://www.doyouwalkthetalk.com/
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In This Issue:
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FUN WITH WORDS
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In my family, March is always a special time to celebrate, especially with three family members (a granddaughter, daughter-in-law and yours truly) having birthdays on St Patrick's Day, and a son ten days later. So it should come as no surprise that this month's little quiz has an Irish theme.
Match the words in the left column with their correct definitions in the right column:
| 1. Erin Go Bragh | A. Blackthorn stick | ||
| 2. Blarney | B. Potatoes | ||
| 3. Malarkey | C. Ireland Forever | ||
| 4. Shillelagh | D. Shoes | ||
| 5. Brogans | E. Misleading speech | ||
| 6. Praties | F. Flattering talk |
Fill in the blanks in the following story:
In 19th century Ireland, a tryrannical English governor was driven insane by a two-pronged psychological attack by the oppressed Irish people. They refused to sell him any food or clothing, never talked to him, and turned their backs whenever he spoke. His name was Captain ___________, which has become a common English word.
And all night long, for weeks, Irish women circled his house, chanting over and over an ancient Irish dirge, which later became the anthem for another oppressed people. Its name: _______________________________.
You'll find the correct answers elsewhere in this issue.
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THE QUOTE CORNER (Courage)
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You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
Aristotle
Courage: The lovely virtue—the rib of Himself that God sent down to His children.
James M. Barrie
I beg you, take courage; the brave soul can mend even disaster.
Catherine II
Courage is very important. Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.
Ruth Gordon
Courage is contagious. When a brave person takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.
Billy Graham
Courage is the first of all the virtues because if you haven’t courage, you may not have the opportunity to use any of the others.
Samuel Johnson
We must constantly build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Courage can’t see around corners, but goes around them anyway.
Mignon McLaughlin
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
Ambrose Redmoon
Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.
Robert Louis Stevenson
To have courage for whatever comes in life—everything lies in that.
Saint Teresa of Avila
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.
Mark Twain
Hope awakens courage. He who can implant courage in the human soul is the best physician
Karl Von Knebel
It isn’t life that matters, but the courage you bring to it.
Hugh Walpole
(Note: These quotations are taken from our collection of more than 400 published volumes of quotations and 1.5 million entries. If you're looking for some quotes on virtually any subject, send us an email at bob@kellygram.com, or call us at 480-895-7617. Or, if you have a quote topic you'd like us to feature in an upcoming issue, email it to us and we'll get it on the schedule.)
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MY KIND OF GUYS!!
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Meet two newly discovered heroes of mine. Jeff Deck is the founder of a much needed organization. Its name is the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL). Jeff and his partner, Benjamin Herson, travel this land of ours "to stamp out as many typos as we can find, in public signage and other venues where innocent eyes may be befouled by vile stains on the delicate fabric of our language…We believe that only through working together with vigilance and a love of correctness can we achieve the beauty of a typo-free society."
In their quest, they visit stores, restaurants and other facilities, fixing typos, adding missing apostrophes and deleting incorrect ones on signs and billboards, often with permission of the owners, and on occasion, without. Not surprisingly, one case in the latter category got them into a bit of trouble.
It happened at the Grand Canyon, operated by the National Park Service, which like most, perhaps all, government agencies, isn't exactly known for either common sense or a sense of humor. It seems these desperadoes had corrected a couple of small signs, only to find themselves arrested and charged with "conspiracy to vandalize government property." They were sentenced to a year's probation and have been banned from national parks for a year.
Anyone seeing this pair perpetrating a similar crime is urged to call Silent Witness or the local police. Either that, or just give them a well-deserved round of applause. Way to go, guys!
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WORDS THAT HAVE TO – YA' KNOW – GO!
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Every year since 1975, Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, has published a list of words and phrases which contributors suggest should be banished because of overuse. The current list includes: going green; maverick; carbon footprint; first dude; game changer; and staycation.
LSSU accepts nominations for its list throughout the year. To submit your nominations for the 2010 list, go to http://www.lssu.edu/banished/submit_word.php. I've submitted my nomination, which is for that dreadful expression "ya' know."
Caroline Kennedy used it many times in attempting to explain why, ya' know, she thought she should, ya' know, be given Hillary Clinton's seat in the U.S. Senate. The ridicule heaped on her as a result may have had something to do with why, ya' know, she eventually withdrew. It was truly embarrassing.
Then, Whoppi Goldberg, on a recent interview on Hannity, also used the expression numerous times. It makes one pine for the good old days of Um and Uh whenever the brain would, ya' know, disengage.
I'm grateful to subscriber Cathey Kuhn for pointing me to this web site, and for her kind words about The KellyGram. She wrote: "Thanks for always providing fun and interesting information." That's our goal.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BOOKS
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Well, Dan Poynter has done it again. Dan, who's the author of 125 books, is always on the leading edge of book publishing, so his newest work will come as no surprise to his many fans. Titled The Self-Publishing Manual, Volume 2, the book reveals how to use new techniques to write your book faster, new technology to publish it for less, new ways to distribute it more economically, ways to have fun promoting it and how to profit from your investment by cutting out all of publishing’s gatekeepers in the middle.
You'll discover how to use social media and social networking to gather information for your writing, as well as to alert people interested in your subject about your book.
The book is available in bookstores or directly from the publisher. Contact Para Publishing, PO Box 8206-227, Santa Barbara, CA 93118-8206; phone 800-PARAPUB, or visit Dan's web site, http://ParaPublishing.com.
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SMILE AWHILE
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A harried man runs into his physician's office. "Doctor! Doctor! My wife's in labor! But she keeps screaming, 'Shouldn't, couldn't, wouldn't, can't!'
Oh, that's okay," says the doctor. "She's just having contractions."
(Source: Donna Wilson in Reader's Digest, March 2009)
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ODDS AND ENDS
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Back Issues:
All previous issues of The KellyGram, dating back to January 2003, are available on our website: http://www.wordcrafters.info/back_issues.html.
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Your privacy is very important to us. We assure you that under no circumstances will we share, distribute, publish, give away or sell our mailing lists or other information about you to any other party.
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As always, I welcome your support. If you've found The KellyGram to be a helpful resource, I'd be grateful if you'd send this issue along to your friends, family members and colleagues. If they'd like to subscribe – it's FREE – all they have to do is send an email to bob@kellygram.com or use the form at http://www.wordcrafters.info/newsletters.html. Thanks so much!
Comments/Questions:
Your comments and questions are always welcome. Please contact us at bob@kellygram.com, or call Bob Kelly at (480) 895-7617.
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Fun with Words:
Here are the answers to this month's puzzle:
Captain Boycott
"We shall overcome."
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THE LAST WORD
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"The reason the Irish fight among themselves is because they can't find any other worthy opponents."
(Author Unknown)
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© 2009 by Bob Kelly. All rights reserved.
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