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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 4 April 2009
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Welcome to Issue 76 of The KellyGram!
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Within the past few months, I've had the opportunity to develop a working relationship with a great entrepreneur and business owner named Mac Anderson, the founder and CEO of Simple Truths LLC. His company produces some of the finest gift books and DVDs that I've ever seen, and it's been my privilege to recommend a few of them to you in previous issues of The KellyGram.
One of the company's newest products is a book titled The Tender Warrior, about retired General Hal Moore, whose life story had been told in the film We Were Soldiers, starring Mel Gibson.
In his Introduction to The Tender Warrior, Mac described his first visit with General Moore. "I knew I was about to meet a great leader and great American," he wrote. "I wasn't, however, prepared to be blown away by his kindness, humility and his passion for life…His smile, his spirit, his sense of humor lit up the room…When the General left, there was no doubt in my mind...I had been in the presence of greatness."
The Tender Warrior features five never before published "Leadership Letters to America," important messages for all of us during these uncertain times. To learn more about this new book, please click on the following link: http://store.simpletruths.com/Product1480.
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In This Issue:
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FUN WITH WORDS
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In many parts of our nation, this month typically ushers in some April showers. Within the following "phrases" are the scrambled names of various types of liquid precipitation.
1 - DUG EEL
2 - NIL PERKS
3 - CLUB DO RUST
4 - TERN ROT
5 - O PUN WORD
You'll find the correct answers elsewhere in this issue.
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THE QUOTE CORNER (Greatness)
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All greatness is unconscious, or it is little and naught.
Thomas Carlyle
All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope.
Winston Churchill
Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.
Washington Irving
Everyone has the power of greatness. Not for fame but greatness. Because greatness is determined by service.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Whatever greatness we have is what God produces in us. Nothing will ever deny us of the greatness He wants for us faster than trying to be great on our own.
Lloyd John Ogilvie
The final measure of greatness is whether you and I, by our individual lives, have increased the freedom of man, enhanced his dignity, and brought him nearer to the nobility of the divine image in which he was created.
Herbert V. Prochnow
Buried deep within each of us is a spark of greatness, a spark than can be fanned into flames of passion and achievement. That spark is not outside of you; it is born deep within you.
James A. Ray
Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit . . .The potential for greatness lives within each of us.
Wilma Rudolph
It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.
Seneca
Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
William Shakespeare
There is no sudden leap to greatness. Your success lies in doing, day by day. Your upward reach comes from working well and carefully.
Max Steingart
Great people are those who make others feel that they, too, can become great.
Mark Twain
The great things are not done only by impulse, but are a series of small things brought together…And great things are not something accidental but certainly must be willed.
Vincent Van Gogh
A solemn regard to spiritual and eternal things is an indispensable element of all true greatness.
Daniel Webster
The truest greatness lies in being kind.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
(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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NEW WORDS ABOUT WORDS!
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One reason I subscribe to numerous word-related ezines is to learn new words (new to me, at least) about words. Three recent examples are univocalic, anadiplosis and pleonasm. I'd be surprised (amazed, really) if any of our readers can define even one of them, with an example of how it's used, much less do so with all three. If you can, please let me know and I'll give you proper recognition in our next issue.
Following are the definitions of each, without indicating which of the words each defines. If they're as unfamiliar to you as they were to me, try and match each of the three words with its correct definition. You'll find the correct answers later in this issue.
Definition 1: "the use of more words than necessary to denote mere sense; redundancy." According to Merriam-Webster's "Word of the Day," this can "sometimes be helpful to a speaker or writer in getting a message across, adding emphasis, or simply adding an appealing sound and rhythm to a phrase — as, for example, 'I saw it with my own eyes!'"
Definition 2: "the beginning of a sentence, line, or clause with the concluding word or clause of the one preceding. Examples provided by Anu Garg, publisher of "A.WORD.A.DAY," include: Yoda from Star Wars: 'Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering,' and at the very beginning of Genesis, in the King James Bible: 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void.'"
Definition 3: "a piece of writing that uses only one of the vowels." Anu Garg conducted a headline-writing contest using this device. The winning entry, about the sinking of The Titanic: "Big Ship Sinks in First Trip."
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DETAILS! DETAILS!
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From time to time, I'm asked about the best way to begin a journalism or writing career. Well, there are various ways to get started, but there's one I don't recommend.
According to The Writer's Almanac, with Garrison Keillor (another daily ezine which I heartily endorse), British novelist Ruth Rendell got off on the wrong foot, to say the least: "She was fired from her first job as a journalist after she wrote a story about a Tennis League dinner without actually attending it, which was obvious since she failed to mention in the story that the keynote speaker had died in the middle of the speech."
A key omission, to be sure, but it didn't seem to adversely affect her career. Rendell, who also uses the pseudonym Barbara Vine, has written more than 50 best-selling crime novels, and is known as "The Queen of Crime." The winner of numerous writing awards, she was named a Life Peer in 1997 and, as Baroness Rendell of Babergh, is a member of Britain's House of Lords.
And who says crime doesn't pay?
NEED JUST THAT RIGHT WORD? WHERE TO FIND IT!
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It was the great Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, who once noted: "The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."
Most of us who wrestle with words occasionally find ourselves wondering if we've picked the right one – Is it farther or further? Compliment or complement? Waver or waiver? Who or whom?
Well, thanks to my friend and colleague Barbara McNichol for solving that problem. For some time, I've been a subscriber and fan of Barbara's very helpful ezine called Word Trippers of the Week. Now I'm happy to report that she's recently completed work on the 2009 version of her popular ebook titled Word Trippers, a very valuable tool for writers, speakers, teachers, and anyone else who finds our wonderful language a tad puzzling at times.
Why settle for "almost-right" (in other words, wrong) when you can have "right" right at your fingertips? To take a peek (not peak), simply click on the following link: 2009 Word Trippers.
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SMILE AWHILE
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How the Economic Stimulus Works
Young Barry in Illinois bought a horse from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day.
The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry, son, but I have some bad news. The horse died."
Barry replied, "Well, then just give me my money back."
The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."
Barry said, "OK, then, just bring me the dead horse."
The farmer asked, "What are ya gonna do with him?"
Barry said, "I'm going to raffle him off."
The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead horse!"
Barry said, "Yes, I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."
A month later, the farmer met up with Barry and asked, "What happened with that dead horse?"
Barry said, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898."
The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"
Barry said, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."
Barry now works for the government.
(Source: Patriot Humor, published by The Patriot Post, 3/10/09. For a free subscription, visit http://patriotpost.us/)
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ODDS AND ENDS
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Back Issues:
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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
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Here are the answers to this month's puzzle:
1 - DELUGE
2 - SPRINKLE?
3 - CLOUDBURST
4 - TORRENT
5 – DOWNPOUR
(Source: Modern Maturity, April-May 1989)
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NEW WORDS DEFINED
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Definition 1: Pleonasm
Definition 2: Anadiplosis
Definition 3: Univocalic
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THE LAST WORD
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"If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet."
(Isaac Bashevis Singer)
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