Dejadrift:    A post that appears to be fresh and new, but is simply a rehashing of a previous theme with just enough new material to fool the casual reader.

 Portmanteau 

Compound word form. Derived from portmanteau luggage, which has two compartments. Such a word generally combines both sounds and meanings, as in smog, blending smoke and fog. The word "portmanteau" was first used in this context by Lewis Carroll in the book Through the Looking-Glass (1871), in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky, where "slithy" means "lithe and slimy" and "mimsy" is "flimsy and miserable". Humpty Dumpty explains the practice of combining words in various ways by telling Alice,

'You see it's like a portmanteau-- there are two meanings packed up into one word.'

Galumphing
After slaying the terrible Jabberwock, the boy in Lewis Carrol’s poem “left it dead, and with its head / he went galumphing back.” It’s thought to be a combination of the words “gallop” and “triumphant”. However, modern-day usage is different: picture the gait of a grumpy teenager, perhaps; how you might walk if you were dragging a giant jabberwock’s head.

Oh Pooh, do you think it's a-a-a ?

The two most-feared predators in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories are Heffalumps and Woozles.  Although Oxford Dictionaries define ‘heffalump’ to mean ‘a child’s word for “elephant”’, there is not explicit reference to this in the books, rather, it is only through Ernest H. Shepard’s illustrations that we know this... (in The House at Pooh Corner, Piglet has a nightmare about a heffalump that Shepard depicts as an elephant).

In addition to protesting such compound words chairman and policeman, some "feminists" have removed man from the very word woman. ‘Womyn’ is a new alteration of the plural women, replacing –men with the nonce suffix –myn, appearing for the first time in 1975. Currently used by a politicized few, though 100 years from now may be a foundation for menmyn, replacing the etymological wyf ( woman being derived from wyf (wife) and man) with the current man to mean ‘adult male human’, while man reverts back to its original genderless state.  

Antioxidant, though not itself a portmanteau or neologism, it's the new  buzzword to shill blueberries, cranberries, and pomegranates with their oxygen-blocking qualities. (As if our bodies were supposed to have no access to oxygen?) 

But "CholestPrevent" is absurd. It's too long to be a good portmanteau, and rather than combining two nouns, it combines a noun with a verb. That's not a portmanteau, that's just a verb phrase that's missing a space.

I'm sure there's an actual word for a product that prevents the buildup of bad cholesterol, but it's probably seven syllables too long and is therefore a PortmanteauPreventitive 

Cromulent is from The Simpsons and it’s a nonsense word to describe another one.   As two teachers stand at the back of the auditorium, someone recites Springfield’s motto: "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man."

Teacher 1: Embiggens? I never heard that word before I moved to Springfield.

Teacher 2: I don’t know why. It’s a perfectly cromulent word.

The Spork

 The media feeds on new coinages:  “Obamacare,” “WikiLeaks,” ( Wikipedia for that matter)  “lamestream,”  “sexting,” and I loved when George W. Bush's addled brain couldn't decide between “miscalculated”  and “underestimated”, so he “misunderestimated”.

Similarly, Sarah Palin’s famous  “refudiate”.  And let's not forget All the _______-aholics.  Workaholics, chocoholics, shopaholics et.al. 

And no need anymore to choose your fowl broiled or roasted, cause you can have it Broasted. 

A Puggle.  Pug + Beagle

Is a Boxer/Labrador a Blab?

Chihuahua/Dachshund  a "Chiweenie?" 

...and we all know that the Bull Dog/Shih Tzu mix is a BullShit.

And one more. Blog. 

...Was talking with friends over the weekend about how Chilean Sea Bass became popular (so popular that in late 90's it was at risk of extinction from overfishing) ever since fish wholesaler  Lee Lantz  had the bright idea in 1977,  of tossing the original name Patagonian Toothfish overboard  and re-baptizing it with a name that combined familiar pedigree with a hint of imported cache.  

And so was prompted to further inquiry for other such examples which, in addition to the commonly known Rocky Mountain Oysters, Sweetbreads and Lamb Fries, might include...

The Oil Fish.  Renamed Blue Cod.

Doughnuts  (introduced into the American culture in the 1700’s by immigrants of the Netherlands) were originally called “Oliebollen” which translates to “oil balls”. 

Mahi Mahi (Dolphinfish)

Mahi Mahi – Directly translates to dolphinfish, though it's not a "Flipper" dolphin. Yet still, no way they could not change the name. 

Rapeseed oil, would you buy it? Canola, on the other hand, sounds much better. Except then you find out that just means Canadian oil – so it’s back to square one.

Honey.  More appetizing sounding  than bee spit. (actually, vomit)



Dried Plums – A.K.A Prunes. The California Prune Board asked for and received permission from the Dept. of Agriculture in 2000 to start calling them Dried Plums. They promptly changed their name to the California Dried Plum Board shortly after.

I'm still surprised whenever I see (after long list of precisely named ingredients)  “natural flavoring” and “other spices”. Why can't they give the specifics? 

Mystery:  How did "Hot Dog" survive without a name change?


"Chitlins". 

Beef Tartare. 

Pepperpot Soup. Real name: Lining-of-hog-belly (tripe) soup?

Squab.  Pre-cooked. 

Squab
Go to a hole in the wall restaurant in Chinatown and they'll call it by its real name...Pigeon.

But leave it to the British to reverse the process and use the euphemism to make matters worse  with their Bangers and Mash (sausages and potatoes), Bubble and Squeak (potatoes and cabbage), Toad-in-a-Hole (sausage cooked in batter), Spotted Dick (pudding with dried fruit) and Cock-a-Leekie (soup with chicken, leeks and sweet dried plums, I mean, prunes).

And in 2003, when France declined to rubber stamp our Iraqi invasion plans, the Republican controlled  House of Representatives changed the names of French fries and French toast on their menus to freedom fries and freedom toast. Tina Fey lambasted the move on Saturday Night Live, announcing that "in France, American cheese is now referred to as 'idiot cheese.'"  

....Back in the good ole days...

Hall of Fame pitcher Pud Galvin (364-310, 2.86 ERA, 646 complete games) was injected with monkey steroids in 1889. It was made from cutting the testicles of animals (in this case, a monkey) and mixing the contents with glycerine.) Not only was this not an issue back then, it warranted praise...

 “If there still be doubting Thomases who concede no virtue of the elixir, they are respectfully referred to Galvin’s record in yesterday’s Boston-Pittsburgh game. It is the best proof yet furnished of the value of the discovery."  The Washington Post, 1889 

Even looks a bit like Gould...

Was reading some Bill James stuff ( Father of of Sabermetrics and The Bill James Abstract series, and to me, the Stephen J. Gould of Sport) and came across an article  from Slate back in 2010 which begins:   

"First of all, I have absolutely no doubt that, had steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs existed during Babe Ruth's career, Babe Ruth would not only have used them, he would have used more of them than Barry Bonds."

The entire piece can be found here: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2010/09/life_liberty_and_breaking_the_rules.single.html

The piece isn't about drugs per se, but rather about the American tradition of subversiveness and rule breaking ( including criminality) as a common thread throughout the fabric of our nation's history and even an important ingredient in securing some of our greatest freedoms. Highly recommended. 

Anything by James is a pleasure to read, and the fact that he's a data driven man of science makes him all the more persuasive and compelling.  

And for more fresh perspectives on our "Drug Culture"...

...a Graphic Designer colleague turned me on (pun intended) to these Parody ads for The College for Creative Studies.  

The two things about Blogs

1.  99% of it is crap

2. 99% of everything is crap

http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/thetwothings.html#The%20Story%20of%20the%20Two%20Things

The site above is called THE TWO THINGS, and predicated on the notion that:
  

For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.”

For instance.  In the field of economics those two things might be:
1. Incentives matter.
2: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

It all began as a game that economist/professor/writer Glen Whitman liked to play (after it was played on him) with people he met and would ask to identify The Two Things about their profession, field of study, interest etc. that together pretty much summed up all one needed to know ..and here's a sampler of what he (and then many readers of his blog) came up with ...

The Two Things about Innovation:

1. Innovation is inversely proportional to organizational strength.

2. Organizational strength increases with time. 

The Two Things about Art Criticism:
1. If it isn't novel, critics aren't interested.
2. If it is novel, no one else is interested.

The Two Things about Biology:
1. Evolution is the process through which genetic structures that are better equipped to reproduce viable copies will tend to proliferate.
2. Except for the Platypus. 

The Two Things about Science:
1. Artifactual data proves nothing.
2. All data is artifactual. 

The Two Things about Studying Philosophy:
1: Nobody was right.
2: Everything is relative.

The Two Things about Medicine:
1.  Do no harm.
2.  To do any good, you must risk doing harm. 

The Two Things about Civil Engineering:
1. Dirt + Water = Mud.
2. You can’t push a rope.

The Two Things about Public Relations

1.  Perception is reality.
2.  Perception is rarely reality.

The Two Things about Building Code Enforcement

1. Our way or

2. No way

The Two Things about Being a House Husband:
1. That can wait until tomorrow.
2. That can too.

The Two Things about Creativity:

1.  God is in the details.   
2.  The devil is in the details.

The Two Things about Driving:

1.  Don't hit anything.   
2.  Don't let anything hit you.

But Whitman hasn't updated his site for a while since beginning  a new career as a TV writer. The Two Things about TV writing, he said are, "Character, character, character" and, "Nobody cares about character if the plot makes no sense".  So I offer here to pick up the slack and put my own "Two" cents in. 

The Two Things about Television News.
1.  The people delivering it are always attractive
2.  The news they're delivering is always hideous.

The Two Things about Winter Blizzards
1.  They're glorious, beautiful and provide hours of joyful recreation.
2.  Unless you're watching  the TV news coverage. 



The Two Things about Hollywood Movies.
1.  They're made with and for money.
2. Talent & intelligence are optional.

The Two Things about the Stock Market.
1.  Nobody knows anything
2.  Anyone who knows something is cheating

The Two Things about Dogs.
1.  Food .
2.  Got any more food?

The Two Things about Air Travel.

1. Security will spend 20 minutes searching for the contraband you don't have.

2. Security will always miss finding the contraband you do have. 

The Two Things about Trendy Restaurants.

1.  It will be too noisy to hear the table conversation.
2.  It will be too dark to read the check.

The Two Things about Public Television
1.  The business side is all about Corporate Funding. 
2.  The programming side is all about Corporate Funding.

The Two Things about Golf.
1. Swing down and the ball will go up.
2. Ok.  Now let's try that again.

*The Two Things about Music.
1.  There are no wrong notes.
2.  Except for the notes that follow. 
*(A Miles Davis observation)

The Two Things about  trying to write a "Two Things" thing.
1.  The first thing is usually easy
2.  The second thing just makes you think of a third thing.

Gonna take another extended hiatus to recharge my batteries...

hope to reconnect in a week or so.   

"The Paleolithic hunters who painted the unsurpassed animal murals on the ceiling of the cave at Altamira had only rudimentary tools. Art is older than production for use, and play older than work. Man was shaped less by what he had to do than by what he did in playful moments. "

Eric Hoffer

No time to stay home and shovel, pack, shape and smooth out my own, so spent the lunch hour collecting some shots of others who did.  There are thousands of shots of high end masterpieces online, some to rival Mt. Rushmore in size and ambition, but I prefer the home style amateur efforts...except for the last one which struck my fancy as a hard core Moby Dick and Melville fan. 

Isn't that what's his name? Yeah, saxy ex Prez Bill Clinton
 on front lawn of house in Duluth MN. 

Family in Rahwah New Jersey were rewarded for this
piece of artistry by some neighbors who took offense and called the cops....

...who ordered them to do some retouching to conform
to community standards--I think the clothed version
 is far more lascivious. 

A bit too avant-garde for my tastes...

If only Melville could have known his masterpiece would
inspire such a tribute over a century later