I was looking through my curious words list. Okay, so I don’t really have a curious words list. It is more like a junk drawer in my email. Anyway.
Every now and again, I am reminded of them.
Like. Demagogue. I just like the way it sounds, for one. But its meaning is so very appropriate, in our modern times. The definition? A leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power. I won’t go any further than that, but I did notice in the news the other day, that there is a sink hole forming on the White House lawn.
Oh yes. There is. For now, just like everything else, they are just covering it up.
So.
Well…… …. ..
Anyway. Words. Phrases. Meanings. Our wonderful methods of communication.
Trenchant means that you are keen, or you are sharp. Execrable means that you are detestable; very bad; wretched. From one end to the other, our words are seemingly endless.
And then, when you push them all together – those words – become phrases. And believe it or not, there are certain types of phrases.
One fun phraseology, in particular, is called a Paraprosdokian. Winston Churchill loved them, I am told. But essentially, they are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising. And often times, it is somehow unexpected, and frequently humorous.
For instance.
Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.
Or.
The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list.
And.
In filling out an application, where it says, ‘In case of emergency, Notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR.’
And then.
If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
Yes. But often, the Paraprosdokians are a bit on the snarky side. And it seems that the older I get, the less irascible I become.
I can’t tell if this is because I am finding inner peace, or just losing my will. Either way, I barely lift a fiery finger now.
Actually, I think what it is might be my Mulligan Motto, that I’ve adopted. Every day, I get to start over. Yep. I wake up (thankfully) and there it is before me. A new day. Remarkably, another one. In looking ahead, I know — I understand — that I am most likely not going to get it all right. Hopefully, I just won’t get it too wrong. Either way, I’ll give it my best go around. As trite as it may sound, I’ll do my best. That’s all we can ask of ourselves. To be our very best selves.
And always remember.
You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
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“Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.”
― Horace
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“If you do not begin to search, then you cannot find anything”
― Sunday Adelaja
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“It’s when I begin to understand life that I begin to understand so little.”
― Anthony T. Hincks
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