A Word After A Few Days- Milquetoast

Now, this one is difficulter to explain so as to memorize- Milquetoast.

Yes, you got it right. Milk plus toast. A noun here, which means- a spineless or a timid guy. The word's origin is not even hundred year old, and comes from a character called Caspar Milquetoast, the protagonist of the cartoon strip The Timid Soul, by American cartoonist, H. T. Webster.

I will strongly suggest looking at a few cartoons to eternally memorize the meaning of the word.

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Man World! I love blogging!

 

A word a day- Antediluvian

I have subscribed to a daily mail from dictionary.com which basically sends me one new word in my inbox to know of. I have made this subscription with the intent to improve my vocabulary; and, because I have very low -- I honestly mean really low -- memory retention capacity, all I do is get to know the word and soon I have forgotten the meaning of this word. I have been unable to digest this daily staple or knowledge. Maybe, what I should do is blame my current surroundings and environment where I cannot retain the word like 'Antediluvian' because it has no real use or is a redundant word here in my climate zone; but then, if the word such as Antediluvian is useful to me perhaps in future, at least for the sake of improved literary capacities I must probably resort to internet, and make use of things like emails, chats, blogs, facebook or all. Ah! another idea- I can have some quality conversation with my wife, or I can make a random phone call to people who love or like literature; at least one conversation a day with someone known, unknown or bygone. ByGoid I wouldn't have got this idea had I not started writing this- blog. Man, I love writing!!
So, today, the word I got in my inbox is antediluvian
( Audio Pronunciation )
\an-tee-di-LOO-vee-uhn\
, is an
adjective,
and means:
1. Of or relating to the period before the Biblical flood.
2. very old, old-fashioned, or out of date; antiquated; primitive: antediluvian

And, dissect the word Antediluvian,
- Ante is Latin for something before or something preceding,
- ian is like a suffix giving a time, event or a person a general larger identity,

hence, 'Ante .... ian', which isunt a complete word unless there is something between. The closest word I am getting from my plenty of education and experience, that is why some memory is there, is 'deluge' which I can put in between. So, let us go to old times and instead of calling the word 'deluge' call it 'diluv' instead.
Hence,
Ante + diluvee + ian
or,
Antediluvian

Remember, there are three words to be kept in mind and in an arranged manner now. Also remember, an additional adjective is always worth if it is handy in your ready to use vocabulary arsenal. I hope this has blog has helped the reader, and ironically I am still just too distracted. After all this dissecting and exploring, and repeated writing of the word 'antediluvian', I still wonder the word will stay in my memory for good enough long time.

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p.s. after all these edits, spell-checks and revisions, an example on how to use Antediluvian comes to my mind- It seems India's policy makers are making their decisions based on an Antediluvian mind set.

Flats to the Hills- Shamless Travel broadcast- May and June 2015 - 03

The airplane it dangl'd, the passengers they tumbel'd,
I rambled, I talk'd random, I sketch'd,
I taxied, I walk'd,
soon to be with brothers and friends.
Hanging around getting my pending urban share,
soon I realize comforter can be cooler air.
They call this place Delhi,
I call it fuck-it.
The nights they flow by and turn into weeks,
the brilliant silhouettes I decide I must leave.
The heat has become overwhelming,
even the air conditioners are not helping.
People are loosing calm I can see,
the Dogs already have, see,
see their teeth.
See their eyes,
see the sign,
resign,
or run away,
take the pills,
fuck it,
say, Good Bye dear Dog, I am heading to the hills.

Intent for curves in buildings

They ask me, why curves? When most buildings are boxes and straight lines, and it is much cheaper to build them the regular way?

Yes, admitted, but it looks different and ... ummm probably fancier

and

perhaps curves are interesting, and perhaps more importantly, liberating. Live in a cave compared to a house, you are bound to become more liberal.

It is like couches maybe, aeroplanes and large suspension bridges maybe. Straight ones may not be comfortable when compared to the modern ones which have incorporated ergonomics in designs. Or maybe, forces of nature have just forced them to become aesthetically more interesting.

Why do you need bend on a road? Simply because it makes things more interesting. It is in the air, a manifestation of the air to allow to see what great things it contains.

Never mind, just an aberration

Leaving the Ahmedabad Cantonment gate looking for an autorickshaw. Can't find one. So, looks to walk half a mile until Rajasthan hospital where surely there will be one. On an off road sees an exotic hand rickshaw, and the rickshaw puller, most likely a foreigner, waving excitedly, so waves back. The banyan tree in front of hospital shades a large area, is full of Indian people. The street shops and larries are selling chai, nasta, masala, cigarettes. Noisy, vapory, smoky- the smell, the sound, and the air tells. The Japanese monk has come chasing and asks for Three hundred rupees. An exotic sum ten times higher for a distance not yet travelled so is denied. He has a choice, either to argue or have tea.

Walking further sees the place has changed a lot, a lot. No more railroad intersection, an overbridge instead. No more boundary walls, wired fences instead. Where there were buildings are now roads and planned plotted lands. The erstwhile graveyard is now a party plot. Noisy, dusty, smoky- the smell, the sound, and the air tells. It's been a few miles of walking and it is time for whiskey.

Waking up in a double bed, most likely Connaught Place. Birds are chirping outside the window. The light is bright yet soft. The smell, the sound, and the air tells. Can hear utensils rumbling and bustling. Can see people wearing baniyaans and jeneyu hustling between the opposite doors, using the room as a thoroughfare. Preparations are on for a mass meal. The crown of tropical trees visible from the window sill tells there must be stairs to go down. But the design of stair room is bad. The stairs are there but the first stair drop is at least 3 feet. The missing steps are high enough to make one tumble and fall in the stair well. The stair room is not perfectly rectangular either. Faulty construction. People in baniyaans and jeneyu come for assistance bringing two step ladders, both made of beautiful latest lightweight alloy.

Walking in the street an old acquaintance is seen, so saying, "Hey, long time!"

"Hey, that was hell of a night"

Surprised, "what do you mean? What happened? Can't recall"

"The cops didn’t take it well"

Mused, "What had happened? Did I do something? Really, I cannot recall"

"Never mind, will tell you next time"

The hurt

An innocent girl and her friend,
walked the beautiful Delhi streets,
until some brutal youths kidnapped them,
in a bus within the city’s limits

Perhaps, Srinagar is safer then,
where every man on the road has a gun,
where goons dare not rape even a hen,
but then similar problems are there even

A collective desperate that they raped her,
beat her and then tear her hither thither,
intestines, blood and filth here and there,
reduced to a dead body somebody’s daughter

I can’t think anything sensible this hour,
my head is filled with daze,
could have been clearer less sour,
had my school taught a honest learning page on sex and rape

But I am learning now as time rambles,
the elected, executive and law-keepers thrive in shambles,
all can blame the society and its variables,
intelligent this time not to take upon themselves,
while the president was road trippin to bay of bangles,
citizen at Janpath beaten from almost all angles

anyhow, all waiting for time to solve it as always,
Now that it has been realized again,
certainly not forgotten because of the scar and its stain,
that although the road and streets are safe again,
we will walk in groups in this our nation,
or at least in two’s,
avoid talking to strangers not in aquaintance,
not still befriend the concept called freedom

now there be peace rallies against violence,
let'ss all walk shamefully with sympathetic candles,
flames saved from wind by one handed palm cap cups,
they are not meant to light a cigarette,
they are to signify a hope, a new start,
whatsoever

laugh it off a bygone unpleasant event,
happens every day and somewhere in our sub-continent,
law-makers better change for,
you and me and our big brother,
representative of us, paid by us,
take some genuine responsibility for the hurt