“semantic network: Chunks of information connected in networks by associated meanings. Activation of any one chunk automatically ‘readies’ others that are closely associated with it, with lessening degrees of activation spreading from one network to another. Some scientists believe the semantic network may be the main structural component of long-term memory.”
Excerpted from: Turkington, Carol, and Joseph R. Harris, PhD. The Encyclopedia of Learning Disabilities. New York: Facts on File, 2006.
[Over the past few years, I have developed an interest in baseball. I remain a neophyte in my understanding of the game–this summer I bought a copy of The Dickson Baseball Dictionary by Paul Dixon so I could better build my knowledge of what the players, particularly pitchers, are actually doing. This post, however, arrives because of my long interest in the T206 Honus Wagner Baseball Card, which I think I can safely analogize as: What the Bay Psalm Book is to bibliophiles, the T206 Honus Wagner card is to collectors of sports memorabilia.]
“Honus Wagner (originally John Peter): (1841-1918) U.S. baseball player. Born in Mansfield (now Carnegie), Pennsylvania, he played principally for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1900-1917), and coached the team from 1933 to 1951. The right-handed hitter led to the National League in batting in eight seasons (1900, 1903=4, 1906-9, 1911) and in stolen bases five seasons. His total of 252 three-base hits remains a National League record. Nicknamed ‘the Flying Dutchman’ for his speed. Wagner is considered one of the greatest shortstops and all-around players in baseball history.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.”
Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.
“strategy: A plan or tactic to solve a problem or carry out a decision. In education, a strategy refers to almost anything that a teacher or a student does in the classroom—asking a question, reading a story, figuring the meaning of a word, planning the next day’s lesson, and so on.”
Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.
“Carl (Clinton) and Mark Van Doren: (1885-1950, 1894-1972) U.S. writers and teachers. The Van Doren brothers were born in Hope, Illinois. Carl, who taught at Columbia University 1911-1930), edited the Cambridge History of American Literature (1917-21) and journals. His critical works include the biography Benjamin Franklin (1938, Pulitzer Prize). Mark taught at Columbia 1920-59. He published more than 20 volumes of verse, including Spring Thunder (1924) and Collected Poems (1922-38) (1939, Pulitzer Prize). He wrote three novels and several volumes of short stories and edited anthologies. His literary criticism includes work on John Dryden, William Shakespeare, and Nathanial Hawthorne as well as Introduction to Poetry (1951), which examines shorter classic poems of English and American literature.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
“Nobody gets out of childhood alive.”
Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.
“Corollary (noun): An assertion or proposition that follows implicitly, with little or no proof, from a given statement; an immediate deduction or inference; natural consequence, parallel, or accompaniment. Adjective: corollary
‘If this book doesn’t make you angry, it wasn’t worth writing.’ As any logician can tell you, the corollary of the above quotation is not necessarily true, that is, if the book does make you angry, it does not necessarily follow that it was worth writing. Laurence Urdang, Verbatim“
Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.
“Applause, n. The echo of a platitude.”
Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. David E. Schultz and S.J. Joshi, eds. The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2000.
“Monotype: A print made by a planographic process in which an impression—usually only one—is taken from a metal plate on which a design has been made in oil color or printer’s ink.”
Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.
“Bankers: Pillars of society who are going to hell if there is a God and He has been accurately quoted.
All three Western religions have always forbidden the collection of interest on loans. When Samuel Johnson defined the banker in the eighteenth century his status was clear: ‘One that traffics in money.’ Their venal sin of usury continues to sit high on lists of scriptural wrongdoing, which raises the questions of why bankers—the money-market sort excluded—tend to be frequent church-goers. The respect in which they have increasingly been held over the last two centuries has paralleled the growth of economics based on long-term debt, which has spread into every corner of society, from governments and corporations to the poor. The more money owed, the more the lender is respected, so long as the borrower intends to pay it back.
But what effect does this have on the moral position of bank employees? Few modern bankers are owners. Except through their salaries they do not profit from interest payments. Are they or are they not among the damned? Perhaps they should themselves be seen as victims of usury, having little choice but to lend their lives to the usurious process in order to feed their families. Yet for the borrower, these employees are the human face of usury.
The clearest situation for bankers would be if God didn’t exist. They would then be morally home-free and could go to church in a more relaxed frame of mind.”
Excerpted from: Saul, John Ralston. The Doubter’s Companion. New York: The Free Press, 1994.
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Tagged humor, literary oddities, philosophy/religion
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