MDBCs 04 Mar 2023

The name of this unofficial holiday plays on the words, march fourth, which when spoken out loud sounds like march forth - an expression used to convey action and moving forward.

Homonyms

March fourth and march forth are homophones - words or expressions that are pronounced alike, but have different meanings. Homographs, on the other hand, are words or expressions that are spelled the same way but have different meanings. Examples of such words include bass (a deep sound and a type of fish) and bow (to bend, the front of a ship and a type of knot). Homophones and homographs are both types of homonyms.

How to Celebrate?

March forth and do something.
Volunteer in your community.
Start something that you have always wanted to do, but have never had the chance to.

Did You Know…

…that the word March is a capitonym? Capitonyms are words or expressions whose meaning changes depending on where it's capitalized or not. March refers to the month, while march refers to a walking in a measured way.

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The family was viewing old slides and one flashed on the screen that caught everyone's attention. My father, wearing his favorite golf shirt, was holding me at the tender age of three weeks. The look on his face told all. "There's my prize possession," my father said.

Touched, I smiled at him as he continued, "I wonder whatever happened to that golf shirt?"

***

Traditional Chinese drugstores are always filled with bizarre remedies for everyday ailments. So while traveling in the Far East, I couldn't resist going into a drugstore to look around. There were rows and rows of jars filled with dried herbs, powders, and exotic oils.

But one jar really caught my attention. The label said it was a guaranteed cure for stomachache.

The jar was filled with chocolate chip cookies.

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To mail a big package of cookies to my two Air Force sons, both of whom were serving in Saudi Arabia, I was required to attach a label describing the contents. I carefully marked the box "Cookies" and sent it off, but after a month my sons said they had yet to receive my package.

Suspicious, I baked another batch, only this time I labeled the contents "Health Food." Within a week my sons reported they had received the goodies.

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Spotted on T-shirts for sale in the Ponce de Leon Coast Guard Exchange:

"Support Your Local Coast Guard…Get Lost."

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“Yesterday was my 18th birthday!” a customer said after walking into our convenience store. He then asked for some e-cigarette products and handed me his ID to prove he was indeed of age.

I scanned the ID, but it came back expired.

Now thoroughly deflated, he asked, “Does that mean I’m not 18?”

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