Bill W

Thank you, weinerdog. Your comment is much appreciated.

Like in the song, give me a home Where the buffalo roam and the deer and antelope play But there’s no reason to stop there When there’s such an array of animals to choose from I want to live in a world that’s varied Where animals of all different shapes and sizes abound Along with the roles each one plays The eco-system won’t function properly without them all What about some feathered friends Wouldn’t I want a blue jay, a robin or a cardinal as well? Also a few of ou

A free verse poem for the 2025 Poetry Anthology - "Diversity".

You might also think that someone might confuse the word laxity with lacrosse, since it's abbreviated as lax. Therefore, someone might think that laxity is the act of playing lacrosse.

The word "laxity" originates from the Latin word "laxitas," meaning "openness" or "wideness," and entered English in the early 1500s, via French "laxité". The earliest known use of the noun laxity is in the early 1500s. OED's earliest evidence for laxity is from 1528, in a translation by Thomas Paynell, translator. laxity is a borrowing from French. Examples of laxity in a sentence: "That laxity can cause joint dysfunction where the pelvis and spine meet". "But the laxity of the white church collectively has caused me to weep tears of love". "To appreciate the law, you have to appreciate the incredible laxity of current rules on bogus gun sales". "Impatience with ethical laxity is common to all the TV judges." "Because of connective tissue laxity, care should be taken in the degree of stretching." "The result of such fiscal laxity is a budget deficit" "She may have slight cervical laxity, but elasticity is still good."

Actually, Sam isn't so unusual for a girl, since many girls named Samantha go by the nickname Sam.

Who's on first.

Notsu (乃津) = “thy” But contextually it would roughly translate to “good work”, and yes that's pretty vague but it's as close as it gets in English I think. 😜

Ah, so YOU'RE the boy named Sue.

I just received notice that a discrimination suit is being filed against you by the ASPA and ACLU because you ignored a number of other hooved animal species in your last comment. It would behoove you to make amends and apologize immediately before you get run over by a reindeer, stampeded by a wild horse, or headbutted by a pissed-off goat, just to name a few of the other hooved creatures you slighted. I understand that they're so riled up that they are tempted to leave hoof prints all over your body, so do the right thing before it's too late! 😠

Behoove, also spelled behove in British English, nowadays is an impersonal verb meaning “it is necessary or proper (for someone to do something).” Behoove comes from Middle English bihoven "to need, be contrained; to be needed or required." Bihofen, already mostly used as an impersonal verb in Middle English, and it comes from the Old English word behōfian, meaning "to need, require", which in turn comes from the word behōf. The earliest known use of the verb behove is in the Old English period (pre-1150). The word behove is inherited from Germanic. Examples of behoove used in English: * "It would behoove you to study hard and work for the future you desire." * "It would behoove the legislature to pass a law behooving citizens to pay their taxes earlier." * "He argued that he should have done this beforehand, but neglected that it behooved him to act at once." * "It behooved them perhaps to be prepared to make a full exhibit of their principles, giving the ultimatum on which they proposed to stand." * "It would behoove us to leave before midday's heat hinders you." * "Again it does not behoove the historian to speculate or embroider on the precise significance of the words employed." * "With all the articles Celiac.com has published regarding the link between this disease and depression, it would behoove any new celiac to register on a celiac forum and soak up as much advice and sympathy as possible. * "Better yet, if you find an emo on the street who's style you admire, it may behoove you to find out who their stylist is to avoid a most unnecessary bad hair day."

The word coil comes from the Middle English word collen, which means to wind or twist. The Middle English word coilen is thought to come from the Old English word cwelan, which also means to wind or twist. Another possibility is that it comes from Old French coillir, from Latin colligere ‘gather together’. The first recorded use of "coil" as a noun, meaning "a winding or rolling together," is from 1567. The first recorded use of "coil" as a verb, meaning "to wind or gather (ropes, hair, etc) into loops or (of rope, hair, etc) to be formed in such loops," is from 1611. Examples of coil (noun) used in a sentence: "A thick coil of smoke rose from the chimney". "The mechanic replaced the old ignition coil with a new one". "She wore a coil of beads around her neck". "The snake coiled around the branch, ready to strike". "The steel arrives at the factory in coils". "The coil of wire was used to create a magnetic field" Examples of coil (verb) used in a sentence: "The snake coiled tightly around the branch." "She coiled the loose thread around her finger." "Please coil the rope and hang it on the hook." "The cat coiled up into a ball on the rug." "A long scarf was coiled around her neck." "I want you to coil the garden hose and store it away." "She coiled her hair into a neat bun."

Steve claims he wasn't out drinking with Brad, but then he tells us at was at Brad's house playing poker and drinking beer. So, he wasn't out drinking with Brad, instead he was at Brad's house and drinking with him and a few other friends while playing poker. I find Steve's defense to be very confusing and can't tell how he defines the two as being different, since he's still drinking beer with Brad! 🤪

It was very interesting and I did as Cia asked. I shared my thoughts and wrote them in a review.

Azure came to Middle English (denoting a blue dye): from Old French asur, azur. The French could have come up with this word from two sources, first from medieval Latin azzurum, azolum. The French might have also gotten it from a mistranslation from Arabic al ‘the’ + lāzaward (from Persianwore lāžward ‘lapis lazuli’). Lapis Lazuli is the dazzling deep blue stone that's very common in Afghanistan. The Arabic word actually refers to an area of Turkestan where Marco Polo collected lapis lazuli for friends back home. The word "azure" first appeared in English as a color name in the 14th century, adopted from Anglo-French and Middle English, with the earliest recorded use being in 1374 in Geoffrey Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde". Examples of azure being used in a sentence: "The once azure skies of Athens have been ruined by atmospheric pollution. "A gauzy azure scarf was twisted in her hair and seemed to catch everyone's attention." "The azure skies began turning hazy, possibly indicating a storm was approaching." "The white beaches were surrounded by azure seas." "A flash of azure drew my eye to a kingfisher as it landed nearby."

Vagary can be traced to the Latin verb vagārī, meaning “to wander” or “to roam,” and it's likely that vagabond comes from that same source. Vagary was first used in English in the late 16th century (also as a verb in the sense ‘roam’). According to the OED the earliest known use of the noun vagary is in the mid 1500s. OED's earliest evidence for vagary is from 1566, in the writing of Thomas Blundeville, author and translator. Examples of vagary in a sentence: "He and his team have delivered despite the vagaries of the weather. "It has withstood the test of time and is not prone to the vagaries of passing fads." "Keyword analysis is a bit more of an exact science, but even that is subject to the vagaries of public opinion and circumstance." "The mind has its own vagaries, its ups and downs." "Like almost anything else, kitchen décor is seasonal and subject to the vagaries of fashion."

The word escalate originates from a back-formation from the word escalator (a moving staircase), which itself comes from the French word escalade, meaning an assault with ladders on a fortification. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) lists the earliest evidence for "escalate" as being from 1922, in the publication Granta. Escalate used in a sentence: "We do not wish to escalate the war." "In turn, the increased prices caused health costs to escalate in a vicious circle." "The president decided to escalate the dispute by withdrawing the ambassador." "We are trying not to escalate the violence." "The conflict has escalated into an all-out war." "The cold weather has escalated fuel prices."

Iridescent came to be in 1796, when some enthusiastic word maker took the Latin word iris (iridis), which means "rainbow," and morphed it into an English word that describes anything giving off a luminous, rainbow sheen or that changes color in the light. Another viewpoint, iridescent is derived from the name of the Greek goddess of the rainbow, Iris, and the Latin suffix '-escent' meaning to have a tendency towards something. Examples of iridescent used in a sentence: "Adult males have a pink-streaked iridescent throat-patch that can be held erect." "The drake's head has an iridescent purple sheen when held at a certain angle." "As she neared the object, she noticed it was an iridescent purple and pink." "Under the crystal bright light of a full moon their blue marble shined, iridescent." "Iridescence, the play of colors like a rainbow, can be seen in various natural and man-made examples, including soap bubbles, oil slicks, and certain minerals." "You can also purchase iridescent Christmas bulbs that you can hang from your tree."

The most embarrassing gaffe for a politician is being caught on a "hot mic". Such as when Ronald Reagan got caught on a hot mic in 1984 saying "we start bombing in five minutes." Or at a G-20 when the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and then President Barack Obama where caught saying the following about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a "hot mic": "I can't stand him any more, he's a liar," President Sarkozy said. "You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day," replied President Obama. Those were considered major gaffes at the time.

Gaffe is from French, literally ‘boathook’ (from Provençal gaf : see gaff1), used colloquially to mean ‘social blunder’ or 'faux pas'. The word "gaffe" meaning a social blunder or faux pas, first appeared in English around 1919, in the early 20th century. Examples of Gaffe in a sentence: *She realized her gaffe only after she had mistakenly revealed the surprise party plans to the guest of honor. *Accidentally calling his teacher by the wrong name was an embarrassing gaffe for the young student. *If you run into a friend out with her grey-haired father, and blurt out, "Oh, hi, you must be Tara's grandfather!" then you have made a gaffe. *He made an embarrassing gaffe at the convention last weekend. *It’s also worth recording some of the social media gaffes from this election.

She either had a very amorous husband or a red light above the door on the shoe that she turned on after the children were asleep.

Just so you know, wangster can also be spelled wankster, not to be confused with wanker.

No, he works for the old woman that lived in a shoe and had so many children she didn't know what to do.

I know of Bill W., because I was often asked I was him or related to him. . .and the answer is no, but I had no idea about the name of that pamphlet or program. I do thank you for your exceedingly generous praise of my work, but don't forget that there are people trying to close libraries and banning books, so maybe that wouldn't be such a good option after all, even if it wasn't such a far-fetched possibility.

The English word "angst," meaning a feeling of anxiety, dread, or anguish, originates from the German word "Angst," which itself stems from the Proto-Germanic root "*angustu-",which means "narrow, constricted, and is ultimately derived from the Pro-Indo-European root "*angh-", meaning "tight, painfully constricted, painful". The word "angst," meaning a deep feeling of anxiety or dread, was first recorded in English in 1872 as a borrowing from German, and its use became more common through translations of works by Søren Kierkegaard and Sigmund Freud. Examples of angst in a sentence: He was accustomed to a sort of panic, a feeling of angst, coming over him suddenly. "What makes these songs so potent is the unmistakable angst festering beneath each one." "It is a sign of the times, of our tumultuous, dizzying culture of metaphysical angst." Only darts seems to prompt this existential angst. Anything using a city name would cause massive angst. Their tastes are planted in teenage angst. Why so much angst about who can marry whom? They rescued me from a tedious adolescent predisposition to existential angst. The earliest known use of the adjective "angsty" in English is from 1956, as evidenced by the Oxford English Dictionary. Angsty means feeling, showing, expressing anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity, often in a self-conscious manner, and is often associated with the emotional turmoil of adolescence.