The Cold Organism and Employee Absenteeism

(All names have been changed to protect the guilty).

A long, long time ago, when I was very young, I worked at a lawyer's office.  The private investigator employed at the firm did not like me much - and I returned the favor.  He was one of the, a'hm, stupidest people I have ever met.  He was crude and crass, and simply unpleasant.  But he was also often funny.

There had been a rash of absenteeism among the employees, with colds and flus, and what have you.  One after the other, everyone seemed to be taking time off.  It was disruptive and annoying to be sure.  That it was sweltering July didn't matter.  The rest of the crew had gathered in the lunchroom one day, when Mr. Clem, the investigator, storms in, sees us all in one place, and decides to give us a piece of his mind.  He sets off on his soliloquy: "Girls, of course you're all sick.  You got kids at home, they bring colds home, and you're here in air conditioning, then you go outside into the heat, then you come back in, and there are so many orgasms in the air, of course you're gonna get sick ..."

Huh? "Oh, Mr. Clem, they're ORGANISMS!" We can still hear our boss laughing.

Etymology, entomology, superficial and superfluous - ah, and don't forget supercilious

I've heard them all, as in "Don't you want to know the entomology of that word?"  Huh?  No, ma'am, I don't.  I'd much rather know what its etymology is!

Entomology (n) is the study of insects.  Etymology the study of the origin of words. 

Superficial is not the same as superfluous or the same - or even similar to - supercilious. 

Superficial (adj) means concerning surface, the crust of something, the outer shell, anything that's only skin deep (Paris Hilton?), as in "Her new boyfriend is truly superficial," implying that he's an airhead (there are those who would have preferred that I use girlfriend, but this is an equal opportunity blog).  Superficial also describes a physical characteristic, as in "The superficial layers of Mars may contain some evidence of water."  Very simply, superficial is the opposite of deep, physically or emotionally.

Superfluous (adj) means excessive, extra, unnecessary, unneeded, as in, "She doused herself with another superfluous spray of perfume before returning to the table."

Ah, then, there's supercilious (adj), a nose-up-in-the-air haughtiness, snobbism.  Here I can break down the word into its components for clarity: "super" over, from the Latin superciliosus, meaning eyebrow.  A supercilious fellow is one who looks down his nose with raised eyebrows at his degenerate audience.  It is an unpleasant arrogance, disdain of people who think they are better than anyone else. 

Maggie Smith has played that well on several occasions.  Think the supercilious art dealer, or the demanding schoolteacher.

Eminence vs. Imminence

Eminence (n) is an honorific, a position of great position or distinction.  Ex. The eminent Pope Francis is coming to town.

Imminence (n) is the condition of something about to occur.  Ex. The imminence of her death was obvious to all.

You may combine both in a single sentence, as in "The imminent visit of the eminent Pope Francis spurred everyone to frenzied activity."

Both words sound similar when spoken; not so when written.  Spelling is important in conveying the proper message.

Incredulous vs. Incredible

To state that one is passive, the other active might not explain a thing.  To compare it to imply vs. infer might also not shed any light on the distinction between incredulous and incredible.

One is incredulous (adj.) if one cannot believe what is happening.  And that may be because what is happening may be incredible (adj.).  Got it?

Let's try another tack: A direct object is incredible, hard to believe.  You, as the receiver of that information, may not believe what's in front of your very eyes, and that makes you incredulous.  You are a disbeliever, a doubter, incredulous.  Science fiction may promote concepts which are hard to believe, or incredible.

Cela n'empeche pas...

Most of the entries here are for the English language, and for English speakers.  Be that as it may, the above expression, "Cela n'empeche pas" in French, has been rattling about in my brain, as I was trying to translate it into English.  I must say it is much more eloquent in French.  It means, "That does not preclude," or "That does not prevent," or "That does not impede" certain actions or consequences.  As an example, being female does not exclude one from running for president of the United States.  It just sounds better in French, and actually conveys a slightly subtler meaning which is not translatable. 

Another example might be, Being Christian does not preclude appreciation for other philosophies.

Mis-Pronouncing English

There are certain words that are most frequently mispronounced by certain ethnic groups, to wit: utilizing, positioned, observed, measuring, closing, as well as, present, etc.  These sample words are typically mispronounced as: utilicing, pocitioned, obcerved, meassuring, clocing, ass well ass, precent.

What's the problem? English is peculiar in that certain words containing an S, SS, or Z call for different pronunciations depending on the word.

When these words are heard as depicted above, with the expected Z sound pronounced as an SS sound, it distorts not only the language itself, but also sometimes the meaning of what is being said.  Curiously, the very offenders who substitute Z for SS often have absolutely no trouble at all pronouncing Z at the ends of words, as in tissues or milliliters.