Category Archives: Wednesday Word

Damocles in the News

Posted on March 3, 2025 by Kathy

Now and again, classical derivatives and mythological allusions arise in the news cycle. Regarding the case of New York mayor Eric Adams, the sword of Damocles keeps recurring in pundit parlance. First, to review the news story so far, Mayor … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Wednesday Word | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Fascism 101

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Kathy

The word fascism is newsworthy right now, and its history is fascinating (no relation) and illuminating. A Roman fascis (plural fasces) was a mere bundle of sticks, often with an ax sticking out of the middle. This mere bundle took … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Wednesday Word | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Is She?

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Kathy

My sisters and I used to laugh when our grandmother would tell us, “She is a cat,” as a reprimand for our using the pronoun she. Whatever was wrong with she? And who was a cat, and why was she … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Wednesday Word | Tagged , | 2 Comments

IVF

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Kathy

In vitro fertilization is usually defined as taking place outside of the body. That is not what it means, however. In vitro means “in glass.” As in, inside a test tube, assuming the test tube isn’t made of plastic. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Wednesday Word | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Pits

Posted on September 5, 2024 by Kathy

In his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, Tim Walz described waiting to hear the results of his wife’s IVF treatments like this: “The pit in your stomach when the phone would ring, and the absolute agony when we heard … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Wednesday Word | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Political Patois

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Kathy

The eye-opening content and transgressive humor of Tim Miller’s Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell (2022) deserve attention, but they will have to wait for another day. Instead, I want to focus on Miller’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Uncategorized, Wednesday Word | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Way More Than You Wanted to Know

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Kathy

Why is a cobbler both a delicious dessert and also a little old man hunched over his bench making shoes? Inquiring writers, enjoying the former, wanted to know. This is not a riddle. It’s a gnarly etymological question that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Wednesday Word | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Evil Little Goat

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Kathy

A recent Italian film has furnished us a perfect Wednesday Word: chimera. La Chimera, written and directed by Alice Rohrwacher, stars Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles in The Crown) as a thief who, with fellow gang members, raids Etruscan tombs and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Wednesday Word | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Are You Tanked Up?

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Kathy

Cleveland lies in the path of the April 8th solar eclipse, and everyone’s a-twitter, including Twitter. The Guardians’ home opener also happens today, and the big women’s college basketball championship games were here in Cleveland this weekend. Traffic will be … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Wednesday Word | 2 Comments

That’s an Order!

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Kathy

Mandamus is one of those legal terms being bandied about these days. It’s a court order that commands an official to do his or her duty or forbids him or her from doing something he or she shouldn’t be doing. … Continue reading →

Posted in Wednesday Word | Tagged , | 4 Comments