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Page A-4 — Shelton—Mason County Journal Thursday, Feb. 10,
Some wOrds about words
y brain summons im-
ages of people when I
read or hear particu-
lar words. Maybe this hap-
pens to you too.
The word “accommodate”
conjures a millisecond im-
age of Dan Shaw, former city
editor for the Bellingham
Herald, while he taught a
journalism class I was in at
Western Washington Univer—
sity. He taught us how to re—
member how to spell accom-
modate: “Two C’s, two M’s.”
The word “primer,” in
reference to a short piece of
explanatory writing, sum-
mons Bettz Pitcher, a long-
gone Olympian copy editor
who corrected me after I pro—
nounced “primer” as rhym-
, ing with “climber.” It’s pro-
nounced “prim” with an “~er”
at the end.
When someone misuses
the word “irony,” I see come—
dian George Carlin. He wrote
the following in his book
“Brain Droppings:”
“Irony deals with oppo-
sites; it has nothing to do
with coincidence,” Carlin
wrote. “If two baseball play-
ers from the same hometown,
on different teams, receive
the same uniform number,
it is not ironic. It is a coin-
cidence. Irony is ‘a state
of affairs that is the reverse
of what was to be expected;
a result opposite to and in
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Who’s entitled?
Editor, the Journal,
KlRK ERICSON
THESE
TIMES
mockery of the appropriate
, result.’ If a diabetic, on his
way to buy insulin, is_killed
by a runaway truck, he is the
victim of an accident. If the
truck was delivering sugar,
he is the victim of an oddly
poetic coincidence. But if the
truck was delivering insulin,
ah! Then he is the victim of
an irony.”
Here are some words I in—
vented that should be added
to the language:
I Vacciliate, verb: Inject-
ing people with misinforma-
tion about vaccinations.
I J iggeritis, nounszhis
word refers to the moments
we make whenvwe’re near-
ing a person who is mirroring
our attempts to avoid a colli-
sion. Jiggeritis often happens
' in hallways, sidewalks and
stairwells.’
I Malinteruptum, noun:
This condition occurs when
unhealthy, hungry, poor and in debt,
you’re in a group and you’re
interrupted by someone who
makes the precise comment
you intended to make.
Here are some words that
have recently joined our '
American vocabulary:
I Fourth trimester, noun:
V The three—month recovery
period immediately following
childbirth.
I Mentionitis, noun: From
Lexico.com: “A tendency to-
ward repeatedly or habitu-
ally mentioning something,
especially the name of a
person one is attracted to or
infatuated with, regardless
of its relevance to the topic of
conversation.”
I Infomania: From diction-
ary.com: “An obsessive need
to constantly check emails,
social media, online news,
etc.”
Here are some irritating
words and phrases I wish ir-
ritated more people:
I The team is in control of
its destiny. Destiny is beyond
any earthling’s control. You
can’t control your destiny any
more than you can control a
well-fed cat.
I Global pandemic: A pan—
demic is an epidemic that
has gone global. “Global pan-
demic” is redundant. Maybe
people say “global pandemic”
because it makes COVID-19
sound twice as bad.
I Set a new record: If you
they are more easily manipulated.
road wear and tear.
set a record, the record is
new. It’s redundant.
I Spike: A spike, when
referring to an increase, is a
change that has a sharp rise
and fall. However, you can’t
' say, for instance, that prices
spiked this month because
you don’t know what will
happen next month. If prices
go up and stay up, what
you have is not a spike but
a plateau (or mesa, depend-
ing on where you’re from.) A
spike is only clear by looking
backward.
I Iteration: It’s business-
babble. Iteration is a word
former Pentagon chief Donald
Rumsfeld used a lot while
pretending he knew how
many US. troops it would
take to invade and occupy
Iraq. Turns out Rumsfeld
didn’t iterate right.
I Upskill: To give some-
one, such as an employee,
added skills through educa-
tion and training. Upskill is
the type of word people use
so they can fit in with other
people who use that word.
I Reach out. Exactly what
did you do? Did you send an
email? Phone? Text? Holler?
When I hear, “I reached out,”
I assume the person didn’t
try all that hard to contact
someone.
I Friction: I became
aware of this word while I
had a gig editing a project for
Mastercard. See whether you
can figure out what “friction”
means from the following:
“Unlike government-issued
currencies, virtual or digital
currencies are operated by de—
centralized authorities, theo-
retically reducing many fric—
tions in current systems.
Built on a growing platform
of AI interfaces, the merchant
Point of Interaction (POI) is
moving beyond frictionless to
a world that is both invisible
and autonomous. Far beyond
frictionless, commerce be-
comes more intelligent and
payments fade to the back-
ground.” Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
I Surfacing, as a verb:
While working for the Mc-
Clatchy—owned newspapers
in Olympia and Tacoma, I got
an email in late 2018 from ,
some dipwad in corporate
headquarters in Sacramento
that encouraged me to re- \
' spond to a survey designed to
gauge employee morale. Our
goal, the email read, is to “es-
tablish benchmark metrics
across key areas —— employee
morale, satisfaction and en-
gagement. Surface skilled
leaders who engage their
teams in a positive way.” In
a related development, M6-
Clatchy declared bankruptcy
in I
I Email Kirk Ericson at
kirk@masoncounty.com
protesting violations of individual rights
as “valid and necessary forms of expres-
V. Irene Stadel
sion.”Now that many in our culture
Jan. letter in the Journal titled
“entitlements” made me think of other
“entitlements.”I would rather my tax
money (federaland state) go to help
families with child care, college, medi-
cal bills and family leave, Social Se-
curity and Medicare. I’d rather help
small businesses with my tax dollars
than have my money going for “entitle—
ments” (subsidies, tax breaks) for oil,
gas and coal companies, and for Ama—
zon, Tesla, Boeing, Walmart, Nissan,
Archer-Daniels-Midland and the list
goes onc as well as paying farmers not
to grow.
Weknow that people who are well—
educated, healthy, well—fed and finan-
cially secure are happier, more produc-
tive and creative, as well as less likely
to commit crimes.
0n the other side of that, we know >
when people are under-educated,
Wlonmonéountn lbw-ital
USPS 492-800
POSTMAST ER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason
County Journal, R0. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584.
Published weekly by the Shelton-Mason County Journal
at W. Cata St, Shelton, Washington.
Mailing address: PO. Box 430. Shelton, WA 98584
Telephone: 360-426-4412
Website: www.masoncounty.com , ,
Periodicals postage paid in Shelton, Washington.
Donna Holliday
' Shelton
Yay, road repair
Editor, the Journal,
huge thank you after hearing that
the Shelton mayor and city council will
have West Railroad Avenue repaired
come spring. My car hollered and
jumped with joy after hearing this. I
travel that street three times per week
and back again after attending fun times
at the Mason County Senior Center.
To think mycar is still in one piece
amazes me. The road has been in dire
need since I moved here in
Auto insurance companies might have
been involved in lawsuits from their cus—
tomers if their vehicles were damaged
L from these junky roads. If the
truckers did it, then make them pay for
The Shelton—Mason County Joure
nal is a member of the Wash—
for Mason County addresses and 1
$75 per year ($55 for six months)
outside of Mason County.
Owned and published by
Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc.
Publisher: John Lester
Advertising: V
Gordon Weeks, Reporter
Matt 'Baide. Reporter
Kirk Boxleitner, Reporter
Kirk Ericson, Columnist/ Proofreader
Shelton,
'Free’ resources ’
Editor, the Journal,
I disagree with most of M r. Fergu-
son’s letter of Jan. 20, but greatly admire
his heartfelt attempt at a balanced tone
without insults and slurs — a much—
appreciated change of pace from many
Journal centributors. I’d urge those who
— like Ferguson — view our society as
under an assault created by the “perni—
cious momentum” of other folks feeling
entitled to “ ee” resources that “begin '
in the pockets of others” to also consider
other possibilities.
, It is indeed incumbent on all of us to
seek explanations for the “underlying
anger” behind the violent and destructive
turn that our climate of protest has
taken. Ferguson and I both view
’ Front office: ‘
‘ington Newspaper Publishers
Association. Theresa Murray, Ad Representative
' ’ Delivery:
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$62 per year ($43 for six months) Justin Johnson, Editor David Olson
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Composing room:
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enjoy the right to be free to create their
own “facts” and feel strongly that noth—
ing in their own pockets arrivedfrom the
1 pockets of others, maybe it is time to shift.
some of our focus as citizens of the same
American enterprise to helping improve
the climate for freedom’s sisters justice
and equality. '
My fimdamental difference with Fer- -'
guson is that ongoing deficiencies in
outcomes for these values spawns lack of
hope and opportunity rather than “an ac-
culturation of entitlement. ” Generational
inertia of our society’s ongoing failure to
strive for justice and equality for all our-
fellows continues to grow while many
chalk up those millions with empty pock-
ets to feeling entitled for what is in ours.
David Ellis
Union
see LETTERS, page A-5
r t
Creative Director: Lloyd Mullen
All regular editorial, advertising
and legal deadlines are 5 pm. the
Monday prior to publication. ’
To submit a letter to the editor, |
email editor@masoncounty.com.
Kim Fowler, Adyertising Design
Linda Frizzell, Advertising Design