background preloader

10 Words That You've Probably Been Misusing

10 Words That You've Probably Been Misusing
There are so many words in the English language that it’s not surprising that the definitions for some of them have gotten mixed up over the years. It’s possible that you’ve gone your entire life without realizing your mistakes. I’m sure people have noticed. 1) Travesty What you may think it means: a tragedy, an unfortunate event What it actually means: a mockery; a parody This one, I’ll admit, is my own personal error. 2) Ironic What you may think it means: a funny coincidence What it actually means: contrary to what you might expect It’s not ironic that you bumped into a talking turtle in a sweater vest right after you told your friend how cool it would be to bump into a talking turtle in a sweater vest. 3) Peruse What you may think it means: to skim or glance over something What it actually means: to review something carefully/in-depth 4) Bemused What you may think it means: amused What it actually means: confused Again, with the whole “words sounding alike” issue. 5) Compelled 6) Nauseous

Home Remedies for Sinus Infection – Natural Sinus Infection Treatment Apple Cider Vinegar – Apple cider vinegar is a hailed sinus infection treatment. Being just one of many apple cider vinegar uses, countless individuals attest to the effectiveness of apple cider vinegar against a multitude of health conditions, including sinus infection. One of the most powerful ways to use ACV is to mix 8oz of warm water with 2 tbsp of ACV and 1 tbsp of honey. In addition to the above home remedies for sinus infection treatment, you could try utilizing some of these options. Elevate your head while sleeping.Apply warm compresses to your face multiple times daily for 5 minutes each.Vitamin C is an excellent immune booster, and can help to fend off sinus infections. Source: Natural Society Apple Cider VinegarMedicinal Herbs Related Posts « Take Action: Repeal the Monsanto Protection Act Portland Voters REJECT Water Fluoridation »

25 Ways To Fuck With Your Characters « terribleminds: chuck wendig - Waterfox As storyteller, you are god. And to be frank, you’re not a particularly nice god — at least, not if you want your story to resonate with readers. A good storyteller is a crass and callous deity who treats the characters under his watchful eye like a series of troubled butt-puppets. From this essential conflict — storyteller versus character — a story is born. Put differently, as a storyteller it’s your job to be a dick. It’s your job to fuck endlessly with the characters twisting beneath your thumb. And here’s 25 ways for you to do just that. 1. Gods have avatars, mortal or semi-mortal beings that exist on earth to embody the deity’s agenda. 2. The audience and the character must know the stakes on the table — “If you don’t win this poker game, your grandmother will lose her beloved pet orangutan, Orange Julius.” 3. Impossible odds are a powerful way to fuck with a character. 4. Drop the character smack dab between two diametrically opposed choices. 5. 6. This one? 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

10 More Words That You've Probably Been Misusing Two weeks ago, I wrote an article titled 10 Words You’ve Probably Been Misusing that a very surprising number of you seemed to enjoy. Because you can only write so much in an Internet article before people get distracted, I had to limit the original piece to a mere ten words. Luckily, today is a new day, and this is a new post, so behold! Ten MORE words. However, after reading a small chunk of the 600 comments on the last piece, I feel like I need to preface this sequel by saying a few things. A) A more accurate title for this article might be “10 Words That May Not Mean What You Think They Mean” but I’m keeping the original title simply so that people realize it’s a follow-up to the original. B) Many of these words have developed new definitions over time. Anddddd, BEGIN! 1) Plethora: What you may think it means: a lot What it actually means: superabundance, an excess 2) Forego What you may think it means: to bypass What it actually means: to go before This one is a matter of spelling. 7) Alas

Mothering the Mother: 40 Days of Rest | Birth Without Fear “The role of the midwife is to be mother to the mother.” (Unknown) We’ve all heard that ‘all that matters is a healthy baby’. Mothers matter. Of course infant health is important. In the past, women were surrounded by their own mothers and other older women during and after birth. But that kind of caring is the kind of attitude we need to cultivate. While many people believe that, “Women from [fill-in-the-blank random 'savage' culture] just have the baby in the fields then get right back to work,” in reality most traditional cultures, including those throughout South America, Europe (Greece), the Middle East and Asia, a 40-day rest period is considered mandatory after an infant’s birth. Women from the mother’s community stop by her place to offer support, childcare for older children, and to bring food. *Photography used with permission. **Svea Boyda-Vikander is a mother, psychotherapist and visual artist.

Seven Tips From Ernest Hemingway on How to Write Fiction | Open Culture - Waterfox Image by Lloyd Arnold via Wikimedia Commons Before he was a big game hunter, before he was a deep-sea fisherman, Ernest Hemingway was a craftsman who would rise very early in the morning and write. His best stories are masterpieces of the modern era, and his prose style is one of the most influential of the 20th century. Hemingway never wrote a treatise on the art of writing fiction. 1: To get started, write one true sentence. Hemingway had a simple trick for overcoming writer's block. Sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. 2: Always stop for the day while you still know what will happen next. There is a difference between stopping and foundering. The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. 3: Never think about the story when you're not working. 7: Be Brief.

FREE Rhyming Dictionary: Find Rhyming Words in Seconds - StumbleUpon Behind a Little House Project: Dramatic Changes in Landscape Behind a Tiny House For his Behind a Little House Project Italian photographer Manuel Cosentino found an unsuspecting muse: a tiny nondescript house on an unexceptional hill. He returned to photograph the small building from the exact same location for nearly two years in order to capture the dramatic changes in weather and light that utterly changed the scenery just beyond the horizon. As part of a traveling exhibition the photos are mounted on a wall behind a book containing copies of a photo of the house against a white sky. Viewers are then invited to draw their own interpretation of what appears behind the little house. The first photograph starts the series with a Big-Bang-like explosion and sets everything into motion, the last is a new beginning – it represents that piece of “carte blanche” that we are all given with our lives. The entire project is currently on view at Klompching Gallery in New York as part of their Annual Summer Show through August 10th.

10 Mythological Creatures and Shapeshifters - Listverse - Waterfox Creepy Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology and folklore. Many legendary creatures have this ability, which is represented in a full body transformation. It enables the creature to trick, deceive, hunt, and kill humans. Throughout history many murder sprees have been attributed to the presence of these beings. The Leshy is a male woodland spirit in Slavic mythology believed to protect wild animals and the forests. Selkies are creatures found in Faroese, Icelandic, Irish, and Scottish mythology. Berserkers were a group of Norse warriors. In Japanese folklore the Kitsune is an intelligent and magical being. The púca is a legendary creature of Celtic folklore, most notably in Ireland, the West of Scotland, and Wales. The Wendigo is a creature appearing in the mythology of the Algonquian people. An encantado is a Brazilian legendary creature. An aswang is a mythical creature in Filipino folklore. Vampires are legendary creatures said to feed on the blood of humans and animals.

30 Challenges for 30 Days Did you know that it takes 30 days to form a new habit? The first few days are similar as to how you would imagine the birth of a new river. Full of enthusiasm it gushes forth, only to be met by strong obstacles. The path is not clear yet, and your surroundings don’t agree. Old habits urge you to stay the same. So, take a moment to reflect on the question ‘Who do I want to be in 5 years?’ Check out this short TED talk first to get inspired: Now pick one or more challenges and stick with them! However, be cautioned, picking too many challenges at the same time can easily result in a failure of all of them. #1 Write a I-Like-This-About-You note/text/email each day for someone (Easy) This is the perfect way to let someone else know you care. #2 Talk to one stranger each day (Hard) This is a great one to cure approaching anxiety. #3 Take one picture each day (Hard) This one gets harder nearing the end of the challenge because at one point you will run out of the easy shots. We recommend:

Internet Service Providers Plan Censorship Strategies For All Customers By 2014 (PreventDisease) When censorship fails there is always a fallback strategy to muzzle the population – going straight to the source. In this case internet service providers (ISPs) are the companies that offer users around the world access to the Internet. There are many websites which pursue censorship strategies to prevent specific information from getting through to the public domain. Google, facebook, youtube are among many of the largest sites in the world which employ sophisticated information suppression techniques. The problem is, it hasn’t worked very well, so ISPs now plan to block specific websites and search terms they consider offensive under the guise of initiatives to block pornography and other sexually offensive material. But it won’t stop there. Just two years ago, a University of British Columbia Professor made headlines when he stated that censorship has become a worldwide norm and that new laws will control what you read or see on the internet. Why Is This Happening?

Cliche Finder - Waterfox Have you been searching for just the right cliché to use? Are you searching for a cliché using the word "cat" or "day" but haven't been able to come up with one? Just enter any words in the form below, and this search engine will return any clichés which use that phrase... Over 3,300 clichés indexed! What exactly is a cliche? This is Morgan, creator of the Cliche Finder. Or, you might like my crazy passion project: Spanish for Nerds: Learning Spanish via Etymologies! Back to cliches... if you would like to see some other Web sites about clichés? © S. Special thanks to Damien LeriAnd to Mike Senter Morgan's Web page How One Man Is Using Fungus to Change the Violin Industry A Stradivarius is the best violin a player could ask for thanks to a very specific biological reaction in the wood used to construct them during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But a new study reveals that fungus might be the trick to making new violins that sound nearly identical. Science Daily reports Professor Francis W. M. R. He discovered two species of fungi (Physisporinus vitreus and Xylaria longipes), which decay Norway spruce and sycamore -- the two important kinds of wood used for violin making -- to such an extent that their tonal quality is improved. "Low density, high speed of sound and a high modulus of elasticity," is what signifies good wood for violin making. No word yet on how this will affect the value of existing Stradivarius violins, or when a fungolin will make its debut on Law & Order.

Related: