by Dwane | Jan 31, 2023 | Uncategorized
Reintarnation: to come back to life as a hillbilly. Over the weekend, I was sick. Sicker than I have been in a long time. It was awful and exhausting. Since recovering, I have experienced a strong urge to listen to country music. I am beginning to think I may have...
by Dwane | Jan 31, 2023 | Uncategorized
I struggled in school. I was not a good student. I failed English grammar and had to repeat several grades. I graduated from high school one month before I turned 20. I thought I was doomed to a life of mediocrity. Then, in my twenties, I discovered the...
by Dwane | Jan 28, 2023 | Tip of the Week
Remember the story of Chicken Little? Chicken Little is a fictional character in a children’s story. One day, an acorn falls on Chicken Little’s head. He instantly assumes the sky is falling. He panics and spends the rest of the day running around stirring up...
by Dwane | Jan 26, 2023 | Uncategorized
Years ago, I read The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley. I remember thinking… “Is this a commentary on the book of Proverbs?” This morning, I ran across a summary of the book. Investment writer Mark Skousen wrote this:...
by Dwane | Jan 25, 2023 | Uncategorized
This week we are looking at words of fear. Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia: fear of long words. Brace yourself. This one is tough to break down. First, the easy part. Phobos, from the Greek word φόβος, is fear. From this word, we get all of our phobias. The...
by Dwane | Jan 23, 2023 | Uncategorized
Trepidation: a condition of anxiety or dread; a quaking or quivering, particularly from fear or terror; a state of terror. The men were in great trepidation. Trepidation is from the Latin trepidus meaning, nervous, jumpy, or agitated. From trepidus, English also...
by Dwane | Jan 23, 2023 | Uncategorized
You just found the fastest, most affordable Latin classes online! Now, you can join EVERY CLASS I teach with ONE simple subscription option. Yep. Subscribe once and you will have access to each and every class I teach. I fully intend to win for you. I intend to do...
by Dwane | Jan 21, 2023 | Tip of the Week
After several years of studying French, I am able to understand most of what I read. I can also understand much of what I hear. But, when it comes to speaking French? When it comes to turning my thoughts into French? That’s a different story. I find it quite...
by Dwane | Jan 21, 2023 | English, Vocabulary
Destinesia: to reach your destination only to forget why you were going there in the first place. Destinesia is a portmanteau word. It is a combination of destination and amnesia. Amnesia, in case you have forgotten, is a word meaning forgetfulness. I’ve been...
by Dwane | Jan 20, 2023 | English, Vocabulary
Webinar Webinar is a portmanteau word I hear every weekday morning. Every time I turn on GoToWebinar, I hear, “Welcome to the Webinar.” A webinar is an online presentation. The word is a combination of “World Wide Web” and “seminar.” Web is from the Old English...
by Dwane | Jan 19, 2023 | Vocabulary
Fortnight fourteen days; two weeks. Fortnight is a portmanteau word. A portmanteau is a blended word. The combination takes on the meanings of both words. Fortnight is a combination of fourteen and night. Change the spelling and, for some reason you end with the...
by Dwane | Jan 18, 2023 | Ebook
I have written a book on goal setting. I am now in the process of editing the book. This is an excerpt. ================================================= When to retire I have known people who retired at the age of 60 simply to play golf and watch TV. What if they...
by Dwane | Jan 18, 2023 | Uncategorized
When we fuse two words we can create a new word, and sometimes a new concept. We call such words portmanteau words. Not long ago, I heard the portmanteau word slacktivism for the first time. Slactivism: half-hearted activism We participate in slactivism by posting...
by Dwane | Jan 17, 2023 | Vocabulary
Lawfare The use of the judicial system against one’s opponents Lawfare, a portmanteau word, is a combination of law and warfare. C.S. Lewis once pointed out that we live under something like administrative lawfare. “I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of...
by Dwane | Jan 16, 2023 | Vocabulary
I like portmanteau words. If you have no idea what I am talking about, let me explain. A portmanteau was once a traveling case for clothing. Once you reached your destination, it could double as a small piece of furniture. The word comes from the French...
by Dwane | Jan 16, 2023 | Uncategorized
I have written a book on goal setting. I am now in the process of editing the book. This is an excerpt. ================================================= How to become an expert Expert, experiment, and experience all come from the same Latin word. The word is...
by Dwane | Jan 14, 2023 | Tip of the Week
Perhaps you have heard of Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time allowed. We have all experienced this. Give yourself the weekend to finish that report for school, and it will take the entire weekend. Give yourself only Saturday to...
by Dwane | Jan 13, 2023 | Uncategorized
Vindictive: vengeful; given to revenge. Sometimes Latin and English get along quite well. A Latin word and an English word will find themselves in complete agreement. Vindictive comes from the Latin noun vindicta, meaning vengeance. Someone with a vindictive spirit...
by Dwane | Jan 12, 2023 | Uncategorized
Postulant This morning, one of my students taught me this word in Latin class. I had never heard it before. We were talking about English words that come from the Latin word postulare (to demand or ask). From the Latin postulare (to demand, or ask), English...
by Dwane | Jan 12, 2023 | Uncategorized
Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The New Year is a great time to set goals. I’ve been working on a book on goals for a while now. But, to be honest, the entire goal-setting process can be summed up in three quick steps....
by Dwane | Jan 10, 2023 | Uncategorized
I have written a book on goal setting. I am now in the editing process. As I edit, I will post most of the book here, for free. This is from the introduction. ================================================= Your Potential If you do not know me, I should warn...
by Dwane | Jan 10, 2023 | Education, English, Vocabulary
Criticize: to find fault; to point out flaws real or perceived I took some time off for Christmas and New Year. No one criticized me. Pretty impressive, guys. You could be nicer than you think you are. Criticize comes from the Greek word χριτιχός (kritikos)...
by Dwane | Jan 3, 2023 | Uncategorized
Happy New Year, everyone! Live classes on this site will resume next week on January 9, 2023. All previous classes are available 24/7 of course. If you are trying to catch up, you still have almost a week to do so.
by Dwane | Dec 17, 2022 | Education, English, Vocabulary
This week, one of my students translated egg nog into French. She ended up with the phrase: lait de poule. Lait is French for milk, and poule is French for hen. Put the two together and you get, “hen milk”. Um. This threw me for a loop. I started wondering,...
by Dwane | Dec 15, 2022 | English, Vocabulary
Truckle: to yield out of weakness Most of us know what a trundle bed is. In case you don’t, a trundle bed is a low bed on wheels. When not in use trundle beds slide beneath other beds. Evidently, in some places, trundle beds are truckle beds. Truckle comes from...
