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Thursday, 23 May 2013

Rising Damp: a rant.

I saw a headline not long ago inviting me to join Greenpeace, an organisation which is trying to stop the world getting warmer.

You see, if the world does get warmer then lots of the world's ice will melt.

The melt-water will flow down into the seas, which will rise and cause floods and annoyance to all and sundry.

This prospect is worrying to many people.

The Greenpeace headline said:

JOIN THE ARCTIC RISING

Um...

...but isn't that just what they're trying to prevent?

Word To Use Today: arctic. This word comes from the Greek arktos, which means bear.


Photo: Steve Hillebrand / USFWS



6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. That's very kind, Sky. Thank you.

      Personally, I'm never satisfied: but it's as near as I can get.

      Delete
    2. I think it's hard for people to relate to the Artic, all the way down there in the South Pole, covered in flocks of polar bears and schools of penguins : o )

      Delete
    3. You are living dangerously, here, Ed!

      I do like the idea of a school of penguins, though. They always look so smart in their uniforms, don't they.

      In any case, rookery as a collective noun for penguins is just SILLY.

      Delete
    4. I *love* collective nouns or (because I want to show off) terms of venery.

      I'm writing about one tomorrow, but you'll have to wait and see.

      Did you know that a group of ducks is (among other things) a badling or a twack. How lovely is that? : o )

      Delete
    5. As lovely as Helen of Troy wearing silk pyjamas by Chloe, Ed.

      I love that other gorgeous term of venery, a paddling of ducks, too.

      On the other hand a bevy of girls, though often gorgeous, isn't, strictly speaking, a term of venery.

      And a bench of bishops is unlikely to be either gorgeous or a term of venery.

      Can't wait for tomorrow's lexicolatry, Ed!

      Delete

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