Category Archives: A words

Abiotic

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Abiotic: adj. 1.physical rather than biological; not derived from living organisms. 2. Devoid of life; sterile

I found a definition for Congress!!  “Devoid of life and sterile!” A physical body not producing any life. How remarkable! Do you think anyone in that particular institution would comprehend it if I refered to them as abiotic?

I was thinking about other things in our society that are abiotic:

Certainly, the entertainment industry came to mind, which continues to pop out pet projects from a group of spoiled technicians who refuse to allow new ideas into their coven of interaction for fear of losing both prestige and dollars.

Certainly our religious system is abiotic. For after all, we more celebrate the death of our leader than we do his life, and even gather around his carcass weekly to grab a hunk, for old times sake.

Our educational system seems to have become abiotic, trapping us into a repetitive merry-go-round of stats and facts, which don’t always add up to the requirements of our ever-burgeoning world.

What a fascinating word!

Sometimes I’m abiotic. I see life happening in front of me and I pull up a chair instead of putting on my tennis shoes.

Abiotic–ignoring life in motion. Being present in the physical without generating any living thing.

Because after all, to live a cautious life is to have completely misunderstood the directions that came with our kit.

Abiogenesis

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Abiogenesis: adv. technical term for spontaneous generation.

My dear God. IS there spontaneous generation?? I was completely unaware.

I looked up the definition for spontaneous generation, just in case. This demanded that I escape the Ab’s and jump all the way to the S’s. (Please know that I repented of this indiscretion.)

I giggled when I read the definition of spontaneous generation. It is the contention that life can be sprung from inanimate objects. The classic case of this, of course, is the idea once believed, that if you throw a bunch of trash out in your yard, the putrid materials will transform themselves into flies.

Of course, anybody who travels, speaks, thinks, writes or shares with the American people knows that it is often difficult to find life in the midst of those who HAVE a heartbeat.

I suppose there’s a certain charm to spontaneous generation. If you really think life can come from non-living pieces of this and that, you don’t necessarily have to believe you need to do anything with your own personal living and breathing protoplasm.

“God will take care of it. If He can make flies out of stinky, He can make geniuses out of public high schools…”

Actually, one of the more discouraging things to do is to sit on the bench at the mall and watch the mass of humanity pass by, pursuing the pleasant task of buying and owning, but still morose, self-absorbed and in many cases, nearly catatonic.

Maybe there is spontaneous generation. Maybe it happens when you keep a good sense of humor in the presence of very mediocre possibilities, knowing that life is fickle and unpredictable, and in no time at all, prospects could improve.

Spontaneous generation-–abiogenesis: some sort of idea that you can actually say “let there be light” and it will appear.

Who do you think you are? God?

 

Ab Initio

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Ab initio:  1. adv. from the beginning (used chiefly in formal or legal contexts): the agreement should be void ab initio 2. adj. starting from the beginning: he was instructing the ab initio pilots.

Do you know why I like big words? Part of the time they make little problems seem more important and the rest of the time, if you’re avoiding a solution, they can help you appear to be doing it more intelligently.

Take today’s word, for instance. If you were going to break up with your girlfriend and you wanted to do it as kindly as possible, you could say, “From the ab initio of our founding, I realized there were certain discrepancies in the gelling of our auras…”

You have to admit, that sounds a lot better than, “You suck.”

Big words are great–especially when people around you don’t know them and they’re struggling for context clues, and in the midst of the struggle you can beat a hasty retreat.

I don’t know if I will remember to use ab initio, but it would be very powerful, especially if you were talking about God and creation, and you referred to that time as the “ab initio of the Divine nature.”

You would just ooze with pretense, education and arrogance. Wait–that’s NOT good, is it?

Sometimes I get confused because I live in a world where really bad attitudes are extolled temporarily because we want to use them.

I guess we’re on the ab initio of a change.

Ability

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Ability: n. 1. the capacity to do something 2. talent that enables someone to achieve a great deal: a man of exceptional ability.

Let me see if I’ve got this straight. Sometimes we think certain words mean the same thing, but if you look really carefully, you see that they don’t. So I have it figured this way: talent is what I think I can do, and ability is your opinion of my effort after I’ve completed it.

I know I’m always nervous when I hear somebody brag about their talent. I alway silently want to tell them to be quiet; play it cool. Don’t be such a blowhard. Because each one of us human beings has two different modes in which we perceive the performance or presentation of others. If we think they’re conceited, we put on our “mean” mind and get very, very picky. If we believe they are leading with a humble spirit, we are much more relaxed and willing to be forgiving.

So even though many people feel they have talent, their egomaniacal approach towards self-promotion makes the world around them judge their talent and pronounce a very low grade on their ability.

So maybe we don’t know how good we are until other people tell us the value of what we’ve shared or produced. Of course, we don’t like that. We are so preoccupied with our self-image that we would like to control all of the aspects of our offering to the world, including deciding for them what they’re going to think about it.

But it just ain’t so, Joe.

That’s why I think it’s better to play down your talent and come strong with your gift, so when people judge your ability, they will be much more merciful and generous. If you happen to be excellent on top of that, be prepared to be successful.

Talent is what I think I can do, and ability is the grade card you give me at the end of my test.

Abilene

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Abilene: 1 a city in east central Kansas; pop. 6,242. It was the first terminus of the Chisholm Trail.  2. a city in north central Texas, an agricultural and oil industry center; pop. 106,654

Darned tootin’ if Abilene doesn’t need a song.

Phoenix has one–Seattle, too. Los Angeles has several. New York, Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans…all of them have got tuneful tributes.

It seems to be my duty to write Abilene a song. I guess I will start with the A, B, C formula. In other words, go through the alphabet and find words that rhyme wiht Abilene so as to find possibilities as to where this composition might go.

Let me see now… A, B, C.  Nothing there. D gives us Dean. I don’t know what we’ll do with that. E, F… then there’s G.  You get green and glean. Possible.

H, I, J, K… they’re all a wash. L. Lean. Of course, you’ve already got that in the name of the town–Abilene.

M. Mean. Not much use. N, O. Well, I guess n-o. No.

P for preen. How would you work that in?

Here’s one! Queen! Of course, I don’t know if they allow queens in Abilene.

R has nothing. S–Seen. Either the s-e-e-n or the s-c-e-n-e. So maybe I could make the scene in Abilene with my Queen named Jean. Hey, I forgot the J, for Jean. You see how it’s building??

Teen. That’s dangerous. Because my Queen, Jean, should not be a teen, or you’re in danger of statuatory rape.

U, V. Nothing there. Again.

W has ween. That’s frightening. Of course, X, Y and Z is just like the tail that never shakes off anything of value.

So what did we end up with?

Queen Jean who’s a teen from Abilene, who makes the scene and isn’t really mean, although she spends too much time in an attempt to preen. But her looks are never obscene.

Oh, there’s an O.

You see how it works? Genius HAS form and reason to it.

But even as I look at the results, I have to admit that the Abilene song may have just about as much promise as the city itself.

It’s not my fault. I tried.

Abide

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Abide: 1. v.  accept or act in accordance with a rule, decision or recommendation 2. unable to tolerate: “I cannot abide…” 3. of a feeling or memory–continue without fading or being lost

As is often the situation when I hear the definitions for these words, I realize that I have created my own mental dictionary of what things mean, frequently having absolutely no basis.

I always thought “abide” meant to hang around, like three guys on a Saturday afternoon sprawled across the room, telling stories about what they wish they could do, will probably never do, but will insist someday when they’re old that they did.

I thought abiding was what faith, hope and love did because they were built into the woodwork and history of the framework.

Abiding is NOT hanging around. Abiding is hanging in there.

I realize that’s what’s missing from my life, and maybe the lives of many Americans. As long as you want us to just “hang around,” we’re fine. But the minute you define the cause, point out a specific direction or demand a commitment, we put into practice our well-rehearsed list of excuses and go “splitsville.”

Hanging in there is a tough thing.

I remember once playing a football game, and at the end of the first quarter our team was down 32-0. The prospects of victory were slim. We were unable to stop the other team from scoring and only felt satisfaction that we were bolstering their egos and padding their stats. But you see, it was the end of the first quarter. There were three more of them to come. The danger in football is that if you play the game halfway, you’re much more likely to get injured. So it was definite that even though we were going to get smeared, we would have to see the game through to the end.

So we set some small goals. For instance, hiking the ball and handing it off without fumbling. Another one was tackling the opponent before he gained twenty yards. And certainly the most important aspiration that kept us “hanging in there” was to make sure the final score was not 128-0.

We lost the game 64-0, having held them to 32 points in the final three quarters.

Although humiliating, we left the field uninjured and just a little bit tickled that we survived such an absolute cataclysmic event without committing suicide.

Abiding is hanging in there–which only gives us one major goal: find something worthy of our hanging.

Abhor

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Abhor: v.  regard with disgust or hatred

Talk about the bad luck of the draw. Here it is–Valentine’s Day–and the Old Dictionary pops up to me the word “abhor.”

But it did get me thinking. Because as wonderful as it is to have one day a year when we celebrate the glories of romantic love and think of phrases that will attempt to communicate the true spectrum of our feelings, we must realize that the rest of the year, what we’re trying to dodge are phrases that are so hurtful that they continue to sting even after consolation and gentleness have soothed.

Yes, we must realize that there are things we say which, no matter how many times we apologize, are stockpiled deep within the spirit of our lovers, to be released later at the most inopportune times. So I was thinking about these phrases we casually toss off in moments of weakness and frustration, simultaneously realizing that they have different weights of intensity–a scorecard, if you will.

Some of the lower-scoring insults are more easily forgotten, like:

  • “I don’t get you.” Or
  • “It wouldn’t hurt you to take some cooking lessons…”

There are the cutting comments. Case in point:

  • “I can’t help that I make more money than you.” Or
  • “I would have shared with you but I didn’t think you would understand or were interested…”

Then you leap into the higher scorers–those comments that do leave residual effects.

  • “You’re a liar.”
  • “You’re a loser.”

If you’re feeling in a British mood, you can say:

  • “I disdain you.”

In a great moment of fussiness, “I hate you” might even spit from the tongue.

But this morning I realized that none of those come close to “I abhor you.”

Now, there’s always the possibility that your mate does not own a dictionary and may think the word means something completely different. But if he or she happens to look it up, they will realize that the word “disgust” appears in the definition. That would be a hard one to overcome.

I do think I would prefer if my Valentine called me Satan instead of saying she abhorred me. So as you can see, words matter. Some words have a longer shelf life than others.

And definitely–the most important thing to remember on Valentine’s Day is that a hundred “I love you’s” can be quickly erased by … “Huh?  I’m sorry. I wasn’t listening.”

Abeyance

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Abeyance: n.  a state of temporary disuse or suspension.

I’m not positive. Oh, I have inklings.

I certainly am aware of little monsters that try to come into my life and leave their footprints all over my freshly cemented ideas. But I’m not really quite sure how to bring all of these munchkins under abeyance.

I don’t know about you, but I always start out really well. Matter of fact, I cruise brilliantly in the middle of the road. But somewhere along the line, I despair over well-doing. It’s not because I don’t have evidence that such actions are beneficial to me. It’s more that the celebration of my victories begin to mingle with the temperament of my bad habits and create a climate of self-righteousness, causing me to temporarily believe that I have arrived at my destination, when actually I am five hundred miles from home.

Yes, there are tiny, little cracks in my armor that welcome the arrows of failure.

Recently, I’ve been trying to lose weight. First of all, I’m not quite sure it’s possible. My body has never been completely amicable to the idea of dropping what it views as my “support system.”

I persevere–but I do see these tiny little inclinations, which I would like to catch early, showing that I am weakening to the severity of discipline and gradually nurturing the need for self-hugging.

Last night it was eating a mozzarella cheese stick–about fifty calories. Sometimes it’s an extra handful of walnuts–about eighty calories. As you can see, neither one in itself amounts to a hill of beans (about 3000 calories).

But the problem is, without me pursuing abeyance in this matter, somehow or another I get from the cheese stick to belching on top of that hill of beans without ever exactly knowing what calorie increases I have consumed in between. It would be freaky if it weren’t so predictable.

So how can I bring this particular appetite in my life under abeyance? I know this–the enemy of any change is to remain silent.

So thanks for the talk.

 

Abet

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Abet: v.  encourage or assist (someone) to do something wrong–in particular, to commit a crime or other offense.

I don’t think we appreciate enough how powerful it is to do things halfway. Matter of fact, I’ve heard people in casual conversation criticize or even put down that amount of concerted effort.

Isn’t doing things halfway at least acknowledging that something should be done?? Even though you ended up not buying enough gas for the trip or packing enough tuna salad sandwiches (with just enough Miracle Whip…)

So now that I know the definition of abet, I am going to make a commitment (halfway as it is) to merely AID without abetting.

I have been as guilty as the next one, to both aid and abet. That means I’ve been willing to assist in projects, but also use lies, deceit and various other forms of chicanery to cover up the true actions transpiring.

This dictionary definition has convicted me of all my abetting. I will no longer cover up–just offer assistance to my calamitous and often-comical stumbling brothers and sisters.

So if you plan on shooting your pet pig, and are making an exit out of town to escape the trailing  police force from PETA, you can feel free to stop off at my house, and I will give you a baloney sandwich–to go. But I have absolutely no intention, from this point on, of hiding you in my basement and pretending I know nothing about your hog slaughter.

Now, I realize that’s halfway. But it just seems cruel to remove abetting from people AND suddenly to yank aiding at the same time.

So you will continue to receive sympathy from me, but I will no longer participate in hiding you out in my closet, safe from those who come to track you down.

Well, I suppose if you were Anne Frank … you could still use my attic.

 

Aberration

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Aberration: n.  a departure from what is normal, usual or expected, typically one that is unwelcome.

A black man reading a book

A woman voting

A glass bulb which produces light

Removing leeches from the body to assist in healing

The knowledge that tiny bacteria cause disease

The earth is round

People of different races marrying each other

An evolving universe

All men are created equal

For God so loved the world

Jews are not rats

Rock and roll is really great music

Long hair, as it turns out, is not going to destroy human sexuality

God loves everybody

All of these were once aberrations–unwelcome departures from the a “normal thinking.”

If you will excuse me, I must leave now, to discover the next aberration–and do my best to keep from fighting it.