Category Archives: B words

Buddy

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Buddy: (n) a close friend

A buddy is much more than a close friend.

I always viewed a buddy as someone who is a little younger than oneself, who tags along with great devotion, Dictionary Bsuffering under the pangs of hero worship.

I had such a friend.

He was about two years my junior, intelligent as a librarian’s daughter and completely inexperienced in most aspects of life.

I set him up with his first girlfriend.

I explained some of the greater subtleties of human sexuality (from my limited perspective).

I took him to his first X-rated movie.

We were so close that half the people thought I was a bad influence and the other half were grateful that I took him under my wing.

It lasted for about a year. Then one day somebody talked to him about me–or maybe nothing, or perhaps something.

Who knows?

From then on, we never really saw each other.

But sometimes I wonder if he thinks about the time we had together–the adventures, the laughs, the mistakes and the double-takes.

I remember it fondly.

Was I a bad influence on him? Hell, yeah.

In a good way.

 

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Budding

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Budding: (adj) developing buds in the normal growth process

Ideas may be our worst enemies.

Even though many people yearn for them, plead for them or even pay good, hard cash for them, ideas often takDictionary Be us off the track of the successful trail.

We honor ideas too much. We are afraid to abandon them when the budding of a new possibility appears before our eyes. We feel a false sense of loyalty–especially true when it’s our own brainchild.

Therefore, we fail to question what is already unraveling, innovate that which is archaic, and simply laugh off things we have planned which are ridiculous.

We should be looking for the greening of an idea–some evidence that the planted seed is actually breaking through the soil, reaching to live.

Most people spend too much time visiting their ideas, which they buried, and now, rather than becoming a garden, resemble a graveyard.

 

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Buddhism

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Buddhism: (n) a religion, originated in India by Buddha

Everybody’s got a different idea on the subject.

Some people think religion is like comparing various incarnations of cola. In other words, a handful of people Dictionary Bknow the difference–but most folks would just say “it’s a Coke.”

Continuing in the food theme, there are those who differentiate religions as bread, milk, meat and fruit. But I think all that’s ridiculous.

I think the most intelligent thing to do in assessing religion is to take a moment of your time to figure out what really works with humans on Planet Earth.

There are three things:

  1. People are people and they aren’t going to stop being people.
  2. We all care about ourselves.
  3. So it’s essential to find a way to care about yourself without ignoring everybody else.

This trio of ideas is immutable. It never goes away.

So a Jewish religion which believes that those who have trimmed penises are the “chosen people” might find themselves struggling in the social arena with that assertion.

Likewise, the Muslims, who feel it is their job to take over the world and insert Muslim principles into the heart of every human being, will probably suffer the slings and arrows of those who love a good barbecue pork sandwich.

And in the case of Buddha and his world-renowned Buddhism, trying to convince people that ignoring their desires and emotions is the path to Nirvana, seems to me to be futile.

Christianity, on the other hand, which has decided to bunk with Judaism, fails to deliver the best tenets of its organization as put forth by Jesus, who thoroughly confirmed our three steps by saying that once you find out how you love yourself, just apply that same measure to others.

There is an old saying, which translated, reads, “The only pure religion that is undefiled is to take care of women and children who don’t have resources and to keep yourself from being overthrown by worldly affairs.”

Buddhism suffers from too much introspection in a world which demands we consider seven billion options.

 

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Bucolic

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Bucolic: (adj) referring to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life.

When my assistant spoke the word–“bucolic”–I said, “I’ve heard that before.”

I had no idea what it meant.

I’m careful not to use words that I’ve suddenly discovered, thinking it will make me appear intelligent Dictionary Band well-versed in the vernacular.

So when she looked up “bucolic” and read the definition, a thought immediately came to my mind. It’s kind of a strange one.

The thought was, we are never totally happy where we are.

If we’re sitting out in the middle of a beautiful pasture filled with trees and flowers on a springtime day, the notion will suddenly present itself: “This would be perfect if I just had a Big Mac and a Coke.”

Then we may find ourselves stuck in a traffic jam, sucking in the fumes of oil and gasoline, wishing for the bucolic surroundings of a robin in the forest, flying toward its nest.

Strangely, we find both positions to be acceptable. After all, dissatisfaction might be considered one of the top four “normal” conditions of humankind.

Yet somewhere inside us is a desire to be content with what we have.

Because when I’ve allowed contentment to rattle around my belfry, it has rung the bells of appreciation.

It may sound sappy to be happy with what’s crappy.

But when I am, I’m more pleasant to be around.

I know that no one likes my bitching–not even me–but I follow it like a monk in a monastery.

I’m hoping that when I finish this life I will be remembered for the kind words I conjured in the midst of turmoil … instead of the turmoil I decided to conjure in the midst of kindness.

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Buckwheat

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Buckwheat: (n) an Asian plant milled into flour

The first black person I ever saw was on a television screen, watching “The Little Rascals.”

His name was Buckwheat.

He looked really weird to me. And of course, the producers of the show did little to play down his ethnicity.Dictionary B

No–that was the goal. The purpose was to establish that even though this crazy group of kids had invited in a snooty rich girl–Darla–and a black bug-eyed little boy named Buckwheat, that it was completely normal because these were all children of the neighborhood.

From that experience, I learned the power of imperfection.

While some people may scream about injustice in the world, there are those who quietly and perhaps awkwardly introduce ingenious concepts into our lives, and by doing so, gradually contribute to the common good.

Even though Buckwheat was a very stereotypical “tar-baby” type of character, the mere fact that he was in the gang and included with all the white kids, rich kids, Italian kids and kids with cowlicks, caused me to deal with the possibility that the races might just possibly be comfortable mixing together.

Without that, I don’t know how long it would have been before I ever saw what we then referred to as a “Negro.” And by that time I would not have been six years old and pliable to the notion of accepting another race.

Even when ideas are not perfect, if within their imperfection they are moving toward social justice, we should certainly support them.

 

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Buckteeth

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Buckteeth: (n) upper teeth that project over the lower lip.

In pursuit of truth and compassion, you find yourself in many a thorny patch.

Even though each one of us may insist that we want to be truthful and tender, our internal prejudices often grab us by the throat and Dictionary Bchoke out all the kindness.

This is especially true when it comes to teeth.

I don’t know what it is about teeth. I could say I never consider anyone’s teeth–but if they have missing ones, or buck teeth, I will notice and attribute a lack of intelligence to them because of it.

I feel bad about it. For some reason, this was transferred into my brain at an early age, and found such a resting place that eviction seems unlikely.

Yet I run across other people who think my teeth are flawed, but choose to be merciful.

My children were especially, notoriously obsessed with their teeth. But it takes a prince’s ransom to create straight teeth in the human head. If you multiply that times three or four kids, you may find yourself needing to go into piracy to procure the desired pearls in their mouths.

Buck teeth are tough.

It’s a simple protrusion, yet it connotes so much negativity that it almost has to be corrected to secure acceptance for the victim.

And victims they will be–because we have not yet reached the point where we can consider the intelligence, the spirit and the passion of other human beings without first contemplating their “dentality.”

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Buckskin

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Buckskin: (n) the skin of a male deer.

I saw it on TV.

I had to have it.

Being only ten years old, my negotiating skills were undeveloped. I explained to my mother and my father that the buckskin shirtDictionary B I saw the little boy wearing on the Daniel Boone television show was so cool that I must have one right now.

This was long before the Internet or when information on such garments was readily available. My mother actually had to write to the studio in Hollywood to find out where a shirt could be purchased.

I must tell you, she was in no hurry about it. Matter of fact, it took two months to get the letter written and a response back.

The studio was so kind they actually sent her a pattern for the shirt, explaining where to acquire buckskin.

Two immediate problems came to the forefront: the buckskin was very expensive, and the shirt pattern was sized for a boy who was rather small–which was not me.

So Mother found a seamstress who agreed to make the shirt for me as a Christmas present. But she explained to my parents that we would need two-and-a-half times the amount of buckskin to cover my skin.

The project was abandoned.

My parents emphatically explained that they could not use their entire paycheck for the next week to make me look like Daniel Boone’s little nephew.

I never got my buckskin shirt.

It was the first of many disappointments in my life, which fortunately did not lead me to a life of crime.

Though as you can see, I would have had a good excuse.

 

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Buckle

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Buckle: (v) to join the ends of a belt or strap.

“One, two, buckle my shoe…”

I remember when I was a kid, I asked my teacher what that meant. She explained that long ago people hadDictionary B buckles on their shoes.

I peered at her, frowning. She laughed. “It doesn’t change how good the rhyme is.”

She was right–especially when you consider the power of the concept of, “…three, four, shut the door.”

But “five, six, pick up sticks” still confuses me.

And then, for some reason, after “eight” we’re supposed to “lay them straight.”

And for the final act, we have a “big, fat hen.”

(Maybe our forefathers did take drugs.)

Yet, what do we buckle?

Belts. Do people still wear belts? Not as much as they used to, though I’m sure I will be contradicted.

Actually, we’ve grown plumper in this country, so most of us have a belly that holds our pants up quite well.

We do buckle our seat belts, though I think now we say, “Put on your seat belt.” They don’t really buckle–they snap.

So what use for ae buckle?

Matter of fact, the word has taken on the responsibility of donning a new personality.

Now when we use the word “buckle” we are usually talking about “buckling under pressure.”

“Buckle at the knees.”

To buckle is to give in to surrounding circumstances, failing to exhibit adequate backbone.

I wonder if it hurt your backbone when you bent over to buckle your shoes…

 

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Bucket

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Bucket: (n) a roughly cylindrical open container

I set my mind in a twirl this morning thinking about drinking fountains.

If you pause to consider this apparatus, it’s really quite comical. If you’re really thirsty, a drinkingDictionary B fountain is nearly meaningless–plus the fact that they don’t have a napkin dispenser nearby, so you stroll away wiping your mouth on your sleeve.

There’s just enough water that comes out of a drinking fountain to wet your whistle (though I’m sure nobody says “wet your whistle” anymore).

That’s why we invented the bottle–for those occasions when we want more water. Also available is a gallon container if you’ve just done an episode of a Western and have been working in the desert.

And then there’s the bucket.

It is that wonderful container to transfer large quantities of liquid–usually water–very quickly.

It’s the reason that when a house catches fire, nobody requests a Dixie cup brigade. How many Dixie cups of water does it take to put out a fire? No one knows, because no one uses Dixie cups for that purpose. (Once again, I’m not sure anybody still uses Dixie cups…)

I like buckets.

When I see someone walk in carrying a bucket, I know they’re going to do some serious stuff. Otherwise they wouldn’t need a bucket.

They could use a teaspoon.

Or a little bowl.

The presence of a bucket tells me there’s going to be an abundance.

I like abundance … especially when it appears to be coming my way.

 

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Buck

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Buck: (n) slang for a dollar

I don’t know who gets to decide what’s important and what isn’t.

I’m not really sure how we place value on one thing while assigning insignificance to another.

For instance, a buck private in the army is the lowest rank, yet no war can be won Dictionary Bwithout thousands of them.

There are times when a single dollar bill seemed so unimportant to me that I joked around with a friend and took a match and burned it, just to see what it felt like.

Then there were occasions when I rummaged through the seat cushions of my car because I thought I remembered dropping a dollar bill down there.

Also, if there’s some sort of problem when “the buck stops”–and it more than likely will be here–maybe it would be a good idea to do more to prepare for buck stoppage.

  • What is important, what is worthless?
  • What is without value, and what is invaluable?

There is one constant mistake humans make which triggers all the afflictions that trouble our species: we misuse what we have because we’re either anticipating or demanding more.

Just solving that misdemeanor can set in motion a lifestyle which salvages the little … and transforms it into much.

 

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