Category Archives: B words

Bubonic Plague

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Bubonic plague: (n) the most common form of plague in humans, characterized by the formation of buboes

I suppose I could sit here and rattle off information about the bubonic plague based upon what I know, and try toDictionary B illuminate you on the dangers of a sickness that has not infested the Earth for hundreds of years.

Rats.

I mean–rats, I’m not going to do that.

Or you can assume I mean, rats are what caused it.

And since rats did spread the bubonic plague, somebody eventually stopped the human death toll by increasing the death toll of rats.

Wherever there are rats, there is the danger of sickness. And what are the characteristics of rats?

They hang around foul and vile substances, nibbling on them until they, themselves, become filled with the venom of disease. So when they interact with others, they spread their infection, even though for some reason it does not kill them.

Rats are immune to their own “rattiness.”

So even though the bubonic plague still exists–and I’m sure they have samples of it in laboratories where they study its composition and dangers–there are other rats we should watch out for. These are the creatures who claim to be human, but nibble on nastiness and bite people, inflicting them with indifference.

Let me just say–damn it to hell, people are just not generous to one another any more.

The rats have gotten to us.

So even though it’s unlikely that any of us will get bubonic plague, it’s still a good idea to dodge the rats.

You just never know what they’ve been slurping up. 

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Bubbly

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Bubbly: (adj) used to describe a person who is full of cheerful high spirits.

When you remove tenderness and compassion from everyday life because, you will very quickly end up with a society that denies kindness while Dictionary Bfearing tragedy.

It’s tricky business.

I know there are people who think there’s a master plan of evil to destroy the world, and sometimes what we see certainly seems to confirm that theory.

But we are all too intent on coming across cool. Because of that, we’re never hot nor cold. We’re so afraid of being light-hearted and bubbly that we accidentally cuddle up to darkness.

It amazes me what younger audiences consider to be corny.

  • They don’t like silly humor.
  • They don’t like sentimentality.
  • They don’t like to hear too much praise given to an idea.
  • They don’t wish to give tribute where it is due.
  • They believe in the power of the unsaid–the silence that is supposed to project appreciation, but actually lacks volume and intent.

Can bubbly be obnoxious? I suppose.

But the truly dangerous profile is the stoicism which considers appreciation to be overwrought and gratitude assumed.

 

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Bubble

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Bubble: (n) used to refer to a fortunate situation that is isolated from reality or unlikely to last.

When my parents told me there was no Santa Claus, the revelation that the rumor had been greatly exaggerated did not totally deflate my young, eleven-year-old soul.

It’s not because I thought it was alright for them to mislead me, and it wasn’t because I found the Nordic purveyor of toys to be Dictionary Bpersonally distasteful.

It’s that nothing really changed.

I was getting toys–and I continued to get toys. The fact that they weren’t coming from the North Pole was somewhat insignificant.

Even if I wanted to be huffy about the “fake news” concerning Mr. Claus, it was difficult for me to make a major case, considering the fact that I still had the presents.

But when I was told that the government of the United States was “for the people, by the people and of the people,” and as an adult I discovered there is much misrepresentation to that assertion–well, it’s a different “checks and balances.”

It will also be much more disappointing if I find out that God was a Holy-Land-Hoax.

In both cases, I can’t live in a bubble or isolate myself and pretend I don’t know.

Because with no government or God, the toys quickly disappear.

The absence of a good government opens the door to all sorts of graft, corruption and scandal.

Likewise, to be minus a deity is a guarantee that my eternal home will be grave circumstances, with my dreams turning to dust.

This is serious stuff, folks.

I can live without Santa Claus.

I cannot prosper if our government is dishonest or if the two-party system is a one-lane road to dissension.

And I certainly don’t want to spend my Earthly life revering a supernatural being who ends up merely the figment of the imagination of Bedouin nomads.

Help.

What can I do to make sure that my leaders–Republican and Democrat–honor the premise of liberty?

And who should I have been if God ends up taking the Santa Claus nose dive?

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BS

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BS: (n) Bull shit

I think it’s wrong to blame bulls.

They eat and they secrete.

For us to tie all of our human foibles, inconsistencies and hypocrisies to their dung is flat-out insulting.Dictionary B

I’m not a lawyer and do not represent any bulls in particular, but I will tell you–the atrocities, stupidities and half-truths produced in our society are human shit.

It’s not like bull shit. It doesn’t come out in perfectly formed turds.

It’s dumped in varieties of personalized, steamy piles, often expressed with diarrhea of the mouth.

It is unique to our species because it is individualized by our diet of morality, spirituality and compassion.

Bulls have never done anything to us.

What I experience every day is human shit: the thought people have that they might be able to get by with what they say and do because everyone around them … is stupider than they are.

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Brute

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Brute: (n.) a savagely violent person or animal.

Violence usually connotes physical contact:

  • A smack

An attack

An assault

Yet there is a passage in the Old Testament where a prophet named Ezekiel attributes the term “brute” to pastors and religious leaders.

It’s rather doubtful that these shepherds were beating the hell out of the sheep. Being pious sorts, theyDictionary B probably prided themselves on never lifting a hand to harm anyone.

So was Ezekiel misusing the term? Or is there another possibility?

Let me say–it is savage to lay burdens on people who you know are unnecessary, mean-spirited and lack significance.

Case in point: I went to a church one Sunday and the minister, in his sermon, informed me that my problem was that I didn’t pray enough, I didn’t worship right and I must have some “hidden sin”–otherwise, God would be blessing.

Now, this was not just addressed to me, but to the entire body which came together needing encouragement–and left brutalized.

If God made me human and He knows my capability, then God can simply go to hell if He’s not going to give me a successful pathway to commune with Him.

Being a brute does not require that you throw a punch.

You can be a brute simply by putting unreasonable, unrealistic and unkind demands on another human soul.

 

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Brutal

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Brutal: (adj.) savagely violent.

On occasion, I comically refer to human beings as “monkey angels.”

A little bit of jungle, a little bit of heaven.

Because of this mixed breeding, the climate for our species requires a careful mingling of tough and tender.

I get in discussions with my sons about this all the time. They are convinced they can watch Dictionary Bmurder and mayhem in the movies and experience brutal treatment of God’s children, and be no worse the wear.

But the true diet for our spirit is an enduring toughness about complications and a tender empathy for our fellow-travelers.

In other words, celebrating, commemorating and being challenged by those who overcome difficulty through their determination, while emotionally impacted by gentleness among all brothers and sisters.

We’ve flipped it.

I think we try to be tough with our dealings with each other as we tenderize ourselves with decapitation, devastation and depravity.

It screws us up.

So I, for one, have no desire to become stronger by watching brutal acts.

Brutal is for brutes.

And “brute” is the part of our monkey that wants to act like a gorilla.

 

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Brussels Sprout

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Brussels sprout: (n) a vegetable consisting of the small compact bud of a variety of cabbage.

I was thinking about tough jobs:

Being the promotion agent for O. J. Simpson.

How about this?

Social media guru for the Facebook page of Adolph Hitler.

Or …

The marketing representative for Brussels sprouts.

This is a vegetable that has a public relations problem at nearly every turn. (Or turnip, for that matter…)Dictionary B

It is often described as a very small cabbage–not that cabbage has a great following itself. So being deemed a smaller rendition of an “also-planted” vegetable is not a “heady” proposition.

Brussels sprouts are fussy about being cooked. Some people like to keep them crisp and others, well-done. For those who like them kind of soggy, crisp is inedible. Likewise, the crispers choke on the “softies.”

Brussels sprouts also suffer under the dubious honor of being healthy. It would be a wonderful world if people were actually concerned about their health. Most people become interested in their well-being just about the time they grab their chest with a heart attack.

So it becomes an issue of taste. It’s gotta taste good. To accomplish that, we cover them in butter. Butter can make almost anything taste good, including snails.

But the problem is, when you put butter on Brussels sprouts, it’s like sending a choir boy to a maximum security prison to hang out. That which was good will certainly be tainted. The butter turns the Brussels sprouts into liquid death.

Do I like Brussels sprouts? Yes.

Would I serve them at a party? No.

Why?

Because deep in my soul, I really like people.

 

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Brusque

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Brusque: (adj) abrupt or offhand in speech or manner.

Mental disease.

It’s not exactly being crazy–it’s an infection of thought that comes into the brain and hangs around like a summer cold.

It affects the way we think.

It tampers with the depth of our love.

It stifles our passion.

Mental disease is tricky, because at first it seems to be an inkling, stated in passing, and then other people pick it up like a flag, waving it in the air as proof of a victorious idea.Dictionary B

One, which has infected the brain of the American public, is the attitude that what is said is not nearly as important as how it is said.

So even when people are teaching us, if they happen to have a brusque approach, our feelings tell us that they’re wrong because they aren’t sweet enough. Therefore, it’s easy for us to be enticed by falsehoods–simply if they’re presented in a candy-box of concern.

So we are easily fooled.

I suppose the consensus of thinking is to try to find nicer ways to say important things, to make sure people will listen. There might be some validity to that, but some issues are so essential for the human soul that they need to be delivered with solemnity … and deep gravitas.

 

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Brunt

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Brunt: (n) the worst part a specified thing

As a man, I must learn how to take the brunt without becoming a brute.

Maybe that’s also true for women. I’m not sure.

But having raised six sons to adulthood, I realize there were times that I needed to buck up, hide the pain, take the short straw and survive the greatest segment of difficulty.Dictionary B

It isn’t an issue of being macho–it is more the situation of realizing that somebody will probably end up being the fall guy, and choosing that position is better than being drafted.

I’ve always been proud of the fact that I provided for my family, but there were close moments. There were some times when groceries were less plentiful.

And I will certainly confess that my big, fat belly wanted to take the lion’s share of the macaroni and cheese and hot dogs, but instead, I divided it evenly among the family–only to realize there still was not enough, and limited my intake to a couple of quick bites over the pan on the burner.

There is pain in life.

It is always better to count the cost and choose what portion you’re going to receive.

But to live in a world where no one is willing to take the brunt of the responsibility is to welcome a congress of liars and an adult playground occupied by emotional babies.

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Brunette

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Brunette: (n) a person, typically a woman, with dark brown hair.

She was always dissatisfied.

I traveled with her for eight years on the road, and frequently sat in a room waiting for her to complete her make-up in preparation for our gig, as she lamented aloud her displeasure over her hair.Dictionary B

Mainly it was the color.

She was stuck somewhere between a light brown and a brunette–where I believe probably millions of men and women find themselves. After all, when you dump all the colors together and blend them, you end up with some sort of brown.

And we are a stirred-up mess.

We are the obvious benefactors of ancestors who contributed a little bit here and there to make us the inspired receptacles that we’ve become.

One day when my friend was particularly angry at her locks, I suggested she go to a hairdresser and find out her options. I was trying to be helpful.

This launched her into a grueling journey of colorations, dyes, highlighting and even just messing with the tips to create essence.

Every time she looked absolutely fabulous (as she did with her natural hair). And every time she was pleased for a brief season, until she looked in the mirror and began to see the ugly brunette again.

Of course, our society does not help with its emphasis on the “theory of blonde.”

She even tried wigs for a while. But no matter what she put on her head or what color she donned, when she looked in the mirror, she only saw the ugly brown-haired girl.

It’s too bad that we live in a world which preaches the power of individualism as we line up faithfully under a sign that reads: One color fits all.

 

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