Category Archives: B words

Bill

Bill: (n) a common English name, short for William

Dictionary B

  • I have a brother
  • His name might be Bill.
  • We grew up in the same house.

There all similarities cease.

Our parents were doing their business of child-rearing in a season when discipline and alienation of children from the common conversation was considered prudent.

So accidentally they pitted all five of us sons against each other, competing for their affection and even the last pork chop on the platter.

So a couple of decades ago I tried to establish an adult relationship with my brother based on the affinity we might possess as partakers of a common mother.

It went poorly.

There was an immediate jockeying for position based upon age, education, experience and just general superiority.

I tried not to participate in the tug of war, but still found myself doing a bit of tugging.

Over the years, the situation has evolved to its present status of an occasional phone call which, if brief, normally remains civil. If it extends too long, old wounds are exposed and the common infections associated with brotherly familiarity surface with a vengeance.

So to a certain extent, Bill is my bill.

He is a price I pay for growing up in a family which was not close enough to remain loyal, but still has enough genetics to needfully and purposefully interact.

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Bilious

Bilious: (adj) spiteful; bad-tempered.

Dictionary B

Mack was a small child who was very easy to ignore because of his shortness of stature and wee little voice.

I liked him.

Matter of fact, it often fell my lot to defend him from being swallowed up by the mass hysteria of the elementary school horde.

I have a memory of Mack one day teaching us all a very valuable lesson. Apparently he had been trying to get everybody’s attention and was completely pushed to the side when suddenly we all noted an odor in the air, looked down and saw that around our feet was a gathering puddle of yellow liquid.

In horror, we turned in every direction to find the source of this intrusion. Eventually everyone’s eyes fell on Mack, who said with a tiny smile, “I couldn’t get anybody to listen so I peed my pants.”

Exactly.

When you live in a society where people do not listen, and indifference to the still small voice of reason is perpetrated in favor of rejecting the bilious outcries of the outrageous, then don’t be surprised if all you have left is the shit that hits the fan and the outpourings of those who are pissed off.

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Bilingual

Bilingual: (adj) fluent in two languages.Dictionary B

Perhaps one of the better definitions of “honorable” is sharing one’s experience while freely admitting it is limited.

I have an exciting life, filled with many journeys, but most of them have occured within the confines of the United States. I have been to Canada several times, and made a ten-day journey to Haiti.

It hardly classifies me as a world traveler.

I share this preface because I want you, as the reader, to understand that it is fine to offer our testimony as long as we’re willing to warn the hearer of the limits of our scope.

So since Canada speaks English (though some of my brethren in the deep South would disagree) my only true experience of bilingual situations lies in my escapade to Haiti.

The thing I immediately sensed upon arriving in this country is that I wanted to be able to communicate with them in their own tongue. My lack of preparation for such a maneuver left me quite aggravated with myself.

So I set about to rectify the situation by learning as many phrases as possible. Since I was actually doing some public speaking, I was issued a translator. He was a delightful young fellow with a desire to please.

As I gradually assimilated a few words here and there, I realized that this fine youthful translator was editing many of the things I was saying.

So after one of my little talks, I confronted him. A bit red-faced, he candidly replied, “Well, I tried to make sure that everything you said would meet the approval of the audience so they wouldn’t be upset with you.”

I laughed, but instructed him to be more faithful with my content.

We are so afraid of words that even as they are translated into other cultures, there is a gnawing fear that we might say something unacceptable.

The chances of that happening are highly likely.

So that is the reason–whether we’re speaking our native tongue or a tongue that is native to our audience–we always need to remember that humility should precede our words, gentleness should accompany them and a willing spirit should follow.

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Bikini

Bikini: (n) a very brief two-piece swimsuit for women.

Dictionary B

I grew up in a time when seeing a woman in a bikini at the swimming pool was like looking at pornography.

Since we didn’t have dirty pictures on the Internet, the only time there was an opportunity to view partially exposed breasts and the majority of a female torso was at the local pool.

When bikinis became popular, girls immediately started wearing them because they thought they were “cute.”

I think deep in their consciousness, these young ladies were aware that they were torturing the boys by displaying the fruits of the flesh without offering them a chance to take a bite.

I vividly recall the first time I saw a girl in a bikini. I spontaneously had an orgasm. It wasn’t planned. It’s probably not something I should even share. But I do so because it always reminds me of the sense of humor our Creator had in constructing human beings–and also our timetable.

At the moment in life when we have the most sexual prowess, we also have the least control. And later on, when viewing a bikini is still pleasurable but no longer eruptive, our plumbing seems to be a bit clogged.

I am sure the heavens find this to be hilarious. I know God must be a gentle trickster–because He does fool us into believing that we are much more powerful than we actually are.

And then, when we scatter our efforts and end up with futility, He is there as a kindly Father, to retrieve our egos and allow us to live another day.

I will always like bikinis, but there is nothing at all as powerful and poignant as the first one I viewed at the local swimming hole…when I practically lost my head.

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Big Top

Big Top: (n) the main tent in a circus.

Dictionary B

The circus smells like elephant poop.

That’s my main memory from the only time I went there at twelve years of age.

I had this strange sensation of smelling pachyderm droppings while simultaneously eating cotton candy. It was a disturbing mixture.

I was a chubby fellow, so when the clowns came out to perform, one of the jokesters targeted me, using mime to imitate my tubbiness, to the delight of children nearby. Obviously lacking some training in sensitivity, the bozo continued to do so until the laughter subsided.

So to a certain degree, I was very happy when the elephants arrived and I was no longer the largest in the tent.

The circus was impressive.

There were things flying in the air, fire spewing from the mouths of entertainers, and all sorts of horses running in circles with brightly-colored saddles, which were ever-so-faintly fading through years of use.

I worked really hard to be a fan.

I oohed and aahed on cue, making it clear to all my friends around me that I was an appreciator.

But as I left the tent, even though I was just a kid, I sensed that these professionals were working awfully hard to make life fun. Matter of fact, when I hear people draw the parallel that “life is a circus,” I think to myself, no, it’s not.

Actually, our goal is to make sure that life doesn’t become a funeral … by adding just enough clowns, dancing monkeys and corn dogs.

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Bigot

Bigot: (n) a person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions.

Dictionary B

No sane people would ever admit they were intolerant.

It is easy to tuck and hide intolerance behind the holy pillars of experience, education, religious affiliation, racial discoveries and traditions.

In other words, tolerance cannot be defined by merely claiming that no intolerance exists.

To avoid being a bigot, it may be necessary to accept a universal definition for intolerance. Arriving at this proclamation–or getting any group of individuals to agree on it–may be completely impractical.

So let me just say that I’ve developed my own definition which lets me know when I have slipped into the role of being a bigot.

It is as follows:

Intolerance is a smugness that prods me to change someone’s mind.

Whenever that creeps into my soul and churns with an evangelism to chase down an infidel idea, I know that I am flirting dangerously with, or have even consummated the action of becoming a bigot.

It should be satisfactory to possess a truth that enriches our lives.

There is nothing wrong with living that truth out boldly, allowing the fruit of that tree of knowledge to sprout evidence.

But the minute we begin to judge others by whether they are planting a similar seed is when we literally end up … with bigotry.

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Big-Mouth

Big-mouth: (n) an indiscreet or boastful person.

Dictionary B

Every human carries around a burden of ignorance which normally can be hidden from view–unless we foolishly expose it.

As yesterday’s word was “big-head,” a condition of having an over-inflated sense of importance which seemingly expands the cranium, possessing a big mouth is the public address system which advertises the brain drain.

I’ve never known anyone with a big mouth who actually knows what they’re talking about.

Because once you discover how much knowledge is available, you are immediately humbled by how little you presently possess. It warrants silence–at least in intervals where surety is unavailable.

But not with a big-mouth. A big-mouth not only is aware of all circumstances, but has taken the time to draw conclusions for you as to how you should feel in any given situation.

  • I have been a big-mouth.
  • I have been a person espousing more credential than I actually achieved.
  • I have been so certain about a piece of information that my fall from the lofty rafters of opinion was nearly fatal.

The easiest definition of wisdom may be, “to study to show yourself approved” … and then wait for someone to coerce the information out of you.

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Big-Head

Big-head: (n) a conceited or arrogant person.

Dictionary B

Conceited: “Look at what I can do!”

Arrogant: “I do it best.”

Where is the joy in doing?

Somewhere along the line, all of our athletes, superstars, politicians and celebrities grow weary of the aspect of the joy in the art or practice that brought them into notoriety.

They become professionally famous.

Their lives become the pursuit of maintaining that status, which demands that they feather their nest even as they deflower the reputations of competitors.

It is nasty business.

It’s based around the ridiculous premise that if you don’t toot your own horn, it won’t get tooted. Yet eventually people get tired of your brassy promotion. What then?

Is there any satisfaction remaining in just being able to share what you can do? Or does that ability have to be accompanied by awards, accolades and predominance?

The best way to get rid of a big head is to keep your focus shrunken to the blessedness of living out that which you originally dreamed to do.

If people enjoy it, so much the better.

But if they don’t, or if the fame you seek eludes you, then make sure that when you finish the day, you do so with a spring in your step and a joy with your pursuit.Donate Button

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Big Brother

Big Brother: (n) from George Orwell’s novel, 1984.

Dictionary B

There is a verse in the Good Book which offers some sage and practical advice: “Don’t piss against the wall.”

The reason for this is fairly obvious. Although you may think you’re relieving yourself, the blowback will still land on your person.

Such is the case with all human beings who think that productive solutions can be achieved politically or socially.

Politics has one goal: to control.

Even when they say their goal is to have less government and less control, there is still an agenda to manipulate the mores, standards and ideals of the people by making it seem like “the folks voted on it.”

And when you’re looking for social solutions, you immediately find that to make Citizen A happy, you must disrupt Citizen B, while confusing Citizen C, turning Citizen D into a raving maniac, and taking all the little Citizen Es and making them disillusioned.

Maybe there is a Big Brother out there, trying to control our every move and thoughts.

Yet if such a creature does exist, he, she or it is a wall–a barricade which will only deflect all the things we throw against it … because we’re pissed off.

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Big Bang

Big Bang: (n) the supposed origin of the Universe.

“Choose your poison.”Dictionary B

I know that sounds like a cynical statement, but the truth of the matter is, if you were going to die by consuming a substance, it might be nice to be able to pick the one that was the least painful.

That’s what I feel about those who believe in Creationism, and others who assert the Big Bang theory.

Both story lines seem comically intricate and equally unlikely.

First, the faith it takes to believe in a supernatural Creator of the Universe is beyond the capacity of any living human soul. We are all perpetually in doubt that God actually exists, let alone holds a viable position.

On the other hand, the notion that some convergence of energy created an explosion which splattered matter across the darkened sky, to begin a festeringly long incubation towards life, which culminates with a kidney in a human body which knows how to regulate poisons out while maintaining blood pressure, is equally wild and wacky.

So for me it becomes a case of whether it’s all of one, a combination of both, or even the aggravating “neither.”

I do gyrate toward a belief in God simply because I am hopeful of seeing humanity grow sensitive to itself and one another, in order to prolong our stay on Earth instead of hastening our departure to unknown shorelines.

Yet I will never reject the discoveries of science, which help me to understand how our Universe came to be.

So when asked if I believe in evolution, my response is, “Evolution seems to believe in me. Thank God.”

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