Attorney

Attorney, n. A person legally appointed to mismanage one's affairs which one has not himself the skill to rightly mismanage.


2005 Update: A practitioner whose corruption of the legal system is enforced by the justice system.

Attorney, left, Jenna Leigh Mooney, Esq. with a Plaintiff

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Bait

Bait, n. A preparation that renders the hook more palatable. The best kind is beauty.

2005 Update: v.t. To divorce will from judgement. The intransitive form is Shop.

For Pansi, Anlocken

Special Guest Wednesday

This week, I'm proud to have a guest definition from Andrew Donaldson (Bread and Circuses) He wrote the following definition:

Progressive, n. A progressive believes that change is good, as long as it was his idea.
A conservative believes that the last good idea someone had was the absolutely last good idea.

Incidentally I think it was John Podhoretz who said that "a neoconservative is a liberal who was mugged by reality", which is a clever play on the classic" a liberal is a conservative who got sick, and a conservative is a liberal who got mugged".

About Andrew: Andrew Donaldson writes Bread and Circuses, a site primarily about politics with a left-leaning perspective but including popular culture, sports and a quote of the day. The broader context, as compared to other political sites, gives a sense of the person behind the posting. This makes Bread and Circuses one of the most readable and engaging political sites I read. Another feature of Bread and Circuses that I appreciate is that Andrew has a good ear for measured language and his is one of the few frank political sites from either side of the aisle that expresses itself with thought and without shrill urgency. Andrew seems aware that the 2004 election happened last year and that the 2008 election is scheduled for 2008. A few other things I like about Andrew is that he lives in Minnesota and probably knows the Powdermilk Biscuits ad from A Prairie Home Companion cold. When I asked Andrew for some biographical information for this post, he quoted a bio of him that was used elsewhere: "Andrew Donaldson has done nothing." I aspire to a similar eulogy, but the name Andrew is spoken for in my family.

How to be a Guest on this site: Just leave a comment below telling me you'd like to be a special guest here or send me an email at the address in my profile. I will need an email to contact you. Immediately after publishing the Wednesday post (unless I flake for a day or so) I send an email to the next person on my list with a word to define. I request that the definition and an accompanying graphic be sent to me by Saturday night. Goa'uld was a guest here and went on to get a perfect score on the math portion of a standardized test. I'm not saying I should get all the credit, but you want to be successful, don't you?

Antipathy

Antipathy, n. The sentiment inspired by one's friend's friend.

2005 Update: Enlightened bigotry.

Insurrection

Insurrection, n. An unsuccessful revolution. Disaffection's failure to substitute misrule for bad government.

2005 Update: The freedom struggle of the liberated.

Announcement: Sar sent in a fantastic Ghost story for Doug Drones On.

El Pulmon Del Mundo*

Story #11, in which three American eco-tourists learn that in the *Lung of the World, it's blood that counts.

Swim with the dolphin and never mind the Pirañas if you want to hear the story.







Pet a stand-in for my pet owl monkey, Roly-Poly to read the story.

Today's story is cross-posted on Doug Drones On.

Pandemonium

Pandemonium, n. Literally, the Place of All the Demons. Most of them have escaped into politics and finance, and the place is now used as a lecture hall by the Audible Reformer. When disturbed by his voice the ancient echoes clamor appropriate responses most gratifying to his pride of distinction.

2005 Update: A space containing 1000 hockey fans, 500 conventioneers, 100 drunks, 10 abstainers, 5 children, 2 teachers or one opportunity.

Overdose

Overdose, n. The fatal dose of medicine when administered by any other than a physician.

2005 Update: A form of excess still recognized by Americans.

Happy Birthday to Poppa Pez.

Special Guest Wednesday

This week, I'm honored to have a4g (Atheist for God) as a guest. His definition for us is:

Atheist, n. A lone mariner in a sea without shores.

Left, Sandals for the unfaithful.




About a4g: a4g and his conspirators, The Evil Emperor Mindstation and Prof. Stephen Hawking (not the author of A Brief History of Time, but remarkably similar) write Point Five, a journalism satire site that I hate to admit I find sharper than my beloved The Onion. OK, nobody believes me. At least read it and see if it isn't a worthy conservative alternative. While clearly leaning right, Point Five is no more forgiving of Republicans than The Onion is of Democrats and the balance makes good satire. The production quality is impressive as well. a4g's articles in particular perfectly parody contemporary newspaper articles and while he may get ahead of himself now and again, I'm always impressed that a4g can put together whole articles of sharp satire while on an up day, I'm only good for a sentence.

a4g has another very noteworthy blog Atheist 4 God. More personal and very compelling, it seems to follow the arc of Augustine's Confessions except a4g isn't dead yet, nor wholly converted. It's the story of an atheist, married to a Catholic who has found a role for the Church and Theology and is coming to suspect God. Like so many of us enamored with cynicism, a4g is a confounded earnest and curious man. a4g is married with five children, God bless him.

How to be a Special Guest: If you would like to provide a guest definition some Wednesday on this site, please either email me at dpascover at mac dot com or leave a comment here (I will need an email address to contact you.) On some glorious Wednesday, I will send you an email with a word for you to define. I ask you to have the definition and a graphic (old shoes are grand) to represent you by the following Saturday night. The only rules are no profanity and, um, no profanity.

Imbecility

Imbecility, n. A kind of divine inspiration, or sacred fire affecting censorious critics of this dictionary.

2005 Update: That which compelled creation of the social services and governs them still.