Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Fog

Fog, n. A substance remaining after the last analysis of San Franciscan atmosphere- the sewer-gas, dust, cemetary effluvium, disease germs and other ingredients having been eliminated. Of these, however, dust is the chief; and as Mr. Edmund Yates, by combining the words "smoke" and "fog, gave to the London atmosphere the graphic name of "smog," we, in humble imitation but with inferior felicity, may confer upon our grumous environment the title of "dog."

2005 Update: Nature's talking point.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Sar said...

Doug - great definintion & image. If I may take it just a step further...

Fog: The criminalization of weather.

Chatham said...

Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Carl Sandburg

Tom & Icy said...

Foul weather in your mind.

Anonymous said...

Grounded clouds providing an apt metaphor for human understanding.

Doug The Una said...

Sar, well done! You must watch a lot of Fox News.

Chatcat, you Pezes are a literate lot. My connection with Carl Sandburg is I was once disapproved of by a woman in his hometown.

It does blow in sometimes, doesn't it Icy?

Weirsdo, nature sure is big on metaphor.

Indeterminacy said...

Fog: Archiac variation of the more commonly used word "spin."

Semisweet1 said...

Indeterminacy is right on the money. Using the Yates formula, I would say an accurate current version might be "bullshog."

Semisweet1 said...
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Anonymous said...

Love love love Sar's definition

Fog; my mind on a bad mind day

Fog: something this country's been in every day for the past half decade

Doug The Una said...

Indie, there are a lot of synonyms but we're all on the same page today I think.

S, that's a new one. I like it. In other bullshog, today...

Nice, Pia. Half decade, five years...what happened five years ago? foggy...

TLP said...

All too good! Can't follow them. Plus, Niks and dddragon are lookin' over my shoulder.

I'm in a fog over what to do. What to do....

Anonymous said...

Fog, n. What I generally pass my day in.

Cooper said...

Doug and Sar that was excellent I have no counter.

Fog always brings Edgar Allen Poe to mind as everything he wrote was in a fog; a pleasant fog, a dense fog, a dark swirling fog; not to mention he was always in a brain fog.

LeMas. said...

why is everybody acting as though fog is a bad thing?
Fog-nature's way of making the whole world near-sighted.

Semisweet1 said...

blabber and fog--blog?

Jamie Dawn said...

Fog: The content inside my head most of the time.
I do have fleeting moments of extreme clarity though, and I save those for commenting on this blog.

Doug The Una said...

TLP, a couple deftly thrown elbows might be a good next step.

Andrew, I hear ya.

Alice, that's funny and true.

Masil, I'm surprised no-one's tried to legislate that.

S, that's too good. The new definition for blog as far as I'm concerned.

Jamie Dawn, your best is so much better than we deserve. I humbly thank you.

Lula, I keep one on my dog's collar. Do you have a dog?

dddragon said...

*ahem*

for clarification, she's lyin'. I was at least two feet away.

Anonymous said...

Bluster and cog=blog.

Doug The Una said...

I knew that dddragon, and if she'd thrown an elbow, TLP would have known it too.

Andrew, I love this. I'm pretty sure Bierce omitted "blog." Anyone else?

Hahaha, a4g. And fortitude in a Priest.

The weather's like that here, too, Actonbell. Pia must be right. It's nationwide now.

Fred said...

Fog: The state of mind for a high school student at 7:25 am looking at a world history textbook.

dddragon said...

blooey + nog = blog

Lila said...

I just can't think of anything creative to say... plus I'm jealous that TLP visited YOUR blog today but not mine. BOO HOO!

;-P

The Violent Vixen said...

Long time, no see.. been a bit busy lately.
The best explaination of fog should be left up to Ken Kesey. In ONe Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Chief Bromden constantly talks about how the "fog" protects you from the "combine." Yeah, he was supposedly crazy, but most of the time all those crazy people know what they're talking about when the rest of us do not.

~Daydreamer~ said...

Fog: Sometimes it's a good thing, hiding what may lie behind. Tread carefully.

Doug The Una said...

Fred, that's a fine time to start studying for 7:45 test.

Haha, Dddragon!

Aral, maybe if you had posted something new today. The woman was on short time. Sheez.

Solace, the wisdom of the insame is an article of faith with me. Great to see you again.

Marwa, I've been waiting for you to bring some more poetry over here. Thanks.

Logophile said...

Our favorite fog reference is foreign. Not a definition, but an observations.
In Naples, Italy there are signs posted which warn drivers-
"con nebbia la visibilità è inferiore"

Yes, that is right, there are signs to tell you that when there is fog, you cannot see as well.

Doug The Una said...

The italians make an excellent point, Ariella.