Grumpy Editor

NEW WORD APPEARS IN WEATHER STORIES

A new word — graupel — worked into weather stories during the past week, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

It’s a German word referring to soft hail or snow pellets.

 

It forms when supercooled water droplets in the air freeze on falling snowflakes.

 

Graupel is distinct from hail and  ice pellets in both formation and appearance. However, both hail and graupel are common in thunderstorms with cumulonimbus clouds.

 

Got that?

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WOMAN SLATED TO BECOME ONE-STAR ADMIRAL.  Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, first woman to command a U.S. aircraft carrier, is slated to become a one-star admiral.  A 1994 graduate of the Naval Academy, she earned a master’s degree from the Naval War College and was designated a pilot in 1996.

 

GM CUTTING 500 SALARIED WORKERS.  General Motors is cutting about 500 salaried employees.  The auto maker seeks to cut costs while it prepares to roll out several new models this year.

  

MAN VISITS DISNEYLAND 500 DAYS IN A ROW.  Jeff Reitz likes to visit Disneyland.  He has visited the California amusement park nearly 3,000 days in a row.  That’s every day for eight years and about four months.

 

FRAUDULENT NURSING CREDENTIALS.  Three Florida schools are accused of selling thousands of bogus diplomas. Medical licensing officials in multiple states are scrambling to stop nurses with fraudulent academic credentials from caring for patients.

 

LIZ CHENEY BECOMES PROFESSOR.  Former Rep. Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican noted for her criticism of former President Donald Trump, is joining the University of Virginia's Center for Politics as a "professor of practice." 

DOG SLEEPING ON BED ABOARD AIRLINER DRAWS ATTENTION.  Picture of a dog sleeping on a lie-flat bed in business class of an airliner attracts much world-wide attention.  The South American flight shows the medium-size dog with its head on a pillow and resting comfortably .

NORDSTROM LEAVING CANADA.  Not seeing "a realistic path to profitability," Nordstrom is closing operations in Canada.  It involves 13 department stores and 2,500 workers.

DO YOU LIE OR ARE YOU A TRUTH TELLER?

A recent study finds the average American tells about a dozen lies a week, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

University of Notre Dame researchers also point out “lying less actually improves our mental and physical health.”

 

Truth tellers report fewer instances of poor mental health, they add. That includes feeling tense or melancholy, along with physical symptoms such as sore throat or headaches.

 

Truth tellers also report improvements in relationships with friends and family.

 

Meanwhile, psychologists find lying can trigger an increased heart rate, high blood pressure and elevated levels of stress hormones in blood.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

FUNDS DESTINED FOR 85 AIRPORTS.  The Biden administration is sending nearly $1 billion to 85 airports to expand and upgrade terminals and other facilities.  The funds, making flying safer and more efficient, were approved in last year's infrastructure bill.

HUTCHINSON'S TESTIMONY SCORES HIGH.  Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before the Jan. 6 committee scored high with television viewers.  It garnered a larger live audience than any of the four earlier daytime hearings.

DRIVER IN CHINA OUTRUNS LANDSLIDE.  A driver ended up similar to a James Bond movie when a mountainside in China's southwestern Sichuan province gave way, causing rocks to spill onto the roadway but the imperiled car outran the landslide.

MORE U.S. MILITARY ITEMS GOING TO UKRAINE.  The U.S. is sending another $400 million in military equipment to Ukraine, including four more advanced rocket systems able to strike deeper behind Russian front lines.

NO VACCINATION, NO PAY, SAYS ARMY.  The Army says about 40,000 National Guardsmen and 22,000 Reservists who have refused to get vaccinated will lose their pay and benefits.

 

FIN WHALES RETURN TO ANTARCTICA AREA.  Nearly 9,000 fin whales return to their ancestral feeding areas near Antarctica for the first time since  their hunting was banned almost half a century ago.

 

CNN REPORTER TO HEAD WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' ASSOCIATION.  CNN’s chief White House reporter Kaitlan Collins is elected by her peers to serve as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association in 2024.  It marks the election of a woman as president three years in a row for the first time.

 

TEENAGER SAVES PASSENGERS FROM CAR PLUNGE INTO RIVER.  A teenager is being hailed a hero after city officials in Moss Point, Mississippi say he saved three people and a police officer after a vehicle plunged into water.  Corion Evans, 16, came to the aid of three female victims after he saw a car drive off the Interstate 10 boat launch into the Pascagoula River.

 

MISUSED, OVERUSED AND USELESS WORDS FOR 2022

Some fresh four-letter words are being frowned on, notes Grumpy Editor.

“Wait, what” tops Michigan’s Lake Superior State University’s annual list of words/phrases deemed misused, overused and useless for 2022.

"Wait, what?" should "not go together under any circumstances,” the university stresses.

Other phrases include "new normal," "you're on mute," "asking for a friend," "supply chain," "at the end of the day," "that being said," "circle back" and "deep dive.”

The university adds, “avoid error in and exploitation of everyday language.  In short, do the opposite of what the public and the media did in the past year.”

The university has published the list since 1976, citing the need to "uphold, protect and support excellence in language.”

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PAYING ATTENTION TO NEWS DECLINES IN 2021.  Engagement with news content plummeted last year compared to 2020, and given the ongoing decline in interest in news about COVID-19 and politics, it doesn't look like 2022 will be much better, finds Axios.

NORTH KOREA SAYS NEW MISSILE HITS TARGET.  North Korea says its first weapons test of the new year, involving a hypersonic missile, “precisely” hits a target about 435 miles away. 

 

MANSION FOR SALE CARRIES HIGHEST PRICE TAG.  A 105,000-square-foot hillside mansion in Bel Air, California dubbed "The One," could become the most expensive property to sell in the United States when it hits the auction block next month. It spans 3.8 acres, listed at $295 million.  The home boasts 360-degree views from ocean to downtown Los Angeles.

 

COMPANY MAKES 4-DAY WORK WEEK PERMANENT.  San Francisco-based e-commerce developer Bolt makes a four-day workweek permanent.  Testing the program last fall, the results were "overwhelmingly positive,” says CEO Ryan Breslow. “I couldn’t imagine running a company any other way,” he says, adding, productivity has increased, work has been streamlined and employees are happy.

 

LIGHTNING STRIKES JAB U.S.  Experts at lightning research firm Vaisala, based in Finland, tally 194 million cloud-to-ground and in-cloud lightning events in the continental U.S. last year.

 

AIRCRAFT CARRIER SAILS WITH FEMALE SKIPPER.  Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln is steaming toward the western Pacific on a routine deployment with a female officer in charge --- Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt.

 

WORLD'S OLDEST PERSON MARKS BIRTHDAY.  In Japan, Kane Tanaka, the world's oldest living person, turned 119 years old. Born in 1903, Tanaka married a rice shop owner at the age of 19, and worked in the family store until she was 103. She lived through a multitude of historical events, surviving two world wars and the 1918 Spanish flu.

 

TOP DOG BREEDS IN MOVIES.  Top 10 most famous dog breeds that appeared in films, compiled by Country Living magazine.

1. German Shepherd (562 films and TV credits)
2. Bulldog (284)
3. Poodle (209)
4. Doberman Pinscher (176)
5. Chihuahua (167)
6. Rottweiler (153)
7. Great Dane (149)
8. Golden Retriever (146)
9. Dachshund (126)
10. Saint Bernard (108)

WORD OF THE YEAR IS PANDEMIC, NOTES MERRIAM-WEBSTER

 

“Pandemic” is the 2020 word of the year, reveals Merriam-Webster, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

“Often the big news story has a technical word that’s associated with it and in this case, the word pandemic is not just technical but has become general. It’s probably the word by which we’ll refer to this period in the future,” Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster, tells the Associated Press. 

 

When the World Health Organization on March 11 declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, lookups for pandemic spiked hugely, adds Sokolowski, pointing out site interest for the word has remained significantly high through the year.

Sokolowski says pandemic, with roots in Latin and Greek, is a combination of “pan,” for all, and “demos,” for people or population. The word dates to the mid-1600s, used broadly for “universal” and more specifically to disease in a medical text in the 1660s, he mentions.

 

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GANNETT JOBS GOING TO INDIA.  Gannett informs its business side employees that 485 of their jobs will be outsourced to Hyderabad, India, early next year.

CHINA DETAINS BLOOMBERG NEWS WORKER.  Authorities in China detain Haze Fan, a Chinese citizen working at the Bloomberg News bureau in Beijing since 2017, on suspicion of endangering national security.

MOUNTAIN LION CUBS RESETTLED.  Three mountain lion cubs, rescued from wildfires in California, are settling into their new home at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium after FedEx transported them from California.

MACAW IN ARIZONA DRAWS ATTENTION.  A wandering macaw is rescued by members of Arizona’s Pima Animal Care Center (PACC).  Initially, the colorful bird evades rescuers by perching on tall trees.  But the bird is captured when it settles into a shorter tree. When captured, the parrot ---  common in Central and South America --- was showing signs of exhaustion and dehydration, but is now recovering. 

FOX NEWS TO DEBUT WEATHER SERVICE.  Fox News Media division in the 2021 third quarter plans to debut a streaming weather service, Fox Weather, complementing the traditional news operation.  Fox Weather will  take advantage of 75 meteorologists across 17 Fox stations and Fox News Channel's news gathering units.

HEAVYWEIGHT GOLDFISH DISCOVERED.  Wildlife officials conducting a fish population survey discover a goldfish weighing nine pounds in 12-acre Oak Grove Lake, Greenville County, in South Carolina.

VIRUS SHUTTERS 110,000 RESTAURANTS.  The National Restaurant Association says 110,000 restaurants permanently shuttered this year with 10,000 of them closed in the past three months.  A survey of 6,000 restaurant operators reveals 87 percent of full-service restaurants report an average 36 percent drop in revenue and 83 percent expect sales to be "even worse" over the next three months as the virus continues to lash the country.

HARTFORD COURANT CLOSES NEWSROOM.  The Hartford Courant, Connecticut’s largest newspaper and the oldest continuously published paper in the country, will be closing its newsroom by year-end.

 

BEST NEW YEAR'S CITIES LISTED.   WalletHub tallies  best cities for ringing in the new year without breaking the bank.  The data set ranges from safety and COVID-19 cases to quality food delivery options and costs.

 

Best Cities for New Year’s 1. Virginia Beach, VA 11. Raleigh, NC 2. Honolulu, HI 12. Chesapeake, VA 3. Plano, TX 13. San Jose, CA 4. Fremont, CA 14. Norfolk, VA 5. Irvine, CA 15. Colorado Springs, CO 6. Chula Vista, CA 16. Riverside, CA 7. Lincoln, NE 17. Austin, TX 8. Santa Ana, CA 18. Madison, WI 9. San Diego, CA 19. Pittsburgh, PA 10. Anaheim, CA 20. San Francisco, CA

 

WILL ‘MASTER BEDROOM’ TERM BE RETIRED?

 

Use of the word “master” is being frowned on by some, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

With racism forcing a more critical look at our language, “master” already is forcing a change --- in real estate.

 

The Houston Association of Realtors, for example, says it is replacing “master" with "primary" to describe bedrooms and bathrooms in its listings.

 

A master bedroom typically refers to the largest bedroom in the house, often accompanied by a private bathroom.

 

The phrase "master bedroom" first appeared in a 1926 Sears catalog.

 

As a CNN story points out, the term "master bedrooms" was widely implemented in American homes after World War II, intended to give parents a private space within their own homes.

 

“While it's unclear whether the term is rooted in American slavery on plantations, it evokes that history,” adds CNN.  “Now, because of its slavery-era connotations, some members of the real estate industry are now calling to retire the term "master."

 

Nationally, 42 percent of current property listings on Zillow use the term "master" in reference to a bedroom or a bath. 

 

Meanwhile, one wonders how long other terms with "master" will survive, including master of ceremonies, masterpiece, master key, mastermind, master mechanic and master sergeant.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

CALIFORNIA RELEASES PRISONERS.  Another 2,100 inmates from California state prisons will be released as soon as next month in response to the coronavirus pandemic.  That will mean a total of more than 10,000 inmates released or nearly 10 percent of prisoners.

 

NORTH KOREA RESISTS RESUMING TALKS.  The U.S. is ready to resume nuclear talks with North Korea, but the Communist nation rejects plans to go back to the negotiating table.  It’s not suprising.  The U.S. and North Korea still have not signed off the Korean War of 1950-1953.

 

FEMALE SOLDIER FIRST TO JOIN FRONT-LINE COMBAT TEAM.  An unidentified female soldier is the first to graduate from the Army’s special forces course and will be joining one of the all-male Green Beret teams.

 

SHEPARD SMITH JOINS CNBC.  Shepard Smith, former Fox News anchor, joins CNBC this fall to anchor a primetime one-hour news program.

 

RETAILERS NIX MONKEY LABOR.  Retailers including Walgreens, Giant Food, Food Lion and Stop & Shop are among U.S. grocery brands vowing not to stock or sell coconut products from Thai suppliers — because they use monkeys as labor.  An investigation finds monkeys on Thai farms are abused, chained, confined to cramped cages and made to gather as many as 1,000 coconuts a day. 

 

PRIMARY CLINICS LINKED TO DRUG STORES.  Walgreens and VillageMD strike a deal to open doctor offices in 500 to 700 drugstores over the next five years.  Most of the primary-care clinics will be about 3,300 square feet, about one fourth the size of Walgreens’ average store.

 

USC REMOVING JOHN WAYNE EXHIBIT.  The School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California says it is removing its John Wayne exhibit which featured archival photos and movie costumes, props and memorabilia of the famous actor.  Wayne, who attended USC in the 1920s, told Playboy magazine in 1971, “I believe in white supremacy.”

DEAD CAT GETS VOTER REGISTRATION FORM.  An Atlanta family receives a voter registration application addressed to Cody Tims — a cat that died 12 years ago. 

WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST TAKES SHOT AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

"This sexist dictionary must change," demands a petition started by a women’s rights activist, notes Grumpy Editor.

London-based Maria Beatrice Giovanardi is referring to Oxford University Press (OUP).

 

According to the petition, posted on Change.org, the venerable publisher that produces the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), offers a series of synonyms for woman, including "bitch, besom, piece, bit, mare, baggage, wench, petticoat, frail, bird, bint, biddy, filly."

 

While the Oxford English Dictionary does not feature these definitions, they do appear in other reference books produced by the publisher, as well as online dictionary Lexico, which takes its content from OUP dictionaries.

The petition asks Oxford University Press to:

1.  Eliminate all phrases and definitions that discriminate against and patronize women and/or connote men’s ownership of women.
2. Enlarge the dictionary's entry for “woman.”
3. Include examples representative of minorities, for example, a transgender woman, a lesbian woman, etc.

The petition refers to the online abuse targeted at women and says language usage must change in order to tackle this problem, stating, "We can take a serious step towards reducing the harm this is causing our young women and girls by looking at our language -- and this starts with the dictionary." It adds: "This is completely unacceptable by a reputable source like the Oxford University Press, but it's even more worrying when you consider how much influence they have in setting norms around our language.” 

 

 

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PIGEONS BUSY IN CHINA AND CHICAGO.  China seeks to ban pigeons from flying in Beijing ahead of the country’s 70th birthday celebration on Oct. 1, citing how the birds and other flying objects could “affect flight safety” during the military parade.  Meanwhile, in Chicago’s Irving Park Blue Line station, where the Transit Authority is coping with bird waste and feathers, a pigeon did its business on the head of Democratic state Rep. Jaime Andrade as he was discussing the problem with a reporter.

WHEN CHINESE CANCEL MONTANA VISIT, STOCKS FALL.  Stocks traded in positive territory Friday until a Chinese delegation in the U. S. canceled a scheduled visit to Montana farm country, then the market headed south, closing at 26,935.07, down 159.72.

HAIRY THIEVES.  Thieves made off with $80,000 worth of wigs from a Miami Gardens, Florida, warehouse.  Owner says, "Some products are very exclusive and worth up to $800."

WILL COLUMBUS STATUE LEAVE CENTRAL PARK?  A member of a New York City commission that oversees art and architecture on city property suggests rather than adding statues of historical female figures to Central Park, the panel should yank out some of the male ones first.  A Christopher Columbus statue is one of the prominent ones in the park.

EX-MASS. GOVERNOR JOINS CBS NEWS.  Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) is joining CBS News as a political contributor.  Patrick, 63, served as governor from 2007 to 2015. 

 

HITLER'S WIFE'S UNDERPANTS SOLD.  Underpants believed to have belonged to Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler's wife, sold for $4,620 at auction.  The monogrammed pink silk knickers, which came from a private European World War II collection, is bought by an anonymous phone bidder who also bought Braun's cotton nightgown.  British auction house Humbert & Ellis also sold a gold-plated bracelet bearing a swastika, which belonged to the wife of Nazi leader Hermann Goring.

 

NEXSTAR ACQUIRES TRIBUNE MEDIA.  Nexstar Media completes its $7.2 billion acquisition of Tribune Media to create the biggest broadcaster in the U.S. The combined company, with 197 full power, owned or serviced, television stations in 115 markets, will now reach 39 percent of U.S. households.

 

BIRD POPULATION FLIES SOUTH.  North American bird population has about three billion fewer birds now than a half century ago, according to a study in Science.  That marks a 29 percent drop since 1970.

SAN FRANCISCO SANITIZES CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM WORDS SUCH AS 'CONVICT,' 'FELON'

Criminal justice system words, including "convict," "felon," "addict" and "offender" won't be heard or seen in print now in San Francisco after the Board of Supervisors locked them up, notes Grumpy Editor.

As Phil Matier writes in the San Francisco Chronicle:  "Going forward, what was once called a convicted felon or an offender released from jail will be a 'formerly incarcerated person,' or a 'justice-involved' person or simply a 'returning resident.' "

No more "juvenile delinquent" either.  The term now will be labeled a “young person with justice system involvement” or a “young person impacted by the juvenile justice system," points out Matier.  A drug addict or a substance abuser will become “a person with a history of substance use," while a parolee and a person on criminal probation will be referred to as a “person on parole” or “person under supervision."

Supervisor Matt Haney, one of 10 supervisors who voted for the new guidelines, says, "We don’t want people to be forever labeled for the worst things that they have done."

Matier reports that according to the recently-passed resolution,"one of five California residents has a criminal record, and words like 'prisoner,' 'convict,' 'inmate' or 'felon' 'only serve to obstruct and separate people from society and make the institutionalization of racism and supremacy appear normal.' "

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

RECESSION TALK BY MEDIA.  Julia Chatterly, an anchor and correspondent for CNN International says, “I think the biggest risk here is that we talk ourselves into a downturn and we talk about it so much that we end up with a self-fulfilling prophecy,” adding “I do think there is a tendency, perhaps, for aspects of the financial media to be very alarmist.”

OPENING TIME CAPSULE BRINGS SURPRISE.  Residents of Derry, N. H. speculated for years what might be inside a time capsule housed in the local library. Opened after 50 years, the capsule is found to be empty.

 

HOCKEY TEAM LOOMS FOR PALM SPRINGS.  So what type of sports team would go well in mostly hot Palm Springs?  Turns out it’s hockey.  The city is moving ahead with a proposed American Hockey League team in 2021, along with building a 10,000-seat stadium.

MESSAGE IN BOTTLE FOR 50 YEARS.  A message-in-a-bottle is found off the coast of Shishmaref, 600 miles northwest of Anchorage.  Turns out it was tossed June 20, 1969, by the captain aboard a Russian ship, Sulak.

PESTICIDES TAKE TOLL ON BEES IN BRAZIL.  Bloomberg reports more than half a billion bees fell dead in Brazil in only three months.  Main cause of death, say researchers:  pesticides. With bees as vital pollinators contributing to the reproduction of various plants, about 75% of the world's crops depend on pollination by bees.

 

COP IMPERSONATOR EYES WRONG VEHICLE.  A man impersonating a cop in Hicksville on Long Island, N.Y., tried to pull over a van.  But the van was filled with detectives.  When they identified themselves, the impersonator fled the scene but was nabbed by the highway patrol.

 

RECORDS SHOW HIROHITO EXPRESSED REGRET.  Newly released records indicate the late Japanese emperor Hirohito expressed regret about atrocities committed by Japanese troops in the Chinese city of Nanjing in 1937.  He also blamed World War II on military officers who drove Japan into a conflict it couldn’t win.

 

VA FACILITIES TO BAN SMOKING.  Smoking at Department of Veterans Affairs health care facilities will be banned starting in October for veterans, visitors, volunteers, contractors and vendors, while employees will have until January to adjust to the change.

'MANHOLE' WORD SOON WILL BE BANNED IN BERKELEY

 

News writers soon won’t be able to mention “manhole” in Berkeley, California.  It will be a banned word, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

A manhole --- the opening to a confined space such as a shaft or utility vault --- is an access point for an underground public utility, allowing inspection, maintenance and system upgrades.

 

But in Berkeley, where the city council approved an ordinance eliminating gender-preference language in the municipal code, manholes starting in the fall will be termed maintenance holes.

 

It's among 40 gender-neutral terms:

 

“Sibling” will  replace brother and sister.

"Human-made," "artificial" or "manufactured” will take the place of man-made.

 

“Human effort” will substitute for manpower.

Replacing gendered pronouns like "he" and "she" will be "they" or "them."

“Collegiate Greek system residences” will be the new identification of college sororities and fraternities.

 

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

 

Tiny print above beer reads "root"

BOY SELLING 'BEER' DRAWS ATTENTION.  Police in Brigham, Utah responded to multiple calls that a young boy was selling ”ice cold beer” at the side of the road. Officers arrived on the scene and discovered the boy's sign had the word "root" in small print over "beer."   Thus, root beer was okay. But the incident brought national attention.

ENTER MILITARY AT 16?  There is a growing debate over whether the U.S. military --- in efforts to overcome one of the toughest recruiting environments in decades --- should consider lowering the minimum enlistment age to 16 from 17.  That would place the age lower than it was during the height of World War II.

 

CAMBODIA NIXES U.S. WASTE.  Cambodia seeks to return 1,600 tons of plastic waste in 83 containers dumped at its main seaport by the United States and Canada after Cambodia’s environmental ministry said the country should not be treated as a “dustbin” for foreign governments.

 

TOYS 'R' US RETURNING.  Toys ‘R’ Us will be making a comeback in November at the Galleria in Houston and Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J.   The initial stores will each be about 6,500 square feet, roughly a quarter the size of former stores.

 

PETTING CAT OR DOG LOWERS STRESS.  Researchers from Washington State University in Pullman have found objective, physiological evidence that 10 minutes spent petting a cat or dog will lower stress levels.

 

737 MAX NAME CHANGE?  Photos shared on Twitter show an aircraft in Ryanair colors outside Boeing's manufacturing base identified as a 737-8200 replacing the former name 737 Max.  It fueled speculation that the troubled Max will be rebranded after two fatal accidents led to a worldwide grounding.

HIGHWAY PATROL RESCUES 250-POUNDER.  California Highway Patrol came to the rescue of a 250-pounder wandering away from home and spotted on the side of the road in Santa Ynez.   Turns out it was a tortoise --- which the CHP delivered to its worried owners.

GANNETT, GATEHOUSE DISCUSS COMBINING.  Gannett Co., owner of USA Today, and Gatehouse Media, which owns many newspapers in small and midsize towns, are in "advanced talks to combine."  

MERRIAM-WEBSTER ADDS WORDS WITH NEW MEANINGS

Folks at Merriam-Webster remind that the "English language never sleeps and neither does the dictionary,” notes Grumpy Editor.

"The work of revising a dictionary is constant and it mirrors the culture’s need to make sense of the world with words," they point out.

Merriam-Webster last week adds 640 words, explaining what’s behind some old words with new meanings, such as:

 

• Tailwind and headwind: These words are now often used figuratively to refer to a force or influence that either helps or hinders progress.
• Peak: Metaphorically extended to mean “being at the height of popularity, use, or attention,” as in “peak television” (or maybe “peak word nerd”). 
• Goldilocks: Even a fairy tale can become a metaphor, and this new colorful definition, referring to the character whose preferred porridge is neither too hot nor too cold, has inspired astronomers to use it to describe “an area of planetary orbit in which temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold to support life.”
• Snowflake: Now used to mean both “someone regarded or treated as unique or special” and “someone who is overly sensitive.”
• Purple: Extending the blending of red and blue to the metaphorical level, purple can now refer to geographical areas where voters are split between Democrats and Republicans. 

Among new entertainment words: 

• Buzzy: Causing or characterized by a lot of speculative or excited talk or attention (that is, generating buzz).
• Bottle episode: An inexpensively produced episode of a television series that is typically confined to one setting. 
• EGOT: An entry in the dictionary seems like an appropriate award for the acronym that stands for the rare achievement of winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony.

The word compilers explain that “each word follows its own path at its own pace before its use is widespread enough to be included in a dictionary."

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

SOURCE OF NORTH KOREA'S MERCEDES A MYSTERY.  Daimler AG, the German multinational automotive corporation, says it has no idea where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un got his armored Mercedes limousines since it has no business dealings with the communist nation. Kim used Daimler-branded stretch limousines at several very high-profile summits, including his meeting last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and earlier in summits with President Donald Trump.

 

VATICAN AIDS MIGRANTS IN MEXICO.  Pope Francis provides assistance for food, lodging and basic necessities in donating $500,000 to help migrants in Mexico.

 

TRUMP PRAISES DRUG-DETECTING DOGS.  President Donald Trump praises drug-detecting canines at the U.S.-Mexico border during the Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit, calling working canines "the greatest equipment in the world."

 

18 COLONOSCOPES STOLEN.  Three people broke into a medical facility in Wynnewood, Pa. and fled with 18 colonoscopes.  The devices, reportedly worth a total of about $450,000, are used for examining the health of patients’ colons.

 

CALL OUT FOR WWII CLICKERS.  So-called “clickers,” used in World War II ‘s D-Day Normandy landings to determine friend or foe, are being sought to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the landings.  Two clicks in response to one meant it was a friend.  About 7,000 of the devices were produced.

 

CALIFORNIA DINERS SUBJECT TO CLIMATE CHANGE SURCHARGE.  People eating at California restaurants may start to see an optional 1% surcharge added to their bill to fight climate change. The money will go to a public fund that helps farmers who use practices that reduce carbon in the atmosphere.

 

ECONOMY UP, YET STRESS UP.  A Gallup poll finds “even as the economy roared, more Americans were stressed, angry and worried last year than they have been at most points during the past decade.” In asking about their feelings the previous day, 55% mention they had experienced stress during the day, while 45% say they felt worried a lot and 22% reveal they felt anger a lot.

  

SOME AMERICANS PLAN TO SKIP VACATIONS.   More than one in four Americans have already decided to forgo a summer vacation this year and another 22% remain undecided, according to a Bankrate survey of almost 2,600 adults.  Biggest reason?  They can’t afford it.

 

3M TO CUT JOBS.  3M Co., a favorite with investors over the years since debut of Scotch tape, plans to eliminate 2,000 jobs and restructure its sprawling business.

 

MIDDLE CLASS SHRINKING.  An Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report warns the middle class is shrinking while its economic power is fading in the U.S. and rich nations, thus threatening political stability and economic growth.

ASSOCIATED PRESS NOW ALLOWS USE OF % WITH FIGURES

Over the years, one word --- percent --- triggers much confusion, and continues to do so, notes Grumpy Editor.

Is it percent, % or per cent?

It causes copy editors to grumble.

The Associated Press, in updating its stylebook, is allowing use of % with figures such as income rose by 14% rather than 14 percent.

That makes headline writers happy.

As Merrill Perlman at Columbia Journalism Review points out, "Thus continues the evolution of  ‘percent.’ In the early part of the 20th century, a common rendering was ‘per cent,’ two words with a period after the “cent,” possibly because it was abbreviating the Italian ‘per cento’.”

Perlman adds, “The first formal AP stylebook, in 1953, called for “per cent,” and that stuck at least through the 1970 stylebook. By 1977, though, it had come together as ‘percent.’ That’s common in the United States, though British English leans towards ‘per cent’.”

However, some confusion continues.

Perlman mentions The Chicago Manual of Style says, “In nontechnical contexts, the word percent is generally used; in scientific and statistical copy, the symbol % is more common.”

One wonders what % of readers care about the change.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

   

GASOLINE PRICES SOAR IN CALIFORNIA. Four-dollar a gallon gasoline is the average in two California counties -- San Luis Obispo and Mono. In San Francisco, the average price is $3.98. Average price in the Golden State is up 20 cents a gallon to $3.83 just in the past week — and heading higher this week.

FREE ONLINE MAGAZINE FOR WRITERS. The spring 2019 issue of Writers Tricks of the Trade, a free magazine, is unveiled online today. Produced by Las Vegas-based Morgan St. James, author of 16 books, the 40-page issue provides information and news of interest to freelance writers. View it at http:bit.ly/WTTSpring2019.

CHRIS MATTHEWS BLASTS TRUMP.  Fox News reports MSNBC host Chris Matthews blasts President Donald Trump for playing the "political sidekick" of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

B OF A RAISES MINIMUM WAGE.  Bank of America is raising its minimum wage starting pay to $17 an hour effective May 1, on the way to reaching $20 an hour in 2021.

NETFLIX PLANS TO ADD FAMOUS HOLLYWOOD THEATER.   Netflix is in talks to buy the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The Egyptian’s price tag is said to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

PARADE OF HIGHER TAXES LOOMS IN GOLDEN STATE. Democrats in the California legislature introduce bills that hike taxes on residents who use or buy firearms, tire changes, oil/gas and water.

LAST OF WORLD WAR II DOOLITTLE RAIDERS DIES. Retired Lt. Col. Richard (Dick) Cole, 103, last of the 80 Doolittle Tokyo Raiders who carried out a U.S. attack on Japan during World War II, died last week in a San Antonio military hospital.

TOP BABY NAMES OF YEAR.  Nameberry, a baby-naming site, tallies the top baby names making the rounds this year.

  

Girls

1. Posie
2. Isla
3. Olivia
4. Aurora
5. Maeve
6. Cora
7. Amara
8. Ada
9. Amelia
10. Charlotte

Boys

1. Milo
2. Jasper
3. Atticus
4. Theodore
5. Asher
6. Silas
7. Jack
8. Finn
9. Henry
10. Felix