Pop Quiz: Vocabulary

On Wednesday we did a quick assessment of word meanings. This blog scored A-.

Tuesday's Word: extemporaneous

Pronunciation
(Canada) IPAc: /əkˌstɛmpɚˈeɪniəs/ Audio (CA synth)?, file
Rhymes: -eɪniəs

Adjective
extemporaneous
without preparation or advanced thought; offhand

Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/extemporaneous"

Black Friday

Buy Nothing Day


Buy Nothing Day is an informal day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. It was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by the Canadian Adbusters magazine. Participants refrain from purchasing anything for 24 hours in a concentrated display of consumer power. The event is intended to raise awareness of what some see as the wasteful consumption habits of First World countries. Activists may also participate in culture jamming activities like the Whirl-Mart and other forms of radical expression. It is also used to protest materialism and bandwagon appeals.

In the United States and Canada, supporters demonstrate on the day after American Thanksgiving. This day, often called "Black Friday," is one of the busiest shopping days of the year (although this is not so in Canada, the date remains there to synchronize events). In other countries the demonstrations occur a day later.

Since "Buy Nothing Day" occurs the day after American Thanksgiving, and the meaning of Buy Nothing Day is to resist mindless consumerism, some people have viewed Buy Nothing Day as an opportunity to expose the "hypocrisy" of the Thanksgiving weekend. Since Thanksgiving has always had an emphasis on friends, family and community, while the day after Thanksgiving has more recently had an emphasis on consumerism and shopping, "Buy Nothing Day" may be seen by some protesters as a way of reclaiming the 'original meaning' of Thanksgiving: encouraging friends and family to socialize instead of encouraging individual income-earners to spend their money.

Critics of "Buy Nothing Day" point out that consumers would simply buy more the next day instead, rendering their protest pointless. However, participants argue that this misses the point of the event which is to make people aware of their buying habits and their global impacts.

This blog supports responsible living, not consumerism and conspicuous consumption.

Wikipedia

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving, Bloggers!

Tuesday's Word: demure

Wiktionary
1 English
1.1 Pronunciation
1.2 Adjective
1.2.1 Translations
] Pronunciation
IPA: /dɛmjɜː/

Adjective
demure
Quiet, modest, reserved or serious
She is a demure young lady.

Well Wishing

Blog readers, please stop by Blue Gal's to wish her a speedy recovery. She is a bit under the weather today, but still found the strength to help me add the First Freedom First banner. Blue Gal is the greatest!

Please visit Alicia at Last Left Turn to wish her Happy Bloggiversary, too! She is very busy writing and trying to restore reason to our country.

Blue Gal and Alicia are two of the best bloggers out there. One cannot speak too well of them!

Tuesday's Word: freeper

Posters at the conservative website www.freerepublic.com, who demonstrate their stunning grasp of world events by reposting e-mailed prayers, dictate from the Presidential Prayer Team, urban legend, and make stupefyingly narrow minded commentary on the place of the USA in the greater world. Freepers away from their keyboards are often found at gun shows, tractor pulls, bowling alleys, and drinking Mad Dog 20-20 in church dumpsters .

Freeper children are colloquially referred to as "Freeplings" and their families usually have several fathers. Freeplings are found in public schools as they unmask by challenging their biology teachers to debate on Charles Darwin and Evolutionary Theory; subjects to which they have not been exposed.

Freepers pride themselves on the inability to grasp math, science, language, or basic dental hygiene. Freepers commonly believe that the Bible was written in English, that the Confederacy triumphed during the Civil War, and that toothbrushes are the implements of a Satanic Communist plot spurred on by the Cavity Creeps.

Freeper males may be distinguished by baseball hats, chewing tobacco stained beards, and low wage jobs. They also maintain a persistent odor of cheap whiskey and generic cigarettes.

Freeper females may be distinguished by baseball hats, chewing tobacco stains, and low wage jobs. They also maintain a persistent odor of cheap whiskey and generic cigarettes. Freeper females enter breeding age at twelve and often begin reproducing within their families at thirteen.

Many Freeplings are cross-eyed hemophiliacs.

Freepers thrive under the misconception that President Bush would like to share a warm Stroh's beer and Buffalo wings with them. They also believe President Bush is infallible, can heal the sick, and were it not for those meddling demoncrats, would have already thrown the UN out of New York, invaded every other country on Earth to seed democracy, and lowered their taxes such that they could finally pay off their 1984 Chevy Custom Deluxe pickups.

Freepers fail English? Unpossible!

This week's Word was inspired by the lovely Helen Wheels. Thanks! Readers know how this blog feels about substance abuse, country music, and inbreeding; don't vote Republican.

urbandictionary.com

Tuesday's Word: election

election (plural elections)

A process of choosing a new leader for a country where all eligible people cast a ballot to choose a leader or decide an issue. The majority rules and the new leader is the one who has the most votes. There are variants, such as the electoral college system of the United States, but the popular vote usually decides the victor.

Adjective
election (no comparative or superlative)
Pertaining to an election or elections generally.

Bloggers, please vote. The GOP has brought corruption, walked away from the Geneva Convention, and sent our jobs overseas. Change is overdue and this country must embrace the idea that long term planning doesn't mean next year's Superbowl.

Wikipedia