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EVERYTHING YOU NEVER NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT THE 4TH OF JULY and EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT INDEPENDENCE

7/1/2025

1 Comment

 
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Image Source: www.statueofliberty.org

Since Fourth of July is upon us, I’m blogging about US Independence Day. I try to be timely by recognizing and writing blogs about holidays and observance days that we hold dear in the United States…or not so dear, as it appears sometimes. But alas, after I did some preliminary research, I realized there isn’t much to write about the Fourth of July that everyone doesn’t already know.
 
Or so I thought!

HAVE YOU READ “THE DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE” RECENTLY?


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Image credit: Second Continental Congress; reproduction: William Stone
Image Source: commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?urid=621811loc.gov/exhibits/treasures

Listening to the news over the last several months, I’ve wondered what the words “independence” and “freedom” mean to the people of the United States. We all seem to have our own version, and sometimes they are incompatible.

I’m willing to bet that only a small percentage of Americans have read the Declaration of Independence in the last ten years; a few, never.

According to some historians, it is the most important document ever written in this country; even more important than the Constitution, because it identifies the principles by which this nation holds together. Right now we need to be held together more than ever before. We only have ourselves to do that.

Read it. You may find out it does or doesn’t say some of the things you think it does. The word ”independence” isn’t even in the adopted title. Still, the words continue to resonate in the 21st century as fundamental truths.

“THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERIC”
[Note: The following text is a transcription of the Stone Engraving of the parchment Declaration of Independence (the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.) The spelling and punctuation reflects the original.]  https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
 
In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.


He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.


He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.


He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.


He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.


He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.


He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.


He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.


He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.


He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.


He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.


He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.


He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.


He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.


He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.


In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.


Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.


We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


Georgia
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton


North Carolina
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn


South Carolina
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Maryland
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton


​Virginia

George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Pennsylvania
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross


Delaware
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean 


New York
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris

New Jersey
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark


New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Matthew Thornton


Massachusetts
​
John Hancock
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry


Rhode Island

Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery


Connecticut

Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott 

end □
IF YOU READ THE DOCUMENT, YOU CAN NOW CELEBRATE THAT YOU LIVE HERE.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT FOURTH OF JULY
Although articles are often entitled “fun facts”, they are mostly “interesting” facts about the holiday. I did learn a few thing I never knew or didn’t remember after a hiatus of sixty years…and it’s always interesting to see how many “known facts” on the internet disagree with each other.   Image source:www.legendofamerica.com     ​
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JUST LIKE TODAY, IT WAS ALL ABOUT TAXES
"Taxation without representation!"  At the beginning of the Revolutionary War [April 1775], not many of the colonists wanted complete separation from Great Britain, but gradually the population began to favor
                                                          complete independence. You all remember that, right?


Of course you do. And you remember, when Richard Henry Lee introduced his motion to the Continental Congress for independence, it was tabled and a five-man committee appointed [Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Robert R. Livingston of New York] to draft a formal statement justifying the break with Great Britain. Maybe you recall hearing that, too.                                                               
“Declaration of Independence” painting by John Trumbull 1818
                                                                                                                                                           Image source:  www.amazon.com 
▼

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On July 2nd, 1775, the Continental Congress voted in favor of Lee’s resolution for independence in a near-unanimous vote (with the New York delegation abstaining) and on July 4th, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independ-ence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson. 

I found these facts interesting although not of monumental significance in terms of the history of the United States. They are in no particular order and, as you can see, are not particularly memorable.

● John Adams believed July 2nd was the correct date on which to celebrate the birth of American independence, and would reportedly turn down invitations to appear at July 4th events in protest.

● John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only two signers of the Declaration of Independence who later became presidents, both died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826—the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.


● According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “Jefferson’s inveterate shyness prevented him from playing a significant role in the debate within Congress. John Adams, a leader in those debates, remembers that Jefferson was silent even in committee meetings, though consistently staunch in his support of independence…”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Declaration-of-Independence

● The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men from 13 colonies. Of those 56, eight were born in Great Britain. One out of eight signers of the Declaration of Independence was educated at Harvard (seven in total).

● The lead author of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson, was 33 ½ years old. The average age of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was 45. The oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin (70) of Pennsylvania. The youngest, was Thomas Lynch, Jr. (27) of South Carolina acei-global.blog/facts-about-independence-day/  -- Or was he?--“…Edward Rutledge was the youngest at age 26.” thepioneerwoman.com/interesting-things-about4th-of-july/

● “Only two Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The majority of signers penned their signatures on August 2, 1776.” http://www.rfdtv.com/story/32328872/4th-of-july-fun-facts#.WwhI_0gvzcc -- Or was it only one? – “Only John Hancock actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. All the others signed later.” https://acei-global.blog/2013/07/03/20-fun-facts-about-the-4th-of-julyindependence-day/

● Benjamin Franklin proposed the turkey as the national bird but was overruled by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who recommended the bald eagle.


● The original draft of the Declaration of Independence was lost.
http://www.rfdtv.com/story/32328872/4th-of-july-fun-facts#.WwhI_0gvzcc   Library of Congress
Oh, well. I’m sure they have a copy of the one that was adopted and signed.


● Congress made Independence Day an official unpaid holiday for federal employees in 1870. It didn’t become a federal paid holiday until 1938.

● The first Independence Day celebration took place in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. This was also the day that the Declaration of Independence was first read in public after people were summoned by the ringing of the Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell was cast at London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry. It arrived in Philadelphia in August, 1752. The metal was too brittle and it cracked during the test strike. It was recast twice by local workmen. In its early years the bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens about public meetings and proclamations.

● Every 4th of July the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is tapped [not actually rung] thirteen times in honor of the original thirteen colonies.

● The tune of the National Anthem was originally an English drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven.” The words have nothing to do with consumption of alcohol but the “melody that Francis Key had in mind when he wrote those words did originate decades earlier as the melody for a song praise of wine.” http://www.colonialmusic.org/Resource/Anacreon.htm


Sources:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/uc004215.jpg
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
https://parade.com/24863/kenjennings/america-101-take-our-fourth-of-july-quiz/
https://acei-global.blog/2013/07/03/20-fun-facts-about-the-4th-of-julyindependence-day/
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/july-4th
http://www.pbs.org/a-capitol-fourth/history/history-independence-day/
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/02/fireworks-american-history_n_5552960.html
https://acei-global.blog/2013/07/03/20-fun-facts-about-the-4th-of-julyindependence-day/
http://thepioneerwoman.com/fun-and-learning/twenty-interesting-things-about4th-of-july/
http://www.rfdtv.com/story/32328872/4th-of-july-fun-facts#.WwhI_0gvzcc
2020
https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-real-independence-day-tt-0702-20190702-l3vl5kijdzci3jhbkbrecfaz2m-l3vl5kijdzci3jhbkbrecfaz2m-story.html
https://www.dtnext.in/Lifestyle/Spirituality/2018/08/13022008/1084010/What-is-the-true-meaning-of-independence.vpf
https://news.emory.edu/stories/2014/06/er_pursuit_of_happiness/campus.html
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-what-independence-day-really-means-20190704-teue64vyz5getk4jaq4v3z2qxe-story.html
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1776-1785/the-final-text-of-the-declaration-of-independence-july-4-1776.php
https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/declaration-of-independence
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1776-1785/jeffersons-draft-of-the-declaration-of-independence.php#par1
http://nashvillelife.com/Nashville-4th-of-July-Parades  
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/uc004215.jpg|
https://acei-global.blog/2013/07/03/20-fun-facts-about-the-4th-of-julyindependence-day/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Liberty_Bell_2008.jpg





1 Comment

DOLLS, PENCILS, AND THE US ECONOMY: Things American Consumers Buy That They Don’t Need, Want, or Use

6/23/2025

0 Comments

 
In May, 2025, NBC News aired an interview between “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker and President Donald Trump. During that exchange, which covered a wide range of topics including the economy, the President acknowledged that, due to recent economic policies, prices on some goods “might” go up but argued that falling energy prices will matter more to consumers. In that context, he made the comment that “Americans ought to be able to make do with fewer common goods, like dolls or pencils.” nbcnews.com/politics/
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Somewhere along the line -- but probably not in this particular interview – he also made reference to the idea of consumers not buying so many things they don’t really need. That got me to thinking about this issue on several levels.

I​mage credit  and source: 
nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/

I remembered one of my father’s “takes” on the “Mysteries of Life” (as he called them) was why people spend their money the way they do, and wondered what kinds of things consumers really do buy that they don’t really need … and often don’t really want and never use.  After all, at least in my humble opinion, Americans are rather materialistic and very spoiled.

IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER
I found lots of opinions on the internet, but in most cases it boiled down to the consumers’ personal interests, needs, what they value, and their priorities. Various websites indentify many products as unworthy of spending money on which are everyday helps to others. After considerable thought, these items seem to fall into one or more categories which sometimes overlap:
  • Truly Frivolous, but sometimes funny and humor inducing, and keepsakes.
  • Critical Need, No. Convenient, Yes
  • Health Related
  • Questionable Effectiveness and/or Potentially Harmful
  • Single Purpose items which are rarely used.


THE TRULY FRIVOLOUS
These items are undoubtedly intended to be amusing (gag gifts), but they are things nobody truly needs.

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●The Useless Box
It doesn ‘t do anything. I guess it’s a joke item for the person who has everything.


Image Credit: Solarbotics/Flickr
Image Source:interestingengineering.com/

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●Sweat Gutters
If you perspire you can buy “SweatGutters” to collect & remove sweat.

Image Credit: Reddit.com
Image source: interestingengineering.com/completely-unnecessary-things

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●Cuisine Curtain
This gadget allows you to indulging but mask your feeding frenzy all at the same time.
Image Source: YouTube.com -- Image source:interestingengineering.com/completely-unnecessary-things

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● Motorized Ice Cream Cone - This battery-powered gadget turns your ice cream cone to ensure a perfectly even melt. $9.99.
​ 

Image Credit: eBay -- Image Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products

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● Pet Rock
Classic 1970s Pet Rock doesn't need food, water, or walks. Price. $29.99
​

Image Credit. Amazon -- Image Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products

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● USB-Powered Pet Rock
Digital-age Rock connects to computer via USB. It doesn't do any-thing, but a light glows to indicate it's "alive."
Image Credit. Reddit.com -- Image Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products

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● Banana Slicer
A banana slicer ($6)  makes uniform slices.  A kitchen knife does the same work and is easier to keep clean. Image Credit: Amazon -- Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/



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● Self-Stirring Mug
Stirs contents without a spoon. Price: $10 to $18 unless you need a Nextmug-Temperature-Controlled, Self-Heating
                               
Coffee Mug
 ($100 to $130). 
Image Credit: Amazon -- Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

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● Fish Training Kit / Fish Exercise Rings
Train a pet fish with this kit, although I don’t know why. About $10.
Image Credit: Etsy
Imager Source: https://blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-we-want-to-buy/

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● Bacon Bandages
These don’t help wounds heal better or quicker, but they definitely make the wearer look weird. $8.
Image Credit: Amazon -- Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

The list goes on, but you get the idea. I didn’t list any keepsakes, although keychains come to mind. All these are things we can do without under duress. While, some purchases are totally frivolous, sometimes these useless gadgets are fun and amusing, and no doubt that is what they are intended to be. Humor and comic relief certainly have their value.
​
CRITICAL NEEDS, NO. CONVENIENT, YES!
Many items called “a waste of money” are useful and effort saving but are not cost effective because they are not used often (sometimes only once), take up space, have adverse impact on environment, increase waste products to be disposed of or, generally, impractical when you make an honest evaluation. Those products -- probably somewhat of a luxury -- most of us could live without, given simpler substitutes, but they also can be helpful, save time and energy, and are used frequently. Those have value to people which offsets cost and other considerations like space.

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● Dryer Sheets
"Instead,  toss a ball of aluminum foil or wool dryer balls in the dryer, and add a washcloth wet with white vinegar." cheapism.com/useless-waste-of-money/  Yeah…no. They work & I don’t have time for wet washcloths or white vinegar.$7.
Image Credit: Amazon -- Imager Source:
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

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● Electric Can Opener
“Convenient, but not every kitchen can spare the counter space. Instead, use the pull tab or a handheld opener. The exception? People who can't move their hands freely because of arthritis."
Image Credit: Amazon -- Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

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• Salad Spinner (Electric and Hand Operated)
"Tosses & dries salad so dressing spreads evenly. Instead, wash the greens in a container, with lid, give it a few good shakes, & dry."
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/
​
I love my salad spinner, but I don’t see the need for an electric one. ​Image Credit: Amazon
 Imager Source:
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

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Corn Kerneler
“While Corn Kernelers extract corn effortlessly, but they often end up being a one-trick gadget. Instead, use a sharp knife and a cutting board.” $7 - $130.
​

Image credit: Aliexprerss.com – Image Source: seasonalcravings.com/dont-waste-your-money

HEALTH RELATED
This category of expenditure is more serious in both impact and cost. While it's unlikely you'll be harmed by a banana slicer or a salad spinner, some products which are marketed as being for your health sometimes can be harmful. Striving to be healthy is laudable, but it takes both commitment and some advance thought to make those purchases worthwhile.
​
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● Exercise Equipment and Gadgets
Who hasn’t bought a piece of exercise equip-ment, large or small? How many ended use being used as a clothes rack? Lots of good intentions, but more often than not, wasted
​                         money and space.

Image Credit: ImageSupply via DepositPhotos
Image Source: moneysmartguides.com/things-people-buy

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Image Source: qualitystocksuk/shutterstock
​
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● Multivitamins
Healthline reports, despite studies showing vitamins are pretty much useless for most people, “Americans spend around $21 billion a year on vitamins and herbal supplements.

 Image Credit: CobraCZ/shutterstock
Image Source: cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

Instead, a diet dominated by plant-based whole foods, including lots of fruits and vegetables, packs more healing power than vitamins, which aren't even regulated reliably.”

The question of whether or not healthy individuals really need vitamin and mineral supplements is a good one, and there are many opinions and not many answers. 
According to PubMed Central/ National Library of Medicine (an official website of the US Government), supplemental vitamins are not likely to be “…beneficial in reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as ischemic heart disease, cancer, and stroke…The results of large-scale randomized trials in the past two decades have shown that for the majority of the population, MVM supplements are not only ineffective, but they may be deleterious to health.” pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

While recent results from the SELECT (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention)Trial and those resulting from the Women's Health Initiative, tend to bolster the ‘no benefit or even harm’ conclusion, and authors (medical researchers Farin Kamangar and Ashkan Emadi) emphasize that these conclusions are for the general population, and for prevention of chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. They go one to write that, “In special cases, individuals may need vitamins or supplements” and give examples. Best rely on research and your medical professional.


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Image Source: consumereview.org
● Diet Pills And Gummies
One of the biggest expenditures for “health” is for diet pills and gummies. Regarding Keto Diet products, Consumereview.com, states:


 1) “There are a lot of products that don’t work at all, typically because they don’t contain the right ingredients or the right proportions”;
2) The products may be “too expensive to afford”; and
3)“The company…might just be exploiting another fad” which apparently many are. consumereview.org/keto-pills/

According to PCM, a government website, “With the serious health risks of dietary supplements sold for weight loss, muscle building, and sexual function well-documented, there is concern that economic costs of these products may disproportionately burden individuals and families by gender and socioeconomic position.” Such supplements sold for weight loss (WL), muscle building (MB), and sexual function (SF) are not medically recommended because they “have been shown to be ineffective in many cases and pose serious health risks to consumers due to adulteration with banned substances, prescription pharmaceuticals, and other dangerous chemicals.”

POTENTIONALLY HARMFUL and/or QUESTIONABLE EFFECTIVENESS
Some products which are convenient and apparently effective, are believed by many experts as potentially harmful and/or of questionable effectiveness. In my experience, that doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t work, but it should inspire some thought and maybe some research before purchase. Two of the many examples of this category are:

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● Air Fresheners
Although zillions of people use one or more of the many kinds of air fresheners available, this product falls into several categories. They are convenient and do mask household odors, but are not critical.

Image Source: Amazon​
People overcame gross household smells long before air fresheners were available just by simmering lemon juice in water on the stove, or placing potpourri, eucalyptus, rose water, or open containers of baking soda around the house. (Baking soda works in the refrigerator, too.) 

However, “despite their popularity, some evidence suggests that air freshener products increase indoor air pollution and pose a health risk, especially with long-term exposure. Air fresheners release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. A VOC is a type of chemical that turns into a vapor or gas easily at room temperature. Health problems are thought to occur as a result of the chemicals in the air fresheners and from their secondary pollutants. Secondary pollutants are formed when a product’s chemicals combine with the ozone already in the air.” poison.org/articles/air-freshener-171

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Image Credit: Amazon; Image Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-waste-of-money/
● Mosquito Zappers

“Mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide, which mammals exhale in huge plumes with every breath. There is no evidence they are attracted to ultraviolet light, which is the lure that backyard bug zappers rely on to draw and eliminate bugs. Price: $23 and up”. blog.cheapism.com/useless-waste-of-money/

​
Actually, bug zappers do kill bugs by the thousands, but according to scientists they kill the wrong bugs. “They are ineffective against mosquitoes and other biting flies, and their otherwise indiscriminate killing can disrupt pollination and generally throw the environment out of balance. Plus, the force of their electrocution can spew a mist of disease-ridden bug parts out into the air. All of the mosquito experts we spoke with and every relevant university extension office we could find unanimously condemned bug zappers.” 
nytimes.com/do-bug-zappers-work/

SPECIALIZED TOOLS and ONE-PURPOSE APPLICANCES

Finally we come to the attractive but questionable tool or appliance that is so specialized it only does one thing. I believe this is an area where most of us have expended a few unnecessary dollars for something that sounds practical and worth the cost, but then turns out to be something we rarely use.

Often these tools are related to the kitchen. I mean, unless you are impassioned with cooking, who doesn’t want to make things easier in the kitchen?

When related to culinary helps, the tool or appliance is probably redundant. You probably already have something that can perform the same task. Whether or not they are worth the cost and space they occupy depends largely on how much use the item will get and why it needs to be done separately. These appliances are usually not a necessity in a home unless used constantly or for a special reason (like arthritis). These examples were listed on multiple websites as unnecessary.


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● Electric Egg Cooker
Perfectly boiled eggs can be made by, well, boiling them. Simply reduce or increase the cooking time for soft, medium, or hard-boiled; poach an egg with a slotted spoon and an inch and a half of simmering water.

Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

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● Bread Maker
“One of the poster children of unnecessary items. Big and clunky, it only does one thing. It’s redundant since your kitchen already has a bread-making machine an oven.
​                    Price: Around $100.”

Image Credit: Amazon
 Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

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● Popcorn Machine
“This is another single-use item that takes up space when there are simpler solutions on hand that yield the same result. Price: $40 up to $379. Instead, pop raw kernels, or buy microwave popcorn.”

Image Credit: Amazon -- Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

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●Egg Separator
“An egg separator seems especially superfluous. Instead, use the egg shells to separate the yolks from the whites; wear plastic cooking gloves if you want to be extra careful." $6 
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/
Image Credit: Amazon -- Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

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● Garlic Press
“Most recipes call for chop-ped or minced garlic, not pressed. Even when they do, substituting minced is fine.  Instead, use a good knife." 

Image Credit: Amazon -- Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

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● Meat-Shredding Claws
“These things look pretty cool, but are probably overkill. Instead, use a couple of forks."  $10.
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money
Image Credit: Amazon -- Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

THE TARIFFS
The not-so-humorous side of this discussion relates to the potential impacts of the proposed tariffs. On one hand, President Trump is probably correct when he says Americans can get along without buying so much, although that doesn’t lessen the burden on those families which are already struggling just to survive. But I’m not getting into that. My intention is to point out what products might go up in price as the result (and because many of the products listed above are imported from China).

WHAT CHINA IMPORTS TO THE US
In addition “unnecessary” items, China also imports to the US many more essential products. According to cbsnews.com/news/chinese-products-tariffs-shortages the following are items imported to the US from China. Keep in mind that we are not just talking about finished products but materials that are used to make other item here in the US.

● Down feathers ($1.9 billion) -- 77% of the country's total imported supply of down. Down is commonly used for insulation in comforters and outerwear.

● Toys, games and sports equipment ($30 billion plus) -- 73% of the US imports in this category.

● Textile art ($8.6 billion) -- Imports from China account for more than 50% of all imported.

● Footwear ($9.8 billion) -- This is a biggie in the US. 36% of footwear sold stateside comes from China, including brand names like Addidas.

● Cutlery and metal tools ($3.1 billion) -- Dinner utensils manufactured in China could also start becoming scarce.


● Glassware -- Almost 30% of U.S. imports of glassware and other products made of glass comes from China.

● Furniture and bedding ($18.5 billion) -- 28% of furniture and bedding imports come from China.

● Apparel ($17.3 billion) -- Another big ticket item for Americans. This includes knit or crocheted clothing (almost $10 billion) and not-knit apparel ($7.3 billion).

● Electric Machinery
● Nuclear reactors, boilers and other machinery
● Goods made of iron or steel
● Plastics


The news media is reporting that trade agreements are being reached. Eventually, the general public will find out what that means. In the mean time, be prudent how you spend your money.

JUST SAYIN’

Sources:
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/trending-topics
https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/654479/gallup-trends-watch-2025.aspx
https://declutteringmom.com/the-15-most-useless-items-people-keep-for-no-reason/
https://blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/
https://blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-we-want-to-buy/
https://interestingengineering.com/how-to/5-completely-unnecessary-things-you-really-shouldnt-buy
https://bestlifeonline.com/everyday-items-waste-of-money/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/1imx1q/biggest_ways_people_waste_money_compiled_from/?rdt=45146
https://wallstreetinsanity.com/16-useless-items-we-all-own-and-never-use/
https://www.thetoptens.com/useless-items-we-all-own-never-use/
https://www.poison.org/articles/air-freshener-171
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/25-unnecessary-wastes-money-you-dont-think-about.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinese-china-products-tariffs-shortages-us/
https://finance.alot.com/personal-finance/10-items-stock-up-before-tariffs-raise-prices--22140
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/04/nx-s1-5351324/tariffs-higher-grocery-prices-trump
https://www.eatthis.com/grocery-items-price-hikes-tariffs/
https://tifwe.org/who-determines-what-something-is-worth-it-depends/
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-10733-7_2
https://caketokale.com/18-most-useless-kitchen-appliances/
https://www.seasonalcravings.com/dont-waste-your-money-the-10-most-useless-kitchen-appliances-you-shouldnt-buy/
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/do-bug-zappers-work/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3309636/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5377432/
https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/654479/gallup-trends-watch-2025.aspx
https://247wallst.com/special-report/2023/08/05/the-16-most-important-issues-to-americans-ranked/

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-rejects-concerns-prices-economic-uncertainty-defends-agenda-rcna203512

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/04/28/1000-protests-on-may-day-2025-against-trump-what-we-know-may-day-protests-may-day-strong-2025/83324272007/

https://consumersendorse.com/the-5-best-bug-zappers/?utm_source=zapguardian&utm_medium=s1&utm_campaign=us&utm_term=t5&cmc_adid=ms_77378335342057_486476025&msclkid=3402c3fbbbc610eaa746abe7420e460b

https://consumertestedreviews.org/product/best-mosquito-zapper/?msclkid=8582c1e1f4741c9f1fc8a9fd0a7b5b17&msclkid=8582c1e1f4741c9f1fc8a9fd0a7b5b17&AdGroupId=1329311920772943&AdId=83082222608546&BidMatchType=bp&CampaignId=520510596&msclkid=8582c1e1f4741c9f1f

https://consumereview.org/reviews/keto-pills/?msclkid=9d7ce3868a121a8010408b9b90cf1980&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search%20-%20TCPA%2060&utm_term=weight%20loss%20supplements&utm_content=Search%20-%20Phrase

https://www.moneysmartguides.com/expensive-things-people-buy-then-never-use/#:~:text=This%20article%20looks%20at%2024%20expensive%20things%20people,toys%20like%20bikes%20and%20cars%2C%20you%E2%80%99re%20not%20alone.

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HOW DIGITAL AGE IS CHANGING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

6/1/2025

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Image Source: dma.org.uk/digital-devices-chang-english-language
ENGLISH IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Language, spoken and written, it is one of the primary ways in which humans communicate with one another. Although there are other means, for the last few centuries it has been the most frequently used by most people.

Nearly everyone – except maybe teen agers -- realizes that language constantly changes over the years and over physical distance. It is a work in progress, not an end state. That’s old news. The differences in this century are the rate of change -- and the rate curve is on the upswing -- and the advent of the internet and the cell / smartphone.

“Although the Internet came into existence in the second half of the twentieth century, its influence on language began to escalate in 1990 onwards. It has drastically changed the way people communicate and use English both in writing and speaking.”

www.researchgate.net/evolution_of_english_internet_age
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Image Source: www.peterfisk.com
Researchers are finding that the two most common communications devices, the internet and smartphone, have brought about what is arguably a new variety of English that differs from the standard varieties. Some researchers fear this new form of English is a threat to the standard varieties while others argue that it is simply a new branch of linguistics, sometimes called Internet Linguistics.

The internet has allowed us to become connected in a way that was not possible in the past. This level of immediate connection has helped new phrases, words and ways to communicate become commonplace much faster than humans have been accustomed  to.

CŌM ON WANRE NIHT / SCRĪÐAN SCEADU-GENGA
Like it or not, the English language has continually changed and will continue to evolve. That is a fact, not a threat. The difficult part is keeping up with the modifications.

Or maybe we don’t need to.

“Cōm on wanre niht / scrīðan sceadu-genga” is, in fact, English. Old English, to be precise. However, if you can read and understand it, I’m impressed. These are the opening words from the English poem Beowulf, first committed to writing between 975 and 1015 AD. The translation, by R. M. Liuzzar, “In the dark night he came / creeping, the shadow-goer”.

After the Norman Conquest of 1066 AD, Old English -- only a spoken language at the time -- was replaced, for a time, by Anglo-Norman which developed into what is now known as Middle English, which did developed a written form.

Most average, English-speaking people alive today do not miss Old and Middle English, nor yearn for their return. Keep this in mind for the later discussion.

THE NATURE OF THE CHANGES
Putting aside for the moment the question of whether or not everyone needs to keep up on the spiraling (spelling spiralling if you are British) growth of the language, let’s look at what modifications have taken place since 1990.

VOCABULARY: A New Word Every 98 Minutes
Vocabulary is the most obvious change to English, because people deal with both the written and spoken word constantly. The estimated number of words in English is somewhat speculative, but most experts agree there are at least a million plus, somewhere between 1,005,000 and 1,022,000.

OMG! How many of these words do you know and use? In a 2011 interview with the BBC, lexicographer Susie Dent estimated that while an English speaker may know around 40,000 words, they actively use only about 20,000 (about 2% of a million). While that percentage may have increased since 2011, it is still a very small portion of the language. Ouch!


The Global Language Monitor  (GLM) estimates that in the modern world a new word is created every 98 minutes, and that 800 to 1,000 new words are added to English language dictionaries each year. In the 20th century, the estimated increase in dictionary words is more than 90,000 words. atkinsbookshelf.wordpress.com/words-enter-the-english-language

By the way, a word does not need to be in the dictionary to be a “real” word.
The third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), scheduled for completion in 2037, estimates the rate of inclusion of new words will be nearly 4,000 per year. That dictionary added more than 2,500 words in 2014. Imagine in 2024.

This dramatic increase in new words is due to:
● Technology and new products
● Spontaneous coining of new words in email, text transmissions, and in social, news and entertainment media which can reach missions of people in seconds.
● Blended words (e.g: bromance, staycation.)
● Foreign words
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ABBREVIATIONS
Texting abbreviations account for many of the new entries in dictionaries. Obviously, when texting and using the internet, people abbreviate and leave out capitalization and punctuation to save the number of key strokes necessary. (Remember, Carpal Tunnel is
 
Image Source: clipground.com            
lurking out there.)

Unfortunately, not keeping up can lead to massive miscommunications. Don’t use LOL to mean “lots of love” when writing condolences for the death of a friend or relative.

Hey! I just coined a new one. FONKU: Fear of not keeping up.

NEW SPELLINGS, DEFINITIONS, AND PARTS OF SPEECH
New ways to spell old words, modifications or additions to definitions, and making words into other parts of speech (example: noun becomes a verb, etc.) are related to vocabulary, but are not quite the same thing. (Text (noun) became a verb (texting) in the digital era.) Nothing new. Shakespeare did that centuries ago.

EMOJIS: The New Language
The internet also spawned a new language: Emojis. The idea isn’t new. Symnbols have been around for longer than written language, but the way in which emojis are used is somewhat different.

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​               Tears of Joy Emoji                                    Tears of Joy Emoji                                   Tears of Joy Emoji
        Image source: whatemoji.com            Image source:Dreamtime.com             Image Source: art.inspiredpencil.com
Looking at these images and others depicting the same emotion, I foresee some room for miscommunication, but that’s always a risk with or without written or spoken words.
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GLOBALIZATION
The internet made it possible for people all over the world to communicate with each other quickly and easily. This has allowed humankind to become connected in a way not possible in the past.

Image Source: ihpao.com/

This level of immediate connection has helped new phrases, words and ways to communicate become commonplace much faster than we had been used to. Due to its widespread usage, English has become the “lingua franca” of the internet.

Global communication and increased contact at nearly all levels of society in all countries has resulted in the integration of words from many languages being absorbed into other languages. Some are simply the word translated from one language to another. Others represent new products, technology, procedures, and ideas for which there are no “old” words.

Examples in English conversation and writing include: “joie de vivre” from French; “gelato” from Italian; “schadenfreude” and "Über", sometimes written uber, from German.

A word of caution. When foreign words are integrated into another language, they often carry a different meaning than the word in the original language. For example, Collins dictionary defines the English word “uber” (originally German meaning "over", "above" or "across".) as a noun or adjective “that refer to a great or extreme example of something.” www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/

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AUTOCORRECT AND PREDICTIVE TEXT
This feature of word processing programs and smartphones can be a double-edged sword. They can help prevent spelling errors and suggest words for faster typing, but have also been known to create unintended mistakes or miscommunications.

    Image Source: istock
Autocorrect often tries to predict what word you intend to type based on context, but that doesn’t always work out and can lead to embarrassing or even tragic situations. LOL.

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INFORMAL WRITING: The Fewer Keystrokes The Better
Image Credit: istock;  Image Source: smithsonianmagazine.com

Some writers and linguists claim that formal writing has not suffered as much as one might believe due to the digital revolution. The formal character of grammar has been relatively unaffected. The biggest impacts on the English grammar and structure occurr in informal communications. E-mail, texting, and short-messaging services such as Twitter, have resulted in short and elliptical sentences as a writing style.

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Capitalization
Try asking someone under 20 years old what “capitalization” means, and you are likely to receive a blank stare or a statement about conversion of income or assets into money. You are unlikely to hear about big letters. Then ask what “uppercase” means.

                                                                           Image Source: chadghector.pages.dev    
The same goes for asking someone under 30 if they know what a “colon” does. Maybe asking about a “semicolon” would be better. I’ve had editors tell me to take out all the semi colons from my books because reader don’t know what they mean anymore.

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Punctuation
Linguist David Crystal, author of Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar, states that the internet’s influence on English punctuation related “…to the use of punctuation to mark constructions, where many of the traditional rules have been adapted as users explore the graphic opportunities offered by the new medium. 
                                                                                                        
Image Source: artpictures.club
We see a new minimalism, with marks such as commas and full stops omitted; and a new maximalism, with repeated use of marks as emotional signals (fantastic!!!!!!). We see some marks taking on different semantic values, as when a full stop adds a note of abruptness or confrontation in a previously unpunctuated chat exchange. And we see symbols such as emoticons and emojis replacing whole sentences, or acting as a commentary on sentences.”  blog.oup.com/internets-influence-grammar-punctuationt/

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​“FOM” -- FEAR OF MISUNDERSTANDING
Without going into a discussion of psychology, communication is the passing along of information between humans and is critical to human beings on many levels. Enough said.

Image Source: minimalismmadesimple.com/

Presumably, the communicator wants the communicatee(s) to understand the information being given (whether that information is correct or not). Regardless of the intent to make the other person understand, humans do a good job of conveying information (written, verbal and otherwise) in ways that are misinterpreted by the receiver(s). Hence, life as we know it.

Since the evolutionary trend in the English language seems to be moving toward both “simplification” and “minimization”, I predict that within about twenty years informal communications in writing will eliminate capital letters (Oops! Uppercase), reduce the kinds of punctuation used, and rely on many more abbreviations (which become “dictionary words” unto themselves). If that happens, the door will be open to a new level of miscommunication.

I don’t see formal written communication in English changing that much, but I won’t be around to fine out.

​JUST SAYIN’


Sources:
https://dma.org.uk/article/how-digital-devices-have-changed-the-english-language
https://oxbridgeedu.com/english-language-in-the-digital-agetechnology-shaping-communication/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323052712_Evolution_of_english_in_the_internet_age
https://www.medievalists.net/2023/08/the-differences-between-old-english-middle-english-and-modern-english/
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/uber#google_vignette
https://www.dictionary.com/e/new-words-dictionary-2020/
https://atkinsbookshelf.wordpress.com/tag/how-many-words-enter-the-english-language-each-year/

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DOLLS, PENCILS, AND THE US ECONOMY: Things American Consumers Buy That They Don’t Need, Want, or Use

5/25/2025

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In May, 2025, NBC News aired an interview between “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker and President Donald Trump. During that exchange, which covered a wide range of topics including the economy, the President acknowledged that, due to recent economic policies, prices on some goods “might” go up but argued that falling energy prices      will matter more to consumers. In that context, he made the comment that “Americans ought to be able to make do with fewer common goods, like dolls or pencils.” ​Image Credit: bcnews.com--Image source and quote: nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-rejects-concerns-prices.

Somewhere along the line -- but probably not in this particular interview – he also made reference to the idea of consumers not buying so many things they don’t really need. That got me to thinking about this issue on several levels.

I remembered one of my father’s “takes” on the “Mysteries of Life” (as he called them) was why people spend their money the way they do, and wondered what kinds of things consumers really do buy that they don’t need … and often don’t really want and never use.

After all, at least in my humble opinion, Americans are rather materialistic and very spoiled.

​IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER
I found lots of opinions on the internet, but in most cases it boiled down to the consumers’ personal interests, needs, what they value, and their priorities. Various websites identify many products as unworthy of spending money on which are everyday helps to others. After considerable thought, these items seem to fall into one or more categories which sometimes overlap:

• Truly Frivolous, but sometimes funny and humor inducing, and keepsakes.
• Critical Need, No. Convenient, Yes!
• Health Related
• Questionable Effectiveness and/or Potentially Harmful
• Single Purpose items which are rarely used.

THE TRULY FRIVOLOUS
These items are undoubtedly intended to be amusing but they are things nobod
y truly needs.

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● The Useless Box
It doesn‘t do anything. I guess it’s supposed to be a joke item for the person who has everything.

Image Credit: Solarbotics/Flickr
Image Source
:interestingengineering.com/completely-unnecessary-things

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● Sweat Gutters
If you perspire profusely, you might buy head-mounted “Sweat Gutters” to remove sweat from your forehead.

Image Credit: Reddit.com -- Image source: interestingengineering.com/completely-unnecessary-things

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● Cuisine Curtain
This useless gadget lets you eat like an animal and still preserve your modesty while indulging your feeding frenzy.
​
Image Source: YouTube.com
Image source:
interestingengineering.com/completely-unnecessary-things

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● Motorized Ice Cream Cone
This battery-powered gadget turns your ice cream cone to ensure a perfectly even melt. Price: $9.99.
Image Credit: eBay
Image Source:
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products

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● Pet Rock
Classic '70s Pet Rock  with googly eyes doesn't need food, water, or walks. Price. $29.99
Image Credit. Amazon
Image Source:
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products

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​​● USB-Powered Pet Rock
This digital-age Pet Rock to your computer via USB. It doesn't do anything, but a light indicates it's "alive." ​
Image Credit. Reddit.com
Image Source:
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products

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● Banana Slicer
A banana slicer shaped like a banana makes perfectly uniform slices. P
rice $6.  A kitchen knife does the same work.
Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source:
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

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● Self-Stirring Mug
This mug stirs its contents, although using a spoon isn't all that strenuous. 

Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source: 
blog.cheapism.com/useless-
                                                  products-waste-of-money/

Price: about $10 to $20 unless you absolutely need a Nextmug Temperature-Controlled, Self-Heating Mug, which can cost $100 to $130.

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● Bacon Bandages
These don’t help wounds heal any better or quicker, but they do make the wearer look weird. Price: about $8.
Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source:
https://blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-we-want-to-buy/

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● Fish Training Kit 
Supposedly, you can train a pet fish with this kit, although I don’t know why anyone would want to do that. Price: $10.

Image Credit: Etsy
Imager Source: 
https://blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-we-want-to-buy/


The list goes on but you get the idea. Probably things we can do without under duress. Some purchases are totally frivolous, but sometimes these useless frivolities are fun and amusing, and no doubt that is what they are intended to be. Humor and comic relief certainly have their value.

CRITICAL NEED, NO!  CONVENIENT, YES!
Many items called “a waste of money” are useful and effort saving but aren't cost effective because they are not used often (sometimes only once), take up space, have adverse impact on environment,  increase waste products to be disposed of or, generally, impractical when you make an honest evaluation.

Those products -- probably somewhat of a luxury -- most of us could live without, given simpler substitutes, but they also can be helpful, save time and energy, and are used frequently. Those have value to people which offsets cost and other considerations like space. Some examples listed include the following:
 
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● Dryer Sheets
“Static-free, soft clothes are achievable without fabric softener or dryer sheets.
Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source:
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/
​

Instead, use a ball of aluminum foil or wool dryer balls to eliminate static electricity, and add a washcloth wet with a bit of white vinegar to soften fabric.” cheapism.com/useless-waste-of-money/
Yeah…no. I know where to find dryer sheets, they work, and I don’t have time for wet  wash-cloths or white vinegar.  Price: $7.

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● Electric Can Opener
“Electric can openers are convenient and easy, but not every kitchen can spare the counter space. (Price: $15 and up).
Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source:
 
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/
​

Instead, complete the same task with a few turns of a crank using a handheld opener stored in a drawer. The exception? People who can't move their hands freely because of arthritis or another joint-crippling illness.” cheapism.com/useless-waste-of-money/

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●Salad Spinner
The Salad Spinner, electric and hand operated, “Spins the bucket to toss salad and dry it so dressing
                     goes on evenly. 

Image Credit: Amazon
Image Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

"Instead, wash the greens in a big container, put on the lid, and give it a few good shakes, and dry any excess moisture with paper towels.”  I love my salad spinner,  but I don’t see the need for an electric one.

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● Corn Kerneler
“While corn kernelers claim to extract corn kernels effortlessly, they often end up being a one-trick gadget.
Image Credit: Aliexprerss.com
Image Source: seasonalcravings.com/dont-waste-your-money
​
Achieve the same results with a sharp knife & cutting board.” Price range: $7 to $130. 
seasonalcravings.com/dont-waste-your-money
​

HEALTH RELATED
This category of expenditure is more serious. While it's unlikely you'll be harmed by a banana slicer or a salad spinner, some products which are marketed as being for yhour health sometimes can be harmful.  ​Striving to be healthy is laudable, but it takes both commitment and some advance thought to make those purchases worthwhile.
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● Exercise Equipment and Gadgets
Who hasn’t bought a piece of exercise equipment, large or small? How many ended use being used as a clothes rack? Lots of good intentions, but more often than not, wasted money and space.
Above: Image Credit: qualitystocksuk/shutterstock -- Image Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-waste-of-money/
 
​Left: Image Credit: ImageSupply via DepositPhotos -- Image Source: moneysmartguides.com/things-people-buy

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● Multivitamins
Healthline reports, despite studies showing vitamins are pretty much useless for most people, “Americans spend around $21 billion a year on vitamins and herbal supplements. Instead, a diet dominated by plant-based whole foods,  including lots of fruits and vegetables, packs more healing power than vitamins, which aren't even regulated reliably.”                                                      Image Credit: CobraCZ/shutterstock                                                                                                                                                            Image Source: cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/
                                                                                                             
The question of whether or not healthy individuals really need MVM supplements is a good one, and there are many opinions and not many answers. 
According to pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ (an official website of the US Government), supplemental vitamins are not likely to be “…beneficial in reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as ischemic heart disease, cancer, and stroke…The results of large-scale randomized trials in the past two decades have shown that for the majority of the population, MVM supplements are not only ineffective, but they may be deleterious to health.” pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

While recent results from the SELECT (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention)Trial and those resulting from the Women's Health Initiative, tend to bolster the ‘no benefit or even harm’ conclusion, and authors (medical researchers Farin Kamangar and Ashkan Emadi) emphasize that these conclusions are for the general population, and for prevention of chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. They go one to write that, “In special cases, individuals may need vitamins or supplements” and give examples. Best rely on research and your medical professional.  

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● Diet Pills And Gummies
One of the biggest expenditures for “health” is for diet pills and gummies. Regarding Keto Diet products, Consumereview.com, states that 1. “There are a lot of products that don’t work at all, typically because they don’t contain the right ingredients or the right proportions”; 2. The products may be “too expensive to afford”; and 3. “The company
Image Source: consumereview.org                might just be exploiting another fad” which apparently many are.
                                                  consumereview.org/keto-pills/
​

According to PCM, a government website, “With the serious health risks of dietary supplements sold for weight loss, muscle building, and sexual function well-documented, there is concern that economic costs of these products may disproportionately burden individuals and families by gender and socioeconomic position.” Such supplements sold for weight loss, muscle building , and sexual function are not medically recommended because they “have been shown to be ineffective in many cases and pose serious health risks to consumers due to adulteration with banned substances, prescription pharmaceuticals, and other dangerous chemicals.”

POTENTIONALLY HARMFUL and/or QUESTIONABLE EFFECTIVENESS
Some products which are convenient and apparently effective are believed by many experts as potentially harmful and/or of questionable effectiveness. In my experience, that doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t work, but it should inspire some thought and maybe some research before purchase. Two examples of this category are:

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● Air Fresheners
Although zillions of people use one or more of the many kinds of air fresheners available, this product falls into several categories. They are convenient and do mask household odors, but are not critical.

Image Source: Amazon

People overcame gross household smells long before air fresheners were available just by simmering lemon juice in water on the stove, or placing potpourri, eucalyptus, rose water, or open containers of baking soda around the house. (Baking soda works in the refrigerator, too.)

However, “despite their popularity, some evidence suggests that air freshener products increase indoor air pollution and pose a health risk, especially with long-term exposure. Air fresheners release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. A VOC is a type of chemical that turns into a vapor or gas easily at room temperature. Health problems are thought to occur as a result of the chemicals in the air fresheners and from their secondary pollutants. Secondary pollutants are formed when a product’s chemicals combine with the ozone already in the air.” poison.org/articles/air-freshener-171

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​● Mosquito Zappers
“Mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide, which mammals exhale in huge plumes with every breath. There is no evidence they are attracted to ultraviolet light, which is the lure that backyard bug zappers rely on to draw and eliminate bugs." Price: $23 and up.
Image Source: Image Credit: Amazon
Image Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-waste-of-money/
​

 Actually, bug zappers kill bugs by the thousands, but according to scientists they kill the wrong bugs. “They are ineffective against mosquitoes and other biting flies, and their otherwise indiscriminate killing can disrupt pollination and generally throw the environment out of balance. Plus, the force of their electrocution can spew a mist of disease-ridden bug parts out into the air. All of the mosquito experts we spoke with and every relevant university extension office we could find unanimously condemned bug zappers.” nytimes.com/do-bug-zappers-work/

SPECIALIZED TOOLS and ONE-PURPOSE APPLICANCES
Finally we come to the attractive but questionable tool or appliance that is so specialized it only does one thing. I believe this is an area where most of us have expended a few unnecessary dollars for something that sounds practical and worth the cost, but then turns out to be something we rarely use.

Of course, there are many of these appliances and tools which we use often, such as a vacuum cleaner. The ones in question are often related to the kitchen and cooking, although I imagine home shop and gardening tools have their share. I mean, unless you are impassioned with cooking, who doesn’t want to make things easier in the kitchen?


When related to culinary helps, the tool or appliance is probably redundant. You probably already have something that can perform the same task. Whether or not they are worth the cost and space they occupy depends largely on how much use the item will get and why it needs to be done separately. These appliances are usually not a necessity in a home unless used constantly or for a special reason (like arthritis). These examples were listed on multiple websites as unnecessary.


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​​​● Electric Egg Cooker
Perfectly boiled eggs can be made by, well, boiling them.

Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/


Simply reduce or increase the cooking time for soft, medium, or hard-boiled; poach an egg with a slotted spoon and an inch and a half of simmering water.

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● Bread Maker
“This is one of the poster children of unnecessary items. It’s big and clunky, and it only does one thing.
Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-
                                      waste-of-money/


In fact, it’s redundant since your kitchen already has a bread-making machine-an oven." Price:$100+

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● Popcorn Machine
“This is another single-use item that takes up space when there are simpler solutions on hand that yield the same result.
Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

Instead, pop raw kernels, or buy microwave popcorn.” Price: $40 up to $379. 

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● Meat-Shredding Claws
“These things look pretty cool for unleashing your inner carnivore, but are probably overkill.
Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/


​Instead, stick to a couple of forks for your latest crockpot creation.” Price: $10.

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●Egg Separator
“A dedicated egg separator seems especially superfluous when most of us have long used the shell itself to isolate the yolk and the white.
Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source: blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/

Price: Around $6. Instead, use the egg shells to separate the yolks from the whites; wear plastic cooking gloves if you want to be extra careful.”


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●Garlic Press
“Most recipes call for chop-ped /minced garlic, not pressed; even when they do,                                  substituting minced is fine.
Image Credit: Amazon
Imager Source: 
blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money
The Daily Meal's Dan Meyers says most chefs ​don't use presses and advise against keeping one of these incredibly hard-to-clean contraptions around. Price: $7 and up. Instead, use the flat side of a good knife or a mortar and pestle.”

THE TARIFFS
The not-so-humorous side of this discussion relates to the potential impacts of the proposed tariffs. On one hand, President Trump is probably correct when he says Americans can probably get along without buying so much, although that doesn’t lessen the burden on those families which are already struggling just to survive. But I’m not getting into that. I only want to point out what products might go up in price as the result.

WHAT CHINA IMPORTS TO THE US
According to cbsnews.com/ the following are items imported to the US from China. Keep in mind that we are not just talking about finished products but materials that are used to make other item here in the US.

● Down feathers ($1.9 billion)
77% of the country's total imported supply of down. Down is commonly used for insulation in comforters and outerwear.
● Toys, games and sports equipment ($30 billion plus)
73% of the US imports in this category come from China.
● Textile art ($8.6 billion)
Imports from China account for more than 50% of all imported to the US.
● Footwear ($9.8 billion)
This is a biggie in the US. 36% of footwear sold stateside is imported from China, including brand names like Adidas. 
● Cutlery and metal tools ($3.1 billion) 
Dinner utensils manufactured in China could also start becoming scarce. 
● Glassware
Almost 30% of U.S. imports of glassware and other products made of glass comes from China.
● Furniture and bedding (
$18.5 billion)
That's 28% of all U.S. imports in the category.
● Apparel (
$17.3 billion)
Another big ticket item for Americans.  That includes knit or crocheted clothing (almost $10 billion) and not-knit apparel ($7.3 billion).
● Electric Machinery
● Nuclear reactors, boilers and other machinery
● Goods made of iron or steel
● Plastics


The news media is reporting that trade agreements are being reached. Eventually, the general public will find out what that means. In the mean time, be prudent how you spend your money.
JUST SAYIN’

Sources:
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/trending-topics
https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/654479/gallup-trends-watch-2025.aspx
https://declutteringmom.com/the-15-most-useless-items-people-keep-for-no-reason/
https://blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-waste-of-money/
https://blog.cheapism.com/useless-products-we-want-to-buy/
https://interestingengineering.com/how-to/5-completely-unnecessary-things-you-really-shouldnt-buy
https://bestlifeonline.com/everyday-items-waste-of-money/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/1imx1q/biggest_ways_people_waste_money_compiled_from/?rdt=45146
https://wallstreetinsanity.com/16-useless-items-we-all-own-and-never-use/
https://www.thetoptens.com/useless-items-we-all-own-never-use/
https://www.poison.org/articles/air-freshener-171
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/25-unnecessary-wastes-money-you-dont-think-about.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinese-china-products-tariffs-shortages-us/
https://finance.alot.com/personal-finance/10-items-stock-up-before-tariffs-raise-prices--22140
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/04/nx-s1-5351324/tariffs-higher-grocery-prices-trump
https://www.eatthis.com/grocery-items-price-hikes-tariffs/
https://tifwe.org/who-determines-what-something-is-worth-it-depends/
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-10733-7_2
https://caketokale.com/18-most-useless-kitchen-appliances/
https://www.seasonalcravings.com/dont-waste-your-money-the-10-most-useless-kitchen-appliances-you-shouldnt-buy/
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/do-bug-zappers-work/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3309636/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5377432/
https://247wallst.com/special-report/2023/08/05/the-16-most-important-issues-to-americans-ranked/

https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/654479/gallup-trends-watch-2025.aspx
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/04/28/1000-protests-on-may-day-2025-against-trump-what-we-know-may-day-protests-may-day-strong-2025/83324272007/

https://consumersendorse.com/the-5-best-bug-zappers/?utm_source=zapguardian&utm_medium=s1&utm_campaign=us&utm_term=t5&cmc_adid=ms_77378335342057_486476025&msclkid=3402c3fbbbc610eaa746abe7420e460b

https://consumertestedreviews.org/product/best-mosquito-zapper/?msclkid=8582c1e1f4741c9f1fc8a9fd0a7b5b17&msclkid=8582c1e1f4741c9f1fc8a9fd0a7b5b17&AdGroupId=1329311920772943&AdId=83082222608546&BidMatchType=bp&CampaignId=520510596&msclkid=8582c1e1f4741c9f1f

https://consumereview.org/reviews/keto-pills/?msclkid=9d7ce3868a121a8010408b9b90cf1980&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search%20-%20TCPA%2060&utm_term=weight%20loss%20supplements&utm_content=Search%20-%20Phrase

https://www.moneysmartguides.com/expensive-things-people-buy-then-never-use/#:~:text=This%20article%20looks%20at%2024%20expensive%20things%20people,toys%20like%20bikes%20and%20cars%2C%20you%E2%80%99re%20not%20alone


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-rejects-concerns-prices-economic-uncertainty-defends-agenda-rcna203512.
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THE uNIVERSALLY DESPISTED POT HOLE

5/4/2025

0 Comments

 
The other day my grandson, who lives in Indiana, called me from his car while he was running errands…just to keep in touch. We had a nice but rather unusual conversation about – you’ll never guess it – potholes.
​
The title of the blog gave it away, huh?
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​I assumed he had just experienced some potholes in the street which brought the subject to mind, but he asked me what I thought about them. After thirty-five years working in government land use planning, I am more knowledgeable on the subject than most 84-year-old grandmothers. We discussed truck traffic, weather, and all the many hours I’d sat through planning commission and city council hearings listening to the public complain about potholes…which is about equal to the number of hours of complaints about leaf blowers. Finally he said he thought I might do a blog about it.

Say what? The thought had never once occurred to me!

Yet here I am, trying to find a way of making this subject, which concerns and angers many people yet is deadly dull and uninteresting, into something readable.

THE UBIQUITOUS POTHOLE
Most living adults know what a pothole is. These common nuisances exist throughout the world, disrupting smooth drives and often leading to vehicle damage, costly repairs, and potential liabilities. Furthermore, repairing potholes can lead to significant expenses and inconvenience caused by having sections of a parking lot or roadway closed off for repairs.

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     Image Credit: O de R // Shutterstock
      Image Source: stacker.com/most-pothole- complaints
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         Image Credit: Vadim Lukin // Shutterstock
           Image Source: stacker.com/most-pothole- complaints
And no one seems to be a big fan. In fact, “the word pothole is universally despised by both public works agencies and the citizens they serve.” apwa.org/insights/the-us-pothole-problem.
​

THE HISTORY OF POTHOLES
Mind-boggling as it may seem, potholes have a history…an ancient one at that. They have been around “since the dawn of time.” nationaltoday.com/national-pothole-day

Whether or not the “dawn of time” is a stretch, certain pertinent events have been recorded since then, after humans discovered the wheel and learned to write.

Origin of the Word
This word seems to be pure Anglo-Saxon. The word "pothole" is a compound of the Middle-English words "pot" (meaning "hole") and "hole" (meaning, unsurprisingly, "hole").

"Pot" originally referred to a hole in the ground: a more or less cylindrical cavity from a few inches to several feet deep in rock (1826), originally a geological feature in glaciers and gravel beds. "Pothole" was originally used to describe holes in the ground that were created naturally, such as those caused by erosion or subsidence

Origin of the Terminology
In the 1400s/1500s, pottery makers in what is now England, “took advantage of the ruts carved into roadways by wagon and coach wheels. They would dig further into these deep ruts to uncover clay deposits beneath in their search for a cost-effective source of raw materials for crafting clay pots. Teamsters who drove wagons and coaches across the roads were aware of who or what produced the holes, which is why they called them ‘pot-holes.’” nationaltoday.com/national-pothole-day
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In 1884, a coal miner discovered the 42-feet wide and 38-feet deep Archbald Pothole in eastern part of  Pennsylvania. The Archbald pothole is now a state park. American ingenuity can make a tourist attraction out of anything.
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◄  Image Source: visitepa.org

By 1909, the British term had become a staple of American English. 


WHAT CAUSES POTHOLES?
While most discussions focus on those occurring in streets paved with asphalt, dirt roads and roads build of gravel or paving stone, fall prey to the hazard. Even reinforced concrete is at risk, although this is about the toughest material used for paving. It is most often plagued by cracks or buckling, which can develop into potholes.

● Wear and tear on the roads from traffic, not just in volume but in weight and frequency, has a significant impact on breaking down the material any road is made of.

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​Federal highway officials cast an “evil eye” on the unexpectedly heavy pounding delivered by American traffic, in particular behemoth 18-wheelers. Many U.S. roadways carry three or even four times their design weights.

◄ Image Credit and source: Alamay.com


● Age and maintenance are other factors. Over time, as road paving materials age, they become more susceptible to cracking. Eventually all paving materials can crack, exposing the base to the weather. Ongoing and timely maintenance can extend the life of the roadway and help keep it free of potholes.

● Water is the biggest culprit. Potholes form primarily due to water seeping into the pavement and weakening the soil beneath. Cracks allow more water infiltration and and subsequent pothole development.

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​                   Image credit: kolt_duo // Shutterstock
           
Image Source: stacker.com/states-most-pothole-complaints
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                    Image credit and source: Dreamtime.com
Colder locations, where snow and ice form, are even more affected by the freeze-thaw cycle. When the water freezes and expands, it puts pressure on the paving material, creating a void which gets bigger as the cycle continues through the winter, resulting in subsurface hollow spaces beneath the pavement.
​
These voids compromise the structural integrity of the surface, making it more susceptible to damage under the pressure of passing vehicles. Eventually the pavement deteriorates leading to the formation of a cavity under the surface. Traffic over these weakened voids causes the material to collapse, forming a pothole which gets bigger and deeper unless properly maintained.
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             ​Cracked concrete road 
        Image Credit /source:  Dreamtime.com 
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Buckled concrete road 
         Image Credit: Dreamtime.com    

             Image Source: www.wsb.com 
   ​
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Dirt Road
Image Source: www.doityourself.com

WHY AREN’T POTHOLES FIXED RIGHT AWAY?
Think about it. Do you fix everything at your home as soon as it needs maintenance or replacing? Maybe a lot of smaller things, but not everything, particularly expensive items like a new roof, jack-hammering out a cracked driveway, or replacing fifty feet of eight-foot high retaining wall. Most people can’t do everything at once, and the government entities which are responsible for roads are in the same situation. You pick and choose based on many factors.

● Cost and Competition for Funds
Money is tight and the needs are many, even for governments. Generally speaking, the public tends to believe that all government does is spend tax money so why don’t they fix the streets. Just like families, money doesn’t go as far as it used to and dollars are tight at all levels of government. And like everything else, the costs to fill potholes and maintain streets have gone up.

Some jurisdictions choose to save money in the long run by making long-term repairs to likely pothole hotspots rather than wait to patch them after they’ve become a problem. “It is an issue of dollars available. A good proportion of America’s roads need resurfacing, but transportation departments simply don’t have the funding to do that.”
stateline.org/2018/potholes-cities
​

● Unreported Potholes
Sometimes potholes don’t get reported. People may believe that surely someone has complained the the government agency, but not necessarily. And sometimes people don't know which agency is actually responsible for that piece of roadway and report to the wrong one.
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● Scheduling
So many potholes, so little time; so few crews.
                                                                             Image Credit: Grossinger // Shutterstock
                                            Image Source: stacker.com/states-most-pothole-complaints


● Weather
As recent years have emphasized, we are at the mercy of the weather, and much of the US has suffered severely from such natural events. Not only does a cold climate make roads more susceptible to potholes, but it limits the hours and locations where they can be repaired.
During the warmer months, hot asphalt can be manufactured and delivered to repair the holes. During the winter months (October through March or April), asphalt plants are typically closed in cities like Minneapolis. Instead, the city uses “cold mix,” a temporary solution until the warm weather returns and asphalt plants reopen.

Is that uninteresting enough for you? Kudos if you are still awake and got this far. 

TOP15 STATES WITH THE MOST POTHOLE COMPLAINTS
In search of something interesting about potholes, I came across an article written by Brian Budzynski and posted in February 2022 by stacker.com/ which lists the number of pothole complaints by state. Below are the top fifteen from the post giving the number of pothole complaints for every 621 miles of roadway. With all the snow and flooding this year, the numbers of complaints will rise along with the water.

15. Michigan:  7.7 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
Surprisingly few considering that In this state, drivers can apply for reimbursement for repairs needed to their vehicles as a result of a run-in with a pothole.

14. Illinois: 7.8 complaints / 621 miles of roadway. 
Even with the second-highest gas tax rate in the country, funds for which go toward infrastructure maintenance, Illinois just can’t seem to get a handle on this problem.

13. Nevada:  7.9 complaints / 621 miles of roadway

12. Georgia:  9.5 complaints / 621 miles of roadway

An Atlanta driver recently encountered car-sized potholes on I-85 that resulted in thousands of dollars of damage to his car. Other drivers have reported potholes the size of swimming pools.​


11. Louisiana: 11 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
In one case, a local resident sat right along a pothole edge like he was dangling his legs in a pool.

10. Florida: 11.4 complaints / 621 miles of roadway.
One Florida resident planted a banana tree in a pothole outside his business, just to send a message. A different Florida solution is to paint yellow lines around the hole to warn drivers.

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                            Image Credit:  WINK-TV                                                                                     Image Credit: Flystock// Shutterstock
 ​                                Image Source: fox13news.com  
                                             
 Image Source: stacker.com/most-pothole-complaints
9. Connecticut:  12 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
One resident declared on Twitter that “My favorite Connecticut pastime is dodging potholes.”

8. Pennsylvania: 15.4 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
This state has the second-worst bridge condition situation in the country and with more than 50% of statewide roads not even maintained enough to call “fair,” naturally, a pothole problem is going to follow. 

7. Maryland: 15.5 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
Leaders are talking about tax cuts and more spending on law enforcement—but as for road repair, state is devoting more than half of its $16.4 capital budget to maintaining degraded roads and other infrastructure.

6. New Jersey: 16.5 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
The average additional cost to drivers in vehicle damage is referred to as a "New Jersey pothole tax."

​
5. California: 18.4 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
The mayor of Vallejo, California, had to recently ask residents to stop fixing potholes themselves, claiming such “pothole vigilantism” presented a liability problem.

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 Vallejo, CA “citizen vigilantes” -- Image Credit: mercurynews.com
Image Source: www.reddit.com/vallejo
 Image Source:bendigostandard.com/council-turns-potholes-into-swimming-pools/
4. Massachusetts:  18.7 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
Boston is among the cities with the most pothole complaints, with an average of 303 anger-venting tweets per 1,000 km of road.

3. New York: 20.5 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
The national transportation non-profit, TRIP, estimates New York drivers are losing in extra vehicle operating costs due to deteriorated and congested roads, as well as roads that lack appropriate safety features. This breaks down to more than $3,000 per driver.
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                                       Image Credit: rapideye                                                                                    Image Credit: Andriy Blokhin // Shutterstock
                                   Image Source: istockphoto                                                                          image source: stacker.com/most-pothole-complaints
2. Hawaii:  20.6 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
Despite having fewer roadway miles than any other state per capita, the generally underbuilt road system has resulted in one-third of roads being in poor condition.

1. Rhode Island: 23.4 complaints / 621 miles of roadway
The smallest geographic state takes the “bituminous taco” of having the most pothole complaints. Some refer to Rhode Island as "The Pothole State."

The article lists all fifty states, if you are interested. The state with the least complaints is Idaho with only 0.4 complaints per 621 miles of road.

NATIONAL POTHOLE DAY
National Pothole Day, January 15,  is an observance day created to focus attention on the ever growing problem of potholes. Below are the ways two people chose to increase awareness.
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                          Image Credit: Peretz Partensky                                                                                  Image Credit: Malachy Quinn
                             Image Source: Highways.today.com                                                                         Image Source: cyclingmagazine.ca.com


This approach may not be for all of us, but there are things which most drivers could do. Suggestions include:
● Raising awareness
● Leave your car at home when you can. Walking is good for you, or take a bus.

● Learn more and share what you know.

JUST SAYIN'
Is this dull enough for you? This is probably all you’ll ever want to know about potholes.

Sources:

https://stateline.org/2018/06/18/to-combat-potholes-cities-turn-to-technology/
https://stacker.com/stories/government/states-most-pothole-complaints
https://pavingfinder.com/expert-advice/what-causes-potholes/
https://mcconnellassociates.org/how-do-potholes-form-understanding-the-causes-and-prevention/
https://time.com/archive/6720166/why-america-has-so-many-potholes/
https://www.apwa.org/insights-and-solutions/the-us-pothole-problem/
https://www.assetpanda.com/resource-center/blog/why-do-potholes-take-so-long-to-fix/
https://tripnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Transportation-Funding-Fact-Sheet-March-2022.pdf
https://newsroom.aaa.com/2022/03/aaa-potholes-pack-a-punch-as-drivers-pay-26-5-billion-in-related-vehicle-repairs/
https://nationaltoday.com/national-pothole-day/
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/150494/why-are-pot-holes-called-pot-holes
https://www.thecollector.com/why-roman-roads-dont-have-potholes/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbald_Pothole_State_Park
end
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April 15th, 2025

4/15/2025

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Image Source: dma.org.uk/digital-devices-chang-english-language
​ENGLISH IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Language, spoken and written, it is one of the primary ways in which humans communicate with one another. Although there are other means, for the last few centuries it has been the most frequently used by most people.

Nearly everyone – except maybe teen agers -- realizes that language constantly changes over the years and over physical distance. It is a work in progress, not an end state. That’s old news. The differences in this century are the rater of change -- and the rate curve is on he upswing -- and the advent of the internet and the cell / smartphone.
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Image Source: www.peterfisk.com
Researchers are finding that the two most common communications devices, the internet and smartphone, have brought about what is arguably a new variety of English that differs from the standard varieties. Some researchers fear this new form of English is a threat to the standard varieties while others argue that it is simply a new branch of linguistics, sometimes called Internet Linguistics.
The internet has allowed us to become connected in a way that was not possible in the past. This level of immediate connection has helped new phrases, words and ways to communicate become commonplace much faster than humans have been accustomed  to.

CŌM ON WANRE NIHT / SCRĪÐAN SCEADU-GENGA
Like it or not, the English language has continually changed and will continue to evolve. That is a fact, not a threat. The difficult part is keeping up with the modifications. Or maybe we don’t need to.

“Cōm on wanre niht / scrīðan sceadu-genga” is, in fact, English. Old English, to be precise. However, if you can read and understand it, I’m impressed. These are the opening words from the English poem Beowulf, first committed to writing between 975 and 1015 AD. The translation, by R. M. Liuzzar, to modern English is “In the dark night he came / creeping, the shadow-goer”.

After the Norman Conquest of 1066 AD, Old English -- only a spoken language at the time -- was replaced, for a time, by Anglo-Norman which developed into what is now known as Middle English, which did developed a written form.

Most average, English-speaking people alive today do not miss Old and Middle English, nor yearn for their return. Keep this in mind for the later discussion.
​

THE NATURE OF THE CHANGES
Putting aside for the moment the question of whether or not everyone needs to keep up on the spiraling (spelled spiralling if you are British) growth of the language, let’s look at what modifications have taken place since 1990.

VOCABULARY: A New Word Every 98 Minutes
Vocabulary is the most obvious change to English, because people deal with both the written and spoken word constantly. The estimated number of words in English is somewhat speculative, but most experts agree there are at least a million plus, somewhere between 1,005,000 and 1,022,000.

OMG! How many of these words do you know and use? In a 2011 interview with the BBC, lexicographer Susie Dent estimated that while an English speaker may know around 40,000 words, they actively use only about 20,000 (about 2% of a million). While that percentage may have increased since 2011, it is still a very small portion of the language. Ouch!

The Global Language Monitor  (GLM) estimates that in the modern world a new word is created every 98 minutes, and that 800 to 1,000 new words are added to English language dictionaries each year. In the 20th century, the estimated increase in dictionary words is more than 90,000 words. 
atkinsbookshelf.wordpress.com/words-enter-the-english-language

By the way, a word does not need to be in the dictionary to be a “real” word.

The third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), scheduled for completion in 2037, estimates the rate of inclusion of new words will be nearly 4,000 per year. That dictionary
added more than 2,500 words in 2014. Imagine in 2024.


This dramatic increase in new words is due to:

● Technology and new products
● Spontaneous coining of new words in email, text transmissions, and in social, news and
   entertainment media which can reach missions of people in seconds.

● Blended words (eg: bromance, staycation.)
● Foreign words
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THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS "rACE"

4/4/2025

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The Human Race-image source: www.nih.gov
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​When I was in grammar school, at least a hundred and fifty years ago, I learned that the Taxonomy of Homo Sapiens Sapiens had three sub-classifications. Yes, Homo Sapiens Sapiens. No, my word-processing program does not stutter. Those three basic groups were identified as Caucasian, Oriental (or Mongoloid), and Negroid. 

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And what do you know? Once again my good ole’ California education has let me down. In fact, there is no such thing as race! At least, not based on modern scientific knowledge.  (I suppose I should cut the old school system some slack.)

​RACE
Origin Of The Word
● The word “race was first recorded (in the English language) in this form around 1490–1500. English borrowed race from the French word, which derives in turn from the Italian razza, meaning “kind, breed, lineage.” The deeper roots of razza are obscure. dictionary.com/race-vs-ethnicity/

Originally, the term functioned in English much like the word ethnicity and simply referred to groups of people connected by a common descent or origin. The earliest example defines the meaning as a "group of people belonging to the same family and descended from a common ancestor".

● “Until the 18th century it (race) had a generalized meaning similar to other classifying terms such as type, sort, or kind. Occasional literature from Shakespeare’s time referred to a “race of saints” or “a race of bishops.” britannica.com/topic/race-human

● After that time, as European colonization spread, the term was widely used for sorting and ranking the peoples in the English colonies, including: “Europeans who saw themselves as free people, Amerindians who had been conquered, and Africans who were being brought in as slave labor—and this usage continues today….white Europeans used race to sort humans by place of origin as well as skin color, creating the social hierarchy which served as the foundation of slavery.” britannica.com/topic/race-human

What Does The Word Really Mean?
According to Merriam-Webster, race means: “1a. Any one of the groups that humans are often divided into based on physical traits regarded as common among people of shared ancestry.” (This dictionary also contains other definitions which are either redundant or don’t apply in this discussion.)

The above, out-of-date definition from the 18th century, was applied, in times past, in scientific fields such as physical anthropology referring to physical traits regarded as common among people of a shared ancestry such as skin color, hair form, head shape, and particular sets of cranial dimensions.

By the end of the 20th century, the science of genetics proved definitively that all humans alive today share 99% of their genetic material. For this reason, the concept of distinct sub-sets of the human race has no scientific basis. Thus, race is human construct used primarily as a sociological designation to identify a group sharing some outward physical characteristics and some commonalities of culture.

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Residents of different parts of Africa
Image Source: www.pinterest.com
Wait a minute! Do these people look like they share physical characteristics and commonalities of culture?
 

Not to me. This photo illustrates that there is no generic "African" race. In Africa, there are groups who speak Kikuyu, Zulu, Ashanti, Fulani, and so on. The differences are more related to where people are from and the language they speak.

According to Nina Jablonski, an anthropologist and paleobiologist at Pennsylvania State University who is known for her research into the evolution of human skin color, "'Race' and 'ethnicity' have been and continue to be used as ways to describe human diversity…Race is understood by most people as a mixture of physical, behavioral and cultural attributes. Ethnicity recognizes differences between people mostly on the basis of language and shared culture. But just as soon as we've outlined these definitions, we're going to dismantle the very foundations on which they're built. That's because the question of race versus ethnicity actually exposes major and persistent flaws in how we define these two traits, flaws that — especially when it comes to race — have given them an outsized social impact on human history.”

Even in a politically correct world, people continue to identify others as being Black, White, or Asian, plus all the other classifications that have come into the language, based on visual cues. These are identifiers humans have ascribed to each other or themselves.
​

The terms are used but they do not express scientific truth. Nothing in our genomes can be used to separate human beings along such clear lines.
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​ETHNICITY
Ethnic is defined as:
1a. Of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, religious,
tribal, linguistic, cultural origin, or background.                                                         Image Source: www.whyy.org  
1b.Being a member of a specified ethnic group.
1c. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a minority ethnic group
2. Of or relating to the Gentiles or to nations not converted to Christianity: i.e. pagan.

Don't you hate it when dictionaries used the same word to define itself?


Ethnicity is drawn from a Latin word derived from the Greek term éthnos meaning “nation” or “people.” The English word ethnic was first used in the mid-1700s as a noun for a heathen or pagan, and was also used to refer to anyone who originated from nations that were not Christian or Jewish.

Actually, the word pagan, f
rom the Latin word paganus, originally lacked any religious significance. It meant villager, rustic, or civilian, and is derived from a “pāgus” which refers to a small unit of land in a rural district. It was a demeaning Latin term (like the word hick).   thoughtco.com/pagan

HUMAN DIVERSITY: RACE and ETHNICITY
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Race and Ethnicity are irrevocably intertwined — not only because some-one's ascribed race can be part of their chosen ethnicity but also because of other social factors. Today most people use these terms almost interchangeably, either because they are ignorant or just sloppy in their use of the language.

​These words are used to describe human diversity, but in fact, race and ethnicity are not the same thing. Still, it’s a complicated distinction because the words overlap, and because of the historical and often personal interpretations.

“Race is often perceived as something that's inherent in our biology, and therefore inherited across generations. Ethnicity, on the other hand, is typically understood as something we acquire, or self-ascribe, based on factors like where we live or the culture we share with others.” livescience.com/difference-race-ethnicity

AN AUTHOR’S DILEMMA
Whether or not an author’s view of writing diversity is a dilemma, bringing diversity into your writing not only makes it more realistic but definitely enriches the content and the impact on the reader. It is only a dilemma because most white writers do not wish to offend others. There are many mistakes to be made. The operative word is Research.

“White” Is The Readers Default Setting
Colette Aburime, author and founder of WritingWithColor, a writing advice blog focused on diversity, writes, “One key to strong representation is making the race of your characters undisputedly clear….Society ensures we view white people as the default. That default human is probably also straight, cis, able-bodied, etc. until proven otherwise. This way of thinking won’t dissolve overnight.”

Aburime suggests authors be clear about their character’s race as soon as they are introduced and drop in a few discreet reminders throughout the novel. Physical description is one of the most straightforward ways to do that, particularly at the point a character comes on stage, but writing that a character has black hair and dark skin could be a description of many different ethnicities. Besides, just reciting a person’s physical attributes can be really dull reading. Avoid socially-constructed race terms like African-American, Asian-American, etc. to describe only the characters who aren't “white.”

Character Descriptions
Also, everything about the character doesn’t come out in the introductory depiction. Throughout the novel, the author can combine the physical attributes with other observations about the character, ethnicity, and actions, depending on the circumstances of the story, including:
  ● Culture: Such as family names, clothing, holidays, traditions, language, accents, food, heirlooms, values, religion, etc. One rite of adolescence in North American culture is to identify one's own ethnicity.
  ● Social issues: Throughout the story, what social issues does the character react to? Do they have about friends and/or relatives in other countries?
 ● Activities - PoC-specific organizations, activism, local businesses, social media, professional groups, religious connections.
  ● Focus: The character’s internal thoughts and the kind of things the character notices can also be used to establish any ethnicity. Our brains filter all input based on what is important to us.

There is nothing new about this. It’s what authors should do with all the primary and secondary characters in a novel. 1) The first point is to be aware that all these facts about this character should express their ethnicity. Make every word count; 2) The second point is to use specific and avoid generic descriptions; and 3) The third point is to do your research. Don’t think you know already. Don’t wing it.

However, Nanditha Narendran, a medical student whose spare time is spent writing short stories, has a slightly different take on how to make the character’s ethnicity clear. She writes, “State the character’s race along with any combination of all the other traits already discussed. Be it Black, White, African, Asian, or any race, depending on how important it is for your story that the reader does not misread your character’s race, explicitly stating it works perfectly well, too. It’s just a matter of avoiding overuse. This can work well for all primary and minor characters."


Minor and Walk-on Characters
One potential stumbling block can be what to do with characters who are very minor or walk-ons like a waiter in a restaurant or a bag-lady on the bus; those who have no real role in the story.

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A rule of thumb is that the more description you give of the character, the more the reader will expect to see the person again in the story. Description means that the character warrants some attention, and that translates into doing something (important or not).


If the waiter comes to the table, serves the food, and leaves, a description isn’t necessary or can be very generic, such as “a bald waiter with a white towel over his arm.”
If the character is background and takes no action affecting the story, should their ethnicity be called out by the author? How much description does that person get?

If The Story Is Not About Ethnicity
If the story is not particularly about ethnicity, why describe the ethnicity of the characters? You should know your reason. It could be that the setting for the novel is diverse, or because the protagonist knows how to do something that is usually restricted to a particular ethnic group, or even set on a sci-fi solar system. The story and characters should determine whether or not you provide ethnic cues in description.

Also, today’s readers are usually exposed to diversity, either by where they live, their interest and activities. or through entertainment and the media. They probably expect diversity as simply being realistic, at least in a contemporary setting.

When writing a historical, and perhaps believe there wouldn’t have been people of other ethnicities around at that location and time, do your research. There probably were, and those people probably had specific kinds of jobs. Your minor characters should be appropriate for the time and place, but try not to stereotype. It is okay to have someone break out of the ordinary.


Verbals And Non-Verbals
There are many non-verbal cues that can define ethnicity, whether the author intends to or not. When your character pales, blushes, or tosses back a long blond ponytail, she is most likely of European descent. Again, research! I know from personal experience that cues also can be misread, in life and in writing. I had a Chinese friend and co-worker who had rather dark skin. I assumed his coloring protected his skin, but when we spent a workday surveying a campground, he got one heck of a sunburn.

If you use verbal cues such as jargon, diction, or accent to establish or reinforce ethnicity, do your homework. Language, if done accurately, can be a powerful tool. Author Mitali Perkins writes, “The storyteller who crafts dialogue with jargon, diction, and accented English must be diligent in study as well as creative -- listening, learning, and communicating linguistic differences in the right way at the right time for the right reasons.”

Be thoughtful when using jargon and accents. Writing the entire dialogue in either can become very difficult for the reader. Once the language or ethnicity is established, I select certain words and phrases that identify the particular character’s voice and use only those.


BE RESPECTFUL AND THOUGHTFUL
All of this is about be respectful and thoughtful with others.
 
Sources:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/race
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/difference-between-race-and-ethnicity
https://scientificorigin.com/whats-the-difference-between-ethnicity-and-race
https://scientificorigin.com/whats-the-difference-between-ethnicity-and-race
https://www.dictionary.com/e/race-vs-ethnicity/
https://www.livescience.com/difference-between-race-ethnicity.html
https://blog.prepscholar.com/race-vs-ethnicity-vs-nationality#google_vignette
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/race-and-ethnicity
https://www.britannica.com/topic/race-human/The-history-of-the-idea-of-race
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-pagan-120163
https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/95-FE-Write-Race-Ethnicity-in-Fiction.html
https://writingtheother.com/writing-characters-of-different-races/
https://www.mitaliperkins.com/2008/10/ten-tips-about-writing-race-in-novels.html
https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2017/01/contemporary-writers-represent-race-new-ways-literary-scholar-finds
https://blog.nanowrimo.org/post/188519134840/the-dos-of-writing-people-of-color-describe-your
https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2016/03/native-people-respond-to-rowling.html
https://www.essence.com/news/5-code-words-media-needs-stop-using-describe-black-people/?ps_theme=essence25

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WHY PEOPLE COLLECT THINGS

2/15/2025

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The other day I heard on the news that someone paid $28 million for a piece of Hollywood memorabilia. 
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The sum is mind-boggling for the average person, and I couldn’t help wondering why people seem compelled to collect things: a question pondered by professionals in various fields (psychology, anthropology, history) and a motivation to seek the truth behind the human desire to gather, categorize, and cherish material possessions.
    Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers – Wizard of OZ Movie
    Image Source: silverscreenmodes.com/the-wizard-of-oz


​Over the years I have collected a number of various useless things, many of which are now stored in my garage somewhere. Whole collections will most likely be sold by my children at a garage sale for five dollars, although some of the items were on the expensive side for my budget. Thus someone else who loves owls or ceramic cats or decorative plates will be happy they made a good deal.

Why did I collect these things? Sometimes I simply fell into collecting. I saw something I liked, usually home decor, and would buy it, only to discover later there were more pieces to the set. I’d buy more. Then a piece of the same type would show up. Soon people would give them to me as presents, “…because Ann always likes owls.” (Not real ones, of course.)

My other impetus for collecting came with travel. I would buy a souvenir of a place I visited, usually something small and easy to pack. On the next trip, I would buy the same kind of thing as a keepsake – because I already had one from the last trip – and eventually it became a collection. My saving graces were that I never collected too many, and I never spent beyond my means. Since the items tended to be home decor, I soon ran out of space…and went to something else.

But what is the psychology behind collecting?


THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COLLECTING
Prior to humans abandoning the nomadic lifestyle more than 12,000 years ago, collecting did not exist. But since then, people everywhere have fallen to the beckoning behavior of collecting. This often resulted, and still does, in vast numbers of unusual objects and unique storage solutions. I’m guessing this desire to accumulate “stuff” has intrigued others for as many millennia as people have been collecting.

The psychology of collecting attempts to identify the reasons why people dedicated so much time, money, and energy to this activity, often collecting items that seem to others as “ridiculous.” “The psychology of collecting also offers insight into variance between similar behavior that can be recognized on a continuum between being beneficial as a hobby and also capable of being a mental disorder.” en.wikipedia.org/ Psychology_of_collecting

Researchers have 
com e to believe collecting is more than just accumulating things. It is a deeply personal and  often emotional journey that reflects the collector’s innermost desires, fears, and aspirations. neurolaunch.com/psychology-of-collecting

The theories fall into four basic categories:
● Consumerism
This set of theories is based on a social and economic order in which the aspirations of many individuals include the acquisition of goods and services beyond those necessary for displays of status and wealth.

● Materialism
Materialism is the philosophical belief that matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and that all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of the interactions of material things. According to philosophical materialism, mind and consciousness are caused by physical processes, such as the neurochemistry of the human brain and nervous system, without which they cannot exist.
● Neurobiology
Neurobiological theories propose that collecting behaviors can, in some cases, be explained by brain damage or abnormalities in the medial prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for regulating cognitive behaviors such as decision making, information processing, and organizing behavior.
● Psychoanalytic theory
Of the four, psychoanalytic theories -- what drives the compulsion to collect -- are the ones most of us relate to. The psychoanalytic perspective generally identifies four main motivations for collecting:

• Selfish purposes,
• Selfless purposes; as preservation, restoration, history, and sense of continuity,
• Financial investment,
• A form of addiction, now termed hoarding.

Shirley M. Mueller, M.D., neuroscientist, and collector, has studied this phenomenon and writes that 33 to 40 percent of the American population collects one thing or another. Her research convinced her
“…not only can there be an instigating factor or factors for collectors to collect at all, or, in a particular area. There also are reinforcing contributors that make the activity worthwhile and pleasurable for which we now know the scientific basis. For example, the rarity of a piece can not only make it valuable, but it can also stimulate certain parts of the brain that register this uniqueness. The scientific research relating to this phenomenon is called the Oddball experiment.”

According to Dr. Meuller, this experiment uses a magnetic resonance machine to measure activity in the brain when the subject sees a string of ordinary objects punctuated by the extraordinary. Specific areas of their brains light up when the unusual items are presented. She theorizes that the collector’s brain may “light up” when the unique object they collect is seen. “It stimulates our brains in areas that connect to our pleasure center. This may also have an evolutionary benefit. We explore the new until we determine whether it is a benefit to us or not.”

DRIVERS BEHIND COLLECTING BEHAVIOR
According to an article in neurolaunch.com/psychology-of-collecting, a collector’s behavior is driven by one or more of the following:
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● The Hunt for Completeness and Control
In this case, filling the gaps in a collection results in a deep satisfaction for the collector. It seems to fulfill the individual’s desire for completeness which is motivated by a need for control and order. This search for order can be exciting, but it also can be frustrating. The collector is engaged in the hunt, but always behind on achieving the goal.

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● Nostalgia
These collectors are gathering memories, links to their past, which may create strong emotions. This is termed the Psychology of Sentimental Items. Studies reveal that the items being collected carry “the weight of personal history and shared experiences” i.e. the identify of the collector.The objects in question can comfort as well as create a sense of continuity in a world that is changing more and more rapidly.


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● The Financial Motivation
While the drivers of collecting may be internal, financial investment is also very real. Collecting, particularly works of art, is also motivated by the potential for making a profit someday. Buying for investment melds the emotional motivation with the strategic thinking thrill of collecting.
neurolaunch.com/psychology-of-collecting-things/

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● Social Status and Identity Expression
“In many cases, collections serve as extensions of the collector’s identity, showcasing their interests, expertise, and social status. The act of collecting can be a form of self-expression, allowing individuals to curate a physical representation of their personality and values.”
neurolaunch.com/psychology-of-collecting-things/

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● Building Connections
Often collections are used, subconsciously or not, as a way to build connections with others, preferably with similar interests. A hobby or collection can lead to rich social connections and community building. Collector conventions, online forums, and local clubs provide opportunities for like-minded individuals to share their passion, exchange knowledge, and form lasting friendships. The The social aspect of collecting is when groups of individuals with common interests develop shared beliefs, ideas, and values.


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● Loneliness  
While this could be related to the driver to build connections, it is somewhat different. Some people collect objects in the absence of healthy interpersonal relationships. Anxious attachment and excessive acquisition can both be explained by loneliness.


According to an article by Karen Wu, Ph.D., loneliness has become an epidemic, and “currently, over half of Americans are lonely, with higher rates of loneliness among younger adults. At the same time, technology has made it easier to acquire things, often with little or no social interaction.”  psychologytoday.com/why-do-people-collect-things-it-could-be-loneliness​

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● Mastery and Knowledge
Serious collectors often become experts in their fields. The pursuit of knowledge about their chosen objects can be intellectually stimulating, offering a sense of accomplishment and mastery.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROS and CONS OF COLLECTING
Like most behaviors, collecting can have positive and healthy benefits or become negative and problematic conditions.


POSITIVES
● Stress Reduction and Relaxation: The act of organizing and admiring a collection can be meditative and stress-relieving. It provides a structured escape from the chaos of daily life.

● Cognitive Stimulation: Researching and learning about the items in a collection can keep the mind active and engaged, potentially staving off cognitive decline in older adults. The activity provides cognitive stimulation and intellectual growth, ands the collector is engaged in expanding their knowledge base.

● Sense of Achievement: Successfully acquiring a rare item can provide a profound sense of achievement, boosting self-esteem and overall well-being. The sense of accomplishment that comes with building a collection can also boost self-esteem, provide a feeling of mastery, and reinforces a positive self-image.

● Sense of Anticipation: Collecting inherently involves anticipation. “In its nascent stage, yet fulfilled, the collector’s craving allows her to imagine anything she wants about the desired returns the object will bring. We know that it is in this phase that the pleasure center burns most brightly. Once the prize is obtained, the pleasure center quiets. In other words, the anticipation of the reward is more exciting to our pleasure center than possessing it. This explains, in part, why collecting frequently transcends a mere pastime and often becomes a passion. It gives sufficient pleasure that the participant wants to continue it more and more vigorously.”
psychologytoday.com/the-mind-of-a-collector

NEGATIVES
Like anything else, collecting can become a negative when taken to the extreme, and the line between healthy and problematic behavior can be very fine. Each of the positives, when taken to an extreme, could become a problematic behavior.


● Hoarding Disorder: When individuals accumulate items to an excessive and often detrimental degree, this can be a serious condition that goes beyond normal collecting behavior. In addition to the collections of things taking up most of the living space, the difference between the two lies in intention and functionality. Collecting is typically an organized, purposeful activity, whereas hoarding involves accumulating items indiscriminately, often leading to clutter, disarray, and dysfunction.
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Hoarding is linked to psychological conditions such as anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It is an obsession for retaining control. Things provide a protective barrier between feelings of loss or inadequacy, and the behavior is often related to obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
​ 
  
Extreme Hoarding Disorder
   Image Source: Phoenix-Extreme-cleaning-Ireland.ie

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● Over-Spending: While post collectors do not aspire to item like the Hope Diamond valued at $350 million, the activity becomes dysfunctional when the individual does not adhere to a budget and over commits to buy collectibles, leaving other needs unmet.              The Hope Diamond $350 million
                               Image Source: living.alot.com/most-valuable-artifacts
 

● Excessive Feelings of Superiority: People who are motivated to collect for reasons of status or who become highly learned in the topic, might develop attitudes of superiority which hurt others.

● Stress: The emotional need to find the next “prize” could end up adding stress, as could being outbid at an auction.

● Living In The Past: Too much nostalgia could lead some people to live too much in the past.

SOME UNUSUAL COLLECTORS ITEMS
The value of any item is simply the amount that someone is willing to pay. Objects related to celebrities can command some very impressive sums of money, no matter how weird the connection is. A very few of them are:

● George Washington's Hair
Collecting hair is a tradition that goes back for centuries. George Washington’s hair is a coveted collector’s item. His set of hair was sold by Sotheby's in 2016 for $30,000.
​

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● John Lennon’s Fancy Toilet
John Lennon’s fancy toilet from his Tittenhurst Park home in Berkshire was given to the builder, to use as a planter pot, when the home was remodeled. Instead, the builder kept it as a collectible. It showed up on the auction block in 2010 and sold for $11,500.
   John Lennon's toilet:  Image Credit:The Beatles Shop
   Image source: barnebys.com/weirdest-collectibles-ever-sold


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● Winston Churchill's False Teeth
Winston Churchill was voted number 1 in BBC's 100 Greatest Britons list, and the interest in owning something he possessed is great. Churchill had a natural lisp and wore dentures for his speech defect.

   Winston Churchill's false teeth: Image credit: © Bonhams
   Image Source:
barnebys.com/weirdest-collectibles-ever-sold

The set of teeth was saved for many years. They were offered at auction for the first time in 2010 when a small UK-based auctioneer sold them for $18,400. In 2011 they were sold by Bonhams for $23,300.

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● Queen Victoria's Bloomers
British royal collectibles are most sought-after, but items directly connected to the royal family are rare finds at an auction. In 2015, collectors had the opportunity to bid on custom-made panties belonging to Queen Victoria. The bloomers were by auctioned for $14,600.

   Queen Victoria's underwear
   Image source
: www.irishmirror.ie

If these really belonged to the queen, I would have expected them to go for a lot more. After all, she was also the Empress of India and one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history.

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● Lee Harvey Oswald's Coffin
The high interest in JFK's killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, was proven when his coffin came up for auction in 2010. That happened because Oswald’s family -- to put a rest to the conspiracy theories about Lee Harvey Oswald's body not being buried -- approved his body be exhumed.


   Lee Harvey Oswald's coffin: Image credit: © Nate D. Sanders
   Image Source: barnebys.com/weirdest-collectibles-ever-sold


​​The body was identified through dental records and it was definitely Lee Harvey Oswald. The original coffin was replaced with a new one and later buried in Fort Worth, Texas.
The original coffin, sold by Nate D. Sanders at auction, went for $87,000.


● William Shatner's Kidney Stone
Actor William Shatner took his place on the list of unique collectables when he sold one of his kidney stones. Although he did it for a charitable cause, it's still awfully weird. The selling price ended at $25,000 when it was sold in 2006 via Julien's Auctions.


● Ronald Reagan's Blood
An attempt to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan took place on March 30, 1981. Reagan was shot and seriously wounded after a speech held in Washington, D.C., and was taken to George Washington University Hospital in serious condition. Blood tests were taken, but someone managed to steal one stoppered glass vial with Regan's blood in it and a hospital document about Regan.

The blood-thief was never identified, as far as I could tell from the internet, and the blood and certificate ended up in the hands of a collector. This glass vial was sold via an American auction house in 2012 for $3,550. In the same year it was offered at auction by PFC Auctions, and the high bid was over $30,000. Eventually, the seller decided to donate the blood to the Reagan Presidential Foundation.


Sources:
https://www.kindafrugal.com/14-crazy-expensive-collectibles-ever-sold/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_of_collecting
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mind-of-a-collector/202010/collecting-an-urge-thats-hard-to-resis
t
https://neurolaunch.com/psychology-of-collecting-things/
https://www.invaluable.com/blog/collecting-psychology/
https://listen-hard.com/social-and-cultural-psychology/collect-things-psychology/
https://www.thecollector.com/what-makes-art-valuable/
https://collectorizing.com/2024/09/19/the-wild-world-of-collectibles-what-makes-their-values-soar-and-sink/
https://www.barnebys.com/blog/top-10-weirdest-collectibles-ever-sold
https://www.kindafrugal.com/14-crazy-expensive-collectibles-ever-sold/
https://disruptorsmagazine.com/the-psychology-of-collecting-why-we-gather-and-hoard/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-modern-heart/202211/why-do-people-collect-things-it-could-be-loneliness

Researchgate.net/publication/336587786_Collecting_as_routine_human_behavior_motivations_for_identity_and_control_in_the_material_and_digital_world

https://living.alot.com/entertainment/15-most-valuable-artifacts-you-can-find-in-museums--12806
https://www.workandmoney.com/s/weirdest-things-sold-on-ebay-acd719963f994cec

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WHAT MAKES A WORD A WORD?

11/6/2024

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WILL THE "REAL" WORD PLEASE STAND UP?
How many times have you heard someone say, "That's not even a real word!"

"A real word? I said it, didn't I?"

If the conversation deteriorates with the statement, "It's not in the dictionary," you can be sure you are dealing with an amateur. Go ahead and ask the key question. "Since when has being in the dictionary the criterion for a word being real vs. fake?"

Answer: "Never."

According to Lexicographer Erin McKean and her team at Wordnik, 52% of English words aren’t in major dictionaries. That is an amazing number considering that Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its 1993 Addenda Section, includes some 470,000 entries. The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, reports that it includes a similar number.

Even more amazing is the estimate -- Made using a Ouija Board? -- that there claims there are one million English words (many of them real). Some experts insist the number should be at least a quarter million higher.

REAL OR FAKE? TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

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I found two basic approaches to new words. First, if a pronounceable sound comes out of a human mouth and the sound means something, even to only one person, it is a real word. After all, every word begins as a made-up word. Whether or not it becomes a common word through usage, is one issue. Another is whether or not it is entered into a dictionary. But it is "real." 

The other slant on new words is that new words are made-up and not real, therefore they are fake. These made-up words appear to be real, but actually don't exist and don't have any meaning. They initially appear real because they can be pronounced which makes it seem like they would be real words.
Here are some samples of what the experts consider fake words.                                                                             Image source: www.easyvectors.com

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Dullema - (duh-‘leh-muh) n.--The choice between two equally boring outcomes.

Cellfish - (‘sel-fish) n.—Someone who talks on the phone to the exclusion of those he or she is with.

Foupe - This fake word actually showed up in a dictionary at one point! In 1755, back when people wrote long S’s, which looked
like F’s
, a dictionary editor misread “soupe” as "foupe” and mistakenly put the latter in the dictionary.


None of the articles I read explain what happens to these fake words after they are created.

WHAT’S A NEOLOGISM?
The definition of neologism is a new word -- one invented or coined that has never been used before. The etymological origins of the term are Greek for “new” and “word.”

Many new words come from new technologies and disciplines, but they can also be invented, most often by authors and writers but also comedians and people in the performing arts. Those words, often called slang, reach a large audience and may catch on quickly.

William Shakespeare is one of the foremost neologists who is credited with creating over 1,700 new words in the English language by combining existing words into one, adapting usage, using verbs as nouns, etc. At that time, stage plays were one of the primary sources of entertainment and thus reached a broad audience.

By the way, "neologist " is not yet in the dictionary.

One Lexicographer calls fake or made-up words by the terms “madeupical” and "nonce formations" (words which are coined by one person, but which never get more widely used). But shouldn't every new word be given a chance to succeed?

New words are contrived by different means, including but not limited to:
1. Absorption of a foreign word into English (with or without the same spelling, pronunciation, or meaning).

2. Creation of an Anglicized word from a foreign word (again, with or without the same meaning, but English spelling).

3. Combination of two separate words smooched together, such as humongous or ginormous, which mean more or less the same thing, or which mean something totally different.

4. Exclusion of a letter or two (usually at beginning or end), such as Vacay which is simply the shortened word for vacation (used since 1991).

5. Exclusion of a letter plus a more updated or slang definition, such as the slang word  "rando", which used to mean "random". Editor Tina Donvito speculates that "Apparently pronouncing one letter more in the already slang use of the word random is too much for today’s youth". https://www.rd.com/list/slang-words-in-the-dictionary/

In years past, “random” trended as a way to express dismay at something that was unexpected or unwelcome, but “rando” finesses the disparaging slang into noun form: “Some rando just showed up at the party.” (A change in the part of speech).

6. Addition of a new definition, such as with "stinger" which now refers to the short scene that you see during or after the closing credits of a movie or TV program. "Hophead" is now also a person who likes to drink beer.

7. Substitution of an abbreviation in place of a word or words, as in the newly added abbreviation "TL;DR". I mean, why waste breath saying, "Too Long; Didn't Read"? But didn't you save a lot of time by not reading it?

Merriam-Webster reminds us that the word "acronym” only refers to an abbreviation that’s pronounced as a word, such as UNICEF or POTUS.

8. Modification of an existing word but with a different pronunciation, spelling, or both.

I'm sure there are many more ways that words become real, but these were all my brain could handle. See how many other ways you can think of. Just for the fun of it, make up some words.  Are the fake or real? 

WHAT’S A LEXICOGRAPHER?
A "logophile" is someone with a passion for words. A lexicographer is a person who compiles dictionaries as their profession. Lexicographers also get to decide which words make it into the dictionary, and what terms go into slang dictionaries. A dictionary is a "living document" which is being revised and updated constantly by living people.

THE FIRST DICTIONARY
The earliest dictionaries were created by the 1st century Greeks, and emphasized the changes in the meanings of words over time. Later, the close juxtaposition of languages in Europe led to the appearance, from the early Middle Ages on, of many bilingual and multilingual dictionaries. www.britannica.com/dictionary

The first English dictionary was Robert Cawdrey’s A Table Alphabetical, published in 1604, which contained around 3,000 words. A Dictionary of the English Language, by Samuel Johnson, was published as Johnson's Dictionary on 15 April 1755.

Image Source: www.bing.com/images/SameulJohnson

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​It was commissioned by a group of London booksellers in 1746 and written by Samuel Johnson single-handedly. It took seven years. He produced several revised editions during his lifetime. This dictionary is among the most influential in the history of the English language.

While chronologically this work was not the first, Johnson grounded his wordlist in the works of English authors, as well as describing subtle shades of meaning in numbered senses, and providing extensive quotations showing the words in context. These innovations make this the first English dictionary of its kind.


HOW WORDS GET INTO THE DICTIONARY
The simple answer is, well, it's simple: USAGE. When we get down to the process, however, it's more complicated.

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Word Search
This is not the quick computerized word search you may be familiar with. To decide which words to include in the dictionary and to determine what they mean, editors called Definers spend at least two hours a day reading a broad cross-section of published materials, including newspapers, books, magazines and
A Definer at work                          electronic publications. 
Image Source: WebStockReview 2024.

The Editor-Definer searches all these materials every day for new words, new usages of existing words, various spellings, inflected forms, meanings, and so on which might help deciding if a word belongs in the dictionary. Words of interest are marked.

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Citations
All the marked passages are then input into a computer system and stored both in machine-readable form and on 3" x 5" slips of paper to create citations. Merriam-Webster's citation files, begun in the 1880s, now contain 15.7 million examples of
Image Source:
 www.grammarly.     words used in context.
com​/citations/


Yowza! Does this mean they store nearly 16 million slips of 3"x 5" paper? It boggles the mind.                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                               Image Source: www.gusto.com/gopayroll/058-gentm

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​Each citation contains the following elements:
1. The word itself,
2. An example of the words used in context,
3. Bibliographic information about the source from which the word and example were taken.

​Citations are also available to editors in a searchable text database, called a corpus, that includes more than 70 million words from a vast variety of sources.


Citation to Entry
So far our words are in a data-base and on little pieces of paper. The process of going from citation to entry starts with the dictionary Definers reviewing groups of citations for one small part of the alphabet (eg. gri-gro) plus entries that are currently being reviewed for update.

The definer's job is to determine which existing entries can remain essentially unchanged, which entries need to be revised, which entries can be dropped, and which new entries should be added. In each case, the definer decides on the best course of action to be taken, such as adjusting entries or creating new ones.

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Rejection
Before a new word can be added to the dictionary, it must have enough citations to show that it is widely used. Too many citations may make the word difficult to define.

A word may get rejected due to inadequate general usage, if all its citations come from a single source, or if they are all from highly specialized publications that reflect the jargon of experts within a single field. Many words have been in use for a long time but may not have been used in a substantial number of citations that come from a wide-enough range of publications over a considerable period of time. Don't worry, 52% haven't made it yet.

During the COVID pandemic, new words and medical terms appeared on the scene almost immediately. Obviously, the usage was broad and spread rapidly, so the time to go from citation to dictionary entry was abnormally short.

SIZE DOES MATTER
The size and type of dictionary also affects how many citations a word needs to gain admission. Dictionaries do have limited space, so in many only the most commonly used words can be entered. Annually, that is about 1,000 new words. There are a few words that drop out because they are no longer used, but those do not offset the new words being added.

To address part of the problem, there are many specialized dictionaries which deal with one subject, such as medical terms, biblical references, music, etc.

EVEN EDITORS MAKE MISTAKES

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Of course, editors are human and everyone makes mistakes. Words get into the dictionary that are fake words, words made up as a joke -- such as the longest word, or simply misspelled by accident. One of the best known Dictionary Error occurred when compiling the 1934 Webster’s New International Dictionary. A card for an abbreviation coded “D or d” (where the capital D was used as short for "density") ended up in the dictionary as the word "dord" meaning "density." No one even noticed for five years. There are also instances when words which should have been included were simply left out by mistake, one went missing for fifty year before it made its dictionary appearance. "bondmaid".

DISCLAIMER
This description of the process substantially comes from a publication by Merriam-Webster dated 2010. I found no updates and only a few other articles, all dated around the same time. Although there are parts of the procedure that require good old human eyes and brains, it's hard to believe libraries are not taking advantage of the most up-to-date technology available.

We (humans) are irreplaceable ... for now. Imagine a totally AI-created  dictionary! What fun
words it might contain. We can barely communicate with each other now; the future is a bit scary.


FUN TO KNOW FACTS
The Word With The Most Meanings
The word with the largest number of separate definitions is the word "set" which has 430 separate definitions.

The Most Misused Word
Of all the words that have had their meanings diluted over time, dictionary.com has declared one the most misused word as “ironic.” Their argument is that the word is almost never used correctly. People often hear it used to mean something that’s funny, coincidental, or unexpected. And while it can describe something that is any of those adjectives, it has to be funny, unexpected, i.e. all of those things, because it’s the exact the  opposite of what you’d expect.

The Least Popular Letter

While it's an easy guess that X is the least used letter in the English alphabet, it stands proudly as the beginning letter for at least 400 words in the current Oxford Dictionary. But when Noah Webster first produced his Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, the number of listed words beginning with X was a grand total of…one! (It was, of all things, “xebec,” which describes “a three-masted vessel of the Mediterranean.”)

The Longest Dictionary Word in English

The longest word most of us know is "antidisestablishmentarianism." That word held the record until the name of a lung disease with forty-five letters displaced it with  “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." According to Lexico, this word was actually created to poke fun at long, overly technical medical terms.. Another, much longer word is actually considered the longest in English with 189,819 letters—and it’s another scientific term. It’s the name for a protein nicknamed “titin.” It would take a full 12 pages to write each letter out, so, understandably, dictionaries choose to omit it." www.rd.com/list/fascinating-dictionary-facts/

According to Grammarly, “incomprehensibilities,” at 21 letters, has been named the longest word “in common usage.”

Contributor To The First Oxford English Dictionary
They say that fact is stranger than fiction. This is a true and tragic tale that supports that theory. William Chester Minor was a Civil War veteran suffering from serious paranoid schizophrenia after experiencing the horrors of war. Specifically, his symptoms were similar to PTSD. He underwent treatment and moved to England hoping a new environment might help. Instead he suffered from frequent nightmares that there was an intruder in his room who was trying to kill him. So far, therapy had not helped

One night in 1872, Minor shot at someone he was sure was the intruder, and he killed an innocent passerby, George Merrett. Minor confessed to the murder, explained why he did it. Seven weeks later, a court found William C. Minor, 37, not guilty on the grounds of insanity. Once a respected army surgeon who saved lives, he had suddenly been rejected as a deluded lunatic who took lives. He was sentenced to the Asylum for the Criminally Insane at Broadmoor.


While imprisoned at the asylum, Minor started contributing to the Oxford English Dictionary’s “mail-in volunteer system.” He regularly sent words to the editor, James Murray who had no idea Minor was incarcerated.
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Image Source: www.bing.com/search?q=images+-+william+chester+minor

Murray found that Minor was one of the most prolific and by far one of the most valuable contributors. The two men would eventually meet almost 20 years after the start of their correspondence.


​​JUST SAYIN'

​Sources:
https://randomwordgenerator.com/fake-word.php#:~:text=Fake%20words%20are%20simply%20made%20up%20words%20that,it%20seem%20like%20they%20would%20be%20real%20words.

https://knowinsiders.com/top-15-new-words-in-english-for-20242025-39356.html
https://bookriot.com/dictionary-com-releases-list-of-new-and-updated-words-for-2024/#
https://www.rd.com/list/phrases-people-never-use-sound-smart/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-real-words#:~:text
https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-words-into-dictionary
https://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-arent-in-the-dictionary-yet/
https://www.rd.com/article/dictionary-editors-prank/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dictionary_of_the_English_Language
https://www.britannica.com/summary/dictionary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dictionaries_by_number_of_words

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-companion-to-english-dictionaries/samuel-johnson-and-the-first-english-dictionary/D3999C74ED1D776735E1C3F682E43F9B

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images%20-%20Samuel%20Johnson&form=IQFRBA&id=8BE9739A55D1A3C41E7DE89C05EC26AF08938DB6&first=1

https://www.grammarly.com/citations/mla/clip-art?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=627085131&utm_content=81157820688367&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.grammarly.com%2Fcitations%2Fmla&keywordid=2332957515897084&targetid=dat-2332957515897084:loc-190&ad

​https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/504609/murderer-who-helped-make-oxford-english-dictionary

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LET THE OLYMPIC GAMES BEGIN

8/26/2024

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​THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Most of us have a vague idea about the ancient Greek Olympic games that were held every four years at the sacred site of Olympia, Greece, beside the city-state of Elis in northwestern Peloponnese from 776 BCE to about 393 CE. (Wow! A forty-word sentence. Shame on me.)

The games were part of a religious festival that honored Zeus, and the name of the competition was derived from Mount Olympus, home of the Greek gods. The Olympics was not the only one of these sporting matches held in Greece, but it was the most important. It is said that the Greeks even scheduled some of their wars so they would not interfere with the timing of the event between August 6 and September 19.  

https://www.britannica.com/sports/ancient-Olympic-Games

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The first Olympic champion listed in the records was Coroebus of Elis, a cook, who won the sprint race in 776 BCE. ​


Site of the original Olympics in Olympia, Greece
Image Source: https://www.ontheluce.com/ancient-olympia-let-the-games-begin/

FAST FORWARD TO 1896
After a few centuries to think about it, important men decided it was time to revive the Olympics. The first Modern Olympic Games took place in Athens, Greece, 1896. Members of the Greek royal family played an important role in the organization and management of the Games.

Under the leadership of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the recently created International Olympic Committee billed the Modern Olympic Games being for the first time held since 393 CE. The Opening Ceremony was held on Greece's Independence Day (April 6) to an enthusiastic crowd filling the refurbished Panathenaic stadium and spilling into the streets and hillside beyond.
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​​The second modern Olympic competition was like a sideshow of the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. The French government took over the control of the Games from the recently formed ICO responsible for organizing and administering the new event. The results were, at best, chaotic.
​                                                                                                     Image Source:  https://bvmsports.com/2020/07/23/paris-hosts-1900-olympics-

​
The Committee still hadn’t settled on the major events that would define the games, and the rules and procedures were less than rigid. This resulted in some bizarre situations. Since the aura around the games is often so serious, it is tempting to poke a little fun at the not-so-intense moments. Unfortunately, these are often quite intense when they happen, but in sports and other performing arts, you have to lean to laugh at yourself, after the fact. It helps keep you sane.

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CHARIOTS OF CHEATING – OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT? 
1896, Athens                                                          Spy
ridon Belokas
                                 
         Image Source: en.wikipedia.org/Spyridon_Belokas                                    
                                


Human nature never changes. During the inaugural Olympic marathon, Spyridon Belokas cheated by taking a carriage ride for a good chunk of the race. Yet somehow, even with that extra boost, he only managed to cross the finish line in third place.

Belokas was disqualified, and Gyula Kellner was awarded third place. Nonetheless, following his “victory”, Belokas was celebrated as a national hero.

O.M.G. - WOMEN? WHAT A SCANDLE!
1900, Paris
Twenty years before American women could vote, they were allowed to compete in the Olympics, which caused quite the k
erfuffle. Wat does that say about American culture and attitudes?
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​

                                                                          Image Source: https://www.redbookmag.com/scandalous-moments-in-olympics
That first year, 22 women competed in five events: tennis, equestrian, sailing, croquet, and golf, but it was a significant step for women.

According to
https://americaninquiry.com, the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal was Chicagoan Margaret Ives Abbott, who won the Olympic competition in women’s golf in Paris in 1900.


"Apparently the Paris Olympics were run in an off-hand fashion, for during her lifetime Margaret was never fully aware of what she had won. Only after her death did historians realize that her victory in what seemed to be just another golf tournament was actually part of the Olympic competition.  She received a bowl, not a medal." https://americaninquiry.com

BLOOD AND FEATHERS FLY
1900, Paris
Live pigeon shooting appeared for the first and only time as an Olympic event in the second modern Olympic games. Over 300 live pigeons were killed.

American sports historian Andrew Strunk wrote in a 1988 article on the 1900 Paris Olympics, “Maimed birds were writhing on the ground, blood and feathers were swirling in the air and women with parasols were weeping in the chairs set up nearby.”



CHEATING AND STRYCHNINE
1904, St. Louis Olympics
The 1904 long distance Marathon takes the prize for one of the most flagrant Olympic mishaps. Set in St. Louis, the modern Olympic Games were still in their infancy and, for the most part, the people in charge knew squat about what was required for such an event.

The foot race was set under the worst circumstances. The 25-mile race ‒ which was actually 24.85 miles ‒ started in the afternoon in hot 103°F weather. The roads were dusty, and automobiles were allowed to use the roads during the race, making the dust worse. The only water stop for the runners was at the 12-mile mark. These unfortunate conditions resulted in several unusual situations.

Frederick "Fred" Lorz was a competitor in the marathon and headed the pack of 32 runners and reached the 12-mile mark first. He had to stop there due to exhaustion. As a joke ‒ or maybe not ‒ his manager gave him an 11-mile lift until the car broke down. Lorz ran the rest of the way to the Olympic stadium where he broke the ribbon. The crowd screamed for the American. 


Alice Roosevelt, daughter of the US President, laid a wreath on Lorz's head and was going to hang a gold medal on his neck, when the organizers called him a cheater (other versions say it was spectators who blew the whistle).  Either way, Lorz laughed and said he was not going to accept the award and had finished the race merely as a joke.
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Fred Lorz - Image Source:                       Image source: unbelievable-facts.com/2017/09/
en.wikipedia.org/Frederick_Lorz 
      

Lorz was banned for life by the Amateur Athletic Union. He apologized for the prank and was ultimately reinstated because the AAU determined he had not intended to defraud. He continued in the sport until he died of pneumonia in 1914.

Thomas Hicks, in second place and still limping along the track, heard that Lorz was disqualified, came back to life, and forced himself to jog. His coach gave him more strychnine, this time with brandy.

"Over the last two miles of the road,” one of the people who watched the race wrote, “Hicks was running mechanically, like a well-oiled piece of machinery. His eyes were dull, lusterless; the ashen color of his face and skin had deepened; his arms appeared as weights well tied down; he could scarcely lift his legs, while his knees were almost stiff.”


Winner, Thomas Hicks, had his own secrets. Near the 19-mile mark, he started to hallucinate. He asked for food and then decided to lie down. His handlers bathed him head to toe in warm water and administered a concoction of eggs, brandy, and strychnine.

By the end of the race, he could barely shuffle his feet as the result of exhaustion and the strychnine - basically rat poison - and had to walk the rest of the way. Several of the 32 contenders in the race became ill that night, and Hick even came close to dying. He gave up running the next day.


TUG OF WAR
1904, St. Louis Olympics
Tug-of-war was introduced in Paris 1900 and remained an event through the Olympics at Antwerp in 1920, although the 1916 games were cancelled because of WWI.

Traditionally, the best teams came from Scandinavia and Great Britain, but in 1904 one of the American squads ‒ the Milwaukee Athletic Club ‒ managed to capture gold despite the fact that none of the team members were from Milwaukee nor were they members of the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Losing teams filed a grievance to no avail.

Needless to say, the rules still tended to be a bit haphazard even by the third modern games and the precedent for manipulating the teams had been set in 1900 when competitors from Sweden and Denmark teamed up to beat the French.

The fate of the American team in the event's debut is even more bizarre: Some sources say they never competed, while others say they were disqualified.


DECIDE ON THE RULES BEFORE THE RACE
1908, London
In 1908, in the finals of the men’s 400-meter race, American John Carpenter maneuvered to block Britain's Wyndham Halswelle ‒ legal under American track rules, but illegal in Great Britain. Of course, Carpenter was disqualified. Well, after all, the games were in being held in London. Obviously, their rules took precedence.

The two other athletes who qualified with Halswelle were American. They were angry enough at the ruling that they boycotted the final. Halswelle ran the redo of the final all by himself. Guess who won?

GENDER TESTING WITH A TWIST
1936, Berlin
When Polish Stella Walsh ‒ defending gold-medalist of the 100-meter dash and favored to win again ‒ lost to an 18-year-old bullet from Missouri, Helen Stephens, Walsh supporters insisted that Stephens’ time was simply impossible for a woman and demanded a gender examination. Stephens agreed to the humiliation of examination by the Olympic Committee and they, indeed, found her to be a woman. She carried home the gold medal.
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Image Source:  Helen Stephens ▲- Image Credit:                De Desconocido - [1], Dominio público
redbookmag.com/scandalous-moments-in-olympics          Image credit: commons.wikimedia.org/w/index                                                                                 
The Twist: Forty-four years later in 1980, Stella Walsh was shot to death outside a Cleveland shopping mall. When the autopsy was performed, it was discovered that Stella Walsh had male genitalia, not Helen Stephens.

28 YEARS LATER, GENDER TESTING STILL UNRELIABLE
1964, Tokyo
Again, gender testing proves unreliable. Ewa Kłobukowska, a Polish sprinter, competed in the 4×100-meter relay and the 100-meter sprint and took home a gold and a bronze medal, respectively, which were stripped from her in 1967 for failing a gender test. 


Surprise, surprise!  In 1968 Klobukowska became pregnant and gave birth to a son.  Her medals were never restored to her, however.  It took years for people to realize that she must have had a genetic abnormality of having one chromo-some too many. 

NOT SO FUNNY ANY MORE
By the second half of the 20th century, the Olympics was evolving into big business internationally. TV coverage and the competition of professional athletes changed the name of the game, so to speak.

With this shift, there was no official tolerance for incidents of cheating and incompetent management. No doubt such events occurred, but they were not amusing anymore, and kept a quiet as possible. In addition, no matter the rhetoric, the games had great political importance.

With the advances in photographic equipment and technology, the sources of funny incidents during the Olympics narrowed done to offer abundant opportunities for funny photos. Nobody is posing, and many of the sports require close body contact. If a photographer happens to be in the right place at the right time, some of the results are hilarious. Some of them make you feel mean for laughing, but you can’t help it.

You do get to see a lot of open mouths, teeth, and tongues in Olympic candid shots, and athletes sometimes just goofing around.   


WRESTLING                                  BOXING                                                     
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SAILING                                           SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING
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​SYNCHRONIZED PEOPLE WATCHING
​PING PONG                                      SWIMMING
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​WOMEN'S TRACK        GYMNASTICS               MEN'S TRACK
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                                                         "I seem to have lost my head!"            "Oh! There it is!"

JUST SAY'IN

■
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Lorz
https://unbelievable-facts.com/2017/09/craziest-historical-incidents.html

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/9-olympic-moments-that-changed-history/
https://www.stadiumtalk.com/s/weirdest-olympic-sports-faa578fdf7fe437f

https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/athens-1896
https://olympics.com/en/news/the-history-of-the-olympic-games
https://thesilversword.com/sports/2016/08/29/top-10-ridiculous-olympic-sports/
https://bvmsports.com/2020/07/23/paris-hosts-1900-olympics-even-though-many-didnt-know-it/
http://www.allrefer.com/12-unknown-facts-about-olympic-games
https://americaninquiry.com/tag/margaret-abbott-dunne/
http://www.insidethegames.biz
.com
https://birdinflight.com/world/20160824-marathon-during-1904-olympics.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30478212
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyridon_Belokas
https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/olympic-controversy
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41546035
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89624871
https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1900_Paris_Games_Olympics_79847.jpg

https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/revival-and-reinvention-olympic-games-athens-1896?language_content_entity=en

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31386/11-craziest-events-olympic-history#:~:text=The%201904%
20marathon%20was%20one%20of%20the%20most,that%20were%20permitted%20to%20drive%20alongside
%20the%20athletes.


https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/revival-and-reinvention-olympic-games-athens-1896?language_content_entity=en

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1041711/anniversary-of-boxings-battle-of-seoul-highlights
-the-continuing-struggle-to-rid-the-olympics-of-controversy-in-the-ring


https://www.theage.com.au/sport/from-the-archives-1988-referee-flees-seoul-olympics-after-ring-assaults
20200918-p55wxa.html


https:/www.theage.com.au/sport/from-the-archives-1988-referee-flees-seoul-olympics-after-ring-assaults
-20200918-p55wxa.html


https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1041711/anniversary-of-boxings-battle-of-seoul-highlights
-the-continuing-struggle-to-rid-the-olympics-of-controversy-in-the-ring

Sources for “Funny Photos”:
https://worldwideinterweb.com/the-100-funniest-summer-olympics-photos-of-all-time/
https://www.heart.co.uk/news/sport/hilarious-olympic-pictures/
https://acidcow.com/pics/35912-crazy-and-funny-olympic-photos-105-pics.html  
https://www.qunki.com/93428/funny-olympic-fails-that-might-make-you-feel-bad-for-laughing/
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/talking-olympics-hilarious
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/talking-olympics-hilarious
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/158189005632300669/
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/best-rio-2016-olympic-faces-agony-ecstasy-wtf-1575365
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/158189005632300669/
http://thumbpress.com/can-norway-get-any-more-awesome/#sthash.RSDfwyRp.dpbs
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/02/10/27-pictures-of-funny-faces-from-the-sochi-2014-winter
-olympics-photos_n_4758755.html#gallery/5d023352e4b09d75a615c871/2

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1041711/anniversary-of-boxings-battle-of-seoul-highlights-the
-continuing-struggle-to-rid-the-olympics-of-controversy-in-the-ring

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