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Black, with a Capital B Posted by Gary Locke on Jun 11, 2020
We appear to be undergoing a significant cultural moment. For the first time in 50 years, real and fundamental changes in how people think about race relations are taking place. This isn’t just happening in the United States, although the moment most profoundly affects our nation. The worldwide reaction has also been significant and is…
Affect or Effect? Posted by Gary Locke on Jun 4, 2020
Not long ago, I received a text from an old friend. “Hey!’ he wrote, “Which of these sentences is correct? “It doesn’t have the effect that we were hoping for.” “It doesn’t have the affect that we were hoping for.” I quickly replied that he wanted to use #1. His response was, “Thanks! This is…
Tune In to Broadcasting Vocabulary Posted by Gary Locke on May 28, 2020
A long time ago, I was a disc jockey. In fact, I was a broadcaster on two different continents. It was an odd job because I could spend hours on the air playing music, reading news, announcing the time as it passed by on my shift, reading the occasional advertisement – never really being sure…
Arlington National Cemetery Posted by Gary Locke on May 21, 2020
Memorial Day is going to be very different this year. Parades are canceled. Those large community and family cookouts with horseshoe competitions and sack races are not going to happen. Baseball games and soccer matches are forbidden. Even the definition of national sacrifice has been forever altered. But the reason that we set aside the…
Fun with English Words Posted by Gary Locke on May 14, 2020
Let’s have some fun, shall we? Wordplay is generally defined as the clever use of words and their meanings. Puns are the best examples of wordplay, I think. But, sometimes, just finding something unexpected in words can make you smile. There’s even a word for wordplay. It’s called logology, or recreational linguistics. So, let’s dig…
Take Me Out Posted by Gary Locke on May 7, 2020
For those of us who have been social distancing for the better part of two months, it’s not unusual to spend some time imagining where we would like to go when this is all over. I commonly see the question, “Where will you go first?” on social media posts. But, as I let my fantasies…
Understanding Sarcasm Posted by Gary Locke on Apr 30, 2020
You may have heard that controversial statement last week in which injecting disinfectant should be studied as a possible treatment for COVID-19. That was quickly dismissed, of course, and later explained as a sarcastic statement. And while the suggestion may have been a subject of scorn due to its rather unscientific nature, the more interesting…