Tag Archives: study

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’25 A To Z Challenge – S

It’s tough, sittin’ around doin’ nuthin.  You’re never sure when you’re finished.

While you’re sitting around on your assets, not doing much, here are a couple of words about not doing much, for you to study.  Scrim is a piece of loose-weave cloth, used in theaters to either create the illusion of solidity, or of haziness, depending on the lighting.  Therefore….

SCRIMSHANK

1885/90 British slang, origin uncertain
to avoid one’s obligations or share of work, especially in the military; shirk.
American: to goldbrick

And its cousin….

SCRIMSHAW

a carved or engraved article, especially of whale ivory, whalebone, walrus tusks, or the like, made by whalers as a leisure occupation.
The act of doing so

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This is MY definition of ‘Griffonage.’

Thanx for stopping by and reading this post, which my friend Eric Idle helped me compose.

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’24 A To Z Challenge – E

I don’t mean to poke you, or put too fine a point on it but, the épée, also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing.  The blade of a standard adult epee is 35 inches (.899 m, for those who wish to get stabbed in metric) – 4 inches shorter than my rapier – and that’s not a sexting joke.

All evasion and egotistic self-promotion aside, I wish to present you with a lovely word, well past its prime, and rendered technologically obsolete

EPOPEE

Epic literature, particularly poetry – from the French – ėpopėe

In the classical past, they needed a word to describe the likes of War and Peace, a 900-page Russian saga whose first 150 pages are just the cast of characters, and their blood and married relationships to each other.  It represents an epic poem titled, Casablanca, which begins, “The boy stood on the burning deck.”  Some discussion occurred among scholars, about whether it represented faith and loyalty, or was a critique of blind obedience to social norms and morės.

It epitomizes the least favorite piece of literature that I ever studied, the poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a grueling gauntlet of words, stretching over 145 stanzas, 7 chapters, and 19 pages – all to showcase the loneliness, and aloneness of long-voyage sailors.

People had the time to write these sagas, and read them, and discuss them.    All that changed when the Bluescreenitis plague ravaged the world, reducing intellect and attention spans to nil, and short-span Tik-Tok videos, and Instagram posts of a plateful of pork and beans became the norm.   😮

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Flash Fiction # 81

Piano

PHOTO PROMPT © Jan W. Fields

IN THE KEY OF F. U.

As a young lad, my parents provided me with piano lessons.

My teacher thought I was very musically declined.

After three years of intense study, I could finally….spell P.I.A.N.O.

Soon, I could carry a tune….in my studies briefcase.

I learned to play piano by ear. It sounded better than when I used my fingers.

As piano players go….I was often ordered to.

A neighbor once requested that I play ‘Far, Far Away’….preferably the next county.

The best thing that I ever played was….the radio.

When I decided to become an accountant, the Mayor gave me the key….to a different city.

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And there you have the history of my musical career. Despite Rochelle’s theme, sadly, little of it is fiction.

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Go to Rochelle’s Addicted to Purple site and use her Wednesday photo as a prompt to write a complete 100 word story.