Terry

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Posts by Terry

• 
  23

  TRICKY WORDS and why not to use them

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tricky words .

  perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.

  their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words or sounds.. .

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• 

  Terry

  I found this:
  shorturl.at/hyDT2
  

  
  
• 
  23

  TRICKY WORDS and why not to use them

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tricky words .

  perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.

  their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words or sounds.. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  I think the way we pronounce words and divide the sounds into syllables
  gets a bit tricky itself.
  If I say "REALTOR" and clap my hands to the 'beat' I get two syllables.
  The movement of the tongue from the L to the T may "feel" like a ghost syllable but the rhythm itself is two beats, no?
  
  
  
• 
  23

  TRICKY WORDS and why not to use them

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tricky words .

  perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.

  their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words or sounds.. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  Pedantry is a high-risk proposition since you don't win friends and you
  exasperate a lot of people.
  
  Besides, I've lived long enough to know we live in an age where all goal posts are on wheels. Being "right" ain't what it used to be.
• 
  23

  TRICKY WORDS and why not to use them

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tricky words .

  perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.

  their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words or sounds.. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  

  
  
  TRICKY WORDS

  Perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.

  Their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words OR sounds.
  
  

  1. Spoken words like SUCCOR (sounds like 'sucker' but means"furnishing relief".) It does complicate the matter if you're referring to a blowjob, however.

  
  

  2. Another tricky word is APPOSITE (looks like "opposite") which means "appropriate."

  You might remark that you love somebody and are met with an "apposite" response.

  Does that mean the one responding feels hatred or dislike?

  Nope.

  So we don't use the word. It's too tricky.
  
  

  3. "Feckless" can be tricky. We aren't quite sure.

  If we read: "General Flipdiggit was a feckless warrior."

  What are we to think? Is he "reckless?" Does he have "freckles"?

  Feckless means "weak" or "irresponsible" or "worthless."

  That's why you probably don't use the word. (Or do you?)

  I love vocabulary words but - NOT - if I have to stop and explain them. It makes me sound like I think the listener is stupid.

  I don't wish to be misunderstood - so - I just avoid tricky words unless I'm simply indulging myself.
  
  

  4. CAVALRY is a tricky word. Churchgoers accidentally pronounce it as CALVARY (the place Jesus was executed.) I hear it all the time in movies and TV shows.

  5. Another tricky word is "LITERALLY" which only means "exactly as WRITTEN."

  Most folks really mean something else. What do they intend?

  They're exaggerating: "I literally died on the spot."

  If not exaggerating, they mean "actually" but "literally" is wrong.
  
  

  6. Excetera is NOT a word (dammit.)

  People who use Excetera don't read books or they'd know it is a Latin phrase: et cetera and that phrase means "and other things similar to these." The abbreviation is etc. not exc. Duh.
  
  

  7. Supposably is NOT a word. Once again, these people don't read or they'd know it is "supposedly". ABLY is not EDLY.
  
  

  8. Preemptory is NOT a word. The real word has PER not PRE. "Peremptory".

  Sloppy reading skills or they just don't read. Your guess is as good as mine.
  
  

  9. Realator. Lots of dopes put in the "UH" where it doesn't belong.

  The real word is REAL-TOR which is 2 syllables and not 3 syllables.
  
  

  10. Expresso has nothing to do with coffee. It is simply wrong.

  Monty Norman's only hit musical was EXPRESSO BONGO.

  Norman is a mountebank. (Look it up.)

  The genuine word is ESPRESSO. However, brothers and sisters, I have a sad announcement. So many idiots used the wrong word for so many years the lexicographers shrugged and gave in. You'll now see the EX in the dictionary. Advice: Treat it as you do your own EX.
  
  

  11. Australia. This may shock you but - it isn't Austria.
  
  

  12. Heighth. No such word. Cut it out this minute! The tricky part is as follows. There is Depth, there is Width, and there is - no no no - not Heighth! It is HEIGHT. Let go of the "h", knucklehead!
  
  

  13. Anyways. Grow up! Toss that final "s". The word is "anyway."
  
  

  14. PRIMER. This one chaps my butt. A tricky word that is mostly used improperly. Here is how you break it down...

  A. If you are referring to the first coat of paint, it is pronounced as PRY-MURR.

  B. If you mean any book of basic elements, it rhymes with DIM MURR. (such as him or). Shape up!
  
  

  15. Pernounce. No such word! It is "Pro-nounce" like pronouns.

  The proper pro-nun-ci-ation has no "purr" which is for cats only.

  Be a PRO and do not PURR.

  There are plenty more tricky words but I'm bored with this.

  If you don't own a physical dictionary by the age of 16, you are a lost soul for the rest of your life.

  If you don't read books and only learn the English language by listening to peckerwoods - you are likely going to lapse into bad habits of speaking. You may say "AX" instead of "ASK" for instance.

  You will say "John Druh" for genre instead of "zhon-ruh".

  I have a dear friend who refers to an art mural as a MEW REE ULL.

  I dare not correct him. It is rude.

  When I was much younger I was the terror of my teachers at school; correcting their speech with Torquemada's relentless pursuit of witches and evil in speaking and writing.

  I'm more laid back now. But those teachers went to their grave thinking I was an asshole.
  
  

  p.s. They were right.
  
  If it weren't for my 8th Grade English teacher, Ms. Green, I'd never have known how awful my grammar was and how profound my southern accent was! I had stood and given an oral book report. Afterward, Mr. Green pointed out all of my egregious mistakes. I was shocked but it sent me on a self-improvement journey that changed the rest of my life. I bought the best dictionary I could afford. I learned 16 new vocabulary words each day and the "proper" pro-nun-ci-ation.
  
  And THAT is when I became a pedantic pain in the ass :)
• 
  6

  CLASSICAL music: value ZERO ?? (The Truth That Leads to Eternal LIfe)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  classical music: value zero??.

  performances are ephemeral.

  you hear a live performance - and it's gone.. a recording may preserve that 'in a certain way' but it can't preserve it against other performances of the same thing.

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  Terry

  When I was a kid, there was RADIO and small black and white TV's.
  Music over the radio was MONO and the quality was poor.
  
  Long play records at 78rpms were heavy, bulky, and required large needles that wore out the platter over time.
  
  Now, in 2021 (about to become 2022) we suck perfect audio down in a stream from a "cloud." And the audio quality is superb.
  
  THERE IS TOO MUCH from which to choose and too much going on simultaneously in 12
  categories.

  How much music is released each year?

  That's approximately 137 million new tracks every year. Fyi: There are around 38 million minutes in the average human life – including sleep – according to United Nations estimates.
• 
  3

  There is No Punchline

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "i am so sorry for the bird".

  (the following is true.

  it is told the way you might want to tell a joke with a punchline.

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  Terry

  Did you ever forgive your mom for selling all your books?
  
  I ask myself over and over what I really feel. Or if I am capable of feeling
  something for my mom.
  I'm merely troubled and confused since I can't understand her psychology.
  SHE LOVED ME - but...
  Her love and her psychosis were blended. She did the best she could and meant me no harm.
  There is a distance between me and FEELING anything and I can't build a bridge.
  So?
  So, I accept it. It happened. Let's move on.
• 
  6

  CLASSICAL music: value ZERO ?? (The Truth That Leads to Eternal LIfe)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  classical music: value zero??.

  performances are ephemeral.

  you hear a live performance - and it's gone.. a recording may preserve that 'in a certain way' but it can't preserve it against other performances of the same thing.

  1. 
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• 

  Terry

  Quality of production counts for much.
  Too much turkey-in-the-straw "personality" is tiresome.
  If you have facts or evidence to deliver - use clear (and reproducible) graphics.
  (Screengrabs are useful).
  
  Jehovah's Witness History is very interesting - BUT - who the hell inside the org
  gives a flying rat's patootie about ANY of that?
  
  Here is Terry's rule of Apostate purpose. Are you ready?
  Do not take away from a human being any value you cannot replace safely.
  It's like informing somebody you have evidence their mother used to be a hooker.
  You can destroy somebody with that (regardless of how true it is.)
  When you reduce a True Believer to atheism - do you really think the chances of
  them finding a positive and productive purpose for life is easy peasy? I don't.
  Making a Doubter into a DF'd ex-JW destroys their family ties and all their friends
  disappear. Hooray for ...WHO?
  You can quickly yank a bandaid off a skinned elbow - but it is NOT the same quick sting for effectively snatching away an emotional support system with a life investment.
  You crash their market and leave them bankrupt if you aren't careful.
  
  EMOTIONS are informed by VALUES.
  Shatter a person's values and you bankrupt them emotionally.
  
  In a perfect world, an Apostate gets a seed planted and the other fella starts feeling the doubt grow enough for the individuality of curiosity to begin to blossom.
  SLOWLY and organically.
  
  One size does not fit all when it comes to waking up.
  What the Watchtower clones mistake for Brothers and Sisters is illusory, of course.
  You may OFFER them the Red Pill/Blue Pill but it is they who must choose.
  Don't blurt out to a child "There ain't no Santa Claus - your parents are LIARS!"
  No, not unless you are a sociopath.
  
  TRUTH is like a medicine: Dangerous.
  The correct dose determines effectiveness.
  
  Tying up all the loose ends and conflating I've wrought here:
  Being a JW has VALUE to people even though it is counterfeit money and lies.
  
  Be kind, rewind. Don't pull the rug. Treat them as fragile. Handle with care.
  
  Let them discover little by little (at their own pace.)
  The Child Molestation issue (I have found) is WAY TOO EMOTIONAL.
  Immediate denial shuts them down and makes them hate you.
  
  Pity that.
  A hint and a source of verification is all you can safely accomplish.
  Now - crank up your old Kingdom Songs LPs from the 1970's and LET'S BOOGIE!
  
  
  
• 
  6

  CLASSICAL music: value ZERO ?? (The Truth That Leads to Eternal LIfe)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  classical music: value zero??.

  performances are ephemeral.

  you hear a live performance - and it's gone.. a recording may preserve that 'in a certain way' but it can't preserve it against other performances of the same thing.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  CLASSICAL MUSIC: value zero??
  
  

  Performances are ephemeral.

  You hear a live performance - and it's gone.

  A recording may preserve that 'in a certain way' but it can't preserve it against other performances of the same thing.
  
  

  That's what's happened to the Classical Music Industry.
  
  

  So much has been recorded so frequently by so many people and cranked out so many 'first-class' performances (orchestras, conductors, soloists, singers) and the Conservatories are churning out more of them all the time; this has made the VALUE of the INDIVIDUAL performance ZERO.
  
  

  That's why the (classical recording industry) is the way it is now.

  (Plainly and cruelly stated): The value of a classical recording is zero.

  Look at what you can buy for NO MONEY at all!
  
  

  The next thing you know they'll be PAYING US to take their recordings.

  Performers PAY LABELS to issue their performances and distribute them. There is no money in marketing and sales ...NONE.

  And God forbid they should advertise!
  
  

  All the money is in (promotion) getting the performance out there and just being another version of the same old same old.

  That makes the VALUE (return on investment) ZERO.
  
  

  That's why we get the Big Box sets.

  That's why the major labels reshuffle the same stuff over and over again.

  This is an incontestable point. (Unless you'd care to share some quaint philosophical semantic argument?)
  
  

  The truth is, no matter how much you love your favorite artist - (insert name here) they DON'T MATTER.

  It can matter to you according to personal preference - but you don't matter either, as far as the industry is concerned (and their bottom line.)

  Rather than this being distressing; it's really something we should celebrate (like indoor plumbing and running water).

  LOOK AT ALL THE CHOICES WE HAVE!
  
  

  Let's face it.

  Collectors are a weird breed on the fringe of the Bell Curve of consumerism. Idiot Savants and Fanboys inhabit a tiny elevator-sized niche market.

  You matter less than, say- fetishists...

  who'll pay any amount to slake their soul fevers and passions of the mind?

  (FIFTY SHADES of GRAY) sold how many copies? Brace yourself: over 150 million copies.)

  You're better off being an END TIME's cult fetishist, too in the RELIGION market.

  The Left Behind series sold over 80 million, The Late Great Planet Earth sold about 30 million copies.
  
  

  Jehovah's Witnesses peddled their book, The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life door to door promoting Armageddon in 1975 and the number of books made the Guinness Book of Records at 106,486,735 copies in 116 languages.
  
  The value of Jehovah's Witnesses' END TIMES message has been DE-valued by over-promotion as well. "It getting closer and closer than close and we REALLY MEAN IT this time!) Pure nonsense!

  _________
  
  

  Now, where was I? Oh yes - Classic Music: value zero.
  
  

  Don't believe me - check sales stats for forensic evidence.

  So how popular is classical music in the U.S.? According to Billboard/Nielsen, classical music had an overall 1% share of the market in 2019, or 12th out of 12 genres. Feb 10, 2021

  _________

  I personally am a FILM MUSIC nut.
  Film Music is a sub-genre of a sub-genre

  and I may as well be a butterfly or stamp collector as far as the Music Industry is concerned.
  
  

  Most of my online friends fall into 2 categories. (Brace yourself)

  1. Ex-religious cult apostates whose eyes have been opened

  2. Film Music cultists with eyes wide shut

  (Wee joke, that)
  
  

  WE DON'T MATTER (to any industry of note) and our value is zero.
  
  

  I won't wallow.

  I love classical music and Film Music and I used to collect both - BUT- I no longer collect anything at all. (Except cat hair, bird feathers, and dust.)

  I listen to music DIGITALLY.

  Digital audio has penetrated the music market and killed CD's, cassettes, etc.
  
  

  WHAT IS MY POINT and how does it matter to you?
  
  
  

  I've been an EX-JW for 41 years.
  I have been on this Jehovahs-witness dot com group for, um, 15 years?
  I've gone through all the stages of denial, anger, fear, bargaining, and acceptance.
  The market for Apostate writing is in the same status as Classical music.
  Nobody is getting wealthy (or even breaking even) publishing a book.
  
  TOO MANY APOSTATES with competing podcasts? Of course not.
  
  YouTube channels, personal stories, click-bait, and such have SATURATED the "market."
  We should rejoice in that.
  The message is "out there" but, like anything else, there is a LIMIT on the value.
  
  

  The monetary rewards just aren't there - but- competing for the audience should
  demonstrate what sort of quality and presentation will succeed.
  
  Every question has been asked and answered HERE (right here) and it only requires a search engine and a couple of hours' time to satisfy the most curious mind.
  
  In the meantime, get out your scratchy old records (old WT Society books) and
  plug into the cloud (JW.Org) and rejoice in the fact that Jehovah's Organization (just like the Classical Music Industry) is GOING BROKE!
  
  Those emaciated WatchTower magazines are pathetically anemic.
  The days of a Fred Franz imagination are gone. The men running the GB
  have ZERO intellectual power and their presentations are like CHILDREN'S SHOWS.
  Only empty-headed viewers fail to see this.
  PIMO rules!
  
  It is OUR JOB to find somebody and deliver the 'last straw.'
  
  

  
  

  
  
• 
  2

  Hamilton's Ghost

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hamilton’s ghost?.

  under my bed or in back of the closet.

  “was it or wasn’t it glaring at me?”

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  Terry

  HAMILTON’S GHOST?

  Maybe I saw it … and maybe I didn’t

  Whatever I saw - it saw me!
  
  

  Under my bed or in back of the closet

  “Was it or wasn’t it glaring at me?”
  
  

  Noise in the night, there’s the creak of the floorboard

  the squeak of a door as it closed
  
  

  Bumps in the attic? My heart beats erratic

  “It’s only the wind!” I suppose.
  
  

  Lightning is frightening but wholly explicable

  Thunder? No wonder I jump!
  
  

  But - how to explain anything so despicable

  it stares and it comes with a thump?
  
  

  Maybe I slept or maybe I didn’t

  Whenever it crept I awoke
  
  

  Screaming or praying - affrighted, I’m saying

  Dauntingly, hauntingly, “This is No Joke!”
  
  

  Aaron Burr, (touched by a hairy paw) thought he saw

  Hamilton’s ghost by his bed

  Booth felt the whiskers of Lincoln back from the dead

  Brutus feared most it was Ceasar’s ghost clawing his head
  
  

  I’m on the edge and losing my sanity

  Can it be simply a

  “this” or a “that”?
  
  

  As it turns out at the sunrise I finally see

  IT’s ONLY MY OWN F-ing CAT!!
  
  
  
  
  

  (Meee-owww)
• 
  3

  There is No Punchline

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "i am so sorry for the bird".

  (the following is true.

  it is told the way you might want to tell a joke with a punchline.

  1. 
  2. 
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• 

  Terry

  Speaking of toasts ...
  "Here’s to it, and from it, and to it again, and if you don’t do it when you get to it, you may never get to it to do it again!"
  and my favorite...
  "May you live as long as you want
  but never want as long as you live."