Georgia suspends driver’s license tests

The governor of the state of Georgia has said that, due to the current pandemic situation, people can get their driver’s licenses without actually taking a road test. This has naturally horrified many people because driving puts you in command of a lethal weapon. As any driver will tell you, even when you take driving lessons, spend some time getting practice, and then pass the test, the first few months of driving alone tend to be nervous periods because safe driving habits have not as yet become instinctive. To not have to take the test at all just makes it that much worse.
[Read more…]

NASA or Nasa? NATO or Nato? Dealing with acronyms

I almost always use upper case when I am using obvious acronyms, so it is WHO, NASA, NATO, AIDS, and so on. But I have noticed in reading news articles from some but not all sources that certain acronyms are written as if they are just nouns, as in the case of Nato and Nasa. For example, this article from the Guardian refers to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as Noaa and to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science as Vims. Similarly, this article from the BBC refers to Nasa. But the BBC, WHO, NFL, and the NBA are always kept as upper case.
[Read more…]

This year’s Spelling Bee cancelled

I have argued in multiple posts that I think that the Spelling Bee contest is not a good use of young people’s intellect. The skills it teaches are not commensurable with the time, energy, and resources that the children’s families put into it. The format of the contest is not designed to even produce the best spellers, because luck plays a significant role in determining the final outcome. The contest is designed to produce TV drama (and ratings) by putting these young children under enormous pressure.

So I can’t say that I was sorry to hear that this year’s contest, like so many other events, has been cancelled. I do feel sorry for all those young people who had been devoting so much time to preparing for it because those who think that they can be winners pretty much give up everything else for years on end in pursuit of that goal. Perhaps being released from the pressure to memorize the spelling of obscure words will allow them to explore other areas of creativity and discover new pleasures in life. I hope so.

Will the Spelling Bee recover after social distancing ends and make a come back? Sadly, it seems likely because there is money in it.

Using the word ‘irony’

I use the word ‘irony’ on occasion. It is a problematic word in that it is often used in a wide variety of ways, some of which do not match its definition in the Oxford English Dictionary that describes it as “cruelly, humorously, or strangely at odds with assumptions or expectations.” Roger Kreuz reports on the work of psychologist Joan Lucariello who classified 28 different usages of the word and grouped them under seven general headings.
[Read more…]

What’s the term for a group of three?

On reading the title of this post, readers would have immediately been able to provide the answer and may have wondered why I was even asking it.

But as I was writing my impressions of Lucia di Lammermoor and the sextet that is sung there, it struck me that while I knew the names for groups of singers of almost all sizes from two to ten (duet (two), quartet (four), quintet (five), sextet (six), septet (seven), octet (eight), nonet (nine), and dectet (ten)), I did not know the term for three singers. So I looked it up and (duh!) it is ‘trio’, a common word that I was very familiar with. After all, the Kingston Trio was a very popular group in my youth.
[Read more…]

Going out in style

Kratu is a dog that has competed multiple times in the agility category at the annual Crufts Dog show held in the UK, where dogs have to maneuver over various hurdles, somewhat like show jumping with horses. Each year he has pleased the crowd with his antics. This year was to be his last year as he is retiring from competitive action and he clearly seems to have decided to really give them a show to remember.

“To hell with competing, I am just going to have fun” seems like a good attitude not just for dogs but for humans as well.

Nice going Kratu!

Brain teaser

I like puzzles that are simple to state and understand. This one is not too difficult.

“There are three boxes. One contains apples. One contains oranges. One contains both apples and oranges.

However, the boxes are mislabeled. One is labeled apples, but contains either oranges or the mix. One is labeled oranges, and contains apples or the mix. And the box labeled Both contains apples or oranges, but not both.

Removing only one piece of fruit from one box, how can you correctly identify all three boxes?”