The Curious Case of Whet

The Curious Case of Whet The Curious Case of â€Å"Whet† The Curious Case of â€Å"Whet† By Maeve Maddox Here’s a question from Caro that cites a usage for whet that I’ve never heard: I have recently seen several people using the word â€Å"whet† in place of the word â€Å"wet†.   (In one case, I asked a friend if shed meant to say â€Å"wet† but she said it can also be used as a dirtier form for â€Å"wanton† I can only wonder what the friend understands by wanton. Both whet and wet have been in the language since Ango-Saxon times. whet: OE hwettan to sharpen† Even back then the word could have the figurative sense of â€Å"to encourage.† wet: OE wà ¦t moist, liquid, OE wà ¦tan to be wet. OE wà ¦ter, â€Å"water.† When I taught young girls in England, I often heard one of them say that So-and-So was â€Å"wet.† It meant that the unfortunate girl under discussion was â€Å"socially ineffectual† or, as they may be saying now, â€Å"wimpy.† I don’t often hear the word wanton in ordinary conversation. It can mean â€Å"lascivious† as in â€Å"that wanton hussy.† Youre more likely to hear someone refer to â€Å"wanton cruelty.† In the latter example the meaning is â€Å"merciless, unfeeling, inhuman†: Leaving those dogs tied up in the backyard when they moved was wanton cruelty. The earliest meaning of wanton was similar to the French expression mal à ©levà ©, â€Å"badly brought up.† Wanton was a word to use when referring to unruly or unsocialized children as Shakespeare does in Lear: As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods. They kill us for their sport. Wanton was originally a two-part word: wan-towen. OE wan meant â€Å"wanting or lacking.† OE togen was the past participle of teon, â€Å"to train, to discipline.† The wanton child was lacking in discipline. Expressions with â€Å"whet† in the sense of â€Å"encourage† or â€Å"stimulate† whet one’s appetite: stimulate one’s desire to eat whet one’s whistle: clear one’s throat by taking a drink whet one’s anger: increase feelings of anger Expressions with â€Å"wet† wet one’s whistle: take a drink wet-nurse (1620): a woman hired to nurse another’s infant wet dream (1851): nocturnal emission wet blanket (1879): a person who brings down the spirits of others, (the way a wet blanket may be used to smother a fire). to be all wet (1923): to be in the wrong wetback (1924): illegal Mexican immigrant (wet because of wading the Rio Grande). Bottomline: Using whet as a â€Å"dirtier form of wanton† is totally bizarre. (But then, not being au courant with the latest slang, I may be all wet.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Regarding Re:50 Diminutive Suffixes (and a Cute Little Prefix)Oppose and Opposed To

Differences Between Broadsheet and Tabloid Newspapers

Differences Between Broadsheet and Tabloid Newspapers In the world of print journalism, the two main formats for newspapers are broadsheet and tabloid. Strictly speaking, these terms refer to the page sizes of such papers, but the different formats have distinct histories and associations. Discussing the differences between broadsheets and tabloids provides an interesting journalistic journey. History of Broadsheets and Tabloids Broadsheet newspapers first appeared in 18th-century Britain after the government began to tax newspapers based on their number of pages. That made large-format papers with fewer pages cheaper to print than smaller ones with more pages, writes Kath Bates on Oxford Open Learning. She adds: As few people could read to the standard required of those early broadsheet editions, they soon became associated with the aristocracy and more well-to-do businessmen. Even today, broadsheet papers tend to be linked with a higher-minded approach to news-gathering and delivery, with readers of such papers opting for in-depth articles and editorials. Tabloid newspapers, perhaps due to their smaller size, are often associated with shorter, crisper stories. Tabloids date to the early 1900s when they were referred to as small newspapers containing condensed stories easily consumed by everyday readers. Tabloid readers traditionally came from the lower working classes, but that has changed somewhat in the past few decades. The New York Daily News, the most widely circulated tabloid in the United States, for example, had won 11 ​Pulitzer Prizes, journalisms highest honor, as of June 2018. Even with the blurring of clear distinctions between the economic and social classes of their readership, however, advertisers continue to target different markets when buying space in broadsheets and tabloids. What Are Tabloids? In the technical sense, tabloid refers to a newspaper that typically measures 11 by 17 inches- smaller than a broadsheet- and is usually no more than five columns across. Many city dwellers prefer tabloids because they are easier to carry and read on the subway or bus. One of the first tabloids in the U.S. was The New York Sun, started in 1833. It cost only a penny and was easy to carry, and its crime reporting and illustrations proved popular with working-class readers. Tabloids still tend to be more irreverent in their writing style than their broadsheet brothers. In a crime story, a broadsheet will refer to a police officer, while a tabloid will use the term cop. And while a broadsheet might spend dozens of column inches on serious news- say, a major bill in Congress- a tabloid is more likely to zero in on a sensational crime story or celebrity gossip. The word tabloid has come to be associated with supermarket checkout aisle papers, such as the National Enquirer, that focus on splashy, lurid stories about celebrities, but tabloids such as the Daily News, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Boston Herald focus on serious, hard-hitting journalism. In Britain, tabloid papers- also known as red tops for their front-page banners- tend to be racier and more sensational than their American counterparts. The type of unscrupulous reporting methods employed by some tabs led to the ​phone-hacking scandal and closing of the News of the World, one of Britains biggest tabs, and resulted in calls for greater regulation of the British press. What Are Broadsheets? Broadsheet refers to the most common newspaper format, which is typically around 15 inches wide to 20 or more inches long in the U.S., though sizes vary around the world. Broadsheet papers tend to feature six columns and employ a traditional approach to newsgathering  that emphasizes in-depth coverage and a sober writing tone in articles and editorials aimed at fairly affluent, educated readers. Many of the nations most respected,  influential newspapers- The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, for example- are broadsheet papers. In recent years many broadsheets have been reduced in size to cut printing costs. For instance, The New York Times was narrowed by 1 1/2 inches in 2008. Other broadsheet papers, including USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post, also have been trimmed. Broadsheets and Tabloids Today Newspapers, whether broadsheets or tabloids, are experiencing difficult times these days. Readership has slipped for all newspapers as many readers have turned to the Internet for up-to-the-minute news from a variety of online sources, often for free. For example, AOL, an Internet portal, offers online news ranging from mass shootings and Supreme Court decisions to sports and weather, all at no charge. CNN, the Cable News Network, is known mostly for on-air coverage of domestic and international issues, but it also has a well-established website that provides free articles and video clips of major domestic and foreign news. Its difficult for broadsheets and tabloids to compete with organizations providing such wide-ranging, cost-free coverage, especially when papers have traditionally charged readers for access to their news and information stories. Between 2000 and 2015, annual advertising revenue at all U.S. newspapers, both tabloids, and broadsheets, tumbled from $60 billion to $20 billion, according to The Atlantic. A Pew Research Center study noted that circulation for all U.S. newspapers has fallen annually for the past three decades, including an 8% decline between 2015 and 2016. The Pew Center study did note that The New York Times added more than 500,000 online subscriptions in 2016, a nearly 50 percent jump from the previous year. In that same period, The Wall Street Journal gained more than 150,000 digital subscriptions, a 23 percent rise. Internet Forces Changes The online versions of these broadsheets, however, are more tabloid-like in format; they have flashier headlines, attention-grabbing color, and more graphics than the print editions. The New York Times online edition is four columns wide, similar to a tabloid format, though the second column tends to be wider than the other three. The main headline for The Times online edition of June 20, 2018, was: Trump Retreats After Border Outcry, which was splashed in flashy italic type above a main story and several sidebars about the public debate over a U.S. policy that separated parents seeking to enter the country from their children. The print edition for the same day- which, of course, was one news cycle behind the online edition- featured a much more sedate headline for its main story: GOP Moves to End Trumps Family Separation Policy, but Cant Agree How. As readers gravitate toward briefer stories and instant access to news via the Internet, more broadsheets may begin to adopt tabloid formats online. The push seems to be to capture readers attention with tabloid techniques instead of relying on a more in-depth, broadsheet-like, serious tone.

U.s. jails today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

U.s. jails today - Essay Example Figure 1 illustrates how far the US-prisoner rate than those of other developed countries.   PEW estimated that in 2008 2,319,258 of the US population are incarcerated (7). These statistics are very far from those of China, one of the most populated countries in the world. China’s incarcerated rate is estimated to be at 1.5 million of their population only (Hutchins 1).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the ratio of prisoners per 100,000 individuals of the US population grew from 193 in 1995 to 259 in 2007. Based on the study of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, on average, 15,502 sleeping beds were added in jails during the past 12 months in 2007. The additional beds summed up a total rated capacity of 813,502 beds and in the middle of 2007, 96% of these beds were already used and inhabited by inmates (Bureau of Justice Statistics, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/jails.htm). To maintain such overwhelming number of prisoners, correctional facilities, polices, and support groups should also be at par with the number of prisoners. With the rapid growing population of inmates in the US, expenditure in jails, correction, support facilities, and others are also increasing dramatically.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the figure above, there has been a humungous increase in the expenditure of the criminal-justice functions. In the police function there had been an increased of 396% from the average expenditure of 1982 to the average expenditure in 2005. With regards to correctional and judicial expenses, the same trend occurred with the police functions. Both correctional and judicial expenses in 2005 had an increase of 619% and 474%, respectively, from its values in 1982.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To accommodate a common inmate, an average of $23,876 per year is needed (PEW, 11). This figure is based on 2005 statistics. Moreover, states expenditure per prisoner varies with Rhode Island with $44, 860 spending on the top of

Cross-border Mobility and Immobility Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cross-border Mobility and Immobility - Article Example Some views also opine for the debarring of the worker flow from the foreign states which enhances the competition. The second domain circumscribes the progress from different countries like sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East infiltrating into the European culture and the views are against the mobility particularly from the Islamic countries although the nature of variation changes from country to country. Both the domain of discussion targets at the restriction mechanism of migration. However the discussion generates the significance of the regulation of immigration. An emergence of the cross border immobility is taken as the starting phase and it has been found that people remains immobile with respect to certain destinations and the preference of destinations among the people play a significant part in the mobility (Velde & Naerssen, 2000, pp. 218-219). Argument The argument stands on the premises of examining whether the borders generates incentives for the migrants to relocat e. In other words, the argument presupposes on the decision making aspects of the people in the migration procedure in association with the prime parameter being the border in this case (Velde & Naerssen, 2000, p. 219). Structure of the paper The decision making process of cross border mobility of the migrants incorporates into it the very notion of underlying uncertainty, instability as well as the precariousness affecting their mobility behavior. In order to examine the basis of the argument three components distinguishing the international migration are explained with respect to the argument in question and that is people, borders and trajectories. The people usually decide in crossing the borders or not and this specific endeavor they can remain mobile or immobile internationally. This nature depends on the various geographical borders they take into considerations. The people are also in the following specific routes for the movement from one place to the other and hence crossi ng the national borders (Velde & Naerssen, 2000, p. 219). Literatures In 1880s, Ravenstein revealed that the study of the actual and the potential migration reduces the migrants into infinitesimally small identities within the demand supply framework of the labor market. He also inferred that the wage differentials and the distance are the key variables in determining the migration decisions which later generated in the form of the famous push and pull framework. Some other theorist states that the notion of rationality does not always play in the migration decisions as in many cases it has been encountered that the migrants are guided by the asymmetric information. The concept of human capital which links the long run investment decisions also affects the migration decisions of the migrants. The transaction cost approach states that the people calculate the costs like opportunity costs, costs of adjustment to different cultures, adaptation to legal structures and so on and so forth . Stark (1982) changed the focus of the migration from the individual to the mutual dependence among the households, families and communities. Immobility is a fact which involves only a minority of

Ancient Homosexuality Essay Example for Free

Ancient Homosexuality Essay The modern self is primarily built up of one’s history, body, religion, politics and entertainment – a Freudian composition of what identity is. And all of these things, the very factors that make the modern self the way it is, roots from the ancients. Cicero once thought that without the knowledge of the past, once shall remain a child, hence, Simon Goldhill’s Love, Sex and Tragedy: How the Ancient World Shapes Our Lives. With Cicero’s principle in mind, Goldhill wishes his readers to have a full understanding of who they are and how they came to be the way they are. Among the very controversial societal issues that Goldhill discussed pertained to homosexuality. Sexuality, in the time of the Greco-Romans, meant a love-affair with the phallus. They paraded it in the theatres, processions, public road, and even public memorials. The phallus was part of the classical man’s body, sexuality and sensuality – which, by the way, not only applies to men, but for females as well. The Greco-Romans had a profound relationship with sexual organs and acts, which, the modern man – apparently influenced by the rules of Christianity, might find obscene. A part of Simon Goldhill’s discussions on sexuality is the root of homosexuality. The Greeks had a particular fondness over a scenario where a bearded male desires a beardless lad. In today’s terms, this is the so-called pedophilia, as practiced through the inter-crural activity. This involves the placing of one’s penis between the partner’s thighs, may it be front or rear, followed by thrusting to attain sexual pleasure. Greeks from the seventh century, reinforced pederasty among men from the upper-class society, especially in their twenties, to acquire a young boy approximately aged 12 to love and nurture until he grows to marry at age 30, and later take a boy of his own. Practicing pederasty reinforced late marriage for these males, in the hopes of reducing the possibility of overpopulation, as well as to improve the education – initiation and instruction, of the ancient Greek youth. On Greek vases, one can find a picture of the bearded man – erastes, and the beardless youth – eromenos, as the erastes touches the eromenos’s genitals. The erastes takes the intiative as the eromenos remains passive. But, the ancient Greeks prohibited the relationship between a bearded man with yet another bearded man, and it was shameful that a bearded man becomes the passive one – or pathikos. The pedagogical pederasty is an illustration of a father-son relationship, where the erastes acts as a substitute father to help the young lad on his way to manhood, maturity, and to orient him to become a productive part of the society. The erastes demonstrates this affection by little presents ranging from a bottle of oil to money. The relationship was beneficial in both parties – the erastes provides education, protection, love and a role model for the eromenos – who offers beauty and admiration in turn. In modern theory, this is called sexual reciprocity. Gay does not necessarily mean one is less man or woman than a heterosexual. The ancient Greeks have never defined it in that way. Pedagogical pederasty and the sexual reciprocity that follows it are acts that only show the so-called love – in whichever form you wish to see it, may it be erotic or platonic. However, if we do know the origins of homosexuality, how does it actually affect us as individuals? We do obtain the full understanding of our identities in terms of our sexuality, and the understanding of others’ sexuality. This book simply implies the basic lesson of respect.

The Sea Wolf Essay -- essays research papers

The crew of the seal hunting ship the Ghost stood in disbelief as they gazed upon their recently departed first mate. Then a most unusual thing occurred. The captain began yelling at the dead man like a raging storm. Oaths rolled from his lips in a continuous stream. And they were not nice and thoughtful words or mere expressions of indecency. Each word was a blasphemy, and there were many words. It is this lack of remorse for others that defines Wolf Larsen, the antagonist in The Seal Wolf by Jack London.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the beginning of the book you are introduced to the contrast of characters at hand. The feeble gentleman Humphrey Van Weydon, who is cruelly forced upon the voyage, and the devilish and somewhat divine captain Wolf Larsen. This combination of good and evil sets the stage for an amazing battle of wit and perseverance. But to understand the great battle between these two men, you have to understand the almost invincible nature of Captain Wolf Larsen. Wolf is a five foot ten inch, tan skinned brute. His height is not at all the most striking characteristic of the captain. His amazing muscular build and strength rival that of an enlarged gorilla. In fact, the author repeatedly compares Wolf’s immense strength with that of a wild animal. The name London gives him is perfect to describe his nature. It is this godlike ability to kill anyone with his bare hands that keeps the crew in fear of him. There is a scene in the book where the crew atte...

“Blueback” by Tim Winton Essay

Essay Question: How does Tim Winton use the elements of narratives to covey his theme? Have you ever read a story about a boy whose best friend is a fish? In Blueback by Tim Winton this is exactly what happens. Like in many of Winton’s stories Blueback is set in a seaside town in Western Australia. Winton uses the setting, characters, conflict and resolution to portray the message that we should protect the environment and not plunder the oceans for our own benefit. The main Characters in Blueback are Able and his Mum, Dora, who live in the sleepy seaside town of Longboat bay. Winton constructs Longboat bay as a peaceful quite place that belongs only to Able, Dora and Blueback, a place were they enjoy diving and were â€Å"Able swims with his mother in turquoise waters †. Winton constructs this setting to make the reader think of it as a healthy easygoing place to live away from the city. Winton makes Abel’s home sound like a very pleasant place to live being nestled between Longboat bay with its abundant marine life and pristine national park, with thriving wild life. Able and Dora enjoy the simple life and are very self sufficient and do everything from fixing motors to collecting abalone and selling the shells. Able and Dora take advantage of the land and go fishing and planting crops Dora Tells Able that â€Å"Able and his mother lived of the sea and land. Jackson had been living here like this for more than a hundred years†. Able is constructed as a strong willed character that does his best to help other people and the environment. When Able sees Costello â€Å"stripping the reef bare† he goes out to try and stop him and in the process saves Blueback, this to me shows that Abel is a very unselfish person. Another example of able being unselfish is when Longboat Bay is almost ruined by an oil spill, and Able rushes home from the city to try and help. Able and his  wife even quit their jobs to look after his mum when she gets sick. Winton constructs Able as a character that makes us think about the environment and other people more. One of the main conflicts in Blueback is when Able and Dora try to save Blueback from Costello. Able sees Costello taking all the fish and all the Abalone from the bay attempts to stop him. Able quickly boards Costello’s boat and throws the abalone back into the water hoping they might survive. Meanwhile Dora swims down to check on Blueback. Able swam down to his mother and realised that Costello was trying spear Blueback, Costello had already shot one spear that had missed Blueback my the narrowest or margins and was reloading. Unexpectedly Blueback swam away. On the surface Dora told Able that she â€Å"Biffed† the fish on in the head to scare it away. Winton uses this conflict to make the reader think about not taking to much from the ocean for your own benefit and preserving what we have. Costello is constructed as a mean selfish character who is only interested in doing something for his own gain. Costello is the complete opposite of Able and only thinks about himself and doesn’t care for the environment at all. Dora describes Able as a â€Å"hard case† and says there is nothing Able can do to stop him taking all the abalone from Longboat Bay. Even though Able does stop Costello taking more Abalone he still took many undersize fish and broke the law. When Able got on Costello’s boat he saw that, â€Å" the deck was awash with blood, Able had speared fish nearly every day of his life but he had never seen such slaughter like this.† Winton uses Costello’s character makes the reader think about being more aware of actions that may impact other people and the image of a deck awash with blood to make people feel disgust. Winton uses the setting, characters, conflict and resolution to tell his story and to give us the message that we must protect the environment. He does this by having two main settings in Blueback, the first is Able’s home, a peaceful tranquil bay and the second setting, the city which is constructed as a dull noisy place that Able describes as â€Å"hemmed in†. The main message in this novel is that we must preserve what we have.