Tag Archives: Saturday

New words to live by: “trumpmuffin”

It is the first weekend of the month and time again for a new word to live. This is a word or phrase not currently in use in the U.S. English lexicon, but might need to be considered. Other words, such as obsurd, crumpify, subsus, flib, congressed, and others, can be found by clicking on the tags below. Today’s New Word is a merging of two words: quagmire and muffin. Without further chattering trumpmuffin is the new word for this month:

Trump, v. to surpass, outdo, excel.

Muffin, n. small, cup-shaped quick breads made with cornmeal, wheat flour, or something similar and baked in a muffin pan creating a series of cuplike breads. Slang., an “attractive” person. Example:, a stud muffin = attractive male.

Trumpmuffin, n. 1) a person who feels the need to outdo the previous person. Example: tell the biggest fish story. 2) a person who has to get the last word in. 3) a person who has to get the last word in regardless of being right or wrong, and is often wrong. Example: Donald Trump is a trumpmuffin (particularly when you consider his hair) regardless of whether he is right or wrong when he speaks.

Use in a sentence: “Don is such a trumpmuffin,” Gail said, getting in the last word in her group of friends.

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The Underrated, Universal Appeal of Science Fiction – Chris Beckett – The Atlantic

The Underrated, Universal Appeal of Science Fiction – Chris Beckett – The Atlantic.

Sample:
When I’m introduced to someone as a writer, a now familiar pattern of events often follows.

“Oh, really! How interesting!” the someone—let’s call her Jane—says, sounding quite enthusiastic. “What do you write?”

“Science fiction,” I say.

Jane instantly glazes over. “I’m afraid I never read science fiction.”

In other instances, people who know me have read a book of mine out of curiosity and then told me, in some surprise, that they liked it—“even though I don’t normally like science fiction.” Indeed, when a short story collection of mine won a non-genre prize, it was apparently a surprise to the judges themselves: According to the chair of the judging panel, “none of [them] knew they were science-fiction fans beforehand.” 

Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/04/the-underrated-universal-appeal-of-science-fiction/360627/

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Joseph Campbell on the Big Bang | Blog, Moyers Moments | BillMoyers.com

Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell on the Big Bang | Blog, Moyers Moments | BillMoyers.com.

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20 Embarrassingly Bad Book Covers for Classic Novels – Flavorwire

20 Embarrassingly Bad Book Covers for Classic Novels – Flavorwire.

Sample of book cover. After all Henry James book is about construction, right?

Source: http://flavorwire.com/378513/20-embarrassingly-bad-book-covers-for-classic-novels/view-all/

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Sting tells TED audience of the only way he could overcome writer’s block – The Globe and Mail

Sting tells TED audience of the only way he could overcome writer’s block – The Globe and Mail.

Sample:

Sting is a prolific songwriter, author of a decades-long career first with the Police and then on his own, filled with pop-chart toppers, platinum records and music industry trophies to show for it.

Then came the drought.

Sting explained at the TED Conference in Vancouver how he fought his way back to his art after a prolonged period of creative darkness, when the songs stopped coming. Hint: it took him back to his hometown, and ends where the neon lights are bright.

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4 Things Science Fiction Needs to Bring Back | Cracked.com

4 Things Science Fiction Needs to Bring Back | Cracked.com.

Sample:
It’s tempting to look around at today’s literary scene, with its Twilight and its Fifty Shades of Grey, and wonder if we shouldn’t just flush the whole goddamn concept of written language down the toilet — maybe start again with some sort of hybrid colorwheel/odor system for communicating thoughts. Strangely, the one genre thriving in the swamp of modern literature seems to be science fiction. It’s kind of appropriate, actually: All of our crazy high technology has made publishing and distributing books about crazy high technology much more approachable and widespread than ever. But even the best works could stand to learn a little something from the past, so here are a few things that I miss about old science fiction, and would like to see come back.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-science-fiction-needs-to-bring-back/#ixzz2whMw9XfP

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Vonnegut responds: “experience becoming”

Eight years ago, students at my high school wrote to their favorite authors asking them to visit. Kurt Vonnegut was the only one who responded, writing this beautiful and humorous letter.

or http://imgur.com/Xl6PzGy

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These Books Actually Exist – The Meta Picture

These Books Actually Exist – The Meta Picture.

Are you ready to read: “The Right to Arm Bears”? How about “Knitting with Dog Hair”? These are two of the twenty titles.

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Jon Stewart harpoons the Fox “whale”

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I Knew You Were Tribbles (When You Dropped In) – YouTube

I Knew You Were Tribbles (When You Dropped In) – YouTube.

Just a wee bit of fuzzy fun.

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