Category: Weekly Posts

Men rush to California and Australia as if the true gold were to be found in that direction; but that is to go to the very opposite extreme to where it lies. They go prospecting farther and farther away from the true lead, and are most unfortunate when they think themselves most successful. Is not…

Idiom: noun. 1. a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., raining cats and dogs, see the light ). 2. a characteristic mode of expression in music or art. The idiom “long in the tooth” might be the weirdest way to say that someone…

Bleeding Edge: noun. The forefront of innovation or development, esp. in science or technology, typically when still theoretical or experimental in nature. The most advanced stage of a technology, art, etc., usually experimental and risky.  The frontier is often seen as a hardscrabble place. In our imagination, the frontier is located somewhere in the mystical…

Water-witch*: noun. One who claims to be able to find underground water by means of a divining rod; a dowser. Finding reliable sources of freshwater is a problem that plagues the American West. People resort to a number of obscure methods for obtaining sources of subterranean water. New homesteaders in the American West might pay…

Occident*: noun, adjective, or verb. 1.) Chiefly used in poetry and literary texts as a noun.  The part of the world situated to the west of some recognized region; spec. the countries, civilization, or culture of the West. Originally with reference to Western Christendom or the Western Roman Empire, or to Europe as opposed to…