

Life
Be the Squeaky Wheel
In an overly communicative society, boldness is often the key to notoriety, wealth, and even acclaim
Throughout history people have stepped into the limelight at critical junctures and become immortalized for it.
* Moses told the Egyptian pharaoh, “Let my people go.”
* Jesus told an unruly crowd, “Let he that lives without sin cast the first stone.”
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* Martin Luther nailed his 99 reforms to the door of the Catholic church knowing this would set off a landslide of controversy.
* George Washington confessed to his father that he did in fact chop down the cherry tree, saying, “I cannot tell a lie,” …not really, but that’s the myth.
* Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech but equally of note, endured jail, hosing down, and discrimination for what he believed.
You probably tend to admire those who adopt broad sweeping causes related to freedom, truth, or human rights. It seems as if bold, positive, decisive action has often served as the catalyst for followers to take up the lead. Such action can become a turning point that historians dutifully record.
Genius in Boldness
The German philosopher Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe once said, “Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” In an overly communicative society, boldness is often the key to notoriety, wealth, and even acclaim.
While there might be 8, 12, 15, or several dozen female singers with the range, voice quality, and talent equal to or exceeding that of Katy Perry, she is among the few who captures the headlines.
Andre Agassi might not have been the most talented player on the pro tennis circuit, but during his playing days he was the one that most people could recall most easily. Beyond the arenas of sports and entertainment being the squeaky wheel has impacted other social arenas.
A particular inventor still owns the record for holding the largest number of U.S. patents. He is the widely celebrated inventor of the phonograph. He is commonly regarded as the inventor of the light bulb although he merely improved on it and, most important, made it commercially available for the masses.
He also made dozens of improvements to other existing products. Can you name him? Undoubtedly, you can since he’s Thomas Edison.
So Many Before Him
Thomas Edison was not the original inventor of electric light. He improved upon a principle that others had already discovered. In 1802 Sir Humphrey Davy produced an arch light. He was followed in 1844 by Jean Foucault who made an arch light strong enough to illuminate the Plaza de la Concorde in Paris.
By 1860 Sir Joseph William Swan devised a crude light bulb and eighteen years later demonstrated a successful carbon filament lamp at New Castle, England. This was ten months before Edison invented the light bulb.
A second inventor of equal brilliance and contribution to society revolutionized the automobile industry. He’s credited with having ushered in a new era of ignition systems, vehicle performance, and vehicle safety. He patented a painting process that prolonged the life of cars by reducing the incidents of rust.
With four hundred million vehicles in America alone and more than a billion throughout the world, surely you can name this hallowed inventor. Right?
Okay, here’s a huge clue: He also became a philanthropist and to this day his name is part of one of the foremost cancer research and treatment facilities in the world which he help found. Who is he?
Give up?
He is Thomas Kettering for whom the Sloan-Kettering Institute is partially named. Why does virtually everyone know the name of Edison, and nearly no one knows the name of Kettering?
Perhaps Edison’s inventions were more consumer-oriented or impacted more people more quickly back then. One hundred years ago, everyone was likely to turn on a light switch, but not everyone owned a car.
Consummate Squeaker
Edison, as it turns out, relentlessly promoted himself. He constantly talked to the press and gave interviews. He always issued pithy quotes. He went out of his way to grandstand. He often bragged that he got by on very little sleep per night, a claim later proved to be untrue.
Edison was always looking for opportunities in which to get into the news, and equally important offered product and service contributions of lasting impact.
Kettering was not a meek or mild lab scientist. He was a strong leader within the organizations he formed. He also gained the reputation as someone with quick wit who could both give and take a joke.
Yet, unless some dramatic, Oscar winning movie about Kettering appears in the future, it’s unlikely that his name will ever be as widely known as Edison’s.
So it is in many arenas of life.
Two performers, alike in major respects, with a similar array of accomplishments, might have different experiences in terms of what they earn, how they are perceived, and how they are remembered.
Think about those whom are the most visible to the public. Are these people hesitant to voice their views, or are they both seen and heard?
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Education
Eight Dysphemisms to Start Your Week
A dysphemism is a word or phrase that is more offensive than the words it is replacing
A “euphemism” is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that might suggest something more bluntly or offend others, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. To say, for example, “He doesn’t have all his marbles,” is regarded as gentler than saying “He is stark raving insane.”
The Mighty Dysphemism
The opposite of a euphemism is a “dysphemism.” A dysphemism is a word or phrase that is more offensive, blunt, or harsh than the word or phrase which it is replacing. For example, instead of stating that the Manhattan District Attorney is “cognitively challenged,” you refer to him instead as a “total partisan whack job.”
For your amusement, at the least, here are eight dysphemism followed by the kinder, gentler, or at least more definitive terminology of what is being said:
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“Biting off more than you can chew” – Orally extracting an amount of edible matter that exceeds what one is comfortably able to masticate.
“That’s a load of B.S.” – Your assertion reminds one of bovine excretion.
“Sh__faced” – Bearing an expression that one normally associates with the act of removing solid waste from the body.
“Can’t tell your ass from your elbow” – Unable to differentiate between your dorsal side orifice and the joint connecting your forearm and upper arm.
“Stepping in a pile of crap” – A pedestrian venture into an accumulation of animal or human waste.
“Go F-yourself” – Engage in the act of physical consummation with yourself.
“Up to your eyeballs in crap” – Finding yourself surrounded at the visual level by unpleasantly aromatic organic waste.
“Carnal knowledge” – Having a close encounter with another, free of garments and other impediments, leading to direct tactile stimulation.
A True Time Saver
Thank goodness for dysphemisms. In a most fundamental way, they are true time-savers. Without them, we’d be groping for tedious phrasing all day long. “Up your nose with a rubber hose,” if you don’t “catch my drift.”
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Here is my creation, Nobody Gets Enough Rest, based on the theme of Nobody Does It Better, original music by Marvin Hamlisch, with lyrics by Carol Bayer Sager, and sung by Carly Simon:
Nobody Gets Enough Rest
by Jeff Davidson © 2023
Nobody gets enough rest,
no one gets all that they need.
Too many people gyp their sleep time:
When it comes to rest… they’re in neeeeeed…
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I wasn’t looking
but somehow they found me,
all of the things that lengthen my day aaaaaaaaay.
Like the TV above me
and the friends who love me,
up all night so we can play aaaaaaaaay.
Nobody gets enough rest,
no one gets all that they need.
Nobody takes enough naps, aaaand
sure enough, we’re all in nee ee ee eeed.
Nobody gets enough rest,
no one sleeps all that they need.
Yet people come to work like its
some kind of brea ee ee ee ee eeze.
The way that it’s going, all day-long going
there’s got to be some kind of pau au au au ause,
That keeps us from running,
all 24 hours, disobeying nature’s basic law aw aw aw aw.
Nobody gets enough rest,
no one gets all that they need.
Too many people gyp their sleep time:
When it comes to rest… they’re in nee ee eed…
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