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A
SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
January 31, 2013
In my business, one has to love
words.
True, some of my favorites and
most often used remain unprintable
in a family (or any other) newspaper,
but still, one simply has to love the
power andbeauty of words.
I mean, what can't they do? They
can bring one great joy, terrible
agony and nearly every emotion in
between, depending on the skill of
their user.
The pen really can be mightier
than the sword, as long as one isn't
attempting to defend oneself in a
duel, I guess.
So last month when the Wayne
State Word Warriors revealed their
list of words most worth of retrieval
and reentry in common usage, I was
especially interested.
In a preface to the list, the
Warriors explained that most of
these words have fallen out of com-
mon use and are on the brink of
obsolescence. Bringing them back,
said Jerry Herron, the dean of the
Honors College, "is just another way
of broadening our horizons."
Well buttermy buns and callme a
biscuit, Jerry, but to my great con-
sternation, many of these haven't
really fallen out of usage with some
old fogies, such asmyself.
I was way too familiar with sever-
al of them, which made me feel as
antiquated as, well, as some of the
others sound.
Here's the list, see what you
think.
• Buncombe
Rubbish; nonsense; empty or mis-
leading talk.
What a relief to have the election
over -- that great festival of bun-
combe that so distracted the nation
formonths.
• Cerulean
The blue of the sky.
Her eyes were a clear, deep
cerulean blue, like no eyes Trevor
had ever seen, and looking into
themmade himfeel lighter than air.
• Chelonian
Like a turtle (and who doesn't like
turtles?).
Weighed down by bickering and
blather, the farm bill crept through
Congress at a chelonianpace.
• Dragoon
To compel by coercion; to force
someone to do something they'd
rather not.
After working in the yard all day,
Michael was dragooned into going to
the ballet instead of flopping down
towatch theRedWings onTV.
• Fantods
Extreme anxiety, distress, nervous-
ness or irritability.
Jeremy's love of islands was tem-
pered by the fact that driving over
high bridges always gave him the
raging fantods.
• Mawkish
Excessively sentimental; sappy;
hopelessly trite.
To her surprise,
Beth
found
Robert's words
of love to be so mawkish that they
made her feel sticky, as though she
were being paintedwithmolasses.
• Natter
To talk aimlessly, often at great
length; rarely, it means simply to
converse.
You can tell our staff meetings are
winding down when everybody
starts nattering about their kids.
• Persiflage
Banter; frivolous talk.
Emma hoped to get Lady Astor into
a serious conversation, but as long
as the King was around she could
elicit only persiflage and gossip.
• Troglodyte
Literally, a cave-dweller. More fre-
quently a backward, mentally slug-
gishperson.
Susan felt she could have saved the
company if only the troglodytes in
management had takenher advice.
• Winkle
To pry out or extract something;
from the process of removing the
snail froman edible periwinkle.
Jack showed no inclination to leave
his seat beside Alice, but Roger was
determined towinkle himout of that
chair nomatterwhat it took.
See what I mean? I may be
mawkishly nattering on at a chelon-
ian pace, but trogdolytes who can't
winkle some fun out of words give
me the fantods. They should be dra-
gooned into a library until the persi-
flage and buncombe of their vocabu-
laries is transformed into a cerulean
streak of intelligent discourse.
Who ya gonna call?
In Plymouth Township, the City of Plymouth and the City
of Northville, if there is a serious public safety emergency
and extra firefighters are needed, that question always has
the same answer. Those communities exercise a local mutual
aid pact of sorts and send for equipment and personnel from
Northville Township, which usually shows up about the same
time they put down the phone.
It's unfortunate these other communities do not also call
on Northville when it comes time to negotiate their union
contracts, train their personnel or manage their fire depart-
ments efficiently.
The reputation for professionalism, training and expertise
of the Northville Township firefighters isn't lost on anyone
who has ever needed them in an emergency. That mature,
educated and reasonable attitude is obviously carried
through in their professional dealings with the Northville
Township administration, too, if recent contract negotiations
areused as an example.
These 28, soon to be 30, firefighters sent their union repre-
sentative to negotiate a new contract for themwith township
officials when the last pact expired in December. Last week,
they signed the new agreement that the union president, the
firefighters, the fire chief and the public safety director all
call “fair,” a “win-win situation,” and “something that works
for bothparties.”
Theymanaged this after a littlemore than amonth of talks
that were respectful, professional, polite and courteous.
These firefighters were treated as professionals, as valued
employees who deserved both the respect and acknowledge-
ment of their value by the township officials involved in the
negotiations, and those who sit on the board of trustees who
approved the deal. For their part, the firefighters acted as
responsible adults, well aware of the impact of the current
economy on the finances of the township.
We have nothing but the highest praise for this example of
theway things ought towork in local government.
We have to note, however, that the attitude of these fire-
fighters, as in almost every other “business” is usually a
reflection of management. These “employees” are obviously
treatedwith respect by thosewhomanage the department on
a daily basis and those who oversee the public safety opera-
tions in the township. They all, it would appear, understand
that their priority is the safety and protection of the public
whose taxmoney pays them .
Those feelings which seem to pervade every aspect of the
public safety operation inNorthville Township are a result of
good leadership and goodmanagement. This contract negoti-
ation is further proof of the excellence that Northville
Township exemplifies inboth.
We congratulate both the township and the firefighters on
their completion of what can often be a divisive and arduous
ordeal. We only wish that those who call for Mutual Aid in an
emergency would follow the example set by the Northville
TownshipFireDepartment on a day-to-day basis.
We have nothing but the highest
praise for this example of the way things
ought to work in local government.
”
Township should serve as an example to others
Attacks
serve as
warning
We all want to feel safe.
Sometimes, that desire for secu-
rity and peace of mind overrules
our common sense and makes us
deaf to thewarnings issued by pub-
lic safety officials trying to tell us
that there really are bad people in
ourworld.
A 69-year-old Northville woman
heeded her instincts and ques-
tioned a strange man who
approached her in her driveway
two weeks ago. She was beaten
unconscious and robbed, an inci-
dent that produced shock waves
throughout several neighboring
communities where most people
can't imagine such a thing happen-
ing.
These things do happen. They
happenmore often thanmanywho
remain unaware of such violent,
aggressive crimes realize. The way
to protect ourselves from these
incidents is to listen and heed all
those personal safety hints and
instructions that police officers are
constantly providing and that most
of us continue to ignore. Then,
attacks like the one in Northville
happen and we begin to pay atten-
tion.
If such a horrible attack can
happen in a quiet Northville
neighborhood, it can happen any-
where. We all need to bemore pru-
dent. We need to follow the safety
tips we are given and most of all,
we need to try and protect our
neighbors, too, by being watchful
and cautious on their behalf.
The man who beat the
Northville resident is also suspect-
ed in the clubbing of a Farmington
Hills woman the same night. She,
too, was hospitalized for the seri-
ous injuries she sustained at his
hands. In her case, she didn't have
a chance to confront or question
the man who attacked her in the
exterior entrance to her condo-
minium as she was making trips
back and forth, unloading her car.
He simply began violently striking
herwitha club-likeweapon.
In both these cases, there really
is nothing either victim could have
done to protect herself from these
barbaric acts. The attacks do serve,
however, as a warning to us all.
There are peoplewho do not share
our basic humanity and who have
no conscience or sense of right and
wrong.
There are people we may easily
encounter in our daily lives who
would do us harm if we are not
watchful and careful. Even then,
there are threats and dangers in
our communities, despite our
innate and subconscious desire to
deny their existence.
We cannot live our lives in con-
stant fear, it would cripple us as
individuals and as a community.
But we can and should be cau-
They can bring one great joy,
terrible agony and nearly every emotion in between,
depending on the skill of their user.
”
Who doesn’t love the power of words?
See
Warning,
page 8