10 Rare & Amusing Insults

1: Cockalorum

Definition: a boastful and self-important person; a strutting little fellow

About the word: If cockalorum suggests a crowing cock, that's because cockalorum probably comes from kockeloeren – an obsolete Dutch dialect verb meaning "to crow."

2: Lickspittle

Definition: a fawning subordinate; a suck-up

About the word: Lick plus spittle says it all: someone who licks another person's spit is pretty low indeed. Incidentally, lickspittle keeps company with bootlicker ("someone who acts obsequiously").


3: Smellfungus

Definition: an excessively faultfinding person

About the word: The original Smelfungus was a character in an 18th century novel. Smelfungus, a traveler, satirized the author of Travels through France and Italy, a hypercritical guidebook of that time.


4: Snollygoster

Definition: an unprincipled but shrewd person

About the word: The story of its origin remains unknown, but snollygoster was first used in the nasty politics of 19th century America. One definition of the word dates to 1895, when a newspaper editor explained "a snollygoster is a fellow who wants office, regardless of party, platform or principles...."


5: Ninnyhammer

Definition: ninny; simpleton, fool

About the word: The word ninny is probably a shortening and alteration of "an innocent" (with the "n" from "an" getting transferred to the noun) and "hammer" adds punch. Writers who have used the word include J.R.R. Tolkien in the Lord of the Rings trilogy: "You're nowt but a ninnyhammer, Sam Gamgee."

6: Mumpsimus

Definition: a stubborn person who insists on making an error in spite of being shown that it is wrong

About the word: Supposedly, this insult originated with an illiterate priest who said mumpsimus rather than sumpsimus ("we have taken" in Latin) during mass. When he was corrected, the priest replied that he would not change his old mumpsimus for his critic's new sumpsimus.


7: Milksop

Definition: an unmanly man; a mollycoddle (a pampered or effeminate boy or man)

About the word: Milksop literally means "bread soaked in milk." Chaucer was among the earliest to use milksop to describe an unmanly man (presumably one whose fiber had softened). By the way, the modern cousin of milksop, milquetoast, comes from Caspar Milquetoast, a timid cartoon character from the 1920s.


8: Hobbledehoy

Definition: an awkward, gawky young man

About the word: Hobbledehoy rhymes with boy: that's an easy way to remember whom this 16th century term insults. Its origin is unknown, although theories about its ancestry include hobble and hob (a term for "a clownish lout").


9: Pettifogger

Definition: shyster; a lawyer whose methods are underhanded or disreputable

About the word: The petti part of this word comes from petty, meaning "insignificant" (from the French petit, "small"). As for fogger, it once meant "lawyer" in English. According to one theory, it may come from "Fugger," the name of a successful family of 15th- and 16th-century German merchants and financiers. Germanic variations of "fugger" were used for the wealthy and avaricious, as well as for hucksters.


10: Mooncalf

Definition: a foolish or absentminded person

About the word: The original mooncalf was a false pregnancy, a growth in the womb supposedly influenced by a bad moon. Mooncalf then grew a sense outside the womb: simpleton. It also morphed into a literary word for a deformed monster. For instance, in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Stephano entreats Caliban, "Mooncalf, speak once in your life, if thou beest a good mooncalf."

2010 Banished Words

Every year Lake Superior State University puts out a list of banished words. These are words that are worthy of being retired from the Queen's English due to their overuse or misuse, as the case may be.

Here are the highlights:

SHOVEL-READY
TRANSPARENT/TRANSPARENCY
CZAR
TWEET
APP
SEXTING
The use of "FRIEND" as a verb
TEACHABLE MOMENT
IN THESE ECONOMIC TIMES...
STIMULUS
TOXIC ASSETS
TOO BIG TO FAIL
BROMANCE
CHILLAXIN'
Any word derived from using OBAMA as a prefix or root

More information is available at: http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

LastManOut

Fun With Medicare Part D!

I came up with this story problem to demonstrate how complicated it is to understand the Medicare Part D prescription plan, which many of our seniors deal with every day.

Carl has a medicare part D plan with no deductible. Part D covers drugs up to $2400 in total retail cost (rxspend). When you reach $2400 you enter the coverage gap where you pay for drugs at 100% of the cost. You get out of the gap and reach catastophic protection when you reach $3850 in true out of pocket costs (TROoP), what you have paid only. The plan pays $95% of the total drug cost in catastrophic.

1) If Carl has a monthly retail cost of $400, which month will he reach the coverage gap in if his plan begins in Jan? In April?


2) If Carl has a monthly retail cost of $950, of which $200 each month is copays in initial coverage, in which month will he reach catastophic protection?


3) If Carl's monthly retail cost is $950, of which $200 per month is copays in initial coverage, what will be his total retail cost (Rxspend) at the end of the year?


Answers:
1. Jan = July, April = October
2. July
3. Rxspend = $4135

Election 2008

The temperature in the political climate right now is red hot over who will be running for President in 2008. Here is a rough list of the interested parties and people who could be nominated, these have all filed with the FEC (Federal Election Commission):

Democrats:
Sen. Hilary Clinton - http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
John Edwards - http://johnedwards.com/
Joseph Biden - http://www.joebiden.com/home
Mike Gravel - http://www.gravel2008.us/
Dennis Kucinich - http://kucinich.us/
Barack Obama - http://www.barackobama.com/
Bill Richardson - http://billrichardsonforpresident.com/
Thomas Vilsack - http://www.tomvilsack08.com/

Republicans:
Sen. John McCain - http://www.exploremccain.com/
Rudy Giuliani, former New York City Mayor - http://www.joinrudy2008.com/
Gov. Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor - http://www.mittromney.com/
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee - http://www.governor.arkansas.gov/
Duncan Hunter - http://www.gohunter08.com/
Tom Tancredo - http://tancredo.house.gov/
Tommy Thompson - http://www.tommy2008.com/

Other:
Christopher J. Dodd - http://www.chrisdodd.com/home
James Gilmore III - No website found at this time.

It is definitely worth your time to do your homework on these candidates. The 2008 election issues are going to be heavily weighed down with Iraq and military spending as you might have guessed. Also look for domestic agendas that spend a lot of time on health care, jobs, and immigration. This is really a very interesting and competitive race. As of right now, there is no one running from the Bush Administration. (Well look at his approval rating, I wouldn't run if I work for Bush either.) I know I'll be compiling my list of who I think might end up winning the primaries. Though, it is still too early to tell. Other candidates could still emerge. Hope you enjoy this resource!

Yours Truly,

LastManOut

Post your own art for free!

This website looks really cool and I'm throwing it out here for everyone. It is for students and anyone, I believe, to post a free unlimited amount of original artwork.

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/stuart/

Enjoy!

LastManOut