Friday, November 05, 2010
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Is The PR Being A Schmuck About The Term Tea Bagger?
At its website the Press-Republican allows comments to be posted about various articles. But there is this warning:
Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”
Fine. Then if that applies to article comments, how did this Speakout item slip by the editor? (You can read it online here.)
11/2/10 Smoke
To the schmuck who wrote Fires on 10/25; I do believe smokers are already outside, and the real "whiners" still aren't happy...
That's nice. Check out this source:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/schmuck
schmuck — n slang ( US ) a stupid or contemptible person; oaf
OK, nothing wrong with that by itself but there's more to the story. At the above link is an explanation of the word's origin by the Online Etymology Dictionary:
schmuck
"contemptible person," 1892, from E.Yiddish shmok, lit. "penis," from Old Pol. smok "grass snake, dragon."
This source also notes:
In Jewish homes, the word was "regarded as so vulgar as to be taboo" [Leo Rosten, "The Joys of Yiddish," 1968] and Lenny Bruce wrote that saying it on stage got him arrested on the West Coast "by a Yiddish undercover agent who had been placed in the club several nights running to determine if my use of Yiddish terms was a cover for profanity."
Below that source is this listing from the Slang Dictionary.
1. n.
a jerk; a repellent male. (Also a rude term of address. Yiddish.) : Who is that stupid schmuck over there?
2. n.
a penis. (Yiddish. Usually objectionable.) : If I hear that joke about a camel's schmuck one more time, I'm going to scream.
Yup. According to PR logic, Tea Bagger is profane but schmuck/penis isn't.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
PO Readers And Maximize Sales?
A while ago I wrote about the Press-Republican website and its annoying pop-up ads that would interfere with your reading:
So the PR did away with that crap and decided to try the sneaky pop-under ad ploy. As I've mentioned before, it has one for local car dealers. When you close any windows you had open before signing out, this nagging page is waiting for you:
Well, let me share this item from Speakout, the Press-Republican's sound off feature for its readers, dated Oct. 31, 2010:
* * *
Ads
Can the Press-Republican please stop the pop-up full-page ad of the cars for sale— It's bad enough tossing the drop out ads stuffed in my daily paper, but taking over my computer with unwanted junk goes too far. Actually, I shouldn't be asking, I'm telling you. Stop it!
* * *
I spoke to someone who said he called the car dealers in the same ad and told each one that he would never buy a car from them.
Pissing off readers -- that moves the merchandise.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
John Kokoszka: Humanity In Steel
Inspired by Da Vinci's The Last Supper metal sculptor John Kokoszka has brought that painting to life with his latest welded creation. And despite that it is constructed of cold steel, his work expresses the humanity in each figure, especially Christ with his barb wire crown of thorns.
The unveiling on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 24, was greeted by cool and rainy weather. But that didn't keep the people away: everyone dressed in layers and most popped open their umbrellas.
The full scale work is on display at the Stone Ledge Sculpture Garden, 3901 Route 9, about 4 1/2 miles south of Plattsburgh City. For more information: (518) 561-2683.
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