The Wall Street Journal, America’s second largest daily newspaper by circulation, had a promotional slogan in the past “Only Busy Men Have Time to Read The Wall Street Journal” in an effort to increase readership, particularly among professionals and those striving to get ahead in business.
For much of its 134 years in publication, the Journal concentrated almost solely on business and financial news and commentary. In recent decades the Journal while still featuring the same content, has become a general news source that includes entertainment, book reviews, and lifestyle features. Since September 2010, the Journal has published in its Saturday edition that, along with its daily news, opinions, business, and financial items, offers comprehensive ‘Review” and “Off Duty” sections not directly related to commerce and finance.
“How a Swan Stays White in Muddy Waters” by Helen Czerski, and “Maybe That Spoiled Kid is Cool After All” by Ben Zimmer were featured in the Journal’s most recent Review section (6/8/2024). Czerski described the swan’s method of grooming in detail. The description includes that these birds have a preen gland that secretes a “superhydrophobic” oily mixture that repels water and causes the dirt to just slide off its feathers. For me, anyway, that gives a whole new meaning to the term “preen” or “preening” that I have generally understood is a verb to describe meticulous or fussy grooming or pretentious posturing. The author doesn’t mention how black swans cope. One wonders; black often shows up dirt better than white.
Zimmer writes a regular Saturday column on words. His latest in the aforementioned edition is the etymology of “brat” — often applied to an unruly or obnoxious child. That meaning appears to come from a Scottish word for a mischievous child or a similar French word for a hunting hound. The Eighteenth Century lexicographer Samuel Johnson included both the pejorative meaning and a more neutral one, as in “military brat.” Zimmer mentioned a group of Hollywood film celebrities who have been dubbed the “Brat Pack” from their association in teen exploitation movies. The “Rat Pack” of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, et al with a”B” added. Another use was in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O’Hara’s father referred to the illegitimate child of a poor neighbor girl and his foreman as a “brat” but I’ve never seen or heard it used in that context anywhere else. “Brat,” as short for bratwurst, is my favorite use.
In reference to words and their use, there are numerous that are overused in contemporary parlance that might be a subject for a later post. Most are adjectives. I’ll mention one that has been banned from my vocabulary: the “a” word. It might be appropriate for an extreme quality for an event or something, but occasions are rare and its use has debased the meaning. There are plenty of synonyms to select from.
