A Multi-purpose Word

RDP Friday: SECURITY

Usually I look up the history of the daily prompt, but I’m short on time today.

This word can mean so many things, from that which is deeply personal to matters of the nation and the world.

Safety, Protection. Something which is secure is safely moored, locked, resistant to breaching.

It is very important in my work that the clients I see know that their personal information is secure with me—that I will not reveal to anyone at all what they tell me without their signed consent; or unless I believe they are a threat to themselves or others. I know thousands of secrets. I try my best to forget them 🙂

We have a strongbox. It wouldn’t be hard for a knowledgeable thief to breach the lock, but we have a couple of fail-safes on it. Security for our important papers and other documents.

I think little kids, more than anyone else, need to feel this sense of safety and security. When one of my granddaughter was only three, I remember her confidently climbing up on her daddy’s lap and snuggling in. I love that. She knew where her security was.

I remember just the simple act of my dad telling me, “Hold my hand, Linda,” as we navigated a busy downtown street. You bet I held his hand. Didn’t ever want to let go.

Here in America, we are used to the security of two very big oceans on either coast. What we forget, sometimes, is that they aren’t as big as they were before digital technology shrunk our world. I think a whole lot of us lost that sense of security when the Twin Towers fell so many years ago. Long before that, there were both German and Japanese submarines lurking off our coasts, and most of us never knew it. Pearl Harbor certainly shook our sense of security. And long before that, the horror of our Civil War made us understand that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

Well. See how easy it is for me to go into teacher mode? I have to leave, though, so I’m done 🙂

RDP: Security

Let me Count the Ways

RDP #20 – CHECK (daily prompt)

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This is one of those words that has  SO many meanings. . . .

My luggage was opened and checked on our flight to South Dakota.  All they found was  the tiny little pocket knife I knew I shouldn’t carry in my purse.  They let me keep it.  Good of them.

My husband is trying to check the proliferation of the lantern fly in our raspberry patch.  To make matters worse, he also found a Japanese beetle yesterday.  Nasty bugs.

I remember having to check and recheck my answers in long division homework in sixth grade. Drove me crazy.  I have something called dyscalcula, which is like dyslexia only with numbers.  I used to erase holes into my papers.

Sometimes we say Check! when we approve of something.  Or we use the same expression when we’re ticking things off of a checklist. 

We write checks to pay bills.  I’m showing my age, though, right?  Most of my bills are paid online these days.

Checkers is a favorite game for all ages.

When we play chess, we use check and checkmate to indicate the opponent’s king has been stopped or the queen is unable to move.  I’m not a good chess player.  Strategy games are not my favorites.

On fabric, a pattern of different-colored squares is called checked or checkered. 

Someone of dubious character may be said to have a checkered past.

And there’s more, but I think that’s enough for now.  I need to check my time:)

Let me Count the Ways

Good Grief!

Present

Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt. 

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Did you mean present, as in “I’m here”?  Or, as in the present time, being right now?  Or are we talking about a gift, as in a Christmas present?  Or is the emphasis on the second syllable, as in “I’m going to present you with this award”?

 

Good grief.

No wonder people who didn’t grow up speaking English think English is the hardest language in the world to learn.

Even some native English speakers get confused.

An unknown presenter presents a present to someone else who is also present at the present time.

Trace the Path

Trace

Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt

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I can’t draw a straight line, but I used to like to trace pictures and then color them. There used to be coloring books meant just for that purpose.  Don’t know if there are still such things available.

Of course, one can use tracing paper for copying quilt block patterns, and that’s something I’d like to take up again someday. Maybe when I retire. If I retire.

Also, one can be lost without a trace, which is a terrible tragedy.

You can go here to find out a whole lot of other definitions of the word trace.  It’s amazing, really, how many different ways the word can be used.

And then, of course, there is Dick Tracy, which may be too old for younger people to remember. He was a Sunday Comics detective who wore a two-way wristwatch that he could talk to, and messages would go back and forth between him and whoever was on the other end. That was science fiction back then 🙂

And yes, of course there was a movie.  I think this actor is Warren Beatty, but I could be wrong.  Feel free to correct me.

And now see if you can trace my path from the first sentence to the last.

Be a Dick Tracy, Detective 🙂

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/trace/

Oh Goodie!

Snap

Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

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I love words.

This is one of those English words that has multiple meanings.  It is also a good example of onomotopoeia–that’s a fancy term for when the word sounds like what it means.

Remember Snap!Crackle! Pop! Rice Krsipies?

We snap our fingers, we snap the lights off or on. We snap and unsnap clothing. We say “Snap it up!” when we want someone to hurry. We say an outfit looks snappy.  We say “it’s a snap!” when we mean it’s easy.  When we’re angry, we may snap someone’s head off. Well, not really 🙂  Food that is tangy has a snappy taste.  Even Google uses the word when something goes wrong–“Oh, snap!  That site seems to be broken.” If it’s cold outside, we say the air has a snap to it. If your bone snaps, it’s probably broken.  You don’t want a bird to come along, like in the old nursery rhyme, and snap off your nose.

I could go on for a while, but I won’t. Enough is enough 🙂

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/snap/