Verbing Family Members

Verbing Family Members Verbing Family Members Verbing Family Members By Maeve Maddox The other day when I saw the words to an unfamiliar modern hymn displayed on a screen, I stumbled over the word Father used as a verb. My momentary confusion was not because a noun was being used as a verb, but because the verbed noun was capitalized. Note: Even though the fathering mentioned in the hymn was being done by God the Father, the verb did not require a capital. I started thinking about the verbing of other nouns for family members. One often sees father and mother used as verbs. The earliest OED citation of father in the sense of â€Å"to beget† is dated 1483. The earliest use in the sense of â€Å"to look after like a father† is dated 1577. Shakespeare uses father in both senses in Cymbeline (1611). Belarius, reflecting on the nobility of his foster sons compared to the lack of it in others, says, â€Å"Cowards father Cowards,† Later in the play, when the Roman general Lucius invites Fidele to be his page, he says he will father him rather than master him. Note: The character Fidele is a disguised woman, Imogen. As Lucius believes her to be a boy, I’ve used the masculine pronoun. The earliest OED citation for mother in the sense of â€Å"to give birth† is dated 1548. The earliest citation for mother in the sense of â€Å"to take care of like a mother† is much later: 1863. Unlike father, which can still mean beget, mother is no longer used in the sense â€Å"to give birth to.† Procreating men â€Å"father children,† but women â€Å"have babies.† I’ve often used a line from Shakespeare’s King Richard the Second to illustrate the fact that nouns can be used as verbs: â€Å"Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle† (Act 2, Scene 3). However, the Duke of York is not using uncle to describe a manner of behavior, in the way we use father and mother, but as a term of address. He’s telling his outlawed nephew not to look for favors from him by calling him uncle. York’s use of the word uncle is an example of anthimeria. Anthimeria (aka antimeria): a rhetorical term for the creation of a neologism by using one part of speech (or word class) in place of another. Other terms for anthimeria are â€Å"conversion† and â€Å"functional shifting.† Advertisers do this kind of thing. An annoying example that comes to mind is the Nutella slogan, â€Å"Spread the happy,† in which the adjective happy is used as a noun. I looked in vain for uses of other family relationships that are commonly verbed. A woman can mother someone, but not aunt or grandmother anyone. A man can father someone, but not uncle or grandfather him in the sense of behaving as an uncle or as a grandfather. The noun grandfather can be used as a verb. The verbal use derives from the legal term â€Å"grandfather clause.† A  Ã¢â‚¬Å"grandfather  clause† is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule  will  apply to all future cases.  For example, the US Army plans to establish a new tattoo policy that forbids new recruits to have tattoos below their elbows and knees or above their neckline. According to an article in Stars and Stripes Magazine, â€Å"Current soldiers will be grandfathered in as long as the tattoos are not racist, sexist, or extremist.† Although not itself used as a verb, the noun cousin may be the source of the verb cozen. cozen verb: to deceive by artful wheedling or tricky dishonesty. Note: Both cousin and cozen are pronounced the same: /KUH-zin/ Some dictionaries cite an Italian source for cozen, but another possible origin is the French verb cousiner: to cheat on pretext of being a cousin. This possibility brings us back to York’s use of uncle in the scene in which Bolingbroke attempts to use a title of kinship to further his own ends. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Types of Narrative ConflictHow to Pronounce MobileComma After Introductory Phrases

Density Lab Report Essay Example

Density Lab Report Essay Example Density Lab Report Paper Density Lab Report Paper Density is defined by its mass per unit volume, and is most often written in mathematical terms as; Mass is usually given in grams, g, and volume is given in cubic centimeters, g/ com, or, grams per millimeter, g/ml_ Density is not a property that depends upon the amount of substance present. For example, one gram of lead and one ton of lead have the same density. Density also does depend on temperature. For instance cold water is denser than warm water; ice is less dense than both. The method used for determining the density Of a substance depends on the nature f the substance. In this lab the densities of unknown irregularly shaped solids and liquids was determined. Accuracy and precision of the results will be estimated, and attention Will be paid to the correct use of the significant figures. The experiment approach that will be used will tell the mass and volume of the metal and liquid determined by measuring these two quantities with a graduated cylinder and Beirut. Procedure: a) The density of metals First obtained a quantity to unknown metal. Recording the unknown number, I used only one type of metal for this part of the experiment. The unknown metal that was instructed to use was a chunk, therefore, used a Some graduated cylinder, When using the Scam cylinder, I filled it with water to approximately the ml mark. Then recorded the exact volume of water that was added. Placed the cylinder and water on the balance and recorded the mass to every 0. Lag. Added the metal to the graduated cylinder until the water level increased by approximately 2_Mom_ Being sure to tap the sides of the cylinder to release any air bubbles. I then recorded the volume of the water plus teal to the nearest 0. ml Then recorded the total mass of the cylinder, water and metal. Added more pieces of metal to the cylinder until the water level had increased by 2. Mi. Then recorded the exact volume Of water plus metal and total mass of cylinder, water and metal. Repeated the procedure twice more. Being careful not to go over the Mimi mark. And recording the data each time. Calculations: determined the total volume of metal in the cylinder by su btracting the volume of water from the volume of water plus metal. Then found the corresponding ass of metal by subtracting the mass of the cylinder and water from the mass of the cylinder, water and metal, I plotted out the graph showing the total mass of metal on they-axis, and the volume on the x-axis. I found the slope of the line by taking two random points from the graph, performing the slope formula and finding the density. From the table provided, I identified the unknown metal to be silver, b). Determining the density off water/ethanol mixture. Obtained an unknown solution from the instructor. Then recorded the number of the solution. Then rinsed a burette with a little of the ethanol solution, and filled the burette with that same solution. Read the burette level to the nearest 0. Ml. Then weighed an empty Mimi Erlenmeyer flask. Turned the knob Of the burette and put approximately 23. Ml of solution into the flask. I read the burette again, to O_Osmosis and recorded. Next weighed the flask and its contents, by placing the flask on the balance and recording the temperature Of the solution. I then determined the density Of the solution by taking the mass of solution and dividing by the volume of solution. Repeating the procedure twice more using a clean flask and the same balance each time. Calculations: For each of the three trials calculated the density of the solution and determined the mean, average deviation from the mean, percent precision and the range. Then drew a calibration curve from the data given on page 17 of my Laboratory Manual, Discussion: Based on the value of my density, and based on the literature values given on page 16 of my Laboratory Manual, the unknown metal is silver. The density I had obtained trot the slope of the graph was 9. Egg/ml. En compared my density to the chart given, looking for a similar density, The density of my unknown metal was not exact with a particular metal given in the chart, but kept in mind that the density of silver can vary depending of the state it is in, Error Analysis: The possible sources of error in finding the density of the unknown metal and liquid would have to be my consistency throughout the experiment had approximated with my bare eye and was not consistently exact. Therefore, there was an inaccuracy in reading the volume displaced from the graduated cylinder and the Beirut.

Is youth gang crime the result of differential opportunity structure Essay

Is youth gang crime the result of differential opportunity structure - Essay Example Differential opportunity structure is theory introduced by Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin in with the background of delinquent and criminal socialization. A young person who may have actually committed a relatively small crime could end up being labeled a criminal. The crime promotes opportunity disorder in social and cultural life both gang members and other people who lived in the same society where youth gangs engaged. Youth gang crimes have differential opportunity structure in their own lives and other’s. A youth who may never commit another crime in his life can end as a criminal because he is seen as capable of being one by the society that he or she lives in. Anyway youth gang crime is comparatively a serious issue in contemporary England. Analyzing the social and econometric background of Britain one can easily comprehend the fact that youth gang crimes have played a vital role in various fields of social and cultural life such as higher education, employment, justic e, and healthcare. Differential opportunities in education, justice, employment and healthcare have affected manly young people and often it strengthens the concept of angry young man. Denial of opportunities in justice and healthcare are always resulted further risk factors that promote gang involvement. Gang crimes always make negative effects in individual and social life of a person. Generally Government and public never show their willingness to accept the gang members as equals to their fellow beings. Identity of a gang member, who once practiced gang activities, forces him to withdraw to his own isolated group. The society and its accessible norms and policies never permit him to engage in the activities of mainstream life. Differential opportunity structure affects him in different ways and after effects of this crisis prevents him to engage his duties and responsibilities to the nation. Justifiable opportunities to pursue socially and

Political Science Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Political Science - Research Paper Example Leaders use it to prove to the world that they are doing the right thing for their citizenry or nations. Do today’s governments embody the dictums that define democracy? This piece of work is written to explain the meaning of politics and democracy, as well as the roles they play in the present day society. The author has examined how the two, politics and democracy, present themselves in the U.S, and how they have shaped the country from as far as 200 years ago. The word politics comes from two Greek words; ‘polis,’ and ‘politikos.’ Polis means a self-governing city or state, while politikos means relating to people. Cities of ancient Greece are believed to be the origin of present day politics. They are the first points where noticeable governance structures can be established. For these reason, ideologies of most governments today borrow heavily from the cultural practices of the old Greek people. The Greek civilization dates back to over 4000 years (Marshall, 2011). According to one English philosopher; Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), in one of his works, the Leviathan (1651), life before civilization is believed to have been harsh, brutal and selfish. This is attributed to lack of laws to govern the code of conduct of people. As a result, people were only driven by their own selfish desires. Various individuals have strived to come up with definitions for politics. Due to its broad nature and ambiguity, it is hard to capture all that it entails in just one definition. Some of the most visible philosophers who endeavoured into defining politics include; Aristotle, Plato, Machiavelli, and Harold Lasswell. Politics is the ‘philosophy of human affairs.’ This is the view held by Aristotle (384-322 BCE) in his Nicomachean Ethics (350 BCE). Aristotle claims that man is naturally a political animal, because politics is what brings happiness to man and to the community. In his definition, he draws the

The Coffee Crisis Essay Example for Free

The Coffee Crisis Essay To begin, The Coffee Crisis is about an acute coffee crisis and how it threatens millions of small coffee farmers around the world and is putting economic growth, as well as social and political stability, at risk in scores of coffee producing countries in Central and South America, Africa and Asia. In 2004, the governments of coffee producing countries were considering how to respond to the dramatic decline in coffee prices caused in part by a large increase in coffee production in Brazil and Vietnam. Coffee was the main source of income for roughly 25 million farmers, mostly small land holders, in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Coffee prices had hit 40 year lows in 2001 and had remained low since, resulting in real hardship for many farmers. A variety of alternative solutions had been suggested. (Gomez-Ibanez Quinlan, 2004) The International Coffee Organization was advocating increasing demand through programs promoting coffee consumption; the Inter-American Development Bank supported promotion but also thought some high-cost countries should get out of coffee, while the non-governmental organization Oxfam was pushing fair trade pricing. The coffee crisis is worldwide. It is affecting farmers in Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia. While the Arabica farmers in Costa Rica may be getting 40 cents per pound for their coffee cherries, the Robusta coffee farmers in Viet Nam are only receiving 15 cents a pound for theirs. Even the low cost producers are not benefiting from the current situation. This condition is created because the market place does not view coffee as a true commodity. It places premiums and discounts on both coffee types and coffee grades. While both markets may move up and down in tandem, the arbitrage, or spread between one Arabica and Robusta, does not give one farmer an economic competitive advantage over another. This fact tends to get glossed over in most economic discussions on the coffee crisis. Many analysts believe that oversupply is at the root of the present crisis. After the system of coffee export quotas (the International Coffee Agreement, or ICA), administered by the International Coffee Organization, collapsed in 1989, the regulation of coffee production and quality was left to each individual producer country. Almost immediately following the dissolution of the agreement, excessive quantities of coffee entered international markets, prices became quite volatile and the overall quality of the coffee began to decline. Many of the coffee producing nations, including Mexico, were simultaneously in the process of deregulating, privatizing, and otherwise liberalizing agricultural production and national agricultural institutions. This had the effect of exacerbating the uncertainties faced by coffee farmers at the end of the 1980s. The coffee crisis is structural. It was not caused by the cyclical nature of coffee agriculture that has produced the â€Å"boom-bust† cycles of the past. The change in the market place has been brought about by the concentration of buying power in the hands of a few firms that present coffee to the consumer as a â€Å"blended and branded† product, void of any links to type and grade. This has led to intense price competition for market share that has rewarded increased market share to low cost products in the short run at the expense of stability in the supply chain in the long run. Since the crisis is a structural problem and not a cyclical one, remedies are to be found by taking intervening actions. These actions would include a strengthening of coffee institutions, a realignment of market forces, a creation of suitable financial tools, and a promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. It must be emphasized that any direct market intervention, such as quotas or subsidies, would only be short term in effect and would not correct the structural problems. It must also be emphasized that what is required is a series of steps in a number of different areas, as no single step will produce the desired structural changes that are needed. The crisis in the coffee sector continues. Its impact cannot be understated, since coffee constitutes the livelihood of an estimated 25 million families around the world. In world trade, coffee is the second leading commodity, after petroleum. The worldwide coffee market spans some 71 countries, of which 51 are significant producers and 20 are key consumers. Prices have not kept up with production costs to the extent needed to make participation in the coffee business profitable for most producers, even though the crop year 2003-2004 witnessed a worldwide decrease in production. (Central America The Coffee Crisis: Effects and Strategies for Moving Forward, 1992) In coffee producing countries, which account for over 26% of world consumption, the situation is more diverse. In some countries, prices of coffee have fallen in local currency and consumption may therefore be stimulated. In Brazil, the largest coffee market among producing countries, the devaluation of the real has maintained prices of green coffee at pre-crisis levels. As a whole, consumption in these markets is not expected to suffer any major negative impact. The root cause of the coffee crisis can be linked to three factors: over production; under consumption; and market oligopoly. In short, these are all problems associated with the economics of coffee farming. Without resolution, they will lead to both social and environmental breakdowns. (Central America The Coffee Crisis: Effects and Strategies for Moving Forward, 1992). The crisis has been caused by a large increase in coffee production over the past several years by two countries Vietnam and Brazil. In the case of Vietnam, within ten years this country grew from a relatively insignificant producer to the world second largest – ahead of Colombia but behind Brazil, now producing well over 10 million bags annually and accounting for approximately 12% of world exports. (Central America The Coffee Crisis: Effects and Strategies for Moving Forward, 1992) To conclude, without economic remedies to the crisis, it is difficult to promote sustainable agricultural practices in coffee farming. While niche markets within the specialty coffee industry can provide some relief, the size of these markets makes them too small to be an effective solution. References: Central America The Coffee Crisis: Effects and Strategies for Moving Forward. (1992, July 19). Retrieved February 4, 2012, from Latin American and Carribean: http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/0,,contentMDK:20606092~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:258554,00. html Gomez-Ibanez, J. , Quinlan, S. J. (2004). The Coffee Crisis.

The Power of Secrets in The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Power of Secrets in The Scarlet Letter Deception is defined by Webster's Dictionary as the art of misrepresentation. Throughout the history of mankind, the use of deception to promote oneself to a higher level, or to hide one's past, has been a common occurrence. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne , Chillingworth and Dimmesdale both use deception to hide secrets from each other, and from the rest of the town. Hester Prynne is the only one who knows the secrets that Dimmesdale and Chillingworth are hiding from the townsfolk. Hester has to control her desire to tell the truth and practices the art of deception to hide these secrets. When she will not reveal the father of Pearl, Reverend Dimmesdale says, "She will not speak." It is ironic that the person who committed the sin with Hester is the one who announces publicly that she will not reveal the name of the other sinner. Later, Chilling worth wants to know who it is and he says, "Thou wilt not reveal his name?" Hester refuses and continues to hold her silence. Then Chillingworth, still trying to find out the name of her lover, comments, ". . . but Hester, the man lives who has wronged us both! Who is he?" When he says this, he is hinting that he is going to do something to Dimmesdale. This is why Hester makes Chillingworth promise not to kill her lover if he finds out his identity. Chillingworth deserves to know who slept with his wife, although Hester should not have had to tell him. I think that Dimmesdale should have admitted that he was Pearl's father. Today, if a priest admitted such a crime, he would probably be sent to jail. However, in the novel, had Dimmesdale confessed, the townsfolk would have liked him even more. Hester also has to live with, and conceal, the secret that the scholar, Chilling worth, is her husband. When he comes to visit her in jail he says, "Thou hast kept the secret of thy paramour. Keep, likewise, mine! There are none in this land that know me. Breathe not, to any soul, that thou didst ever call me husband.

Kant’s Categorical Imperative

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher during the Age of Enlightenment in Europe in the mid to late 18th century.   Immanuel Kant advanced the deontological theory with his theory: the categorical imperative.   Deontology is the theory of duty or moral obligation.   Performing that duty is the righteous act in itself, not the act leading to an expected or attempted end.  Ã‚   In other words, the end does not justify the means, but the means is an end unto itself.â€Å"In his theory, Kant claimed that various actions are morally wrong if they are inconsistent with the status of a person as a free and rational being, and that, conversely, acts that further the status of people as free and rational beings are morally right.† (Categorical)   Kant believed that to carry out morally right actions was an absolute duty.   He believed there were two types of duty: contingent duties which needed to be carried out only under certain circumstances, and categorical duties which always needed to be carried out because they were based on the general nature of things. (Categorical)   From these categorical duties, Kant created the categorical imperative.The categorical imperative is comprised of five formulations. The first three were the most famous:â€Å"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.† â€Å"Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means† â€Å"Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends.† (Kant )  The first two formulations will be discussed in this paper.   The third formulation seems to merely combine the commands of the first two formulations.In order to understand the categorical imperative theory, the definition of a maxim must be understood .   A maxim, according to Kant, is a principle or rule that an individual uses when making a decision to act. (Categorical)   Morality and rational demands apply to the maxims that motivate actions. (Categorical)The first formulation is the Formula of Universal Law.   It holds that one should only act on a maxim that the agent is willing to hold as a universal law.   Also, the law â€Å"must not come into conflict with itself.† (Categorical)   In other words, if the rule or maxim cannot or should not apply to everyone or if it contradicts itself in any situation, then it should not be acted upon.   If the maxim is rational and not contradictory to itself, then the action should and, in some cases, must be taken. (Categorical)   Kant divided this reference to the duty to act on maxims into perfect duty and imperfect duty.   The perfect duty is to act only on maxims that do not result in logical contradictions when they are universalized.   The imperfect duty is to act only on those maxims that the agent is willing to universalize.   One cannot create a maxim for oneself that he or she will not apply to someone else.The second formulation is the Formula of the End in Itself.   This formulation holds that one should consider other humans or â€Å"rational beings† as well as one's self as an end, never as a means. (Categorical)   This is the opposite of the ends justifies the means theory.   In this formulation, the means are considered an end.   Therefore, the means cannot justify the ends.   If it is wrong to lie, then it is wrong to lie whether the outcome from the lie is good or bad because the lie was the end in itself: the morally wrong action that was taken. This means that a person must apply all maxims to others as he applies them to himself or else the maxims would be contradictory.There is a strong point made with both formulations, as well as a weakness.   The strongest point in the first formulation is uni versality.   It makes sense that one should wish to apply all rules and laws to others as they are applied to one's self.   For example, if I were expected by a local law to keep my dog on a leash, I would expect my neighbors to abide by that law also.   Similarly, if I was allowed the freedom to have as many children as I wish, then I should not try to take that freedom from others.   This applies to the second formulation also.   If other rational beings are to be treated as rational beings and not a means to my outcomes, then these rational beings should all hold these same freedoms that I do.In contrast, both formulations have a weakness.   It is difficult to always judge actions, as they stand alone.   It is wrong to murder.   However, in self-defense, it may be necessary.   If we view a self-defensive murder according to the categorical formulation, it is wrong to murder no matter the outcome, good or bad.   But what if killing an attacker was the only meth od of saving one's own life and perhaps, depending on the scenario, the lives of others?   Then was it morally wrong to murder?   Would the obligation to save others overrule the principle that murder is wrong?   What is the maxim to act on in this case?   Too many contradictions and shaky situations can arise to dispute the formulation.The second formulation is easier to practice than the first.   It is sensible to apply the same rules to one's self as to other human beings.   However, because the first formulation requires that particular conditions not apply, it is more difficult to practice the first formulation.  Nevertheless, the second formulation supports the first.   If a maxim is contradictory, then it should not be used to make decisions.   Also, as in the second formulation, if a person or action was used as a means and not an end, then it could not be rational or universal which would render it contradictory.   So, one would be morally bound not to u se such a maxim to make decisions by perfect and imperfect duty.In order for the second formulation to be true, the first formulation must exist.   In the first formulation, it is explained that the maxim cannot be contradictory to itself and it must be willingly used universally.   In the second formulation, if a person demands an end for himself, he must demand the same end for everyone else.   Everyone has a moral obligation to seek the same ends for all mankind that he seeks for himself.   For example, if a man seeks the freedom to marry whom he pleases, then he must seek that right for every other man out there, too.   It would be morally wrong for him to choose another man's wife or a woman's husband.Thus, if the first formulation which specifies universality and uniformity were not true, then the second formulation which expounds universality between human beings would not be true.   Also, if the universality between rational beings was not true, then it would be contradictory to the first formulation which would then contradict itself and then neither would be true.   So, it is conclusive that these formulations must work together to create the standard for moral duty.All in all, Kant was trying to theorize that actions were not bound morally by consequences or outcome.   He was explaining that actions in themselves were good or bad no matter the outcome because people chose their actions by their sense of moral duty, not by the consequences of their actions.ReferencesCategorical Imperative Formulations. Wikipedia. [Online] Available at:                   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorical_imperative#The_second_formulation      Accessed: 5 /12/2007.