Toot suite means: quickly, immediately, at once. As with many foreign language phrases, it is a corruption of the origin phrase from the French ‘tout de suite’, which literally means ‘all at once’.
In a sentence: When his ex girlfriend arrived, he got out of there toot sweet!
Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=toot+sweet
Posted in etymology, general interest, phrase of the week, vocabulary
Tagged etymology, French, Phrase of the Day, toot suite
“There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots, the other is wings.”–Hodding Carter
William Hodding Carter II (February 3, 1907 – April 4, 1972) was a prominent Southern U.S. progressive journalist and author. Carter was born in Hammond, the largest community in Tangipahoa Parish, in southeastern Louisiana, to William Hodding Carter I (1881–1955), and the former Irma Dutartre. Among other distinctions in his career, Carter was a Nieman Fellow.
Posted in general interest, Quote for the Day, relationships
Tagged authors, Hodding Carter, journalists, Louisiana, quote of the day
How to Write a Short Book in One Year
In order to write a book, you must write consistently. Choose one day a week when you know you’ll have the time to write and write at least 2 pages (more is OK, but start with at least 2 type written pages.) Later on you can expand this to more days per week, but start with one day and make it a consistent habit.
Figure out if your best writing time is in the morning, afternoon or evening and set aside a space to write in. You can write with a notepad, in a journal, on the computer, on a typewriter, whichever method feels the most comfortable for you.
Pick a subject that you are passionate about, it’s easier to write about something you care about.
After you have your two pages, throw them into a file, don’t look at them again, or try to edit them, just start collecting the pages.
After three months, take out the pages and put them in a sensible order, then go through and print them out double spaced so you can do an initial editing job on them. Check them for spelling, punctuation, grammar, fact check them and then make those corrections to your writing. Fill in the information and transitions from one chapter to another.
If you have not already done so, create a story board or an outline of the chapters and subjects you’d like to cover in the book and reorganize the chapters so they make sense.
Continue to write in this manner and in a year you’ll have a 104 page manuscript.
I hope this helps!!!
BTW, I wrote my latest book about Budgeting with this method, only I increased the number of writing days to four per week, so the manuscript would be done in 8 months, then spent 6 weeks at my editor’s desk (with suggestions and corrections flying back and forth until we got it right and tight.) Then another 2 weeks at my book designer’s (for the interior and exterior design), so that the book was completed by November and in the stores for Christmas!
Word for the day (and a great new website to share)….
I found our word today on a FREE learning website called Khan Academy, it relates to our modern world…bit coin.
A bit coin is another term for an electronic payment system!
Source and link: http://www.khanacademy.com
Posted in education, Free Stuff, fun stuff, general interest, money, vocabulary, Word for the Day
Tagged free stuff, Khan Academy, vocabulary, Word for the Day, www.khanacademy.com
Diane and Mom 11-24-09
Posted in general interest, Holiday Trivia, poetry, relationships
Tagged holiday poems, holidays, Moms, Mother's Day, poem
Here’s a nifty quote I just found…..
“This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”- Chief Seattle, Native American.
Op-Ed: Choosing between printing a hardbound vs an e-book for your self-help books.
When it comes to printing and publishing a “how to” or self-help book, the choice of whether to go with hardbound or E-book is a no-brainer. Why? Because, information changes, particularly with self-help books. For example, if you’re giving your readers a list of telephone numbers and contact information, that information can be outdated at any time and you may need to change it to keep the information current. Or, new methods of dealing with a problem may arise or old methods may no longer be viable. If your book is in hardbound form, it is very difficult to upgrade or update the information without spending a great deal of money.
Let’s say that you’re writing a self-help book on how to do your personal income taxes. Every year, the tax code changes, minimums and maximums allowed for different categories are changed, and certain deductible categories may disappear entirely. Instead of having to go through the expense of correcting and reprinting your hardbound book, you may want to choose an e-book format so you can simply rewrite the updated information and upload your new version.
With e-books, you can correct website links, update statistics, or include new information without incurring a huge cost. You can expand certain chapters, add chapters or delete chapters, depending on what you’ve learned in the last year.
I’ve published both paperback and e-books, and if you’re working in nonfiction writing, it may be a better choice to publish your work as an ebook. You will have more flexibility and less cost if you choose this format for self-help books.
Word for the day..let’s get legalized!
I’m in the middle of preparing a Living Trust for Wade and I, and I was reading the final document when I came upon this jawbreaker: hypothecate.
hypothecate (tr.v.)
To pledge (property) as security or collateral for a debt without transfer of title or possession.
Etymology: [Medieval Latin hypothcre, hypothct-, from Latin hypothca, pledge, deposit, from Greek hupothk, from hupotithenai, to give as a pledge, suppose; see hypothesis.]
Source cited: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hypothecate
The reason I prefer the Free Online Dictionary to Wikipedia for my definitions is that the Free Online Dictionary has this cool little function that allows you to hear the word pronounced properly, and, that they have a better etymology section for the words.
Posted in etymology, general interest, vocabulary, Word for the Day
Tagged etymology, greek, Latin, legalize it, Living Trust, vocabulary, Wade, Word for the Day
It is interesting to think about how the idea of encouraging people to smile for a photograph came about. Why, do you think, that in most of the earliest black and white photos, people looked serious, as if they’d just come from a funeral?
I have given it much thought and have come up with two ideas that may have merit: In the past, life was very tough, some people having to do lots of manual labor with not much money to go around. So, they looked serious because they were serious (about trying to survive, if nothing else). 
Another thought that occurs to me, is that many people weren’t able to afford dentistry, so their teeth were not that good looking, and so they felt compelled to keep their mouths closed to hide blackened, rotting or missing teeth.
What do you think?
Posted in general interest, humor, Op-Ed
Tagged dentistry, humor, op-ed, opinion-editorial, say cheese
Tuesday’s Misused or Myth-understood word is… the commonplace wheelbarrow, which many people misspell as wheelbarrel.
Definition and origins: “A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term “wheelbarrow” is made of two words: “wheel” and “barrow.” “Barrow” is a derivation of the Old English “bearwe” which was a device used for carrying loads.”
Source cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheelbarrow
Enjoy, and share your own Wordy findings with us today!
