Wednesday, June 25, 2008

cosset; fungible

A two-fer! Two words I don’t know in the same article. Wow. I must be slipping…

Definition of cosset:
v. To treat with indulgence and pamper, often overtender care: baby, cater, coddle, indulge, mollycoddle, overindulge, spoil.” (answers.com).

Definition of fungible:
adj. 1. Law. Returnable or negotiable in kind or by substitution, as a quantity of grain for an equal amount of the same kind of grain. 2. Interchangeable.

n.Something that is exchangeable or substitutable. Often used in the plural.” (answers.com).

Where I ran across them:
6/25/08 NYT op-ed article by Maureen Dowd, “More Phony Myths,”

“…Conservatives love playing this little game, acting as if the “elite” Democratic candidates are not in touch with people like themselves, even though the guys doing the attacking — like Rove, Limbaugh, O’Reilly and Hannity — are wealthy and cosseted.…For some of Obama’s critics, it’s a breathtaking bit of fungible principles, as though Gandhi suddenly donned a Dolce & Gabbana, or Dolce & Mahatma, loincloth.…”

My two cents:
Three cheers for Maureen Dowd! I love this woman’s attitude, her writing style, and her vocabulary. Sorry I can’t say the same for Karl Rove and company, the subject of her spunky, observant NYT op-ed piece concerning the cheap verbal shots coming at Obama of late from various vitriolic Republican folks like Rove, some of whom really ought not to be throwing stones. I mean seriously, what about that whole karmic, glass-house thing?

Some folks have more insurance, I guess…

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