Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for March 3, 2009 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Earlier this school year, we had occasion to dust off our dictionaries and thesauri...to explore the wonderful world of words.

In a blandiloquent and mellifluous paean, I am passing along the following "educational" link.

As a double-threat "ailurophile" (i.e. being quite fond of both the four-legged and two-legged variety), I am always interested in improving the species...striving to achieve, yes, purrfection.

In the coming months, CAT Tracks will make every effort to incorporate as many of the "100 words" into its regular postings as possible...in a surreptitious effort to imbue CATdom with a felicitous, dulcet vocabulary with which to diffuse future imbroglios brought on by nebulous missives that eschew the facts at hand and beleaguer the audience, generating lassitude among normally ebullient, exuberant employees.

(Editor's Note - A review of the list produces two words that cause me concern. I mean, how does one work odalisque and seraglio into the pages of CAT Tracks..."members of a harem and the place they reside?" Of course, back in 2002 - talk about a pyrrhic "victory" - the Cairo Board of Education circulated flyers calling teachers "pimps"...so I guess it is possible. And the "residence"...does "cat house" come to mind? Never say never...)

(Editor's Note II - Actually, there's one other word that I shall most likely never have occasion to use...no matter how adroit my efforts. THAT word is "obsequious. Somehow, that adjective just does NOT enter a CAT's vocabulary!)

Without further ado...

The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English