Flag of the United States on American astronaut Neil Armstrong’s space suit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Having spent a good part of last week and this weekend listening to the news channels practically all day, the word radicalization kept popping up. This is not a word we use in our everyday conversation and so its use stood out in broadcast. Of course its use and application in this instance made it all the more prominent.
It got me thinking about another word that is used again and again in news broadcasts: Embedded. You hear this word whenever the news is about a war or war zone. It refers to a journalist or reporter who is traveling along with a platoon or regiment and he or she are embedded with the troops.
Interesting that these two words stand out to me and I am trying to think of some more words that have been co-opted into a use other than perhaps their original meaning and intent. Sadly, these two words apply to our state of the world where terrorism, unrest, war and strife are often front page news.
I grew up in the 50’s and other than listening to war stories from my Dad, I don’t remember any new words creeping into our vernacular. Well let me amend that by adding astronaut, cosmonaut, sputnik and muttnik were certainly words I had not encountered up to the point when the USSR and the USA began to race to space.
The next influx of terms and words that I remember coming into everyday use, came as a result of the Vietnam War. Napalm, Agent Orange, guerilla warfare are just a few that come to mind (it was a long time ago). Again the language of war! So sad that it is under severe circumstances that the new words appear or the old ones take on a nuance, we’ve not acknowledged before.
Of course the technology of the late 70’s and 80’s and 90’s has brought us not only words but a whole new language. Gigabytes, megabytes, micro chips, HTML, beta, VCR, CD, DVD, Tivo, hard drive, software, hardware, firewall, spam, and on and on. I know a whole blog post could be created just with the language of technology – I could start with Hi-Fi !!
Other than the slang of youth, their own mis-use and/or decision to re-invent a meaning of a word (i.e. like, random, down, sick) and so on, I wonder what other words have come into our daily vernacular? What words do you know or remember as taking on a new meaning or were or are being used on a much more regular basis? PLEASE let us all know. I just dashed this blog post off this morning without much aforethought and no research so would greatly appreciate reader input!!
Bill Ding and his band of clowns are the security patrol for this blog site. He is a favorite toy from the 50*s. By the way sometimes a blog is just an ego-maniacal stream of conscience.
Pbenjay's Blog 
“Give Me A Number And I’ll Give You The Guts”
Posted in From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Baseball, Branch Rickey, Brian Helgeland, Harrison Ford, Jackie Robinson, Negro League, Pee Wee Reese, Rickey, Robinson, World Series on April 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Jackie Robinson
“Give me a number and I’ll give you the guts” turned out to be a promise hard to keep. When Branch Rickey , the General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers made the unprecedented and momentous decision to bring a Negro ball player into the major leagues, he altered the future outcome of American baseball. Rickey had it in his mind to change the game, prove that he still had it, and assuage a gnawing age-old guilt he harbored from his college days. And of course baseball was his life and his business and he knew the way to infuse life and money into it, was to win and win big. His eye was on the prize of the World Series.
But back to the promise…Branch Rickey planned on adding a black baseball player to his farm team, the Montreal Royals with the intention of bringing that player into the Dodgers. But not just any player; The man would have to be good, he would have to be strong, he would have to have courage and conviction, he would have to have a thick skin and he would have to want the prize as much as Rickey did. He found these characteristics and qualities in Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, a short stop playing for the Kansas City Monarchs. Rickey knew that the road ahead for this player would be fraught with every kind of discrimination that was still prevalent in our country at that time. He knew and hoped Robinson who was known to have a temper, would be able to withstand the pressures and pain that came with the number. All that Branch hoped for was, Promises made, promises kept.
In the 1940’s post-war era, baseball became and has remained as The National Pastime of the American public. People of all ages flocked to the games; It was an inexpensive and entertaining way to spend the afternoon and could also be a family affair. There were two white leagues (AL + NL) and the Negro league, each with their own style and fans and never the two to mix. That is until Branch Rickey decided to break the color barrier.
Brian Helgeland directed this film based on the significance of Jackie Robinson’s role in baseball. He extracted an excellent performance from Harrison Ford. Although at times, one might say Ford’s portrayal of Branch Rickey bordered on caricature, he was entirely believable and best of all, you forget that you are watching the former Indiana Jones. I thought there were notable performances from John C. McGinley who played the Red Barber, T. R. Knight as Harry (Harold Parott), Rickey’s right hand man, and André Holland who portrayed Wendell Smith, the sports writer for the Pittsburgh Courier, and Lucas Black as Pee Wee Reese. Chadwick Boseman embodied the moody and guarded reticence of the angry young Robinson and showed us a deeply moving display of pent-up anger and frustration when Robinson was being horrendously taunted by Ben Chapman, (Alan Tudyk), the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.
42 brings the injustice and ultimately the absurdity of racial discrimination once again to the forefront of our consciousness much in the same manner as The Help. We are collectively ashamed and cheered by the triumph of those oppressed characters, once again confirming the age-old adage that good triumphs over evil. Rickie predicted it himself when he said, “ We can win only if we can convince the world that I’m doing this because you’re a great ballplayer, a fine gentleman.”
I found myself tearing up during many scenes, it was emotionally moving. I Loved It!
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