A reader writing a letter to the editor in my daily paper described an incident in which he went shopping, filled his basket with items totaling about $300 and then walked out of the store without completing his purchases. What prompted him to do that? When he entered the check-out line and said “Merry Christmas,” the…
Month: December 2016
Gaslighting
One of my favorite movies of all time is Gaslight (1944) starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. Based on a 1938 play by Patrick Hamilton and directed by George Cukor, Gaslight combines an extraordinarily talented cast with an edge-of-your-seat plot. Not only does this superb psychological thriller continue to hold its entertainment value after 72…
Jeopardy and “Silent H”
Every so often the Jeopardy writers get it wrong. They certainly did on December 12, 2012. One of the categories had to do with “silent H.” The first response that I noticed made perfect sense: honesty. The word honesty is spelled with an h but pronounced without one. Ergo, the h in honesty is a “silent…