Footnotes to a Conversation, September 2, 2024

“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.” – Oscar Wilde

Jargon #1: Are You a Cool Dude?

I don’t have kids to keep me up to date so I often wonder if my vocabulary is hopelessly out of date. For example, is it still ‘cool’ to be ‘cool’? Let me reassure you. The first record of the term ‘cool’ was in 1766, and it went on to become slang at Eton College where a ‘cool fish’ was a cocky, self-possessed pupil. What worked in the 18th century is surely good enough today as well. [Word Perfect, Susie Dent]

Jargon #2: Legal Verbiage

I think most of us sign or hit the Agree button without actually reading terms of agreement or contract details. It’s not as if they’ll be revised if we don’t like them. Most of the time the documents are full of legal verbiage, which Merriam-Webster defines as “a profusion of words usually of little or obscure content”, although the companies don’t usually acknowledge that fact. I was, therefore, surprised to read a summary of changes to the Microsoft Services Agreement that states: “In the Microsoft Rewards section, we added verbiage to clarify how to claim Points on the Rewards Dashboard”. Do you think they were being playful or do they not understand the meaning of the word ‘verbiage’?

The Key to Longevity

I live on the third floor of an apartment building and take the stairs 95% of the time, so I was pleased to learn that “stair climbing was associated with a 24% reduced risk of dying from any cause and a 39% lower likelihood of dying from cardiovascular disease”. Unfortunately, stairwells are often dingy, unattractive areas and are often hard to locate in hotels or other public buildings. Would more people take the stairs if they were easier to locate and more pleasant (windows, perhaps)? This article provides some interesting comparisons of European and North American architecture and ways of making stairs more attractive. [Carbon Upfront!]

In the Nude

Nudes feature in the current Naturist Paradises exhibition at the MUCEM museum in Marseille, and, once a month, outside of normal hours, visitors can view the works of art naked. (Shoes remain obligatory – to avoid splinters from the wood floor.) According to the museum, France is the world’s leading destination for naturists, and “Today, there is a new craze for nudity in nature, a craze that goes hand in hand with the quest for healthy, vegetarian diets and the use of natural therapies, meditation and yoga in the open air. These lifestyles, along with the rejection of the diktats that weigh down our bodies, are all keys to understanding the issues at stake in the naturism of yesterday and today.” [The Guardian]

Don’t Visit in the Summer

St. Tropez, a port town of 4,000 people, receives 80,000 visitors a day during July and August. To me, that would be an absolute nightmare. I enjoy travelling in Europe during the winter months. Sure, it may be raining or chilly, but the beaches are deserted and the towns have been given back to their residents. I can really get a feel for the place without being pushed and shoved while navigating the crowds. [BBC]

Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.

If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West, an online publication encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada, and Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces.