Follow-up to March 1, 2013 Post

Speaking of the end of the flu season and visits to your doctor:

Isn’t it amazing what doctors can find out just by shining a light in your eyes to check your sight, and in your ears to make sure an infection isn’t impairing your hearing.

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light -- something that makes things visible or affords illumination: All colors depend on light.

lite -- an informal, simplified spelling of light, used especially in labeling or advertising commercial products: lite beer.

eye -- the organ of sight, in vertebrates typically one of a pair of spherical bodies contained in an orbit of the skull and in humans appearing externally as a dense, white, curved membrane, or sclera, surrounding a circular, colored portion, or iris, that is covered by a clear, curved membrane, or cornea, and in the center of which is an opening, or pupil, through which light passes to the retina.

aye -- an affirmative vote or voter, especially in British Parliament, corresponding to yea in U.S. Congress.

I -- the nominative singular pronoun, used by a speaker in referring to himself or herself.

sight -- the power or faculty of seeing; perception of objects by use of the eyes; vision.

site -- the position or location of a town, building, etc., especially as to its environment: the site of our summer cabin.

cite -- to quote (a passage, book, author, etc.), especially as an authority: He cited the constitution in his defense.

ear -- the organ of hearing and equilibrium in vertebrates, in humans consisting of an external ear that gathers sound vibrations, a middle ear in which the vibrations resonate against the tympanic membrane, and a fluid-filled internal ear that maintains balance and that conducts the tympanic vibrations to the auditory nerve, which transmits them as impulses to the brain.

ear (corn) -- the part of a cereal plan, as corn, wheat, etc., that contains the flowers and hence the fruit, grains, or kernels.

hear -- to perceive by the ear: Didn’t you hear the doorbell?

here -- in this place; in this spot or locality (opposed to there): Put the pen here.

All definitions were obtained from www.dictionary.com.

The End of Flu Season!

Now that we’re into March, the flu season should be wrapping up -- thank goodness! If you got sick this season, I hope you went in for a doctor visit to figure out what was ailing you. Maybe you were looking a little pale and coughing; maybe you felt tired and weak; maybe you were racked with pain and felt like you were going to die. Whatever your symptoms, I hope you’re feeling better now.

Wishing you and yours a healthy rest of the year!

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flu -- a specific variety of influenza, usually named for its point of dissemination or its animal vector: Hong Kong flu; swine flu.
flue -- a passage or duct for smoke in a chimney.

sick -- afflicted with ill health or disease; ailing.
sic -- to attack (used especially in commanding a doc): Sic ‘em!
sic --  so; thus; usually written parenthetically to denote that a word, phrase, passage, etc., that may appear strange or incorrect has been written intentionally or has been quoted verbatim: He signed his name as e. e. cummings (sic).

ail -- to be unwell; feel pain; be ill: He’s been ailing for some time.
ale -- a malt beverage, darker, heavier, and more bitter than beer, containing about 6 percent alcohol by volume.

pale -- lacking intensity of color; colorless or whitish: a pale complexion.
pail -- bucket.

tire -- to have the strength reduced or exhausted, as by labor or exertion; become fatigued; be sleepy.
tire -- a ring or band of rubber, either solid or hollow and inflated, or of metal, placed over the rim of a wheel to provide traction, resistance to wear, or other desirable properties.

weak -- not strong; liable to yield, break, or collapse under pressure or strain; fragile; frail: a weak fortress; a weak spot in armor.
week -- a period of seven successive days, usually understood as beginning with Sunday and ending with Saturday.

rack -- to torture; distress acutely; torment: His body was racked with pain.
wrack -- damage or destruction: wrack and ruin. Also, seaweed or other vegetation cast on the shore.

pain -- physical suffering or distress, as due to injury, illness, etc.
pane -- one of the divisions of a window or the like, consisting of a single plate of glass in a frame.

die -- to cease to live; undergo the complete and permanent cessation of all vital functions; become dead.
dye -- a coloring material or matter.

All definitions were obtained from www.dictionary.com.