Tag Archives: Health

Lambast(e)

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We carry the weight of many regrets: we should have called that aging parent more often; visited that relative in hospital; been more patient with our family; really listened to the friend who wanted to pour out her heart in a phone call. We berate ourselves for not caring enough for the homeless, our neighbors, those we work with, for not showing more love to our family members.

Yes, we may at times criticize others for their faults, but it’s usually ourselves that we lambaste the most. Probably because we know ALL our faults — and the total extent of them. We hope and pray friends and acquaintances only see the tips of our icebergs, but we feel the tonnage.

According to Lexico, to LAMBAST or LAMBASTE someone is to attack that person verbally with harsh criticism.

The press has been lambasting President Trump for his statements — or lack of statements, and his action — or lack of action — to the COVID-19 threat.

Merriam-Webster says the word can also be used to describe a violent assault or a whipping. Synonyms of lambaste: pummel, thrash, and pound.

An argument in a bar one night led to a life-threatening lambasting an hour later. The assailant left, still in a rage, and waited for his adversary outside. A few minutes after the other party left the bar he was knocked unconscious, then battered mercilessly. The young man is now in critical condition at General Hospital.

The origins of lambaste are somewhat uncertain, but the word was most likely formed by combining the verbs lam and baste, both of which mean “to beat severely.”
The word LAM, meaning hit hard; strike, is assumed to be Scandinavian origin, related to Norwegian and Danish lamme, meaning ‘paralyse’.

Deaf As A Post

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The other night I warned my husband that I was taking out my hearing aid and would soon be as deaf as a…
Now what was it? A door nob? A door post?

Thanks to online dictionaries, I find that Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary are agreed on these three expressions:

Deaf as a post
Dead as a doornail
Dead as a dodo

Perhaps the idea behind “a deaf post” comes from someone — maybe on their way home from the pub late one night — leaning on a post and muttering to themselves. Or telling the post all their troubles and how annoyed the little wife will be when they get home late again. Or perhaps it comes from some fantasy tale like Alice in Wonderland?

However, we could name any other inanimate object. They are all deaf. I could be as deaf as an apple, a brick, a car key, a doorstep, a fishing pole…

What really befuddles me with this expression is that it’s a gross exaggeration. It’s used to describe someone who is hard of hearing, but NOT actually deaf.

As for being dead as a… Any inanimate object is dead. “Dead as a dodo” is a little easier to understand, since the bird was once alive and has been rendered totally extinct. But how did the lowly doornail merit its place in the grand plan of life, death, and simile? A doornail is a stud set in a door for strength or as an ornament. What makes it more dead than the door hinge, the door nob, or the window glass?

For what it’s worth, the Oxford Dictionary does give one option for this one:
dumb as a doornail.
Example given: ‘In spite of being dumber than a doornail, the minister immediately picked up on it.’
Talk about defamation of character! We should rather say, “He has difficulty grasping some concepts, but this — was so self-evident.”

And I can honestly say, “Once I take my hearing aids out, I’ll have considerable difficulty understanding what you say.” But “deaf as a post” is quicker.