MACHINATION (from) Latin machina, contrivance, conspiracy. The awfullist conspiracy I can imagine is that America is a "Mach 1 Nation" traveling on contrivances of war and going down at the speed of sound.

MACHO (from) Hollywood. Usually used with man, but I have met a few macho ma'ams in the last few years.

MAMA MIA - Acronym for Mothers Missing In Action.

MAN (from) Old English mann, (from) Latin manus, hand. The Romans distinguished man from other animals by his use of hands. Out of respect to radical feminists we will replace the noun "man" with the generic substitute "oid." Human becomes humoid, waitress/waitroid, manure/oidure, mailman/oidoid, etc. Furthermore, any womoid is a good hand.

"Nothing in the world is more distasteful to man than to take the path that leds to himself." -- Herman Hesse

MANAGEMENT (from) Commerce. A select group that despises unions and manages to squeeze labor for all it is worth.

"If the fittest are to be allowed to survive, if the benefits of efficient management are to be available to society, the captains of industry must be paid for their unique organizing talent. Their huge fortunes are the legitimate wages of superintendence. In the struggle for existence, money is the token of success." - - William Sumner

MANNERS (from) Vulgar Latin manuaria, "way of handling", (from) Latin manus, hand. Polite or proper behavior. When told by our moms to "mind our manners" we were being reminded of personal behavior. It appears that the word came from an ability to handle other things and persons.

MARKET THE BEAST (from) Latin merx, merchandise + social security numbers and uniform product codes printed on consumers' foreheads. The convenience of purchasing any commodity by displaying the account number printed on your face when you tip your hat to the lady at the register.

MARRIAGE (from) Latin maritare, union blessed by the Goddess Aphrodite-Mari. The old word for marriage meant "sneak into the house at night." Who's house? The woman's house! Until patriarchal rule, all property rights were matrilineal. Husbands were in many cultures a permanent stranger, and in some a mere visitor. Early Christian patriarchs despised marriage, but only because women made up the rules of the household, owned property, had control of their own health, childbearing, lives and men. Until the 16th Century Christians did not sanctify marriage, and when they did they borrowed the forms and ceremonies from Pagan customs. Early Christian sainthood depended on celibacy and struggled hard against the matriarchal custom that men only had value if they had wives. When men began to make up rules of marriage, the first were to insure monogamy. Some scholars believe that Greek domination of women was due to a healthy fear born of the realization of their inferiority to women. Marriage as a means to belittle and dominate women actually predates the Christian practice, but Christianity perfected masculine domination. At long last there are changes. Women are taking control of their own lives again, changing some of the rules, and giving us guys different reasons to sneak into the house at night.

MARTYR (from) Greek martus, witness (of Christ). Generally accepted as one who would rather die than change religions, the Romans gave martyrdom new meaning by deciding who else would die for not changing religions.

MASCULIST (also masculinist) (from) Latin mas, male. A commonly unused word that will imply a group of men who look and dress like women by choice rather than social necessity. Since they don't have to struggle in a marketplace run by women to get equal rights in the workplace, the masculist lobby does not yet exist. Return to FEMINIST

MATRONIC (from) Latin mater, mother + Greek (elec) -tronic, suffix denoting an instrument. The kids in front of the tube. For example, "When you need to mix a pitcher of margaritas in a hurry you can give the children up to matronic care while you feed the blender."

MATURITY (from) Latin maturus, seasonable, ripe. For example, "Like fruit, immature humans are not bad, they just aren't ripe."

"Maturity is a disease for which there is no remedy, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything." -- Kurt Vonnegut

MEAT (from) Latin madere, to be wet. The flesh of deceased animals that carries fats and oils into human kitchens and blood vessels in large quantities. With an application of heat, the fats and oils are deposited on the walls of the kitchens and blood vessels where it remains until it is scrubbed off, or buried with us. All "scientific" studies of nutrition are based on the assumption that humans must consume flesh to survive, yet flesh eating is based on habit, not study. No real scientific examination of the best diet for humans has, to my knowledge, been conducted because such research would indicate that humans living outside the Arctic Circle do not need an 80-percent flesh diet in order to thrive. Some recent studies have shown that the obviously poor average health of Americans may be related to the high average consumption of meat in the diet. Where do you think all that harmful fat comes from, gum and beer?

MEDICIDE (from) Latin mederi, to heal + -cida, killer. The "practice" of administering treatment until the patient dies. Medicine is responsible for how the patient dies, insurance is responsible for determining when. Dr. Kavorkian uses the term now as well.

MEEK (from) Old Norse mjukr, soft. A small group of planetary citizens who stand out for their imperturbability at the violence that goes on around them. They are largely characterized by their attendance in gardens with children and "wild" animals, and are expected by many to "inherit the Earth," if there is anything left after The Bureaucracies are finished with it.

MEGA- (from) Greek megas, great. Indicates one million.

MEGADEATH (from) The Nuclear Bureaucracy. "One million human deaths, regarded as a measure of the effectiveness of nuclear warfare." (The American Heritage Dictionary, 1969.) That doesn't sound very great to me.

MENIAL (from) Latin mansio, house dwelling. Generally regarded as servile work around the house, but only because we can't afford to work around the house anymore and still pay taxes, the mortgage, utility bills and everthing else. Hence, we, the uptrodden, leave the menial work to "servants" while we do the superior work of exploiting the Earth and her laborers (the downtrodden).

MIDDLE AGES (from) Post-Roman patriarchal history. Being arbitrary dates, here are three guesses: the 1934 New Century indicates 476 AD to 1450 or 1500, or to about 1300 or the Renaissance; the 1938 Webster's: the period from the decline of the Roman empire till the revival of letters in Europe; and the 1969 American Heritage: 476 AD - 1453 AD. One significant event that marks the end of the Middle Ages is the development and introduction of large clocks in the towers of Christian temples (see CLOCK). Modern times have been synchronized with the timeclock ever since. Perhaps we are more fortunate that Humanism occurred during the Renaissance. Return to DARK AGES

MIDDLE CLASS (from) The Bureaucracy. The tax base for the Uptrodden.

MIDWIFE (from) Middle English. A woman who assists women in childbirth. A threat to male obstetricians who generally stand alone and insecure in a room with other women. Midwives, like mothers, are women out of control.

MILITARY (from) Latin miles, soldier. America's most important employer, not because of the need for some supposed "defense" of the country, but rather because of the tax money funneled to administrative bureaus, personnel in uniform (over 60%), and corporations that supply materials and weapons of war.

MINORITY (from) Latin minor, less. The group representing less than half of a larger group. For example, if we split Americans by income, then it is no secret that the bureaucrats in Washington in charge of wasting tax money are in the minority. If we separate the world's people by race and religion, then White Anglo Saxon Protestants are a smaller minority. For being so few, how have we so thoroughly usurped the world's resources? Remember, Almighty Gawd is on the side of Capitalism and Consumerism, regardless of how many minorities (or majorities) we have to crush in order to support the lifestyle of our minority.

MIRACLES (from) Latin mirus, wonderful. Wonders performed without mirrors by a Christian magician almost 2,000 years ago. Seriously now, some religions impress upon their members that their savior had, not has, sole rights to the performance of miracles. Such widespread belief takes from us the recognition of abilities that we all possibly have but are dormant. Miracles may well become common, everyday occurrences. Isn't that wonderful? A word of caution though, "Be careful what you wish for, it might come true."

MONASTERY (from) Greek monazein, to live alone, from monos, alone. For example, "Those guys in Congress, from the way they operate you would think they live in their own little world."

MONEY (from) Latin Moneta, epithet of Juno, whose temple in Rome housed the mint. That which is considered more valuable than life, based on the fact that common robbers and frauds often get more jail term than murderers. (Exceptions are made for frauds taking very large amounts of money). For those without, money is a scapegoat for all ones' problems that would be instantly remedied in the presence of more. For those with, it is a security that drives them to neurosis in the effort to hide and protect it from rot and thieves. Remember what happened to the legendary Jesus of Nazareth when he angered the bankers and politicians (bureaucrats) of his time. He had harmed no one, but they still nailed him to a tree. The idea that money is more valued than life is supported on the large scale by multi-national corporations that wreck entire countries for the profit they may receive, and on the small scale by municipalities that serve industry and developers at the expense of the well-being of the folk in a community. Money is a curious commodity that only has value when given away.

"To despise money is to dethrone a king." -- Chamfort

MONSTER (from) Latin monere, to warn. Gigantic, huge, enormous. For example, "When governments become monstrous and begin to limit the freedoms of the people, then it is required of the people to demonstrate a warning to the government that the people are the government."

MOOD (from) Old English mod, mind, disposition. When we suggest that someone is moody, we refer to the tempermental disposition they exhibit. It is not likely that moody will imply a happy quality, since the word mood backwards is doom.

"The fate of the emotional is not only predictable but usually deserved." -- Victor Hugo(?)

MOONSTRUCK (?) The 1969 American Heritage Dictionary defines moonstruck as: Afflicted with insanity; crazed; deranged. Dazed or distracted with romantic sentiment; lovelorn. (From the belief that moonlight causes insanity). The 1938 Webster's Unabridged Dictionary reads: Affected as though under the influence of the moon; (a) subjected to derangement of intellect or body; lunatic; (b) made unfit for eating, as fish. (From the belief that moonlight spoils seafood). Looks like moonlight spoils a lot of things. When I was about twelve years old I was lying out in the backyard one night looking up at a full moon and I imagined it falling out of the sky and striking the Earth. We would all be moonstruck, and it would certainly spoil the fish.

MORAL (from) Latin mos, custom. Originally a standard set by conscience for the discernment of good and evil. A lesson contained in a fable, story or event. It is the custom in our country to accept as moral whatever pleases TV audiences. Hence, we make heroes of actors who live multiple lives, few of which seem moral.

MUCK RAKER (from) The Bureaucracy. A person who searches for and exposes political and commercial corruption. An unacceptable person to politicians and commercialists who hide rakeable muck.

MUD SLINGER (from) The Bureaucracy. A person who makes malicious charges against an opponent. Often, a politician with something to hide.

"Ever notice that politicians always seem to rake and sling around election time? I wonder where such otherwise dignified persons get the impression that they are standing in muck and mud?" -- Roger Henry

MUSE (from) Old French mus, snout, from Medieval Latin musum, from a noun of unknown origin. To "sniff around" and "cast about for a scent" became "consideration, deliberation, meditation," something the Muse would not turn her nose up at.

MUSE (from) Greek Mousa, noun of unknown origin. Nine mythical beings who are now the spirits who inspire poets, musicians and artists, and this dictionary.

MUSIC (from) Greek Mousa. Music is of two kinds: sounds and assimilation. Musical instruments make sounds; assimilation refers to the real matter of aligning one's behavior in harmony with the community. I refuse, however, to harmonize with the amusing notion that the word muse came from "snout," or the implication (however remote) that the Latins and Greeks sang through their noses.

MYSTERY (from) Greek muein, to close the eyes or mouth, hence to keep secret; and Latin minister, servant. Here are two definitions, the first, and more common, denoting the unexplained or secret; the second is an archaic use for trade or occupation. All religions have their mystery, amd most deny the mysteries of others. Consider the high-tech, electronic "servants of God" (ministers). They cannot always justify million$ spent on the high life, so they encourage their faithful to keep closed the eyes and mouth, but keep open the purse.