Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Itchy teeth

... and gag reflex fully at work. From the Knoxville News Sentinel:


Smithers, an inmate trustee, fled from jail sometime after 4:30 p.m. Sunday, according to Monroe County Sheriff’s Detective Jennifer Bledsoe.

Wrong! Smithers is actually an inmate trusty. To wit:


trust·y (trŭs'tē) Pronunciation Key

adj. trust·i·er, trust·i·est

Meriting trust; trustworthy. See Synonyms at reliable.

n. pl. trust·ies

1. A convict regarded as worthy of trust and therefore granted special privileges.
2. A trusted person.




A trustee, in case anyone was wondering, is:


trus·tee (trŭ-stē') Pronunciation Key
n.
1. Law One, such as a bank, that holds legal title to property in order to administer it for a beneficiary.
2. A member of a board elected or appointed to direct the funds and policy of an institution.
3. A country responsible for supervising a trust territory. See Usage Note at
-ee


1. v. trus·teed, trus·tee·ing, trus·tees
v. tr.

To place (property) in the care of a trustee.

v.
intr. To function or serve as a trustee.



A good rule of thumb that I learned at a workshop has turned out to be one of the best pieces of advice I've heard in regard to writing: Look up any word you haven't used in six months before putting it in your text.

It works. Trust me.

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