The white dog is a little bit (okay, correction, A LOT) weary of the duck in the pool. She is the one that watches television and barks at the dogs in commercials. She is fearless. She was barking at the duck, and the duck turned its back on her. She did not care for that at all. The duck turned back around, and that was all it took for a little bit of a miniature war to break out. The quack heard 'round the world! Otherwise, a pretty good day today. I did a few things around the house, nothing major, changed the AC filters, had the AC serviced late this morning, did some (a bunch) of phone calls, and then tried (unsuccessfully) to take a nap. Jody and I went in to Georgetown for lunch this afternoon, and I took care of a couple errands. Watered the plants outside, jumped in the pool, and now it is almost time to go to bed.Duress -- Noun. 1. forcible restraint or restriction. 2. compulsion by threat; specifically: unlawful constraint. "You did, however, sign this contract (possibly under mild duress, but not against your will)." Chuck Klosterman, The New York Times, June 30, 2013
Did You Know? Duress is a word of hardy stock. It has been a part of the English language since the 14th century and has a number of long-lived relatives. Duress itself came into Middle English through the Anglo-French duresce (meaning "hardness" or "severity"), which stems from the Latin durus, meaning "hard." Some obvious relatives of this robust root are durable, endure, and obdurate (meaning "unyeilding" or "hardened in feelings"). Others include dour (meaning "harsh," "unyeidling," or "gloomy") and during.
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