The Captain’s Log

Block Versus Bloc

Block

A block is a solid object with flat sides such as those made of stone or concrete that are used in construction, those made of wood or plastic that are used as children's toys, blocks of cheese, or those made of wood or plastic that are used as kitchen cutting surfaces. A block is the physical unit of composition of cities. City blocks are delineated by the streets that surround the blocks and separate them from other blocks. A block is a (physical or figurative) conglomeration of similar items such as a block of apartments, a block of tickets, a block of seats, or a block of shares. Block is only applied to conglomerations of non-rectangular physical items if those items resemble a physical block when conglomerated.

Bloc

In English, a bloc is a group of people united by a common purpose or belief. Bloc is the French word for Block. In French, the word carries the additional meaning of group.

Meat

The noun meat derives from an Anglo-Saxon noun mete, which meant food, portion, or meal. Mete derives from a speculated Proto-Indo-European root mad, which meant moist. Some called the flesh of warm-blooded animals flesh-mete. Some called vegetables grene-mete. Some called dairy products whit-mete. By the 14th century, the meaning of mete had begun to narrow to animal flesh.

Consider This Sentence

The following sentence occurs in an article in The Toronto Star on Apple News. “An emerging drug cartel reportedly led by a former Mexican cop with the nickname ‘El Mencho’ is believed to be at the core of the biggest cocaine bust in Toronto history, with the seizure of more than 835 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $83 million, police say.”

The Washington Post and The Star are my favorite victims because of their use of run-on summary sentences.

The run-on in question credits the criminals with being at, “the core,” of the, “bust,” which suggests that the crooks helped the investigation. The use of with to introduce the final phrases of the sentence suggests that the crooks seized their own product for the police.

My rewrite: “Toronto Police have seized 835 kilograms of cocaine in the largest cocaine bust in the city’s history. Police believe that Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel is the exporter of the contraband to Canada. The street value of the cocaine is estimated at $83 million.”

Further details should be introduced in subsequent paragraphs.

Logo

The noun logo is a shortening of logotype, which originally described a single piece of moveable type that held two or more symbols, such as a ligature. In the 1960s, The term logotype was generalized by marketers to mean a (usually trademarked) graphic image that represents a product, concept, technology, or company.

The related term logogram describes a symbol that represents a word, such as certain symbols used in shorthand script and in non-alphabetic writing systems. Ideogram describes a symbol that represents a concept. Digits and the symbols on traffic signs are ideograms. Ideograph is a synonym of ideogram. The symbol @ used in email addresses is a logogram and an ideogram in English but an ideogram only in inflected languages that do not use prepositions.

Logo ultimately derives from the ancient Greek logos, which meant word, discourse, or reason.