Having suffered through what seems like more than my share of jokes from cheerful people who announce to the world that "I'm a _gruntled_ employee!!", I found this interesting:

This weekend on NPR's "Rewind", the "Ask The Librarian" segment focused on the word "disgruntled" (why, for instance, is no one ever described as "gruntled").

As it turns out "gruntle" is in fact a word being either a diminutive of "grunt" (meaning "to emit a low or soft grunt") or as a frequentive (meaning to "murmur or complain").

Now the prefix "dis" in most cases is, of course, privative, reversing the usual meaning of the root word (as in "disassemble" or "disavow"). However in a more much rarer sense (def 5 in OED) it can be used --as it is here-- as an intensfier (as "disannul", or, perhaps, "disembowel").

Thus a "gruntled employee" is one who bitches, but not quite so much as a "disgruntled employee".

(Of course, "gruntled" is now starting to show up in dictionaries as a (badly-formed) backformation from "disgruntled" with a meaning something like "cheerful" on "complacent".)

Nothing is more frustrating for me than to be faced with a critical decision and feel you don't have the information that you need.

In case some of you haven't seen the announcement in SmartBrief, once more Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham has put up a bill to create an Office of Men's Health in Health and Human Services (HHS): Men's Health Act of 2001, HR 632.

Last year Congressman Cunningham put this same bill on the House floor, but it got lost in the rush to adjourn for elections.

This is what happens when we get a PCa survivor with an attitude up on Capitol Hill. We're always making like Rodney Dangerfield whining that we don't get no respect -- well now we've got one of us leading the way.

This time around at least the Secretary of HHS is sensitive to our cause. Secretary Tommy Thompson last year signed a proclamation naming September as PCa Awareness Month when he was Governor of Wisconsin. That's what triggered Donna Pogliano to suggests that we get the rest of the governors to proclaim September.

Though perhaps this bill will have a better chance this time around, it will be no slam dunk.

The key to getting this bill passed lies in our support of it. SUPPORT.

Wow, I remember hearing this -- long, long ago.

Cinderella is now 75 years old. After a fulfilling life with the now dead Prince, she happily sits upon her rocking chair, watching the world go by from her front porch, with a cat named Bob for companionship.

One sunny afternoon, out of nowhere, appeared the Fairy Godmother. Cinderella said "Fairy Godmother, what are you doing here after all these years?" The Fairy godmother replied, "Cinderella, you have lived an exemplary life since I last saw you. Is there anything for which your heart still yearns?" Cinderella was taken aback, overjoyed, and after some thoughtful consideration and almost under her breath she uttered her first wish: I wish I were wealthy beyond comprehension." Instantly, her rocking chair was turned into solid gold. Cinderella was stunned. Bob, her old faithful cat, jumped off her lap and scampered to the edge of the porch, quivering with fear. Cinderella said, "Oh thank you, Fairy Godmother". The Fairy Godmother replied "It is the least I can do.

What does your heart want for your second wish?" Cinderella looked down at her frail body, and said: "I wish I were young and full of the beauty of youth again". At once, her wish became reality, and her beautiful youthful visage returned. Cinderella felt stirrings inside her that had been dormant for years. A long forgotten vigor and vitality began to course through her.

Then the Fairy Godmother again spoke "You have one more wish, what shall you have?" Cinderella looks over to the frightened cat in the corner and says,"I wish for you to transform Bob, my old cat, into a kind and handsome young man". Magically, Bob suddenly underwent so fundamental a change in his biological make-up, that when complete he stood before her, a man, so beautiful the likes of which neither she nor the world had ever seen, so fair indeed that birds began to fall from the sky at his feet. The Fairy Godmother again spoke, "Congratulations, Cinderella. Enjoy your new life."

And, with a blazing shock of bright blue electricity, she was gone. For a few eerie moments, Bob and Cinderella looked into each other's eyes. Cinderella sat, breathless, gazing at the most stunningly perfect man she had ever seen. Then Bob walked over to Cinderella, who sat transfixed in her rocking chair, and held her close in his young muscular arms.

He leaned in close, blowing her golden hair with his warm breath as he whispered, "I bet you regret having me neutered now, don't you?"

I just found your website today by accident. A great resource! However I'm surprised "All the President's Men" wasn't on your best list! It's No. 1 on my list, followed by "The Paper."

Anyway, I was wondering if you might know where to buy old posters of these films, especially "The Front Page" and "30"? I've searched several movie poster sites but have yet to see them. [I don't. Do any of you?]

Also, I think "Runaway Bride" would fall under your criteria, and I'm not just saying that because Richard Gere plays a USA TODAY reporter. [Ed Note: Nope, but thanks for suggesting it]

"Facing the press is more difficult than bathing a leper." --Mother Teresa, 1990

Cesar G. Soriano
Entertainment Reporter
USA TODAY

I thought alectrophobia was a fear of Vanna White...

Agree with the comparison of UPI and AP with Marine Corps and Army. But let's not forget that both are military organizations.

I think it was one of Herman Wouk's characters in The Caine Mutiny who opined that the military was an organization designed by geniuses for execution by idiots. I came away from my decade at UPI believing that the wire services had similar characteristics, with the "design" and "execution" components reversed.