Monday

Word of the Day for Monday, April 27, 2009

ken \KEN\,

noun:1. Perception; understanding; knowledge.
2. The range of vision.
3. View; sight.

He was to make several important discoveries, the most significant being that infantile paralysis was caused not by germs, as cerebrospinal meningitis had been, but by a mysterious agent just then emerging into the ken of science.-- James Thomas Flexner, Maverick's Progress
So we are predisposed -- if not preprogrammed -- to accept tales of animals who display human motives, understanding, reason, and intentions. It takes a far greater imagination to conceive the possibility that a dog's mental life may assume a form that is simply beyond our ken.

Ken is from Middle English kennen, from Old English cennan, "to declare, to make known."

I ain't kiddin!

3 comments:

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

OK I BELIEVE YOU!

Ken said...

I know that guy!

Schmoop said...

Dog's have no mental life. None. Cheers!!