today's vocabulary lesson.

Get out your No. 2 lead pencils, boys and girls. It’s time for a little vocabulary lesson! The word of the day is:

MEDIA — / MEE dee uh / n. pl.
The means of communications, as radio and television, newspapers, magazines, etc., that reach very large numbers of people.

Used in a sentence, one might say, “Are the MEDIA going to be at tonight’s game?”

I’m sure you also know MEDIA is also an adjective, such as a “MEDIA timeout” taken at the first dead ball of the first half with less than 16 minutes remaining in the game. It describes the type of timeout (as opposed to a “called” timeout or “official’s” timeout).

Yes, you’re very smart, class. You knew that. But here’s something you may not know. MEDIA also can be used as an adverb. Yes, it can!

An example might be….oh, I don’t know…say you ask me a question, such as: “Hey, Summit Blogger, are you attending the Summit League Conference Championship Tournament in Tulsa this year?”

I respond, “I’m looking into it.”

You come back with, “so that means you’re AREN’T attending?”

And I say, “I just said I’m looking into it! Don’t try and MEDIA me, class!!!!!”

See? MEDIA as an adverb describes the act of asking leading questions to elicit an answer that is direct, rather than evasive.

I report. You decide. :-)