Joe Sixpack American

Word of the Day for Thursday, December 29, 2011

interpolation \in-tur-puh-LEY-shuhn\, noun:

1. The act or process of introducing something additional or extraneous between other parts.

2. Something interpolated, as a passage introduced into a text.

3. Mathematics. A. The process of determining the value of a function between two points at which it has prescribed values. B. A similar process using more than two points at which the function has prescribed values. C. The process of approximating a given function by using its values at a discrete set of points.

"That was totally weird," the B.O. contemplated as he went into the White House. "As if I'M going to have 'A Christmas Carol' moment! I mean really!! But where is everybody, anyway? No one is here, all the lights are off, and the doors are all locked. I may be the Emperor of the World, but I am still the President of the United States, too."

The B.O. tried the phones and nothing was working. As it was now quite late, he decided to get some rest and sort it all out in the morning. He went upstairs to his bedroom and as he plopped himself down on his bed, an apparition appeared before him just as the clock was striking 1:00 a.m.

"Stinky B.O., I am the ghost of Presidents Past, and I am going to show you some things that you need to consider. You have ignored your country's history, and that has affected everyone's future. Come, let us go now."

The B.O. sat straight up and was in shock as he listened to the ghost of Presidents Past. "Who are you, really?" the B.O. demanded.

"Come, let us go now," the ghost said again, and all of a sudden they were standing before all of the Founding Fathers as they were all gathered around discussing the formation of the United States and getting ready to sign the Constitution. There they were, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and of course the great George Washington.

As they listened to and observed the proceedings, the ghost commented that there was little interpolation and nothing extraneous that was being added to the Constitution. Their concept of the Constitution was that it would be kept as simple as possible, thus keeping the federal government in check and not letting it get too big and powerful.

The B.O. scoffed at the very notion of keeping any government in check, and he commented as such to the ghost. "Oh, B.O., you still don't get it, do you? Perhaps the ghost of Presidents Present will help you to understand where you have gone wrong." And with that, the B.O. suddenly found himself back in his bedroom - alone!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

When men interpolate, it is because they believe their interpolation seriously needed.-- Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason

"I am inclined to think," he added after a moment, once he had their attention again, "that if some pages were interpolated it was either done around the time of the original edition, or now, in our time.-- Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Dumas Club

Interpolation is derived from the Latin word interpolātus, meaning “to refurbish or touch up.”