Soon (standard:Editorials, 840 words)
Author: J. Nicklaus	Added: Oct 15 2003	Views/Reads: 3366/2180	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
For better and worse--I've developed something of a terse respect/disdain for this two-faced monstrosity.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

later--although when is unclear-- the sense of sona or soone changed to 
"within a short time." See how it nonchalantly avoids your grasp. 

Around 1889, as America began its expansion westward many settlers of
the new territory of Oklahoma crept onto public land and staked claims 
before--sooner than-- the actual legal date and time appointed for such 
settlements. Approximately four decades later the term "Sooner" was 
coined in reference to Oklahoma natives. 

In German you'd say "sobald." In French, "sous peu." Italians have a
mouthful with "prossimamente," while the Spanish prefer to choose from 
"pronto," "luego" (later), or "breveen," and the Turkish say 
"birazdan." Curiously, the Swedes, Croats, Czechs, and several other 
dialects have no direct translation for Soon. Perhaps they know 
something the rest of us don't? 

Contemporary English has a whole cornucopia of four-letter words, some a
bit less savory to air in public, that assuredly bring color and impact 
within their own contexts. Interestingly though they are largely 
negative. Soon naturally aspires to both optimism and pessimism; truly 
an equal opportunity adverb. And talk about flexibility- Soon's implied 
meaning can hang and linger for days or weeks, perhaps even months, and 
then abruptly spoil and curdle like bad milk. Or it may germinate and 
come to fruition as a fully realized desire or event, maybe greeting a 
loved one at the airport after a prolonged absence, or graduation day 
for the weary student. 

Daniel will certainly learn that Soon can be a shady character, a word
he shouldn't carelessly neglect or take for granted. It will deliver 
its share of disappointments, but sometimes arrive as promised. Time 
and experience teach us all, from our childhood until our passing.  
Soon is forever in our face, but if we look just over its shoulder 
we'll find Hope shimmering in the distance. 


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