The welcoming rite — referred to as a wiccaning, a saining, or a paganing — serves a threefold purpose.

I hope to have the job finished by Mondayish.

Three weeks before the election in Iraq, conversation has started bubbling up in Congress, in the Pentagon and some days even in the White House about when and how American forces might begin to disengage in Iraq.

Let the songs be loud and cheerful, and not chirpings or pulings.