Sholeh Patrick

Sleep has been more elusive of late. That’s nothing unusual over 50, but averaging an interrupted hour or two each night is becoming a chronic problem. Most at this age could moan about arthritis and various inflammations, but what’s put it over the edge is my mind: It just won’t stop. Don’t worry, this column isn’t about me. Minds worry. They fret. They obsess and rehash and reframe scenarios past and future, no matter how pointless. They just. Won’t. Shut.

This hot-button topic — especially on Election Day — must begin with two caveats. First, while this column’s purpose is to explore a broad array of big topics in bite-sized pieces, political theories don’t fit in small packages. So please keep in mind any short definition must be incomplete. Second, political systems are inextricable yet different from economic ones, and the two are often conflated and confused. That includes politically biased websites purporting to teach them.

It’s often said that language is a living thing. That’s true at least in one respect: It grows. Each year, English dictionaries add a few hundred to 1,000 new words, so if you’re keeping up, speaking what’s likely your native tongue is a lifelong pursuit of learning. Old English of the Middle Ages contained an estimated 50,000 words.