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Miasma

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(pronounced my-az-muh or mee-az-muh)  noun

Definition

1. an exhalation of poisonous or unhealthy vapors (as from decomposing organic matter) previously thought to cause disease. 2. a thick or heavy vaporous effluence or atmosphere (such as that resulting from cigarette smoke). 3. an influence or atmosphere that tends to impoverish or corrupt, or that is destructive, befogging, ominous, or oppressive.

Other Forms

Miasmic  (pronounced my-az-mik or mee-az-mik)  adjective

Main Example

• In recent years, Congress had become synonymous with gridlock and deadlock, a place where nothing got done because the two parties wouldn’t agree on anything. Now, thanks to that budget agreement hammered out between Democratic Senator Patty Murray and Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, the miasma of hopelessness and pessimism which had paralyzed Washington D.C. might finally be lifting.

Workplace Examples

• When trying to win business from government-owned enterprises in places like Africa and Asia, we often lose out to some of the foreign competition because of the culture of bribes and under-the-table deals. Thanks to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, our company, which, of course, is American, can engage in no such thing and therefore has a hard time penetrating the miasma of corruption that pervades some parts of the world.
• My last sales job was in a place where things were pretty cutthroat. Salesmen weren’t averse to stealing each other’s leads and customers. It stunk. One heck of a miasmic environment which I would not recommend even to my worst enemies.

Other Examples

• upon meeting someone who had recently returned from a visit to the eastern half of Germany, this author inquiring: “Are there any streets or buildings or other sights still in existence that are clear vestiges of the dark and miasmic past that used to be called East Germany?”
• the miasma of smog that has been hitting Beijing and other Chinese cities lately being attributed by some scientists to that nation’s heavy reliance on coal-generated electricity
• the miasmic future depicted in the classic 1982 film “Blade Runner,” what with mile-high skyscrapers that are constantly enveloped in thick smog
• a recent PBS NewsHour segment on Haiti showing people living amid a miasma of indescribable poverty and deprivation
• In the powerful movie “The Lost Weekend,” which swept the Oscars in 1945, scenes portraying Ray Milland as a drunkard are so well done that you can almost smell the miasma of alcohol that would emanate from someone married to the bottle in real life. Not surprisingly, Milland won the Oscar for best actor.

© 2014 V.J. Singal
No part of this may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author.

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