Fight Fire with Fire?

I thought the saying was You can't fight fire with fire, but they can and do. It's been a common practice since the old west, when they burned underbrush so there wouldn't be much flammable debris to prolong a fire. And more recently, when they detenate dynamite to remove oxygen from the fire, which extinguishes it. Shakespear mentions "be fire with fire" in a play about King John, written in the 16th Century.

The closest reference was more recent.  US author Henry Tappan's 1852 reminiscence A Step from the New World to the Old, and Back Again:

Smoking was universal among the men; generally cigars, not fine Havanas, but made of Dutch tobacco, and to me not very agreeable. I had some Havanas with me, and so I lighted one to make an atmosphere for myself: as the trappers on the prairies fight fire with fire, so I fought tobacco with tobacco.

But it still makes more sense to me that you can't fight fire with fire. I think it is more effective to fight fire with its opposite, water. There are many instances of the backfire thing, back firing, meaning althoughit was intended to quell the fire, it only exacerbated it!

Surge or Splurge

The Dictionary is telling me to spend money! This is the advice I got: You should allow yourself to splurge once in a while!

Splash
splurge
spend
surge

How are these words related?!
Splurge means to spend extravagantly or ostentatiously. Wow! 2 more extravagant words!

The word splurge was first used around 1830, and may be a combination of spend and surge. Perhaps spend and urge?

But where did the lovely L come from. This is an unusual combination of letters, S-P-L, with an interesting sound. Onomatopeia gives us "splash" which sounds like a wave crashing on some rocks.

Splurge is the word of the day as I heard it somewhere this morning...

Although I do not consider myself extravagant, I do get the urge to splurge once in a while!

Magnetic or Mesmerizing

I feel exultant today, Sunday, October 7! I attended the Bagel Talk Toastmasters Club this morning at 9:30 AM. I was one of the 3 speakers scheduled for today. The word of the day was "exultant."

My speech was entitled, Franz Anton Mesmer, A Magnetic Personality.

Mesmer was a doctor in France, in the 18th century. He developed his own healing methods, using magnets and iron rods, based on his theory of "Animal Magnetism." He believed that all living things contain an invisible magnetic fluid and any blockage of this fluid would cause disease.

Although he called his method "Animal Magnetism," his followers referred to it as "mesmerism," and coined the word "mesmerize." So I'm puzzled as to whether to call him a Magnetic Personality or a Mesmerizing Personality. Wouldn't it be redundant to say Mesmerizing Mesmer? It makes the origin of the word more apparent, and is more mellifluous than "Magnetic Mesmer." Which do you prefer, magnetic or mesmerizing?

exultant -- jubilant.

magnetic -- attractive.

mesmerizing -- enchanting, entrancing, charismatic.