Tag Archives: words

Dec13

don’t be a yuleshard.

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for a little variety, learn  these words for your next holiday gathering,

some borrowed from foreign languages and others from long ago.

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Someone doing their Christmas shopping on December 24 is the epitome of a Yuleshard  – a person who waits until the last minute to finish preparations for the holidays. This Scottish word dates to at least the mid-18th century. “Yule” is a synonym for the Christmas season, and “shard” is a corruption of the word jade and has been used since the 16th century as an insult in Middle English, referring to a worn-out horse.

Italians have the perfect word for how many feel after a holiday meal. Abbiocco refers to the drowsiness that occurs after a large meal, making it distinct from simple sleepiness before bedtime. It also involves a state of pure relaxation while delaying responsibilities, something that tends to occur on holidays. The word originated in central Italy from two verbs, abbioccare and abbioccarsi, meaning “to exhaust” and “to doze off,” respectively.

 It’s easy to overindulge during holiday meals, and those who do might need to take advantage of a yule-hole. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a yule-hole is “the hole in the waist-belt to which the buckle is adjusted, to allow for repletion after the feasting at Christmas.”

A bummock is an alcoholic beverage brewed to enjoy at a “merry meeting” — aka a holiday party. This Scottish drink has been around since at least the early 19th century, but an 18th century definition of “bummock” (sometimes spelled “boumack”) is “an entertainment anciently given at Christmas by tenants to their landlords.”

 

 

Schnapsidee is a German word that  translates literally as “booze idea,” something many people have during the holidays. It’s a ridiculous, ill-advised idea that sounds like it was made up during a drunken state — sledding off the roof at a holiday party, for example. (Don’t do that!) Germans tend to use the word to describe any outlandish idea, though, whether alcohol was involved or not.

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‘action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.’

-mark twain

 

 

 

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source credits: word smarts, rachel gresh, vintage postcards, pinterest, bbc, wasau news

Aug30

hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.

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In an interview with The Guardianin 2019, English stand-up comic Chris McCausland claimed the funniest English word is “hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.” Not only is this a silly word to say, but it also has a humorously ironic meaning, as it refers to a fear of long words.

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“don’t gobblefunk around with words.”
― Roald Dahl, The BFG

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source credits: the guardian, wordsmarts, google images

Aug26

fighting words.

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our founding fathers irked england by inventing american english

thomas jefferson is credited with coining over 100 words — more than any other president. among the words the third president introduced are “indecipherable,” “belittle,” and “pedicure,” the latter of which means to care for the feet and toenails. “Pedicure” was one of several words that Jefferson borrowed from the French after spending many years in Paris.

next time you get your pedicure,

you’ll have TJ to thank for bringing this word to us,

otherwise you wouldn’t have known what service to ask for

when you booked your appointment. 

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‘where can i find a man who has forgotten words so i can have a word with him?’

-zhuangzi

 

 

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source credits: VOA, Saturday Evening Post

Aug21

collectives.

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Chesterfield Library, Chesterfield, Massachusetts

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COLLECTIVE NOUNS FOR LIBRARIANS
A group of librarians is called a cardigan.

A collection of empty chairs is called an author reading.

A collection of Eric Carle books covered in spit-up is called a storytime.

A group of exhausted mothers covered in spit-up is also called a storytime.

A cluster of teens reading quietly is called a mystery.

A pile of books gathering dust is called a hold shelf.

A handful of change is called a budget.

A stack of books on a nightstand is called a magical thinking.

A group of people who only remember “the cover was blue” is called a patron.

A plastic prize tub of stickers is called a summer reading program.

A collection of missing pieces is called a community jigsaw.

A group of retirees is called a Scrabble night.

A shelf of books in alphabetical order is called a miracle.

A group of shushing librarians is called a cliché.

A group of underfunded libraries is called a tragedy.

by Sally Miller

 

 

 

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Source: McSWEENEY’S

 

Mar15

‘i never said most of the things i said.’ – yogi berra

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why is ‘oxymoron’ an oxymoron?”

Much like “deafening silence” and “jumbo shrimp,” the word “oxymoron” is a bit of an oxymoron in itself.

The word “oxymoron” may sound like an insult or maybe a cleaning product, but it’s neither. It’s the name for a figure of speech where contradictory terms appear together (e.g., “minor crisis,” “small crowd,” “bittersweet”). But the word “oxymoron” also falls into that category, as it’s derived from ancient Greek words that contradict each other.

“Oxymoron” comes from the Greek oxumōron,which combines oxus (meaning “sharp”) and mōros (“foolish”). Calling something both sharp and foolish comes across as, well, oxymoronic, thus making the word “oxymoron” a perfect example of what it describes.

But being a walking contradiction never stopped the word from becoming a part of our collective vernacular. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it became popular in the mid-17th century, with people using it to rhetorically emphasize blatantly contradictory phrases. While you may be tempted to call someone an oxymoron as a personal descriptor, doing so wouldn’t be by the book. Instead, the term is best reserved for incongruous sets of words.

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just when i thought I had a handle on this…..

what is your favorite oxymoron?

my personal favorite is:

‘definite maybe.’

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‘i’m not going to say i told you so, but i did.’

-nouriel roubini

 

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Source credits: Bennett Kleinman, SergioVas/Shutterstock
Mar13

a little more gentle.

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so kind and unexpected

  handwritten positive affirmations

in the restroom of a little local diner

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‘wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other?’

-judy garland

 

Apr4

your words.

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when you’ve just settled in for the night

and someone calls asking you to go out

you roll your eyes, you sigh

 then have a couple of ways to turn down the offer,

one leaves the caller with a better feeling about you than the other:

 

option#1

“i don’t feel like going out tonight.”

lazy

unoriginal

puts the blame on you

 

option#2

“for now, my place is here.”

surprising

philosophical

you answer to a higher power

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choose your words wisely.

 

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“facts matter not at all. perception is everything. it’s certainty.”

-stephen colbert

 

 

 

 

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credits: franklin springboro library, take a hike photography

 

 

 

Feb27

word after a word.

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someone sure has a lot to say
not sure exactly what that is yet
but i think
someone has to pay something.
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“a word after a word after a word is power.”
― margaret atwood
Jan28

tiny grass is dreaming.

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小草休扈 请勿扛搅

inaccurate translation:

DO NOT DISTURB. / TINY GRASS IS DREAMING.

while the image of blades of grass sleeping soundly is undeniably adorable,

the chinese public lawn sign posted near the grass was actually meant to read,

accurate translation:

GRASS IS RESTING. DO NOT DISTURB.

i personally prefer the first.

 

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“every act of communication is a miracle of translation.”
― ken liu,  the paper menagerie and other stories

 

 

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photo credit: university animal clinic

Jan10

word nerd.

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artist: graham gillmore, ploy. 

now this is a holiday made for me! i love words of all kinds and am a proud word nerd.

We celebrate National Word Nerd Day on January 9, (missed it by one day),  by enthusing about our favorite words and the importance of language in our culture. Whether you always know what to say, or you often end up with your foot in your mouth, words are essential to our success and progress. National Word Nerd Day gives us the chance to learn some new words, use some old ones, and maybe even borrow them from someone else!

HISTORY OF NATIONAL WORD NERD DAY

Humans have communicated since we first walked on Earth, though our early language was nowhere near as complex as the systems of words we use today. Once, our basic vocabulary range was no different from that of great apes, but as we advanced, so did our language.

With developments in our lifestyle, we needed to be able to name things, communicate ideas, and express ourselves to aid our advancement. Words and language became increasingly important, yet it took many centuries until they were considered important enough to document.

During the medieval period, the written word was considered a luxury, with only the rich or the anointed able to read and write in a sophisticated way. As such, the majority was only able to enjoy words through oral storytelling. Shakespeare and other great wordsmiths used their love of words to delight audiences in the theatres, even inventing words for use in their work.

But by the mid-18th century, reading and writing were more widely taught and accessible to a greater range of people. It became necessary to produce a comprehensive list of words and their meanings in the English language, a task embarked upon by Dr. Samuel Johnson, who was paid the sum of 1,500 guineas (approximately $325,000 in today’s money) for its completion. After seven years of toil, his dictionary was published in 1755 and is still widely regarded as one of the most influential texts of the English language.

Today, we celebrate National Word Nerd Day to mark the importance of words in our history and civilization, giving us an excuse to geek out on our favorites!