W.O.R.D. August 2008
meander 08-31-08
via Roberta
Roberta told me they were "just gonna shmy around" downtown Portland yesterday. I knew exactly what she meant. I kinda like the word meander myself (I prolly oveuse it). It sounds like a beautiful cat's name (Miranda?). Plus I like to think that I put the "me" in meander. For me, meandering is almost always about "me time." I might shmy with you, but I'll meander by myself, thanks.
glitterbugs 08-30-08
Kitty sent me a little present in the mail.
It came from the birthday aisle at Shaw's.
It was wrapped in a birthday envelope, from the USPS.
I knew it was a special present,
but what could it be?
It was a pack of GLITTERBUGS!!
SIX glittering bright little bugs
nestled tightly in their vacuum-form
plastic case.
It says:
<<<"6 BUGS">>>>
and
"Fun with Bugs!"
and
GLITTERBUGS
(and of course, other things, like:
Made in CHina. Choking Hazard. Age 4+)
cornobbled 08-29-08
from Rachel B. and Nichole T.
to be hit by a fish
Can you elaborate?
This word submitted thanks to Nichole T.
switcheroo 8-28-08
via Lisa Lisa
Some day I want to write about
a kangaroo who had a didgiridoo,
until a buckaroo came along and
did a switcheroo.
plonk 08-27-08
from Holly Hartman
like the noun "plonk," meaning cheap wine. I have the idea that this is an Australian-ism, but I'm not sure. I first heard this term at a wine bar in Bozeman, Montana, called Plonk, where I only had to plonk (v.) a few dollars on the table to get a glass of their very nice house plonk (n.).
perseverate 08-26-08
This word perseveres to a place of perverse perseverance. It does what it says. And how can you NOT like anyone or anything that does that!
salsifies 08-25-08
from Jonathan Gross
A popular root vegetable in France, also known as an "oyster plant" because of its taste. I love eating them but love the word even more, as it brings to mind (in English) the words "satisfies" and "salivates", which seem appropriate for a tasty veg.
gloss 08-24-08
I was reminded of the root of glossary
when I was reading about euglossine bees yesterday,
long-tongued bees, that is.
(ironically also writing about high "gloss" boat varnish.)
So I'm loving the word gloss as meaning tongue and that which comes off the tongue!
portmanteau 08-23-08
I cannot believe that this word doesn't refer to a valise or an ottoman or a windowsill or a trenchcoat. . . . So far from that, it is a word for words: meaning any word that combines two other words, such as emoticon.
pedestrian 08-22-08
via Rebecca and Ross
operating without wheels, ambulatory, or perhaps the
opposite of extraordinary.
rhubarb 08-21-08
from Rhymin' Ryan Evans
Who knew that 'rhubarb' was a synonym for 'donnybrook'? I just wanted a pie, not a fight! The term "rhubarb" as it relates to baseball is an antiquated reference to a fight amongst many players. The iconic bench-clearing brawl is known as a "rhubarb".
morning 08-20-08
via Stephanie Levin
Stephanie sent me Gordon Bok's song. "That the world is always turning
Toward the morning." I've always liked how morning and mourning are homophones that speak to each other. Like the mourning doves which moan in the morning, or the play "Mourning becomes Electra." Or does morning become her, rally? as it does all of us? There should be a word for these word pairs. Homofriends? Phonoconvos?
scofflaw 08-19-08
via JPKK
Takes one to know one! JPKK called us this word back when we decided we needed to try to get a glimpse of teh bull elephant seals even though the posted signs said "don't go there." The posted signs at Walden Pond today said stay behind the wires. But there weren't no way we weren't gonna grab ourselves some swimming in that clear blue lake, when we found a few big rocks to use as home base.
flood 08-18-08
what happens to thee ngine when the fuel pump goes?
aibohphobia 08-17-08
from Dallas Crow
A few years ago, a student introduced me to this . . . pseudoword (which is itself not actually an official, real word either, though perhaps it should be as well)—and I fell in love . . . It means the fear of palindromes, and it is a term that is pleasing to me for its aesthetic logic. The urban dictionary lists it, as does wikipedia, and I’m all for everyone using it whenever possible, so that it becomes a legitimately recognized word.
practice 08-16-08
practice bold as love.
practice has so many uses, purposes, applications, faiths, disciplines, and medicinal dosages. Practice makes possible many impossibilities.
I want to practice practicing
forever
and ever.
parsley 08-15-08
from Nancy Snakes-on-a-Plane Nash
With all the animal life underground and in the oceans, fish who live in bottles, hagfish with no spines, caddisfly larvae making gorgeous designer gowns, and termite queens just chomping away—We're just parsley, sitting on top.
"Parsley" It's a cute word to say: Parsley parsley, snakes-on-a-plane.
ootheca 08-14-08
How can you not LOVE a word that starts with "o-o" ?
I can't even begin to pronounce it.
A' ootheca usually contains many eggs surrounded by a foam of protein which may then harden into a tough casing for protection.
eggcorn 08-13-14
A creatively appropos common word mistake: as in duck tape for duct tape; or preying mantis for mantis religiosa, or praying mantis.
pish 08-12-08
via Beau Valtz
Is it Yiddish? Or is it British? It's better without the "posh." Most breath per least sound. A perfect brush off. Explosive.
zitsfleisch 08-11-08
from George Rosol
It's a Yiddish word . . . meaning the-put-butt-in-chair-ability (and physical body-part) literally "sits flesh". Some people have it; some don't. Kids generally don't have much zitsfleisch. Some people can wear out your zitsfleisch.
pheromone 08-10-08
I can't think of a more "powerful" person place or thing, one that is imperceptible to all but our subconcious minds, or a part of our mind that is superconcious, perhaps.
No matter whose pheromones are being discussed, I always picture a moth when I hear the word pheromone, and I picture it brushing a few scales from its "dusty" wings. I guess pheromone is the closest adult equivalent of "fairy dust." I never realized is starts with the same sounds. Maybe fairies are really "pheries"?
cannoli 08-09-08
This had to be my word today because I was trying to spell it and tried several times; each one wrong. It's a great word to sing, if not to write. It's not been in my writing, but it HAS been in my speech weekly if not daily. Because . . . yum.
spillikins 08-08-08
from Miranda Vinograd
Have you seen the Victorian version of pick up sticks? They were carved out of ivory, and they were all shaped like little tools, hammers,saw, and all that. Spillikins!, they were called.
talaria 08-07-08
from Tom Morse
They are the winged sandals that Hermes wore--messenger of the gods, symbol of medicine. My doctor, when i was a child, had a gorgeous statue of Hermes in his office . . . and I was like, "Dad! Look at that guy! He's got wings on his feet!!" . . . And it comes from the Greek word for ankle , I think--talus.
It came up in a conversation. The Hinkley sailboat--Hinkley is a yacht company in Maine, and someone asked me how you can tell when a boat is a Hinkley. All sailboats have a stripe along the side and at the end of the stripe, on a Hinkley, is a talaria symbol.
screed 08-06-08
from Patrick CIviello
One of my favorite words is SCREED.
The definitions of "screed" are vastly different. First it describes a (usually) bitter attack on someone or thing but the second describes a tool or movement to smooth out a project for improved appearance. The first definition is aggressive in nature, but the second describes "how to make things better"--screed it out.
But my favorite reason why I like the word SCREED is the roller-coaster ride the word gives your tongue when phonetically pronouncing it. Check this out by saying the word in super-slow-motion with breaks between each sound:
s-k-r-ee-d.
I just like how the tongue travels from the front of the mouth to the back, then front again to pronounce it.
(I get the same feeling from the word
masked--but that's another day.)
moggy 08-05-08
British word for a cat. As in, "How's the moggy?" "Where's the moggy?" "What would the moggy like?"
rhinokinetic 08-04-08
from Ryan "rhino" Evans (appropriately)
Darcy and I heard the word 'rhinokinetic' used yesterday in relation to the prehensile bill of the American Woodcock, the Short-Billed Dowitcher and other long-billed shorebirds. We immediately thought of your word list.
Haven't been able to find a definition or a citation, but it might actually be real. Who knows?!?!
Here's a couple of photos that demonstrate the amazing ability:
http://www.jeaniron.ca/Shorebirds/2008/lbdowitcher.htm
http://ag-edit.lightlink.com/view_caption.php?image_id=121357
pat 08-03-08
from Holly Hartman
I'm liking the noun "pat," specifically the meaning of "a little piece."
The other night at Whole Foods my haul included pat of butter, and two cashiers had this exchange:
Cashier 1: How much is a pat?
Cashier 2: Twenty-five cents. (pause) I LOVE the word "pat"!!!
Hear this, I realized, I love the word "pat" too! [Ditto for me too, Holly!]
pace-pace 08-02-08
from Jonathan Gross
(pronounced "Potchey Potchey") - an expression in Ladino (a Spanish dialect spoken by Sephardic Jews) that comes from the word for peace and means to make up with someone or to resolve a conflict. As in, "You and Lois had quite an argument yesterday - have you made pace-pace yet?" Quite different from the Yiddish expression "potch" meaning to slap or hit ("Do that one more time and I'll potch you in the tuchus!")
potch 08-01-08
potch opal.