Wishbone Soup Cures Everything

Potentially edgy, I thought, on first reading today's random word, though Fowler's is concerned with the noun signifying a clamp (vise, in American English, this word coming from the Latin for 'vine') and the titular application, as in vice admiral (meaning next in line or in place of. This word from the Latin for 'change.') But the idea was to take the word as a starting point: was it? I forget my own purpose, here, and stare out of the window. Daydreaming like most habits can be considered as a positive behaviour or as a vice (the naughty kind, which word stems from the Latin for 'fault.') It is a matter of perception and balance. Cake, for example, and let's make it a big creamy chocolate stack, is not packed with nutritional necessities. A lot of it will cause you harm. A little (or enormous) slice now and then, however, is a reminder to have fun in your life. If you get the balance wrong, your health suffers. It would be sensible to r

In Fowler's, this phrase refers mainly to geographical terms: down south, up north. Growing up in Cornwall was somewhat insular and we referred to everything that was placed northerly to us as being 'up country.' Only when you are a mere infant it is more 'Upcountry,' as though it forms a different land.  If you go Upcountry, they'll put allsorts in, call it a pasty, 's a disgrace. And, if there is an up and a down, who says the earth is flat? Stuff is simple and yet puzzling when you are four. On a tilted link, then; sliding into childhood language; here are some words I use that I rarely remember are dialect: Addled (broken) Cack (poop) Cakey (feeble, from the saying 'put in with the cakes took out with the buns') Chacks (cheeks) Cheel (child, usually a girl) Furze (gorse bush) Gawky (stupid) Heller (naughty) Kiddlywink (unlicensed beer shop, also I love 'kiddly broth' for cheap soup) Mind (remember)

The most ordinary word that my random dictionary searches have given up do far: the most frequently used word in the whole of the English language. Used to add specifics to a noun, though some explanations say it is used to restrict a noun's meaning: both views are valid. The result is the same: it points to a particular, a definite, hence the title. It is something I like to look out for whilst editing (and I self-edit so if you find numerous examples of a misplaced 'the' please be kind) because whilst attempting to type at the speed of thought one does chuck out rough words and clogged up phrases and whether a thing is any thing or that specific thing and why care about it is easily overlooked. It makes a difference though. 'The birds in the hedge' specific yet bland 'Birds in a hedge' could be any place with birds and at least one hedge, allows space for reader to relate to own experience 'Birds in this hedge' specific and more ly

A poem composed of 14 lines. [Reads dictionary explanation, yawns: not fully attentive] The English convention is 10 syllables for each of these, and a choice of styles: Petrarchan, Shakespearian or Miltonic being our main three. They differ in rhyme scheme and pacings of octaves (first eight lines) and sestets (last six lines, aka sextets.) And it should be Iambic (the rhythm that runs soft LOUD soft LOUD.) [Nods head absentmindedly: facts are read with some recall, except:] 'Why these particular numbers?' [Scratches head to denote thought] They are pleasantly even They fit musical forms (sonnet from the Italian, 'little song') They are long enough to set up and answer a question or two, not so long the reader loses track/interest Long enough to play with form and make different styles from one format: a sort of literary franchise? It proved popular, so writers kept at it The Shakespearian form breaks mostly into 3 quatrains (4 line sta

Posting late today- blaming those Little Grandchildren for their persistently welcome distractions. Today we went chocolate making at the Eden Project. Back home to build a bonfire, eat homemade burgers, watch Frozen (love the summer smitten snowman) eat some more chocolate and finally ease sleep in to the seriously overtired with several Dr Seuss stories. This week's dictionary of choice is the R.W Burchfield's 1998 revised third edition of New Fowler's Modern English Usage. It gives me a phrase, but I think it counts, and it makes my late post an easy post so I accept it. Last night: The Little Grandchildren played tug of war. Grandad joined in. Little Grandson (Age 4) suggested to Little Granddaughter (Age 2) that, together, they could beat Grandad. She, being in agreement, promptly dropped the rope and punched Grandad in the chest. Quite a nice punch too, Granma noted, but mostly she was laughing.

Mr, Boy and me have been building a shed. This project started October 1st 2012, when we turned up in the car park of a supermarket that was refitting its trolley bays. Mr had a vision, permission to remove the decommissioned bays and a hired van. It was excellent and perilous fun (like giant Meccano that can fall on you and squish your bones.) We took three of the old bays, I think, with some minor flesh wounds. Last summer Project Polytunnel commenced (going well, although more space is used storing the future shed flooring than for growing.) This year, Project Shed is under way. The satisfaction layers up: that we saw potential, that we worked hard, that we took a risk, that people who thought we were bizarre may still think that but they also have visible shed envy, that here is a space we made coming to fruition. Not until the light is fading and the last of the outer paneling fixed is the daily writing routine approached. I almost can't be bothered to find a rando

Polonaise , the dictionary selector dumps on me this morning. A what? I can read the definition but what to make of it in terms of producing a post that contains any kind of illumination? Some further research is pursued. Strong coffee is brewed. Notes, gleaned from the Encyclopedia Brittanica: 'polonaise,  Polish polonez ,  dignified ceremonial dance, 17th-19th century, opened court balls. Origin- warrior’s triumphal dance? Music used 1573, coronation Henry of Anjou, King of Poland. Dancers, in couples according to social position, promenaded, gliding steps accented by bending the knees slightly on every third step. 3/4 time. Used as musical form by Beethoven, Handel, Mussorgsky, Chopin.' I am then distracted (or am I being inspired? That's a perpetual conundrum of any writer) by something not revealed in the dictionary definition: ' robe à la polonaise , woman's garment of the later 1770s and 1780s similar revival style 1870s inspired by

So far the random word selecting process has given a random list, this was not a surprise. But yesterday's nonagenarian and today's old seem at first too similar. The first definition of old in this week's dictionary is '1. Having existed or lived for a relatively long time.'  Ah, but old is a word related to a wider concept of time, I like the last one best:  '2. Having a specified age…  3. Dear or cherished through long association.' The next column in the O section is taken up with associated words: old boy, olden, Old English, old-fashioned, old hat, old man's beard, Old Master, old school tie, oldster, Old Testament, old-timer, old wives' tale, Old World. It's a lovely jumble, though it occurs to me that many of these words can be used with affection or in a derogatory way. That long association can also breed contempt, I suppose. The difficult thing about hanging around for some time is to keep (and to express)

(Iris Apfel: portrait from Pinterest) Nonagenarian is the word of today's random selection (from the Latin nonageni - ninety each.) Spoken aloud ( say nonna-j'n- air ian) it has a lively, almost flirtatious feel. Which is how one would wish to be, in one's tenth decade of living. My How To Be Old Wish List includes: I will wear mostly sequined dresses and Wellington boots I will sunbathe nude in a fragrant garden I will swim in wild water I will walk and meditate and, after some kindly thought to the matter, tell the blunt truth always. More people are living longer and staying lively, it seems; this study is fairly typical: Lively Nineties Trend : reassuring for those of us who relish the idea of being old and delightfully sparky, of concentrating eccentricities and allowing Buddha-nature full bloom. But: uh oh: there's a but! 'While the study suggests people are living better after 90, they have to make it to their 10th decade first,

Once upon a time, that time being approximately 1915, there were two little aerodromes in a big, scary world. In between them ran a teeny road, called Plough Lane, a hark back to even older times. When the aerodromes linked into one Croydon Airport, the lane was still open to public traffic: halted by a man with a red flag if a plane was due. Somewhere in the 1920s a gate was installed: times were getting less quaint, more pragmatic. Croydon was the main London Airport and a pioneer of air traffic control. It is not exactly clear (from first Google search) when Frederick Stanley Mockford (1897 - 1962) became the senior radio officer, nor exactly what event prompted nor what particular date it happened but it does seem reasonable that he was asked to think of a word that would convey an emergency situation, easily understood by all pilots and ground staff. It is likewise reasonable and feasible, since much of the early days air traffic was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airpo

This week's dictionary is my dear old friend, the Heinemann English, which I received as a study aid in the year 1981. After Skeat's 1894 this seems rather modern, but Skeat has only been on my shelf for 10 years or so: Heinemann has 33 years of shared history. I can't remember when it lost the front cover. One day I will do some binding repairs, and I will keep it organic because I might take this one to my grave. And the first word it gives me is light-hearted adjective : while outside the sun is shining, the birds in full voice, the air has a feeling in it, a vibrant buzz, like someone has tapped the side of a cosmic crystal with a spoon of heavenly metal. Light-hearted has a Word Family ; light-heartedly , adverb , light-heartedness , noun ; such a lovely concept. Sun floods the moor tops: I have an urge to wander out to Feather Tor today, floating some floral print on a fine breeze. Back from the walk I will buy an ice cream from the little van, sit in t

Painting: Marc Chagall: The Birthday Reverend Skeat, etymologist, sometimes undermines the feeling that one has for a word; 'a salute with the lips' is sweet, but 'A kiss is a gust or taste, or something choice' is not so poetic. It is not his intention to bring us poetry here, only the historic journey. Kiss being a word that happens close, that puts two figures into one personal sphere, to think of it dispassionately seems inappropriate. The journey of language is bound up with the human journey: the historic spread of this tribe and that: the individual stumble and stride. The need to communicate, for practical terms of trade, for spiritual terms of connection, is a sort of fundamentalism that allows an open mind. Etymology, a word that travels from the Greek expressions; true, account, to speak ; is a study in connection; the connective spheres between languages; words on lips exchanged, not unlike the press of a kiss. The earth as viewed fr

Jaguar (picture from Flickr.com) Jagua from the Guarani language: a term used for tygers and dogs , according to the history written by Francisco Javier Clavigero. A world in which tigers and dogs are interchangeable is interesting, yes. But first I choose to look at the instant prejudice I detect in myself regarding a history of South America written by a non-South American in the year…? The dictionary I am working from this week is an 1894 edition, the Hist. of Mexico referred to most likely current to that, but that is the translation, so the original would be earlier, but I am not smart with numbers and these thoughts do not make for remarkable sentences, so I look online. Francisco was born in Mexico, it seems, of Spanish parents, September 9, 1731. His place of birth gives better credentials than expected, and furthermore: 'Clavijero's biographer, Juan Luis Maneiro, wrote:  'From the time of his boyhood, he had occasion to deal intimately with the indi

Illustrious , my random word selection presents. A word with French and Latin roots; this proffers no surprise. But to be termed 'a badly coined word' that props up the eyebrows. What snobbery of etymology is this? It is a dispute over the origin of -lustris, which is traceable to lustrum , to wash, or from the base luc- meaning light. The later option admitted as the more likely. But a blend of both creates an alloy that cannot detract. An image of bathing in light.

This random word selection is proving to be a great deal of spontaneous fun. Amusing that the spontaneity is a lure when I rarely plan a post ever at all! It must be something fundamental to my blogging experience. And my life: that has a vague plan too. Living in a temperate climate of course one can always blame the weather. Travels down, cloud to ground: This word from the Greek, 'A round pebble,' Rolls through Northern climes Into my language from the Anglo Saxon: 'Hagal:' a word to grunt When the sky spits ice. Descriptive truth of that guttural utterance Plain as a cold weathered rock.

At first it was obvious, gentry being the word the blind finger pointed out, I should write about social inequality . Notes: I love the history of the big houses: shun the social sectioning… My politics are not politic: they are humanitarian, they are ecologically sensible... Looking at the origins of the word, is it possible to determine how clan became class… And class, nothing without cash, or the illusion of it… Whilst these thoughts trough and peak, a random searchlight throws out over the vast cybersea… Google it… everyone's answer to everything… What's this? Flotsam, jetsam, art… An artist, working with recently obsolete media: and I think of how the swift turnover in design is both progress and wasteful and how the human element is the element I am most drawn to even in this overwhelming volume of information. http://www.nickgentry.com/ 'What about a world in which, simply by living their lives, people create vast searchable recor