Extirpate – Wordplay Wednesday™ 03/28/18

Spring Cleaning with Meaning! 

Yes, it’s getting that time of year when we stretch, yawn, eye the winter’s dust and clutter … and go back to sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzz … wake up! ‘Tis time to do more than vacuum around everything …

EXTIRPATE (eksʹtɘr pāt) vt. – 1) to pull up by the roots, root out; 2) to destroy or remove completely, exterminate, abolish. [ WW #157]

Oh, where to begin?! Extirpate can apply to so many areas of life! Politics comes quickly to mind, as do drug cartels, violence, sexual predators; and that’s just society in general. We could use a wide, sweeping Spring Cleaning all around the country. However …

Thinking more personally, perhaps extirpate is a little harsh for Spring cleaning and gardening; it aptly applies though, to pulling yourself up by the roots, to move cross country or across town. 

Or sticking around home, you may be determined to extirpate the little garden buggers that in past planting seasons, have terrorized your tomatoes, lovely tulips, or window box garden.

Yes, Spring brings squeaky-clean and bright to mind as we shake the doldrums of winter to extirpate its lethargy, and welcome life to a re-awakening season.

Cheers to Spring!

 

Word Challenge: EXTIRPATE. In society and our lives, it’s time to re-assess our needs and goals for the “toss” and “keep” lists, as you fit extirpate into your week of springy writings.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

'Til next time ... Cheers to a wonderful "wordful" week … 

                       

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series, available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon, … The Psychedelic Seventies!

E-N-D

Zonule – Wordplay Wednesday™ 03/21/18

Zis is Zee Place! 

Some people, places, and a few letters of the alphabet, are commonly overlooked or made to appear smaller than their meaning might suggest …

ZONULE (zōnʹyōōl’) n. – a small zone, belt, band, girdle, etc.; adj. zonular. [ WW #156]

Dipping into the pool of “Z” words, we find a zonule of provocative words, compared to the much of the ho-hum alphabet. Often maligned, even the “X” steals the Z's thunder with z-sound words … think xylophone …

But zonule, frequently used when describing a tiny connector for the lens of our eyes, lends itself well to a thought-provoking alternative in your writing, where “a small zone” just won’t do.

Word Challenge: ZONULE. Think big with this miniscule word, as you fit zonule into your week of zzzzzzzzzzzzz writings.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

'Til next time ... Cheers to a wonderful "wordful" week … 

                       

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series, available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon, … The Psychedelic Seventies!

E-N-D

 

An Old Irish Proverb – Wordplay Wednesday™ 03/14/18

Even a Wee Bit o’ Irish will Help Your Heart

With a smidgeon o’ Irish in me blood, my brown eyes turn green around this time of year, and I get a weird lilt in my voice.

It’s even more pronounced this year, since 2018 is Officially the Year of the Irish Language. So I’m turning this week’s word of wonder into an old Irish phrase, for your Celtic learning pleasure.

Tá croí éadrom i bhfad níos faide: A light heart lives longest.*
[imTranslator.net; try as I did, could not locate an English pronunciation for us to practice. WW #155]

A simple but oh-so-true adage, don’t you think? Not always an easy task, for sure, but even on the darkest days (I’ve had more than I’d care to count), it always seems easier to bear, if I give myself an “attitude adjustment,” to lighten my heart.

Of course, my mood switch often involves Happy Hour. If your day goes awry early, though, forcibly break your mental state with music, a chat with a friend, writing creatively or journally (I know, I just made that up), pour your mind into a project, or other pleasant diversion. It feels so much better to smile than to frown.

If we don’t live longer because of it, at least we’ll live happier.

“Listen to our tunes, observe a Celtic scroll: we always decorate our essence.”

― Frank Delaney, Irish novelist, journalist and broadcaster.

I have just the sprightly attitude adjustment for you to lighten your mood with a bit o’ Irish wit! John F. Harnish is an Irish/Druid with a winsome sense of humor and a wicked way with words. His creative, fun tales of St. Patrick and the famous snakes, in Paddy’s Request, will tickle your funny bone and lift the corners of your mouth with inane glee.

We all now know that St. Patrick is not the true reason there are no snakes in Ireland. However, John weaves two short stories into almost-plausible prose, if you believe in fairy tales.

Enjoy Paddy’s Request for free, in Kindle Select, or on your favorite tablet for a pittance of $1.23. As one reviewer delighted in posting, “You won't go broke buying it, but you may split your sides reading it. I have been a collector of myths, tales, legends, and stories for almost 75 years. I've seen many of them in one form or another times over, but these are fresh for me. Read with delight what Paddy used instead of a pipe [a la piper] to lead the slithering thingies from Erin. Then read how the Leprechauns were involved in another explanation of how Paddy ridded Ireland of snakes. If neither of these satisfy you, write your own tale. It will likely be as true as these two.”

Word Challenge: Tá croí éadrom i bhfad níos faide. A light heart lives longest. If not in deed, at least in the memories of those we leave behind. Make more fond memories for your loved ones, as you fit Tá croí éadrom i bhfad níos faide into your week of Irish writings.

 

* While researching translators and Irish sayings, I was reminded that as in English, there are often different ways to say the same thing in Irish (and with diverse dialects). Originally, I culled Irish-Sayings.com to find the Wordplay Wednesday phrase. There, it was presented in Irish as: Maireann croí éadrom i bhfad. However, I found more than one translator that defined that Irish phrase as “A light heart survives longest.” Certainly in definition, basically the same, but not how their English phrase read. Just a little quirk to add to your week’s word learning!

Sin sin, níl aon scéal eile agam. (That's all, I don’t have any other story.) ~ Irish-Sayings.com.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

'Til next time ... Sláinte to a wonderful "wordful" St. Paddy’s Day/week … 

                       

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series, available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon, … The Psychedelic Seventies!

E-N-D