Two-Fer Thursday Wordplay--in a Throwback Mood
I lost Wednesday … missed it completely. I’m
wondering if it quaked
and was swept away with the news of Hurricane Matthew looming over our East Coast shorelines. A sure sign summer (and my Wednesday)
have left the building!
To make up for the “day late and dollar short”
belated Wordplay
Wednesday, we have a Two-Fer
Thursday Wordplay with a throwback twist … and thoughts of my friends watching the tides and times of
Matthew.
COTIDAL (kō tidʹl) adj. – indicating the coincidence in time or extent of tides (cotidal
lines on a map). [TFT 1 of 2 / WW
#80]
At times the dictionary is less than helpful
in defining a word or phrase, as in cotidal. Back to school I went—and after
much scientific gobbledygook, I settled on Wiki’s relatively clear explanation
of its meaning.
In part, cotidal Wiki explains,
“Lines of constant tidal phase are called cotidal
lines, which are analogous to contour lines of constant altitude on topographical
maps. High water is reached simultaneously along the cotidal lines extending
from the coast out into the ocean, and cotidal lines (and hence tidal phases)
advance along the coast.” Kind of the “eye of the storm” in cotidal-speak.
There is SO much more to read there, but study time is up for me! How's-about something for you to do if you’re hunkering down, hoping
to stay connected while you weather the storm?
If you’re not quite ready to let estival
days of idyllic beaches fade into the annals of time, I’ve dredged up three
movie titles that bring back estival fun personified. (With a fond
nod to a classic Elvis film):
Blue Hawaii / Elvis Presley (1961; even this 3-minute trailer is a warm boost of estival
energy)
Beach Blanket Bingo / Frankie Avalon & Annette Funicello
(1965)
Back to the Beach / Frankie & Annette are back! (1987)
Cowabunga, dude! Let’s go surfin’ now, everybody’s learnin’ how, come on a “Safari” with me! ♪ Oh, sorry—this is October. He did the mash, he did the “Monster Mash”! ♪ (Coming soon to a radio near you …)
Word Challenge: COTIDAL / ESTIVAL. The summer reference is easy—writing about a
complicated currents and tides reference, not so much. Can you fit them both
into your week of writings?
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