Wordplay Wednesday™ July 8, 2015 – CARK: Worry not

Worry not lexicographers … it’s all in how you say it!

Do you wonder why certain words lose popular favor and fall into the “Archaic” category?

Language is mutable and transient by decades, fads, cultures, and eras. Sigh. Nothing ever stays the same. So, what’s changed in your vocabulary?

You're not thinking fourth dimensionally!

Is today’s language making you long for a back to the future trip? There’s a word for that …

Ah, don’t CARK your pretty little head about it … yep, this week’s word is rarely used. Even dear ol’ Webster calls it archaic.

CARK (kärk) – (archaic; vt., vi.) to worry or be worried; n. distress; anxiety. [Worry not!]

Why do archaic words continue to hang out in current dictionaries, taking up space? Good question – Mr. Webster, are you reading this?

For obvious reasons, Noah Webster is one of my heroes. Not only was he the epitome of lexicographers, but he was considered a fringe Founding Father of the United States. (Appropriate for one of this month’s Wordplay Wednesday entries, right?)

A teacher following the American Revolution, Webster abhorred how outdated the school system had become. Children still read primers from England, with books’ text “… often pledging their allegiance to King George. Webster believed that Americans should learn from American books, so in 1783, he wrote his own textbook: A Grammatical Institute of the English Language.” Do you know it by its nickname? ...

Wordplay Wednesday™ July 1, 2015 – Fetial: not fecal

Are you familiar with a FETIAL? Ancient Romans didn't wage war without one.

FETIAL – (fēʹshɘl) n. in ancient Rome, any of a group of priests who gave advice in the conduct of war, diplomatic negotiations, etc.

Kind of a conflict of interest wouldn’t you say? And it could be mistaken for fecal – you know what that means … 

Joke! Joke! Please don’t vilify me. It’s just a fun play on words (hence, “Wordplay”!). Of course, war isn’t funny – but we need to return to a way of lightening the mood in times of stress, by way of humor, regardless the topic.

This weekend’s Freedom Holiday is a great time to start.

Did you notice? The definition of fetial began with, “in ANCIENT Rome,” groups of priests counseled war leaders. Yet we have learned nothing since the 8^th century B.C. Sadly, humor, once an American pastime of relief from daily life, has been crushed by violence …

Wordplay Wednesday™ June 24, 2015 - Unwind Hump Day

Are you Bound Up, Wound Up? Unwind with Wordplay Wednesday™ June 24, 2015

 
Sometimes your stress level by Wednesday causes your body to bind up and refuse to cooperate. Do you turn to a “natural” laxative to relieve your tension?

ALOIN – n. a bitter, crystalline cathartic [laxative] prepared from the aloe.

Ah, drag your minds outta the gutter ladies and gents. It is not something to rub on one side of your loins … pronounced AL-O-IN, it’s a chameleon of the medicinal plant world. At once, beneficial but quite possibly deadly.

And you might have recognized the first three letters as part of “aloe,” a soothing, medicinal plant that protects and heals. Well, ALOIN is prepared from the aloe rind, however, beware … its properties are vastly different from the gel we know and love, and can be toxic. What's the difference ... ?

Wordplay Wednesday™ June 17, 2015 – AZO-what?

Ever have a day when you feel like a barren wasteland, devoid of internal resources – lifeless? You have just entered an AZOIC zone. (California drought, anyone?)

AZOIC – adj. 1) without any life (an azoic ecological zone); 2) designating or of the earliest part of the Archean Eon, when there was no life on earth [the ultimate Peace on Earth, right?]

Though still used minimally as a geologic description for the age of rocks formed before life popped up, it lost favor before the 1950s to “Archean,” or “Archaeozic,” proving its azoic worth, I guess.

Now you can say you learned something new today and you have a great “Z” word to amaze your opponents in word games.

Read on for a few lively quotes about how education, books, and spelling affects lives:

Wordplay Wednesday™ June 10, 2015 – Fetch, MARLY!

Some words just make you want to slam the laptop shut, grab a beer and go play with the dog … or whatever outdoor activity you prefer … that goes with beer.

So let’s seize the day with a brew and watch MARLY fetch! Um, well, not exactly. 

 

Actually, MARLY is just a lazy clump of clay. It won’t charge after the ball no matter how many times you yell, “Get the ball, MARLY, get the ball!”

MARL(Y): n. (adj.) soft, crumbly mixture of clay, sand, and limestone in varying proportions, typically containing shell fragments [and you thought it was just a cute dog name].

It’s often useful, I learned, to fertilize soils low in lime. OK … that sounds like MARLY-the-dog behavior.

If you don’t want to be confused as to which one to throw the ball for, the lump of clay or lump of fur, try one of these other popular dog names on for size … Giggles (teehee) … Bozo (had a dog once that should have had that name) … how about Porkchop? Now I’m just hungry. See all 20 funniest dog names for 2015.

'Til next time ... have a "wordful" week!

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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