tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post6931977567975630726..comments2024-03-29T05:33:43.878-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: Playing With WordsOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-52912959734732717202013-11-11T15:21:50.284-05:002013-11-11T15:21:50.284-05:00Thanks, Zoë! Although, I'm not sure if it was ...Thanks, Zoë! Although, I'm not sure if it was a typo, or if you were just playing some meta-head-game with us when you wrote:<br /><br />"...but it’s derived from clew, being the ball of threat that guides through the labyrinth, as well as..."<br /><br />I imagined the next paragraph was going to be something about how our culture suffers from a threat of violence because of the thread of violence that runs through every individual.<br /><br />Or maybe not. Maybe my head is just fuggy from too little sleep. Great fun none-the-less! Even if I did have to put up with Jeff's inveterate punning. Or should that be invertebrate punning???<br /><br />But really, it's a good thing that most words have so many different meanings. Otherwise, if each word had but one meaning, think how many more letters we'd have to have in the alphabet in order to spell the hundreds of thousands of new words we'd need!<br /><br />Everett Kaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12371555243187874414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-35979313038858163772013-11-11T13:12:41.489-05:002013-11-11T13:12:41.489-05:00Wait a minute, one of you may be right and one of ...Wait a minute, one of you may be right and one of you discreet, and as discrete as you each certainly are in your styles, I can't tell who's who without a scorecard. Any chance on one of you award winning seers adding on a further tag to your moniker as is done for keeping track of a bevy of widely wandering roe bucks?Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-19447165155086295652013-11-11T13:12:01.049-05:002013-11-11T13:12:01.049-05:00Wait a minute, one of you may be right and one of ...Wait a minute, one of you may be right and one of you discreet, and as discrete as you each certainly are in your styles, I can't tell who's who without a scorecard. Any chance on one of you award winning seers adding on a further tag to your moniker as is done for keeping track of a bevy of widely wandering roe bucks?Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-25457802774691605602013-11-11T12:57:40.665-05:002013-11-11T12:57:40.665-05:00Michael, I'm afraid you are write. Righters a...Michael, I'm afraid you are write. Righters are not allowed more than one mistake. Never mind. You are still most welcome on this blog (hint, hint).<br />Michael Sears (the other one)<br />Michael Sears (of Michael Stanley)https://www.blogger.com/profile/09886295534214542834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-11844841176622045732013-11-11T10:04:52.735-05:002013-11-11T10:04:52.735-05:00I have just discovered that when writing I confuse...I have just discovered that when writing I confuse discrete with discreet, something I never do while speaking -- I discovered this because my editor pointed it out! More than once. May a writer use either word more than once in a mss? Aren't there rules for that kind of thing?<br />Michael Sears -- Beardlesshttp://www.michaelsears.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-48043956496280891332013-11-11T02:34:33.338-05:002013-11-11T02:34:33.338-05:00Yeah, swallowing the gum doesn't look like a g...Yeah, swallowing the gum doesn't look like a good idea, does it? In fact, I'm pretty sure I was told as a child that is exactly what would happen ...<br /><br />Of course I'll give Yrsa a hug from you. Although carefully, as I still have a cracked rib!Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-84676991965196353112013-11-10T21:01:35.880-05:002013-11-10T21:01:35.880-05:00I certainly won't swallow chewing gum from now...I certainly won't swallow chewing gum from now on Zoe!<br />Have fun in Iceland and give Yrsaa a hug, please. Cara Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14592098418515886674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-86109162866991768402013-11-10T17:58:03.969-05:002013-11-10T17:58:03.969-05:00I agree. They are lovely, all of them. The challen...I agree. They are lovely, all of them. The challenge will be to slip them into everyday conversation before the meanings can be forgotten.Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-12678846127505184392013-11-10T17:57:05.845-05:002013-11-10T17:57:05.845-05:00Hi Alan. Wow, Smirkle rings a bell, but I've n...Hi Alan. Wow, Smirkle rings a bell, but I've never come across shilpit or Wersh before. The latter seems more descriptively apt than the former somehow. I wonder what the derivation is?<br /><br />Hmm, where's my dictionary ...Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-12914291676915576032013-11-10T17:54:35.402-05:002013-11-10T17:54:35.402-05:00Love the idea of your Webster's taking such pr...Love the idea of your Webster's taking such pride of place. I can lose myself in a comprehensive dictionary, and am equally lost without access to one. Online help just isn't the same as leafing through those pages, is it?<br /><br />And yes, I agree about Yrsa!Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-70086777687138620012013-11-10T16:01:57.972-05:002013-11-10T16:01:57.972-05:00Wonderful words, Alan. Thanks.Wonderful words, Alan. Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-36438148827688717482013-11-10T13:58:16.835-05:002013-11-10T13:58:16.835-05:00I’m going to stick three words into the debate; Sh...I’m going to stick three words into the debate; Shilpit which means that leggy look of supermodels and young foals. Now unfortunately used for that extreme thinness associated with drug abuse.<br /> I would use the word smirkle to mean that involuntary twitch of the lips when you know you have seen something that good taste says you should not find funny. It’s an innocent word though, with no smugness about it. Used when a two year old repeats a four letter swear word and the other throws you a look daring you to laugh. <br />Looking it up, others use it for nicking property, to carry or move in a covert manner , to disrupt an organised line up in some way or used as a noun to mean a practical joke.<br />Wersh is a great word which refers to that taste that makes you pull a face – bitter lemony but not quite!<br />AlanCakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10036382225600300541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-47822526483483129202013-11-10T09:37:42.611-05:002013-11-10T09:37:42.611-05:00"Swanky" is in my Webster's Unabridg..."Swanky" is in my Webster's Unabridged Second Edition, which to this Yank's way of thinking is the best dictionary ever. Mine sits on a antique bible stand near my desk--an apt location because it is my idea of a bible. Have a great time in Iceland. Being near Yrsa will keep you warm.Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-54357371476156356272013-11-10T09:29:06.486-05:002013-11-10T09:29:06.486-05:00Pusillanimous is a particularly nice one, isn'...Pusillanimous is a particularly nice one, isn't it? I always thought swanky was pure slang. Nice to find it has a proper definition. Bit like a jiffy, which is an informal word for a short period of time, but was actually put forward by Gilbert Newton Lewis as a unit for the length of time it takes light to travel one centimetre.<br /><br />Yeah, I'm SO looking forward to Iceland, even if I am packing all my thermals!Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-3796372901931345422013-11-10T08:41:45.170-05:002013-11-10T08:41:45.170-05:00Zoe, I love this game because I love words, too. ...Zoe, I love this game because I love words, too. Especially ones that feel wonderful on the tongue. Here are my entries:<br />Pusillanimous - irresolute, fainthearted, cowardly (especially lovely when applied to politicians who stand for nothing but themselves.)<br />Swanky - which I always use as a compliment to describe something that is expensive and attractive, but it also means ostentatious, or slender and agile. In another incarnation, it means inferior ale or beer.<br />Bodacious - impressive, excellent, admirable, attractive, remarkable, gutsy. I like to apply it to certain very attractive males, and particularly to my splendid nine-year-old grandsons.<br />I will be a good colleague and not express my envy that you are going to Iceland and I am not. Oh, wait. I just did. Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-70450975035598164932013-11-10T07:49:44.936-05:002013-11-10T07:49:44.936-05:00A pale but interesting peach Melbourne?
I'm l... A pale but interesting peach Melbourne?<br /><br />I'm looking forward to Iceland, and will certainly pass on your big hug :))Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-41170503600595200712013-11-10T07:45:29.917-05:002013-11-10T07:45:29.917-05:00OK, just realised you said fubsy and I said fusby....OK, just realised you said fubsy and I said fusby. Close but no cigar for me ... Both just as interesting though!Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-53155248751853305072013-11-10T04:47:46.918-05:002013-11-10T04:47:46.918-05:00If wandering about homelessly results in posts lik...If wandering about homelessly results in posts like this one, Zoe,I can't wait to read the book you'll be penning! And from the way you and Stan are going back and forth at it with the words, there's nothing left for me to do but ask one question: If a blanquet is a pear and a blanquette a ragout, what pray tell is a Cake Blanchett?<br /><br />I know, I'd best stop with the (lousy) punning before it becomes a Hobbit.<br /><br />Enjoy Iceland and big hug to Yrsa from me.Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-26601805923202750162013-11-10T02:41:13.918-05:002013-11-10T02:41:13.918-05:00Fusby is a lovely word. Apparently it also means a...Fusby is a lovely word. Apparently it also means a , ahem, lady of ample proportions in all directions. Fusby was one of the words the Telegraph was campaigning to rescue a few years ago, along with skirr, (the whirring or grating noise of birds' wings in flight) vilipend (to regard with contempt) embrangle (to confuse or entangle) and oppugnant (to be combative, contrary or antagonistic).Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.com