A.Word.A.Day -- AWADmail Issue 1199

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AWADmail Issue 1199

A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and Language

Sponsor’s Message: “I had a love-hate relationship with the Army. We both loved it before I joined. And we both hated it when I was in.” Johnny Mustard, Yuk, Retired is a highly-fictionalized account of our hero’s ignominious and thankfully brief time as a West Point cadet. Buy Now.

From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Nouning verbs, verbing nouns

What nouns have you verbed, what verbs have you noune? I asked readers this week. Here’s a selection:

Bin it! As in, get rid of something.
-Virginia Differding, Chicago, Illinois (differding ameritech.net)

Over the weekend I used DOGE as a verb: “That unit was doged, I think.” My compatriots in the meeting asked if DOGE is a verb now, and I suggested that since their effects were so wide-reaching and negative, it gets to be a verb. May the negative connotation of that verb be a lesson to future government departments and agencies.
-Sara Meyer, Cedar Springs, Michigan (sara.meyer erm.com)

At the No Kings Demonstration last Sat in Bethesda, MD, I heard a woman say, “I was doged.”
-Tamara Schoenbaum, Rockville, Maryland (tamholsch aol.com)

The local electric company tells us that they have undertaken a campaign to underground wires locally to decrease the likelihood of fires. Can’t they say bury?
-Babette Hiestand, Lexington, Kentucky (shorelinemomct yahoo.com)

Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy Johnny Mustard, Yuk, Retired. The Corps Has!

Hypotenuse: To cut out the right angle point and cut straight between two points. “He hypotenused through the park.”
-Steve Reinheimer, Lake Placid, New York (sreinheimer gmail.com)

Today, Jun 16 (celebrated the literary world over as Bloomsday, because of James Joyce’s Ulysses) I recommend bloom, which conjures up growth as a verb, then exuberance and beauty as a noun.
-June Barwick, Crystal Beach, Florida (junebarwick gmail.com)

I was involved in an effort to create a positive financial security process for the State of New York many years ago. My local assemblyman respected my persistence and relentlessness and described it as: to Ludsin the decision-makers.
-Steven A. Ludsin, East Hampton, New York (ludsin gmail.com)

The first nouns that come to mind for me are sense and nonsense. As in: “Open your eyes and sense up, partner. Tricky business ahead!”
“Enough nonsensing, kids, do your homework!”
-Allen Foster, San Francisco, California (allen fosterbrague.com)

I like to ankle: to walk in a relaxed, but purposeful fashion.
-Adam Britton, Trefeglwys, UK (Nottirbmada aol.com)

When I play cards with my sisters, I use the word canastacize to indicate that a canasta is being made (by myself or another). I also use a created adjective of the noun, canastable, to indicate when a meld has four or more natural cards in it. One of my sisters thinks this is all amusing, and the other sister just gets annoyed.
-June Hurt, Raleigh, North Carolina (june.hurt102 gmail.com)

When feeding horses we give them grain so eventually that evolved into “Have you grained the horses?”
-Karen Roland, Greensburg, Kentucky (blueorchidoasis yahoo.com)

The same is true of water. Have you watered the horses? or the garden? There is even unwatering a mine.
-Billie J Grey, Washington, DC (via website comments)

I went kayaking recently, and wrote later: Swans flotilla across the bow, while formations of geese wheel and school upon landing.
-Hamish Nixon, Hamilton, Canada (hamish.nixon gmail.com)

From: John Ruebusch (ruebusch.john gmail.com)
Subject: Eddy

I am unable to hear the word eddy without thinking of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

“I have detected,” [Ford Prefect] said, “disturbances in the wash.”
...
Arthur asked him to repeat what he had just said because he hadn’t quite understood his meaning. Ford repeated it.
“The wash?” said Arthur.
“The space time wash,” said Ford.
Arthur nodded, and then cleared his throat.
“Are we talking about,” he asked cautiously, “some sort of Vogon laundromat, or what are we talking about?”
“Eddies,” said Ford, “in the space-time continuum.”
“Ah,” nodded Arthur, “is he. Is he.”
“What?”
“Er, who is Eddy, then, exactly?”

John Ruebusch, Cincinnati, Ohio

From: Kent Rhodes (krho1 aol.com)
Subject: A Thought For Today

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The [Nobel] prize is such an extraordinary honor. It might seem unfair, however, to reward a person for having so much pleasure over the years, asking the maize plant to solve specific problems and then watching its responses. -Barbara McClintock, scientist, Nobel laureate (16 Jun 1902-1992)

McClintock’s discovery of transposable elements in the genes of organisms is, as the Nobel Prize demonstrates, one of the great discoveries explaining some of the mysteries of genetics. One can imagine that today her research would be cancelled. What a waste of government funds for some woman to learn anything important by looking at the color of corn kernels. But then, what do DOGgEd bureaucrats know about how science works?

Kent Rhodes, Charlotte, North Carolina

From: Bryan Todd (bryansink yahoo.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--eddy

With her maize plants Barbara McClintock came to see that she was dealing with organic living things, not just cold, thoughtless automata:

The conclusion seems inescapable that cells are able to sense the presence in their nuclei of ruptured ends of chromosomes, and then to activate a mechanism that will bring together and then unite these ends, one with another. ... The ability of a cell to sense these broken ends, to direct them toward each other, and then to unite them so that the union of the two DNA strands is correctly oriented, is a particularly revealing example of the sensitivity of cells to all that is going on within them. They make wise decisions and act upon them.
(From her Nobel lecture The Significance of Responses of the Genome to Challenge, Dec 8, 1983 (pdf).

A lot of scientists didn’t like her work in the early days. It didn’t fit their paradigm. That’s why her Nobel Prize came so late in life.

Bryan Todd, Lincoln, Nebraska

From: Brenda J. Gannam (gannamconsulting earthlink.net)
Subject: truckle

Paraphrasing Omar Khayyam ...

A truckle of cheese,
a trickle of wine, and thou, my lovely little treacle tart!

Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York

From: Marc Davidson (flueln hotmail.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--truckle

Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 4 Scene 5:

“There’s his chamber, his house, his castle, his standing-bed and truckle-bed. ‘Tis painted about with the story of the Prodigal, fresh and new. Go, knock and call. He’ll speak like an Anthropophaginian unto thee. Knock, I say.”

Marc Davidson, Ormond, Florida

From: Ron Betchley (emef2012 aol.com)
Subject: Gott mit uns

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The problem with being sure that God is on your side is that you can’t change your mind, because God sure isn’t going to change His. -Roger Ebert, film-critic (18 Jun 1942-2013)

Gott mit uns (‘God [is] with us’) is a phrase commonly used in heraldry in Prussia (from 1701) and later by the German military during the periods spanning the German Empire (1871-1918) and Nazi Germany (1933-1945) and until the 1970s on the belt buckles of the West German police forces.

Ron Betchley, Yarker, Canada

From: Ann Hiemstra (hiemstra.ann gmail.com)
Subject: shellack

We also have the word nael lak (nail varnish) in Afrikaans, the third most spoken of the 11 official languages in South Africa. Never would I have imagined that shellack is derived from the female (take note!) lac insect. This stimulated my further reading about these strange little creatures that are still farmed in a very old and cumbersome process. It also left me with much more appreciation for the polished look of my nail varnish and gleaming furniture, and ever so thankful for the smooth covering of the capsules that I take once in a while. Thank you for the daily never failing A.Word.A.Day!

Ann Hiemstra, Stilbaai, South Africa

From: Joe Holland (basic.joe wi.rr.com)
Subject: Shellack

I have also heard shellacked used to describe a drunk person.

Joe Holland, West Allis, Wisconsin

From: Jim Whitney (jawbass123 gmail.com)
Subject: Hone

I recently purchased a sharpening stone for our kitchen knives. The instructions indicated that using the stone to sharpen knives is only necessary a few times a year, but that it’s important to hone the knives before each use. This involves running the knife blade along a honing rod a few times, to straighten and align the blade. This doesn’t actually sharpen the knife, but rather it keeps the blade straight and in optimal working order.

Jim Whitney, Brooklyn, New York

From: Larry Snyder (ldsnyder dcn.davis.ca.us)
Subject: Errors

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
An error doesn’t become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.
-Orlando Aloysius Battista, chemist and author (20 Jun 1917-1995)”

Or as my quondam employer, harpsichord maker William Dowd, once told me, “It’s not a mistake until it leaves the shop.”

Larry Snyder, Davis, California

From: Alex McCrae (ajmccrae277 gmail.com)
Subject: truckle and brandish

I beg your pardon? Here, His Royal Lowness, KingTrump, responds to a servile vassal, who pleads for forgiveness, with a self-serving twist on his actual penchant for issuing pardons to people who were convicted of violent crimes, treason, felonies, tax evasion, fraud, scams and more.

The professional golfing community has always prided itself on playing a game bound by strict rules and on-course etiquette. Hence, golf has become universally recognized as “a gentleman’s game”. Here, our braggadocious young pro, wildly brandishing his winner’s trophy, has stretched the bounds of golf etiquette.

Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California

Anagrams


	This week’s theme: Nouning verbs, verbing nouns Eddy Brandish Truckle Shellack Hone	=	Trend; churn, then bubble Wield Grovel in shyness Varnish; knock out Make edges shine
			-Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2 gmail.com)
=	Wavy counter Non-meek snob gesture Sliding beds He’d kick hell ‘n even thrash Burnish	=	Trend, can churn, bubble Unveil then shake Monk doggedly serves his ikons Resin Whet
	-Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com)		-Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz)

Make your own anagrams and animations.

Limericks

eddy

The salt air at the beach made me heady.
For a brief, bracing swim I was ready.
But I did chicken out.
Here’s what that was about:
I imagined a possible eddy.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

The raft spun around in the eddy.
“I think we’ll go down!” panicked Teddy.
But his wife saved the day,
For she knew just the way
To make sure that their vessel held steady.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

Now Nelson, and gal pal Jeanette,
Had a sailing day they won’t forget.
When caught in an eddy
Approaching the jetty,
They thought they were goners, you bet.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

Sighed Donald, “Elon is so petty;
In my ocean, though, he’s a mere eddy.
There’s no longer a chance
To rekindle bromance;
I will miss our sweet time going steady.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

brandish

The torero did brandish his sword,
But the bull looked as though he was bored.
So they waltzed for a while,
But that bull had great guile,
And that bullfighter, sadly, was gored.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

All weapons that killers might brandish,
Like rifles and pistols, should vanish.
Your right to bear arms,
Just sets off alarms.
My wish is that all guns, we’d banish.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“Words of love I’m unable to brandish;
Would you talk to her?” asked Miles Standish.
So his friend Alden tried,
But Priscilla replied,
“John, please speak for yourself! How outlandish!”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

truckle

Have you heard about Fatty Arbuckle?
The silent film star didn’t truckle
When accused, as he was
Of murder, the buzz
Was persistent, but he wouldn’t knuckle!
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

The old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had children, a bunch, not a few.
She’d say, with a chuckle,
“They’ll sleep in a truckle,
And there they’ll lie down two by two.”
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“Before me, world leaders all truckle;
In my presence, their knees simply buckle,”
Said Donald. “It’s cool!”
But they think he’s a fool,
And behind his back have a good chuckle.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

And an encore presentation from Jun 2020:

The swaggerer, prone to swashbuckle,
Expects lesser mortals to truckle.
Their bluster’s a bore,
something we should ignore,
under which no one ever should knuckle.
-Zelda Dvoretzky, Haifa, Israel (zeldahaifa gmail.com)

shellack

Said the coach: “Let’s go out and shellack
Those Jets and, chop chop, send them back
To New York, whence they came.
They’ll remember this game.
Their big quarterback we’re gonna sack!”
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

The candidate whom I had backed
I’m sorry to say was shellacked.
So now we all know
That Trump 2.0
Is worse than his first term, in fact.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

Boy, we were shellacked in that game!
As a team, we have not been the same
You can only endure
So much shame before you’re
Bowing out ‘cause in fact you’re to blame!
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

She liked all things shiny and bright,
And lacquered most things in her sight.
But all this shellacking,
Set boyfriend Mel packing,
“Or she’d shellack me.” He took flight.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“Both the wabbit and duck I’ll shellack,”
Plotted Elmer; “my plan is on twack!”
But Bugs was too clever,
And “Can’t catch me - never!”
Said Daffy, and let out a quack.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

hone

With what skill, I was asked, does one hone
One’s proficiency on the trombone.
With this, come to grips:
That just puck’ring your lips
Won’t make music come out on its own.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

“I am sure that your skill you will hone,
And in no time you’ll better your tone.
To learn how to toot,
You must practice your flute --
Now for starters please put down your phone!”
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

I’m perpetually honing my skill
At limerick-writing, but still
When the week’s words are done
Anu only deems one
More than merely just run-of-the-mill!
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

“When writing a lim’rick.” Said Joan,
“Your rhyming skills, you have to hone.
And follow that meter,
For there’s nothing sweeter
Than reaching AWAD’s published zone.”
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“With the writing that’s found on this stone,
Our knowledge of Egypt we’ll hone!”
Said the British. “’Rosetta’
We’ll call it; we’d bettuh
Purloin it -- we’ll call it ‘on loan’”.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Puns

“Eddy Haskell doesn’t fool me,” said Ward Cleaver.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“For your eddy-fication, the Constitution guarantees due process and birthright citizenship,” the judge informed the Trump Administration.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Mr. Eddy-picted the amusing adventures of a talking horse.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

Eddy Albert and Eva Gabor were co-stars on Green Acres and close friends off screen.
-Janice Power, Cleveland, Ohio (powerjanice782 gmail.com)

“This brandish my favorite,” said Pete Hegseth, cradling a bottle of Jack Daniel’s in the Situation Room.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“You must consume more fiber! If you eat this good brandish, it will help your digestive issues,” the child’s mother told him.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“It’s called truckle-down economics,” punned the Teamsters’ Union president declaring a strike against UPS.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“If you elect Ginger president of the Ladies’ Art League, shellack a cooperative attitude like always,” warned her archrival.
-Janice Power, Cleveland, Ohio (powerjanice782 gmail.com)

What shellack-ed in talents, Sally made up with sheer enthusiasm.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“This sea-shellack-s the sound of the ocean,” said the bemused little boy holding it up to his ear.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“Big oil companies like Shellack any concern for the environment!” shouted Greta Thunberg.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“You haven’t got the co-hone-s to come and get me,” Governor Newsom challenged Donald.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

This book (All Quiet on the Western Front) is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war. -Erich Maria Remarque, novelist (22 Jun 1898-1970)

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