AWADmail Issue 240
December 17, 2006
A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day
and Other Interesting Tidbits about Words and Languages
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From: Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)
Subject: Interesting stories from the net
Researchers and Linguists Piece Together Dead Language:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003474779_algonquian13.html
They All Speak English:
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8418152
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From: Bernard Schweitzer (bpschw earthlink.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--jugulate
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/jugulate.html
J.S. Bach once broke his collarbone, and his doctors replaced it with a
metal one. It was, however, too flexible, so they replaced that one with a
collarbone made of specially heat treated steel. Thus, the "well tempered
clavicle."
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From: J.K. Mustang (mustangjkw hotmail.com)
Subject: RE: A.Word.A.Day--jugulate
Reminded me of a joke from "Reader's Digest".
Q: What do you do if you're attacked by a troupe of circus performers?
A: Go for the juggler.
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From: Howard Olivier (howard flyingpie.com)
Subject: RE: A.Word.A.Day--jugulate
Jugulatte: being willing to kill for a good cup of coffee.
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From: Carolyn and Joel Senter (sherlock sherlock-holmes.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--jugulate
I once broke my hand by stumbling while out walking for my health. I know
two people, actually three, who have died while "running for their health";
two heart attacks and one traffic fatality. If people would stay in bars
drinking and smoking, like nature intended, there would be fewer accidents
of this kind. We should all learn from our own mistakes!
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From: Ken Thornton-Smith (kenif yokenif.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--leadfoot
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/leadfood.html
I used to live in DC, and would regularly see a car with a West Virginia tag
bearing the legend: PB FT
----------------------------
From: Benjamin J. Day (benjamin.day bcpsoftware.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--skinflint
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/skinflint.html
Living here in the UK, a small part of the language we sometimes use is
that of the old east London tradition known as 'cockney rhyming slang'.
This old and alternative language originated with traders to communicate
with one another in the presence of customers with out them being able
to understand what they were saying. Hence 'slang', is short for secret
language. It's no longer used as it first was and has almost become a
novelty. There are even slang dictionaries produced each year where
celebrity's names, for example, become used in a number of new and
creative ways. One recent addition to the 'official' dictionary was
Britney Spears. As in "are you buying the Britney Spears", meaning
beers, of course. With this in mind, the term skinflint is also as in
cockney rhyming slang and means 'skint', which converted back into
standard English is the description of one having no money - those few
days before pay day, usually.
............................................................................
Men ever had, and ever will have leave, / To coin new words well suited to
the age, / Words are like Leaves, some wither every year, / And every year a
younger Race succeeds. -Horace, poet and satirist (65-8 BCE)
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