AWADmail Issue 267
June 24, 2007
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: Wordsmith.org (words wordsmith.org)
Subject: Interesting stories from the net
Tsarstruck:
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9339915
Babies Are Watching Your Language:
http://space.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19426065.500
Everybody Speaks English:
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=40599
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From: Jackie (carrerinyes gmail.com)
Subject: Ireland AWAD
Faith and begorrah! As a wee Dubliner myself it was a walk down memory
lane to see "Donnybrook" in AWAD this morning! This is a fashionable area
which is home to our television studios: Radio Telefis Eireann or RTE as it
is known there.
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From: Mary Feeney (mmfeeney aol.com)
Subject: Irish words
With my Irish ancestry, I enjoyed this week's theme and learning that all
the words are toponyms.
I'm reminded of a childhood joke:
Q: Why is Ireland the richest country?
A: Because its capital is always Dublin.
When I was a child this was ironic. The first time I visited Ireland, in
1968, I met a relation who was plowing a field with a donkey. The country
seemed decades behind the US. Now the donkey has been replaced by the Celtic
Tiger, and Eire ranks with the Scandinavian countries among Europe's
most prosperous.
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From: Stuart Tarlowe (starlowe earthlink.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--donnybrook
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/donnybrook.html
I sometimes use a fanciful letterhead or business card that reads:
Donnybrook, Melee, Fracas, Heyrube & Brannigan
Facial and Cranial Trauma Solutions Providers
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From: Liam Cannon (liam.cannon bt.com)
Subject: RE: A.Word.A.Day--donnybrook
I was pleased to see this week's collection of words derived from place
names in my own country.
I'd heard the word donnybrook used once or twice, mostly in relation
to melees in rugby games, but hadn't stopped to consider its origin.
Donnybrook these days is one of Dublin's most affluent and upper class
areas, so the word being descriptive of a free-for-all is somewhat ironic.
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From: Angela Baldo (origamifreak gmail.com)
Subject: limerick editorials
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/limerick.html
There's a wonderful blog in which the author comments on current news in
the form of extremely clever limericks: http://limericksavant.blogspot.com
Also, a couple of doctors publish Partners-In-Rhyme, a daily
newsletter that features limericks based on words from AWAD.
For info on this and other works based on words from AWAD, see:
http://wordsmith.org/awad/derivatives.html
-Anu Garg
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From: D Franks (david.franks cox.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--limerick
For a surprising and practical application of the limerick, visit The
Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form at http://www.oedilf.com
Although we are working through the alphabet in order, having set out to
define words beginning with Aa- through Ck- so far, there already are over
forty-one thousand limericks in the database. Submitted limericks are edited
through a workshopping process. We are happy to welcome new contributors,
and plenty of assistance is available by way of tutorials and interaction
with other OEDILFers.
----------------------------
From: Catherine Campbell (ccampbell cottey.edu)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--limerick
I must pass on to you the only CLEAN limerick I know:
There was a young girl from Madras
Who had the most beautiful ass.
It wasn't pink
As you might think,
But grey, had long ears, and ate grass!
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From: George Hesselberg (ghesselberg madison.com)
Subject: RE: A.Word.A.Day--limerick
I would like to thank you for making me the target in one of Wordsmith's
featured words this week: Limerick. You featured a limerick competition
I cooked up for the Wisconsin State Journal, where I was a columnist for
about 20 years and where I am now a reporter. We received hundreds of
limericks and pretend-limericks for the competition, which proves the art
is not dead and that a good limerick is not easy to write. Apparently, a
number of Wordsmith readers remember my columns, because I heard from a few.
----------------------------
From: Russell Connor (russadele nyc.rr.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--blarney
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/blarney.html
On one of those famous "root-seeking" tours for Irish-Americans,
I discovered my grandmother was born half-way between Blarney and
Mullarkey. I was slightly distressed to discover this is no surprise at
all to my friends.
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From: Guru Guruswamy (b.a.guruswamy btinternet.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--blarney
I did kiss the Blarney stone about 40 years ago... not sure if it made any
difference in my case. It was a good exercise though as you have to lie on
your back and virtually drop your head down in a gap to reach it. May be
the contortion improves the performance of the vocal cord!
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From: Linda Owens (lindafowens netzero.net)
Subject: blarney
I did not kiss the Blarney stone last summer for three reasons:
1) my husband told me I was already glib enough
2) a kid who had lived locally told us that the local kids peed on the rock
at night, and
3) my knees were not up to hanging upside down due to ACL (anterior cruciate
ligament) replacements.
----------------------------
From: Lisa Bogart (labogart juno.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--shillelagh
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/shillelagh.html
A shillelagh is traditionally used as a walking stick, made out of
blackthorn which is becoming a very dear resource. My brother has in his
possession my late grandfather's shillelagh, purchased in Ireland many
years ago. The shillelagh can often be seen being used by gentlemen (and
others) during the course of the St. Patrick's Day Parades held in the US.
----------------------------
From: C.Hessels (v.hessels versatel.nl)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--carrageen
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/carrageen.html
I did gather carrageen at the southwest coast and made the Blancmange
(always associated with this seeweed). It is good.
Recipe:
1/3 cup of moss
2 cups of milk
o Gather fresh moss on the beach.
o Rinse well in cold water and spread in the sun to dry (or buy dried at
a drugstore) .
o When ready to use, soften 1/3 cup of moss by covering it in cold water
for 15 minutes.
o Drain and add two cups of milk.
o Cook in a double boiler for 30 minutes without stirring.
o Strain into a bowl or molds, and cool -- it thickens only on cooling.
o Serve with jam, light flavored cream, crushed sweet almonds, chocolate
sauce, or fruit.
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From: C.Hessels (v.hessels versatel.nl)
Subject: quotation
As much as I like the daily words, I always find the quotations a pleasure
to read as well. Today's :
"It might be a good idea if the various countries of the world would
occasionally swap history books, just to see what other people are doing
with the same set of facts. -Bill Vaughan, journalist (1915-1977)"
This I learned by reading The Duke of Alba ( 1507-1582 ) by Henry Kamen, an
English writing author born in Rangoon 1937, who specializes in the history of
Spanish imperialism and the Inquisition. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1647
Very interesting to read about this period and the life of "The Butcher of
Flanders" from the Spanish imperialistic perspective (the 80-year-war was
mainly a religious war).
When discussing the book with a close friend, we discovered that she (raised
a Catholic) and I (raised a Protestant) had received totally opposite
history lessons about our national history over this turbulent period.
In both our religion-bound elementary schools.
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From: Carole Yeaman (carole.yeaman sympatico.ca)
Subject: Swapping history books
Between Quebec (French Canada) and ROC (the rest of Canada) -- this exercise
has proved to be a real whack on the head. Growing up as the (minority)
English-speaking Quebecer in the 1950s our version of our country's history,
I was later to discover, is astonishingly almost point for point the reverse
of the French version. "Two Solitudes" -- the familiar and very precise
description of Canada.
............................................................................
A different language is a different vision of life. -Federico Fellini, film
director and writer (1920-1993)
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