A.Word.A.Day -- AWADmail Issue 1160

A.Word.A.Day

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AWADmail Issue 1160

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

Sponsor’s Message: “Scrabble on steroids, with a thieving twist.” One Up! -- where stealing is the name of the game. “Darwinian fun.” A wicked smart gift. Game on.

From: David Warner (illahabadi hotmail.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--polyandry

I grew up in the province now known as Uttarakhand in India. In the vicinity of Chakrata a small community practiced polyandry.

David Warner, Beaverton, Oregon

From: Glenn Glazer (glenn.glazer gmail.com)
Subject: polyandry

I am reminded of this meme.

Glenn Glazer, Felton, California

From: Steve Benko (stevebenko1 gmail.com)
Subject: A combined form

Neohieroandry: The recently revived sacred duty of men to tell women what to do. First documented use: the 2022 Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. Later popularized by the 2024 Republican Vice Presidential candidate.

Steve Benko, New York, New York

Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy One Up! -- Perfectly-horrible travel fun.

From: Marni Hancock (mrh330 gmail.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--arthroplasty

In the distant past, circa 1972 or ‘73, I think, I did a bit of private duty nursing. One of my patients was a woman in her 70s who was recovering from a total hip replacement of the sort shown in the X-ray in today’s illustration. She was scheduled for two weeks in the hospital on complete bed rest before being allowed to sit up, and longer before she would be allowed to walk.

Last year while waiting with my sister in the pre-op area of a same-day surgery clinic, I heard a surgeon explain to the patient in an adjacent bed plans for his discharge home after his total hip replacement. When people talk about the wonders of life in the past I doubt they are considering the wonders of modern medicine.

And try to remember that unless you’re sick you want to avoid staying in a hospital. There are contagious sick people there. If a person doesn’t need close postoperative observation by professional nurses, they are usually far better off at home.

Marni Hancock, Springfield, Oregon

From: Carlton Johnson (ctj.32803 gmail.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--arthroplasty

On seeing the word arthroplasty, I immediately thought of the old Monty Python routine of elephanoplasty.

(transcript; audio, 2 min.)

Carlton Johnson, Winter Park, Florida

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

I’ll throw in an antonym, just for fun: arthroclasty -- the practice of goons who run around breaking bones.

Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York

Art: Pamela Colman Smith

Image: Wikimedia

From: Bob Richmond (rsrichmond gmail.com)
Subject: hierophant

The Hierophant is one of the major arcana tarot cards. This may be the most common use of this unusual word today.

Bob Richmond, Maryville, Tennessee

From: Alex McCrae (ajmccrae277 gmail.com)
Subject: polyandry and hierophant

Often, during mallard mating season, many males will gang up on a female, taking turns. She may desperately attempt to escape the brutal assault, but the males are relentless in their pursuit, often leaving her battered.

For me, our word “hierophant” suggested another hiero word, “hieroglyphics”, which inspired this admittedly slightly silly scenario. Hmm... curious if the ancient Egyptians used papyrus toilet tissue... the Dead Sea rolls? Jackal-headed god Anubis says, “Ruff! Ruff!” Ha!

Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California

Anagrams


This week’s theme: Words made with combining forms 1. Polyandry 2. Hypernym 3. Arthroplasty 4. Neophile 5. Hierophant	=	1. Re: her 2+ mates 2. Common trait 3. Spry new part for my old body 4. Ohh! Happy ninny likes newest whim 5. Haloed high priest
		-Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com)

=	1. Polygamy with males 2. Word in the set 3. Knee pop or hand repair 4. In harmony with the fresh 5. Ponders mythic symbol	=	1. Hmm, play with many men 2. Word loosely 3. Repair hip 4. Adore new things 5. He Interprets orphic myths and hefty books
	-Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2 gmail.com)		-Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz)

Make your own anagrams and animations.

Limericks

polyandry

Wedding bells for Ms. Liz oft did chime.
Eight times! But that isn’t a crime.
Divorces she got.
Polyandry it’s not.
She married one guy at a time.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

Polyandry sounds messy to me.
In the place of one mate, you’d have three.
That’s too much to juggle!
With whom would you snuggle?
Would the parties concerned all agree?
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

Polyandry means having more guys
Than is legal, at least US-wise.
Maybe somewhere “out there”
One can go on a tear,
But here one at a time still applies!
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

Said Anaïs Nin, “Men are like candy,
So my sweet tooth demands polyandry.
I’ve a husband back East
Who’s got millions at least,
And out West, one for when I feel randy.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

hypernym

A hypernym’s handy, I’ve heard,
To name a whole class with a word.
That eagle or jay
Which you saw today
You simply could say was a bird.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

The word “word” is a wonderful hypernym;
It covers so much with delightful vim.
Verbs, adverbs, and nouns;
Even adjectives. Zounds!
They can all make our mood either bright or dim!
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

arthroplasty

Arthroplasty your doctor will do,
And soon you’ll be feeling like new.
You’ll be in fine fettle,
Though with all that metal,
You’ll set off detectors, it’s true.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

“That wrist of yours looks pretty nasty,”
Said the doctor; “you’ll need arthroplasty.”
“Vith zis hand I play chess;
You must promise success!”
Answered deeply unnerved Boris Spassky.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

neophile

Some like music that’s old, tried and true.
As for me, I love anything new.
Some prefer Debussy,
But it’s Snoop Dogg for me.
I’m a neophile all the way through.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

An avowed neophile was keen
To sample some novel cuisine.
However, his wife
Preferred all her life
A diet quite bland and routine.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

As I age, I just tend more and more
Toward my favorites in closet or drawer.
But once in a while
Some long-hid neophile
Emerges -- I’m off to the store!
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

Cleopatra, the queen of the Nile,
Was known as a true neophile.
First Julius Caesar
Was able to please her;
Marc Antony then stayed awhile.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

hierophant

I’m no hierophant, sorry to say.
Can’t explain the mysterious way,
That you simply inhale
That pizza with kale.
Could it be that you are a gourmet?
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

The hierophant’s here to explain
Some rituals odd and arcane --
Like self-flagellation,
That weird aberration
That seems to me just plain insane.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

She complained, “No, I just simply can’t
Be wed to a hierophant.
I cannot endure,
A man so obscure.
Now don’t get me started,” she’d rant.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

Anu Garg’s such a hierophant
That to rhyme his words sometimes you can’t.
So he says it’s just fine
If you put them mid-line,
Or like me, at the end with a slant.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Puns

“Come in out of the rain polyandry yourself off,” Blackbeard urged his parrot.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

They said she was a hypernym-ph, always getting into mischief unlike other fairies.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“You really stuck your foot in it by acting so hypernym-rod,” the debate coach told the half-witted Presidential candidate.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

The busy orthopedic surgeon was dubbed by his colleagues King Arthroplasty.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“To cheaply create some great arthroplasty-c cups, paper plates, and other trash together using Krazy Glue,” the gallery owner suggested to the indigent young sculptor.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“I love all the Matrix movies. I’m a total Neophile,” gushed Ann.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“Inside this jar of ho-neophile is hidden for you to break out of here,” whispered Eeyore to Winnie after his capture by the London Zoo.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“I’ll surely hierophant-astic running mate by leaving the choice to my idiot son,” thought the cognitively impaired Presidential candidate.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one’s self to be acquainted with it. -Lord Chesterfield, statesman and writer (22 Sep 1694-1773)

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