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AWADmail Issue 189

A Weekly Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Interesting Tidbits about Words and Languages

From: Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org)
Subject: Misc.

Yiddish Chat:

Chat about the joy of Yiddish with Michael Wex, author of "Born to Kvetch" Dec 5, 2005, 5 PM Pacific (GMT -8).

Interesting stories from the net:

Whither the Southern Accent?
news.yahoo.com

Looking for a sign:
economist.com

Translating Harry Potter:
manager.co.th

Seattle, the most literate city:
seattlepi.com

From: Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org)
Subject: Parisology contest

I proposed a contest when I featured the word parisology a month ago. I invited readers to become writers and make this useful word better known. You responded and used the word in articles, letters, newsletters, memos, etc. The examples had to be from print sources. Here are the results.

The first prize (an autographed copy of the new book Another Word A Day) to Dionne Olsen (olsendATcnc.bc.ca) for using the word in her newspaper column in Prince George Free Press (Canada):

"When it comes to communicating, politicians are probably the most notorious for their parisology skills. How many times have you listened to a speech and wondered what exactly was the point?" Second prize (a premium subscription of A.Word.A.Day) goes to Elizabeth A. Neary (eanATtsglaw.com), Attorney at Law, for using the word in a court document:

"The deliberate language in the cover letter is not mere parisology -- it is purposefully misleading. The memorandum is a sham."

Honorable mention: Kendell Thompson (kendell_thompsonATnps.gov) of the US National Park Service for using the word in his monthly column in the newsletter The Spectacle.

From: Matilda Lipscomb (malipscombATmodulonet.fr)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--shenanigan

With regard to "order"....I have a great respect for the order of our universe. But can someone please explain to me why the planet Venus spins counter-clockwise while all the other planets spin clockwise? On Venus, the sun rises in the west and sets in the east.

Now what on earth did the "intelligent designer" have in mind here?

From: Martin Robinson (martyrobATcomcast.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--nival

If a sailor's belly button filled up with snow, it would be a naval nival navel.

From: Eric Shackle (eshackleATozemail.com.au)
Subject: somnific

Young mothers often think "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is somnific, and sing it to their youngsters as a lullaby. Everyone knows the first verse of this beautiful poem, but few know who wrote it. Many mistakenly believe Mozart composed the tune. All is revealed in the December issue of my e-book: http://bdb.co.za/shackle

Words are chameleons, which reflect the color of their environment. -Learned Hand, jurist (1872-1961)