Tag Archives: dictionary

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Blog Prompt Challenge – Spirituality

How important is spirituality in your life?

I don’t know – because the question is as vague, and impossible to nail down, as a will-o’-the-wisp.  I would have to say, Not at all, because I see no evidence that such a thing exists.

I imagine that the person who posed this question thought that it was clear and straightforward, but like arguments for the existence of a “GOD,” no-one can give a firm, precise definition, and no two people agree on what it is.

The dictionary says that it is the quality or fact of being spiritual, predominantly spiritual character as shown in thought, life, etc.; spiritual tendency or tone, without actually saying just what “Spirit” is, besides someone’s desperate imagination.

I recently read an online article titled, “The brain is mortal, but is the mind eternal?”   Neither I, nor millions of other Atheists, have ever been shown evidence to indicate that such a thing is even possible.  Despite the fact that the headline was posed as a question, there will be thousands of Christian debaters and Apologists who will use it as Proof, “because I read it.”

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’25 A To Z Challenge – N

I HAVE A HORSE THAT I NAMED ‘MAYO’
MY HORSE MAYO, NEIGHS

Now, don’t get your nickers in a not.

Just more proof that English will never be written phonetically, when we get to the meat/meet/mete of the problem.

English is Janus-like – two-faced.  You can dabble around the edge with clarity, problem-free, but you don’t need to wade in too far to find out how simply complex it can be.  Most dictionaries insist that

NICKERS

are the same as neighs, but my horsy friends who speak English, insist that it’s the difference between a giggle, and a guffaw.

Identical pronunciation aside, there are three quite different meanings for the word.  Nicker can be a sound that a horse makes.  It can also be a person or thing that makes nicks in something – like Stevie Nicks, of Fleetwood Mac.  As a Canadian, I was interested to find that it’s also a British, and Australian, slang term for a Pound, Sterling.

I never say nay, but I’m gonna ride off into the sunset of Wednesday.  Feel free to saddle up and follow.

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’25 A To Z Challenge – I

So, that’s I-glesias?  What do da I stand for – I need a bigger bed??!

No, that means that I need to come up with a theme, no matter how pitiful, for the letter I.

This year, poor, poor, pitiful me could only come up with

ILLUSORY

The first dictionary definition given was Virtual, but the slide of connotation now has that word meaning almost, nearly, and close to – as in He was a virtual genius with the Rubik’s Cube.  It used to mean deceptive, false, not in fact, so when your dishwasher detergent pods claim that they will get your dishes virtually spotless, you know that it’s an advertising lie.

Any resemblance between this blogpost, and a well-researched, entertaining, educational one, is just illusory.

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’25 A To Z Challenge – G

The Department of Totally Useless Information

For today only (or as long as we can get away with it) is offering a

BOGO

A two-for-the-price-of none deal, just to empty out some over-stocked shelves, so that we can cram in some newer, Totally Useless, technological information, such as – that string theory and quantum mechanics are not coming together as quickly and smoothly as hoped.  We may have to dig Albert Einstein up, to moderate the dispute.

For your bewilderment and unwanted elucidation, we give you the beautiful twins

GLOTTOGONIST

AND

GLOTTOLONIST

Two men meet at a cocktail party in Washington, DC.  One asks the other, “So, what do you do for a living?  ”The other guy replies, “I’m a Naval Surgeon.”  “Damn!  You guys really specialize, don’t you?”

Both of these terms could also be described as a ‘Linguist.’  A glottologist is concerned with the meanings, synonyms, and present usages of words.  A glottogonist is concerned with etymology, the origin and development of word meanings.

File under #mosquito’s asshole and #whothef**kcares?

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The Word Is – One-Liners

The first rule of Thesaurus Club is that you do not….
…. talk, whisper, chatter, mumble, rant, articulate, prattle, babble, describe, divulge, drone, confer, deliberate, squeal, converse, discourse, orate or speak about Thesaurus Club.

An obese psychic is….
….a four-chin teller

My momma didn’t raise no fool….
….but if she did, it was my brother

It was so much more fun being 20 in the 70s….
….than being 70 in the 20s.

Today I accidently locked my coat hanger in my car….
….Fortunately, I had my keys.

Acting perfect in church….
….is like dressing up for an X-ray

For musicians who want a perfect sound….
….Stay tuned.

A meeting without food….
….should be an email.

Any stairway can be a stairway to Heaven….
….if you’re clumsy enough.

If I agreed with you….
….we’d both be wrong.

Someone stole all my limbo trophies….
….How low can you go?

I don’t have the faintest idea….
….why I passed out.

All the excitement about an eclipse….
….seems pretty shady to me.

The only substitute for good manners….
….is fast reflexes.

I wish I was full of tacos….
….instead of emotions.

Wind chimes are….
….a sound investment.

Don’t fly Virgin Atlantic Airlines….
….They never go all the way.

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’24 A To Z Challenge – X

I’ve already done a “Thanks For The Mammaries” post, so, if I’m gonna talk about melons, they better be the kind that grow on vines.  I once used Jimmy Durante’s sign-off line, Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are, to respond to a commenter.  It caused some confusion because, unlike me, not many bloggers were born during the Industrial Revolution.  Calabash is a type of long, hard-shelled melon or gourd.

Words beginning with the letter X are thin on the ground – and up in the air – and in trees – and even in dictionaries.  INTERESTING words beginning with the letter X are even rarer.  After much debate, I decided on

XIGUA

When I first researched it, it was described as an African melon, but when I dived in deeper, it became an Asian melon.  Okay, – what kind of melon?  Large?  Small?  Long?  Round?  Soft-shell?  Hard-shell?  It turns out that it is a Chinese watermelon.  You know – the only fruit that you can eat, drink, and wash your face in.  The main difference between it and American watermelons, is that, instead of the inner flesh being red, it can be lemon-yellow, or a bright, lime-green.

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’24 A To Z Challenge – S

Shiver me timbers!  Scupper and scuttle me, mateys.  It’s time for a post about the letter S.

I thought that I would tell you about the first young couple to get caught

SCRUMPING

It was Adam and Eve – and not doing what you might have thought, at all.  “Scrumping” means to

Steal fruit

Scrumping is an old-fashioned informal term in England that means to steal fruit such as apples from trees. It is a dialectal term that can also refer to something that is shriveled or cooked to a crisp.

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About what you thought it might mean:  If God created Adam and Eve immortal – no sin, no death, no painful childbirth, no human race – did He also create them with sexual equipment and orgasms, or was Eve just there to make apple butter??  Discuss among yourselves, and with any available tight-assed Buy-Bull thumper.

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Stolen Words

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  Change is inevitable – except from a vending machine.  Our culture changes our language, and our language changes our culture.

Consider how much the language has changed since Samuel Johnson published his Dictionary of the English Language in 1755. One of the entries was the word “teen.” Today, we think of a teen as a person between the ages of 13 and 19 years. According to Johnson, the word means, “to vex, irritate, annoy, anger, enrage, inflict suffering upon, to afflict, harass, to injure, harm.” OK… Maybe that was a poor example. Essentially, the meaning is the same.

Along with everything else today, words are getting a terrible kicking around. In the attempt to achieve instant comprehension, mass communications have flattened words out so that shades of meaning are lost, categories and pigeonholes have replaced precise descriptions, punch and color have been abandoned… Conversation is edging toward verbal shorthand… Then there are euphemisms… Advertising, with its ever-changing private lingo will twist and adulterate any words it lays pen or tongue to for public consumption… and the politicos have a universal tendency to use words to conceal or confuse thought, to take the juice and flavor of speech and writing.

adolescence: A time of rapid changes between the ages of twelve and seventeen, when a parent can get as much as twenty years older.

amateur: A person who is always willing to give you the benefit of his inexperience.

belgard: A soft glance; a kind regard.

Christmas Eve: The shortest night of the year; from sundown to son-up.

diligence: An old-fashioned vehicle of success.

epitaph: A monumental lie.

free: The price is concealed.

golden rule: Give unto others the advice you can’t use yourself.

hug: A roundabout way of expressing affection.

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’24 A To Z Challenge – R

RANT AND RAVE

About getting some

REST AND RECREATION

With lots of

ROCK AND ROLL

I discovered another pair of R&R twins – brothers from another mother, neither of them truly there.  The first is

RUACH

This is the Latin-alphabet transliteration of a Hebrew word which means (Holy) spirit, wind or breath.  Its partner today is the German word/name

RAUCH

As a word, it means smoke or fumes.  As a surname/nickname, it refers to a shaggy or unkempt person.  I found a Rauch Court (street) about a mile further up the old highway out of town from my place.  It is in what used to be a scenic little country village well-named Waldau, (which means ‘wooded,’ or ‘in the forest’) but which got swallowed up in our continuing urban expansion.  At least they left (most of) the trees.

Despite the opinions of some Bible-thumping God-botherers, I have found MEANING, but I still research a lot of meanings.  😀

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To Put It Another Way – IV

Now that Agent Orange has been re-elected, here’s a post about what some of his supporters have said.

Pros

There’s an asteroid hurdling toward Earth – I’m going to jump over here, out of its way.

In order to fein a suicide – $10 word – a 37¢ spelling of feign

She had a crude debt of $287,000 –an uneducated and ill-mannered financial obligation

It has never boated well – and that usage did not bode well.

Amateurs

Sewn into the seem of my t-shirt – It seems like it should be seam.

Now selling medical marinara – potential buyers probably won’t notice the spelling.

You are doing a fanaminal job – It’s just not in spelling.

The city is in term oil – Well, lube up the dictionary, again.

Why do they always dial ate my eyes – So you can see that it’s dilate.

I guess I’m just ovary-acting – Sure you are…. Bob

The wife enters as I leave, or visa-versa – and your vice is misspelling

The dinosaurs wen’t extinct – all killed by a greengrocers’ apostrophe.

I have my suspensions that the cat – My suspicions are suspended.

In this SA I am going to discuss – I have no words to discuss his essay.

Office colosed for hafan hour – it doesn’t take close to half an hour to correct that.

It’s just a bunch of golly book – That sounds like gobbledygook to me.

I was a wafer the weekend – and away for a lot of English classes.

If door doesn’t open, giggle the knob – Hah, that’s a laugh

The rain all afternoon Lowe’s the temps – I blame that one on Autocorrect – and inattention

Whoever sat there rilly enjoyed the show – Really, really enjoyed it.

I repeat the nice seeing cream every day – I bet the Catholics are happy about that.

Free fire would – That just burns me up.

The woman mazed a dog – I’m amazed she didn’t use Mace

A couple of methods heads were fighting – see what drugs will do to your language

When I learned you couldn’t spell, I lost entrance – Okay, that one’s a joke…. Barely.

Remember you’re shopping bags – No, I’m not.

Respect are country, speak English – oh deer

You would thing that they just lobbed the top off – Toss in your own jokes.

Hall your pickup – down a long, narrow passage

He rode his bike pasted the car – I’m glued to that story.