"If you can't be pretty, you might as well cause trouble" – Florence King
Posted in Cats, Distractions, Imports from old blogs, Utter Silliness, Words I Like on Mar 14th, 2006
My cat has a coat of arms. Words cannot describe how much this amuses me. The Ancient Arms of Griswald! Frankly, if I were designing a coat of arms for Griswald, a large, plumy tail would have to feature into it somewhere. People frequently ask me if Griswald was named after the family featured in […]
Posted in Imports from old blogs, Words I Like on Oct 14th, 2004
I love words and I love the English language. Etymology is a joy to me, and the quirks and pecularities of English grammar are like a compelling puzzle to me. Just as well, considering I devoted six years of my life to acquiring two degrees which basically hinge upon my being eloquently full of shit. […]
Posted in Imports from old blogs, Utter Silliness, Words I Like on Jun 22nd, 2004
“O” is for “Opossum” (a critter representation in the Another letter of the Alphabytes). North America’s only marsupial is representing the letter “O” in this Alphabytes entry. Kansas City has a pretty fair opossum population scuttling around its alleys and dumpsters. In our old neighborhood, one frequently holed up in the storm drain beside where […]
Posted in Imports from old blogs, Utter Silliness, Words I Like on Jun 11th, 2004
“L” is for “Lalochezia” This entry was brought to you by Alphabytes and the letter “L.” Lalochezia is my new favorite word. It means “swearing to relive stress.” I do this all the time, and I had no idea it had a formal, not to mention euphonious term. Lalochezia! If you didn’t click the link […]
Posted in Imports from old blogs, Words I Like on Jun 3rd, 2004
The Word of the Day is “crud.†Already with the digressions. Does anyone remember “Pee Wee’s Playhouseâ€? Terribly annoying kiddie show featuring Don-Knotts look-a-like nebbish Pee Wee Herman, a load of anthropomorphic furniture, and a lot of irritating noises? Do you remember how he would declare a Word of the Day at the beginning of […]
Posted in Food & Snacks, Imports from old blogs, Words I Like on May 28th, 2004
I woke up this morning alternately thinking “ratatouille” and “gulch.” Gulch is explainable. In my friend Rob’s space-opera-esque D&D game, our party recently rescued a kidnapped child who was being held hostage in an old mission in a mining town called Yuri’s Gulch. At one point during the game, we were selling supplies to the […]
Posted in Imports from old blogs, Words I Like on May 26th, 2004
in·e·luc·ta·ble ( ihn ee-luh k tuh -b l) adj. Not to be avoided or escaped; inevitable: “Those war plans rested on a belief in the ineluctable superiority of the offense over the defense†(Jack Beatty). [Latin in luct bilis : in-, not; see in-1 + luct bilis, penetrable (from luct r , to struggle out […]
Posted in Imports from old blogs, Words I Like on May 25th, 2004
o·nan·ism (oh nuh -nih zih m) n. 1. Masturbation. 2. Coitus interruptus. [After Onan, son of Judah (Genesis 38:9).] Dunno if you ever get a word stuck in your head, but I do, frequently. Last night, for positively no good reason, “onanistic” came from the forefront of my subconsciousness, and there it has bobbed and […]