Here’s my weekly summary of-up. Please share yours in 25 words or less.
Children’s book published
Flowers, biscuits and encouragement
Miss mum, dad and Auntie Jean
They’d have been so proud.
Sum up Sunday
words
Flaunt it Friday
I admit that I find it really hard to push myself ‘out there’ in terms of promoting my children’s book. I’m feeling really pleased with myself that I have not one but two bookings at local libraries in the summer. I’ll be reading from my book and getting the children who come along to do some drawing and writing. It feels like a massive achievement.
What are you feeling pleased about this week? I’d love to hear from you.
Wordy Wednesday
We are all familiar with the use of a ‘smith’ meaning a craftsperson, for example a blacksmith or silversmith. My word for today is wordsmith, simply meaning ‘a skilled user of words’ (New Oxford English Dictionary of English).
It is a very timely word, my debut children’s book, The Clocker, having been published yesterday. I like the idea of being a wordsmith. It is a craft shared by many around the world, in different languages, styles and genres. Where would we be without wordsmiths?
A special shoutout to all my fellow bloggers and to the Let’s Write group at The Writers Bureau.
https://www.writersbureaucourse.com/courses/let-us-write
Wordy Wednesday
To pootle or to poodle, that is the question. It’s been an ongoing debate between my partner and myself for some time now, whose family used to go for a poodle in the car at the weekend. My family, however, went for a pootle, definitely not a poodle.
I finally decided to settle this friendly feud and looked it up. What I discovered is that pootle is a variant of poodle, although, of course, poodle also refers to a breed of dog. To pootle, or poodle, means to travel or go around in a relaxed manner, as in, “I think I’ll have a pootle round the shops”.
Debate settled, now we’ll have to find another word to disagree on.
Do you poodle or pootle, or do you have an entirely different word for a leisurely stroll or run out in the car?
Wordy Wednesday
It’s Wordy Wednesday again and I have a Dutch word for you today. Last week I went to Bruges for five days, also hopping over the border to Sluis in The Netherlands. While perusing the menu in the windmill restaurant, a word caught my attention.
I guessed this menu option was something sweet, knowing what a madeleine is; also guessing ‘met een’ was likely to be ‘with’. But what did ‘slagroom’ mean? This is what I find so fascinating about words and language. On looking it up, I was right about the madeleines and with; the sentence translated into English means “madeleines with a dollop of whipped cream”. Slagroom means cream in English. It is, of course, not pronounced slag room, more slaackroam.
What a great word. Do you have an unusual, quirky or favourite word to share? I’d love to hear from you.
Wordy Wednesday
I came across the word ‘bimble’ in an Instagram post from sconepalnatalie and was keen to find out more about its meaning and origin.
Its meaning is to walk or stroll at a leisurely pace, possibly coming from the word, ‘bumble’. I love the idea of going for a morning bimble along the beach or through the park. That’s my kind of pace.
Please share any words you’ve come across; I’d love to hear from you in the comments box.
Sum up Sunday
Driveway blasted clean.
An instruction lost in translation
Left my bin on the doorstep.
Let’s Write group,
Lunch with friends …
Can you sum up your week in 25 words or less? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Wordy Wednesday
It’s Wordy Wednesday and I have a great word for you today.
According to Collins English Dictionary, Gubbins refers to an object of little value; a small gadget; odds and ends, or a silly person. It goes back as far as the 16th century and is derived from the obsolete word, gobbon – likely related to gobbet, meaning a small piece of food.
It’s an excellent word for describing all manner of bits and pieces there’s no other suitable word for. An example might be, “All the computer gubbins is in the drawer”.
I invite you to share your favourite, obsolete, funny or otherwise entertaining words with me.
Please share your own words in comments
Wordy Wednesday
Last Wordy Wednesday, I recalled my Dad using the word ‘bunkum’. This got me thinking about other words from my childhood and I remembered using the word ‘ninny’. “You ninny,” “What a ninny” – it seems such a tame word now. There’s an innocence to it, somehow, which is interesting because it means silly or foolish and probably originated from ‘an innocent’. It has been in use since the 16th century.
Do you have a word you remember from childhood? Please share it.
Sum up Sunday
Finally I meet you –
Northumberlandia.
Humbled by your calm presence
I rest body and mind by your side,
Drive home lighter.
If you’d like to sum up your week in 25 words or less, I’d love to hear from you.
mywordshare 