words

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 17 Comments

For today’s word, I decided to open a page of The New Oxford Dictionary of English and look for a word I’d never heard of before. On my quick scan of the pages from Madeira to magic lantern, I found the word ‘madrilene’. Spell check attempted to push me toward mandrill and mad riding; I held my ground.

Madrilene is, I discovered, a clear soup that is usually served cold. It comes from the French ‘consommé à la madrilene’ – the literal translation being ‘soup in the Madrid style’.

As the saying goes, you learn something new every day.

Have you any words to share? I’d love to hear from you.

I’ve (hopefully temporarily) lost image playground for my usual images – apologies and grr!

Clear soup

Sum up Sunday

~ my word (s) ~ 10 Comments

How’s your week been? It’s Sum up Sunday so can you sum up your week in 25 words or less?

My week:

Cash only Monday

Busy, busy Tuesday

Writing Wednesday

More on Thursday

Free day Friday

Sunshine Saturday

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 6 Comments

My word this Wednesday is blurb. I’ve always thought it seemed a very informal word to describe the short description that appears on the back of a book, or to describe a film.

An early 20th century word, it was coined by Gelett Burgess, an American humorist. He is said to have invented the word for the promotional cover of his own book.

It is, of course, a term now widely used and recognised by publishers and authors. That small word, though, holds great importance. The blurb on the back of a book is, for many of us, the difference between buying or not buying. I wonder if that’s true for you?

To buy, or not to buy …

Sum up Sunday

~ my word (s) ~ 5 Comments

Can you sum up your week in 25 words or less? I’d love to hear from you.

Here’s my week:

Rain, hail, wind

Occasional wink from the sun

Events set up

A treat at the café

Mowed the lawn.

May showers!

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 6 Comments

With the many dialects around Scotland and England, it’s no surprise that there’s an unique word in the different parts of the countries to describe the passage between buildings. I hadn’t realised, before delving deeper into this, quite how many there are.

In Scotland and the North East, we have vennel, wynd, chare and close. I knew of wynd from my travels in Scotland but had never come across chare, which seems to be specific to Newcastle and the surrounding area.

In Northern England we have the ginnel, snicket, entry and tenfoot – a new one for me. Tenfoot is the term from Hull and relates to the specific width of an alley. Brilliant.

Heading to The Midlands we have jitty, twitchel and shut. In Shropshire the ‘ends’ were shut at night, hence shut.

In Southern England twitten, ope and alley or alleyway are used. Ope comes from Cornwall and is short for opening.

Living most of my adult life in The Midlands, I tend to use jitty. What’s your word for an alleyway? Maybe you have one not on my list; I’d love to know. And if anyone’s from Northern Ireland, Wales or further afield I’d be interested to know the word you use to describe an alleyway.

Just strolling down the jitty

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 8 Comments

Last weekend we went over to Birmingham to drop off my daughter’s birthday presents and go out for a pre-birthday lunch. She wanted to try a Colombian café in Bearwood that she’d heard about called Colombian Picada Mix. As well as wanting to try the café, my daughter was keen to practise her Spanish, which she’s been learning for a while.

As we perused the menu, all in Spanish, we got to discussing burritos – even though they were not on the menu as they’re more associated with Mexico. What piqued my interest was discovering that the direct translation of burritos is little donkey. Curious; how did a little donkey become a food wrap?

My son-in-law, speculated that it might refer to the bags carried by donkeys on their backs. Turns out he’s probably right. Though there are a number of possible explanations for the word burrito, one is that it refers to the resemblance of a burrito wrap to the rolled up packs carried by donkeys.

What a wonderful time we had immersing ourselves in language and meanings. This is why I love words; there’s always something new to discover.

We also had a fantastic meal with exceptional hospitality at https://columbiapicadamix.co.uk

Sum up Sunday

~ my word (s) ~ 6 Comments

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.

Flaunt it Friday

~ my word (s) ~ 11 Comments

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.

https://troubador.co.uk/bookshop/middle-grade/the-clocker

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 3 Comments

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