Wordy Wednesday

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 9 Comments

This week, I decided to see what the last word beginning with Q was in my Oxford English Dictionary. With that in mind, my word for today is qwerty.

I might have guessed that this would be the last Q word in the dictionary, due to its lack of U after Q. The word denotes the standard layout on English language typewriters and keyboards; you’ll even see it on your smartphone ‘keyboard’. It is a delightfully easy word to type, given that the letters appear one after the other from the left.

I can remember my mum, who was an incredibly fast typist, referring to her qwerty keys. Later, as computers took over, she complained they were too slow because they couldn’t keep up with her!

Most of us don’t use typewriters anymore but the qwerty keyboard lives on …

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 6 Comments

Another week has passed and it’s Wordy Wednesday again. My word for today is flabbergasted, for no other reason than I like it.

According to my Oxford English Dictionary, the word comes from the late 18th century; of unknown origin. Its meaning is to surprise (someone) greatly. An example of usage might be I was utterly flabbergasted to win the prize.

Comedian Frankie Howerd was known for mixing the word up – never has my flabber been so gasted.

I was flabbergasted to see my name up on a large screen when I went to do my first library event My Books

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 5 Comments

My word for today is mizzle, meaning light rain; drizzle. I thought of this word last week when, at times, it was decidedly mizzly.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its origin is late Middle English, probably from mist. In German there is miseln and in Dutch miezelen.

Mizzle seems to sum up this type of rain well, expressing the mood of drizzling, persistent rain so well.

There are so many different words to express weather conditions. Do you have any favourites?

It’s been mizzling all day

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 6 Comments

Last week I went to a TenX9 and Kino Kolo combined event. TenX9 is a storytelling event where (usually) 9 people read a true-life story for 10 minutes each. There’s always a theme. For this event, the theme was fashion. Kino Kolo is a community cinema bringing Eastern European films to the East Midlands. For this event, there were short films and TenX9 readers.

The first storyteller’s piece was about shoes. As she described her childhood in Dundee, my interest was piqued by the word dubs. This word, though originally referring to a stagnant pool of water, is now used to refer to puddles. The storyteller referred to splashing through dubs with her wellies. What a wonderful word and a new one for me; I love it.

Even adults love splashing through dubs in their wellies

Wordy Wednesday

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This week, my Wordy Wednesday word is nesh. It’s commonly used in The Midlands and the North of England to describe someone who can’t cope with the cold. You Southerners are so nesh.

The original meaning, according to my trusty dictionary, is delicate, weak or feeble – of a person. Its origin is Old English hnesce, which is of German origin and related to the Dutch dialect nes meaning soft or foolish.

Do you have a word where you live that describes someone nesh?

Don’t be so nesh!

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 7 Comments

Recently, while I wait to get an accurate prescription for glasses following cataract surgery, I have been listening to audiobooks rather than reading. I started off with a book of Agatha Christie short stories, which I really enjoyed. The word countenance has appeared several times, for example she had a pleasant countenance. It struck me that this word is little used today but I felt it worthy of a Wordy Wednesday.

It is another word with several distinct meanings; the first as above, to describe a person’s appearance. Other meanings are to support, she gave her countenance to the event. It also describes when we do not accept or tolerate something, for example she wouldn’t countenance such behaviour.

Originating from the 13th century, the word is from the Old French, contenance referring to bearing or behaviour, from contenir (contain).

Wordy Wednesday

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My word today is confabulate. I used this word last week and the person I was talking to said, ooh that’s a great word. My trusty dictionary, The Oxford English Dictionary, gives two distinct definitions. The first is to talk / engage in conversation. The other, which I’m more familiar with, is to fabricate imaginary sentences in compensation for loss of memory.

The origin of the word confabulate is Latin and from the 17th century. Confabulari – con = together, and fabulari from fabula, fable.

Apologies in advance for any typos – my eyes are a bit blurry for writing following cataract surgery!

Nev, from my children’s book, The Clocker, does a lot of talking with his best friend, Samantha. My Books

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 14 Comments

My word today is chuffed. According to my weighty tome, The New Oxford Dictionary of English, it originated in the 1950s from chuff meaning plump or pleased.

It’s a word I love and associate with The Midlands/ North of England rather than the south. The saying, I’m dead chuffed, or right chuffed sums up its meaning of being pleased.

Do you have a word or phrase meaning you’re pleased where you live? I’d love to hear from you.

I’m chuffed to be at Liverpool Book Festival with my book, The Clocker, on Sunday.

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Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 7 Comments

In the morning, as I enjoy my second cup of tea, I like to do a selection of word games on the NYT games app. This generally starts with Connections, followed on by Wordle. A few weeks back I struggled to find letters that would go with the ones I’d got right in Wordle and resorted to random choices. Having nearly exhausted the possibilities, I put in ‘maven’ and it was correct. Not being familiar with the word, I headed to my trusty dictionary. Here I discovered that a maven is an expert, a connoisseur with extensive knowledge in a particular area, for example a fashion maven. The word’s origin is from the Yiddish, mevyn which in turn comes from Hebrew mevin, meaning to understand.

Second cup of tea of the day

In my children’s book, The Clocker, Nev gets embarrassed by his dad using out of date slang words. My Books

Wordy Wednesday

~ my word (s) ~ 7 Comments

Whether you love or hate sport, you’d be hard pressed not to have noticed that both Wimbledon and the football World Cup are currently playing. With that in mind, I have two words this week.

In tennis, the word love relates not to romantic love but a score of zero – she was 15-love down. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origin comes from play for love, that is for the love of the game. Folk etymology also links the word with the French, l’oeuf, referring to a similarity in shape to an egg and a zero.

Moving on to football, I do enjoy seeing all the strips from different countries playing in The World Cup. This made me wonder why it’s called a strip, meaning the identifying kit worn by members of a sports team. The Oxford English Dictionary says this possibly comes from the idea of the clothes that players strip down to.

Ready to watch the football

Did you know that, in my children’s book, The Clocker, the main character makes up his own words? My Books