TERMAGANT
Wild Word Friday!
TERMAGANT is a new word to me. I was perusing the dictionary trying to find a reasonable spelling for a word I was using in my current work-in-progress. I’m a terrible speller, and sometimes even Spell Check can’t decipher what I’m trying to write. Then it’s back to the old days and thumbing through a dictionary, which for me is fun. So I was turning the pages of my Webster’s New World Dictionary (an ancient survivor from my college days) and at the top of the page there was a word I’d never seen before. Yup, TERMAGANT.
To my delight, I discovered that TERMAGANT has a very interesting meaning and history. A TERMAGANT is a shrew. A boisterous, disagreeable grumpy old woman. TERMAGANT comes to us from the Old French and Middle English word, Tervagant, a proper noun, the name of a deity that the Crusaders of the Middle Ages mistakenly believed was worshipped by Muslims.
As I look back on my life, some of the most influential women in my life have been what others might have termed TERMAGANTs, a little difficult to get along with and definitely opinionated. Yet, because they weren’t afraid to tell me what they thought and why, I’ve learned a lot from the TERMAGANTs in my life.
How about you? Have you had any TERMAGANTs in your life?
Blessings!!
Sue
