Wild Word Friday! Once upon a time, the English had a law that required a homebuilder to get a permit before he could build eaves that allowed water to drip on land owned by someone else. Not only were eaves sometimes a controversial matter in ancient England, in the 1600s they gave us the verb EAVESDROP,…
Wild Word Friday! Here in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, we are very aware of the difference between a snow storm and a BLIZZARD. You can drive in a snow storm. It’s not fun, and it is dangerous, but you can. In a snow storm, you can walk to your neighbor’s house. In a BLIZZARD you shouldn’t…
Wild Word Friday! When my 92-year-old father-in-law refers to electricity, he says ‘lectricity. The process of dropping an initial syllable when pronouncing a word is so common in human speech that it’s been given a name – APHAERESIS (uh-fur-eh-sus). APHAERESIS – the word – may be totally unfamiliar to us in our everyday speech, but APHAERESIS…
Wild Word Friday! Please don’t ask me how to pronounce it, but SELEDREORIG is an Anglo-Saxon word that means “sadness for the lack of a hall.” In Anglo-Saxon days, a hall was a long rectangular community building, usually made of timber and roofed with thatch. Most halls had a centrally located hearth. According to archaeologists, almost every Anglo-Saxon…
Wild Word Friday! Since most of us give and receive clothing as Christmas gifts, I thought you might enjoy a Wild Word post about the TUNIC. The classic Middle Eastern TUNIC was made from plant fiber, specifically linen, and it was adopted by Europeans about 6000 years ago, shortly after the people of Eastern Europe had learned to spin and weave…
Wild Word Friday! When the first European settlers came to North America, one of the berries they discovered to be edible was the CRANBERRY. This marsh berry comes to us via the graces of a trailing evergreen that loves lots of water. When the British settlers came to North America, they named the CRANBERRY, fen…
Wild Word Friday! In this season of multiple holidays, we CELEBRATE our beliefs, loved ones and the traditions embodied by our holidays. It’s interesting to note that the English word CELEBRATE has its roots in the Latin word celebratus, a form of celeber, which means frequented or populous. Within the heart of the word CELEBRATE…
Wild Word Friday! I’m a Christian and so in addition to expressing THANKs to the special people in my life (which definitely includes all of you reading this!) I spend time each day THANKing God. I have been blessed in so many ways and all of you are an important part of those blessings. Next…
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