Michael Gates's Blog, page 40

Word of the Day: godwottery

What's "the word I'm thinking of"? Today, it's....

godwottery [god-WOT-uhr-ee] noun (TWITO, page 62)

1. Elaborate gardening
2. The use of archaic language

Verily, I say, 'tis most vexing to issue forth in antique jottings, as if from the honeyed pen of Shakespeare. One feels like an artless fly-bitten coxcomb! Or a lumpish doghearted wagtail! Or even an impertinent flap-mouthed dewberry! Fie on it! Methinks I must leave off with this gleeking, sheep-biting godwottery! Art thou in agreement?

Much Ado about NOTHING

Owing to some major renovations going on in my home, I am unable to take a shower. Yikes! Instead, I have to take baths. Below is what I wrote a few years ago when I found myself in a similar situation. Still all too true...

I haven't taken a bath in years. No, it's not a lack of hygiene; it's that I'm a shower man. To me, a bath seems like a luxury, a waste of time and water. "Drawing" the bath, carefully lowering myself in, feeling around for the soap or sponge like a scavenging fish after some smaller sea creature, then washing myself in slow motion, as one tends to do underwater--it all seems very leisurely and Victorian. Then, too, I don't know how to wash my hair in the bathtub. But my main problem is that it feels . . . delightful. It's like a trip back to the womb, and I'm tempted to linger and savor it--not good if I have to be somewhere in an hour.

Photo of the Week: Twin Peaks

Here's a painting I saw recently at an art gallery. Twin Peaks is returning to television in 2016. As if that wasn't exciting enough (to me), Mark Frost, co-creator of the series, will publish a novel next year detailing what has happened in that iconic, influential town since we last saw it in 1991. "It is happening again." Twin Peaks fans will recognize that quote, as well as "Fire Walk With Me". Click for a closer view.

Random Sequnce: plenishings?

"...and then arose the little 'cloud no bigger than a man's hand,' which floated thereafter in her horizon, and which slowly gathered volume until it hung like a pall over the Gilbraith home -- over the flowers and fountains, the music and books, the lofty rooms, the luxurious plenishings, and, darkest of all, over the heart of its mistress."
--Anonymous, "The Year Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-Nine" in Godey's Lady Book and Magazine, October 1864

(I found a bound copy of several issues of Godey's in my basement and have been flipping through the dusty pages.)

plenishings (noun) = abundances

It's not a word used much anymore, although a common, related word is "replenish". "Plenishings" makes me think of overstuffed pillows and overflowing bowls of fruit.

Link Mania: Nigel and Uncle Bob meet obdormition

Feminist language: 5 terms you need to know
Nigel definitely does not get a cookie.

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21 fancy medical terms for mundane problems
Including "obdormition" (TWITO, page 99) and a variant of "sternutation" (TWITO, page 140).

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8 British Expressions, Explained
Need to know what those Brits are going on about? Bob's your uncle!

Word of the Day: ostrobogulous

What's "the word I'm thinking of"? Today, it's....

ostrobogulous [os-tro-BOG-yoo-luss] adjective (TWITO, page 105)

Something weird, bizarre, unusual, or pornographic

"Mother doesn't want to go to the movies. She calls them agglomerations of ostrobogulous fantasies."


(photo by me)

Much Ado about NOTHING

Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere I look these days. Not in my backyard though, despite the enormous -- I would even say monstrous -- pumpkin vine growing, winding, creeping back there. It's the result of dumping a decomposing pumpkin in the garden last year; obviously, the seeds liked our soil. Maybe it's too early for a crop though. Maybe the Great Pumpkin will visit us yet by Halloween. If so, I don't think I'll murder it (him?) with a knife in a misguided attempt to create a Brobdingnagian jack-o'-lantern. Let it be.

(photo by me)

Photo of the Week: 'I Want to Believe' (by me)

A fleet of UFOs invaded the Jersey Gardens mall! Click for a closer view -- you know you want to.

Random Sequence: clodhopper

"Jim Wallis has come hone, Katie. He's made a heap of money speculating, and bought a house in Cincinnati, and he's going to take Susy and her mother there to live; and he says I can't have Susy -- she's going to be rich, and a city girl -- and I'm only a poor country clodhopper."
--Mary Forman, "Keeping Company", in Godey's Lady Book and Magazine, April 1864

(I found a bound copy of several issues of Godey's in my basement and have been flipping through the dusty pages.)

clodhopper = (1.) a clumsy, awkward person, a bumpkin (2.) a big heavy shoe

If you're walking amongst a lot of "clods", I suppose it helps to wear big heavy shoes -- in case you step in it.

Link Mania: Add these to your idea pot

An A to Z of Noah Webster's Finest Forgotten Words
It's World Dictionary Day! Huffington Post celebrates with this A to Z list of "forgotten" words. Not all are forgotten, though. It includes "obambulate", a variant of "obambulation" (TWITO, page 99) -- to wander aimlessly or walk about.

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25 Legit Words from the Hepcats Jive Talk Dictionary
Got your boots on? Add these to your idea pot if you want to sound like a swellelegant lothario from Ontario.

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Americano to zarf: a list of coffee words
Anyone care for a steaming cup of "mysore"? Includes "zarf" (TWITO, page 168).