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4.13.2004

Double word of the day! 

So two days ago the word of the day was: collywobbles \KAH-lee-wah-bulz\ noun

This is officially my current favorite word. Collywobbles. It means "bellyache." But it just seems so much better than a bellyache! It's the hybrid bellyache, come to take over cramps and abdominal pain with its creativity and gusto! Bwuahaha! Collywobbles. Heh.

Did you know?
We don't know who first clutched his or her tummy and called the affliction "collywobbles," but we do know the word's earliest print appearance dates from around 1823. We also know that the word probably came about through a process called "folk etymology." In that process, unusual words are transformed to make them look or sound like other, more familiar words. The theory goes that "collywobbles" may have originated when "cholera morbus" (the New Latin term for the disease cholera) was influenced by words like "colic" and "wobble" and transformed into a term that sounded friendlier and more common to English ears.

Today's word of the day is: solecism \SAH-luh-sih-zum\ noun

1 : an ungrammatical combination of words in a sentence; also : a minor blunder in speech
2 : something deviating from the proper, normal, or accepted order
3 : a breach of etiquette or decorum

Hmm. This one is all too familiar to my world. I've often mixed letters or sounds (wask instead of wax), or words. Everyone has. Blunders such as these make for some of the most interesting inside jokes and conversations. And now the history...

Did you know?
Soloi had a reputation for bad grammar. That city, located in Cilicia, an ancient coastal nation in Asia Minor, was populated by Athenian colonists called "soloikos" (literally "inhabitant of Soloi"). According to historians, the colonists of Soloi allowed their native Athenian Greek to be corrupted and they fell to using words incorrectly. As a result, "soloikos" gained a new meaning: "speaking incorrectly." The Greeks used that sense as the basis of "soloikismos," meaning "an ungrammatical combination of words." That root in turn gave rise to the Latin "soloecismus," the direct ancestor of the English word "solecism." Nowadays, "solecism" can refer to social blunders as well as sloppy syntax.

4.07.2004

It's been a while... 

So, it's been a while, hasn't it?

Today's word: retrodict.

The definition:to utilize present information or ideas to infer or explain (a past event or state of affairs)

All I can think of when considering this definition in the terms of college is "bullshitting." I hear a lot of students do it to explain why they don't have an assignment ready to turn in, or why they weren't in class, or in class on time. It also reminds me of many stories my dad has from his classes.

One time, when I was visiting the college he teaches at, one girl approached him after class to explain that the reason she hadn't turned in her paper the day it was due was because her "completely un-spontaneous boyfriend spontaneously showed up to visit her in the late after noon", thereby striking down any chances of her finishing her paper on time. Bullshit. Tell him to leave, tell him you're busy, tell him he can stick around, but don't expect much (or any) attention because this paper is due tomorrow. Or just write the paper on time. Or get a new boyfriend who calls before he randomly shows up, or at least calls to ask what you are doing before he considers being spontaneous.

Stop making up excuses and get your act together. You're in college, now.

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