tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post8638768799996942736..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Our lovely silly words..Pauline ChandlerKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-29056068762079302082015-02-24T19:32:42.078+00:002015-02-24T19:32:42.078+00:00So disappointed to learn that a wuffler isn't ...So disappointed to learn that a wuffler isn't a doggish scarf!madwippitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595748471651052552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-8875336097611981652015-02-23T08:34:42.481+00:002015-02-23T08:34:42.481+00:00Thank you,lovely writers, for all the info I'm...Thank you,lovely writers, for all the info I'm learning here! Fred Fernackapan, Dennis! And we still use the word. Amazing! <br />I think squinks eat glitches too, Sue. They all live together on the same street in Bumble Town. Ha ha! <br />Ann, I'm so pleased you noticed those definitions! Had great fun with that little quiz.<br /> Catherine, those are such wonderful Scots words. I'm a bit scunnered today too, after busy weekend, or was it the gin? Love 'winter hedge' . Pure poetry. Pauline Chandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260428070144389154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-2182601130669308632015-02-22T14:39:36.574+00:002015-02-22T14:39:36.574+00:00Scots has many wonderful words which might be more...Scots has many wonderful words which might be more widely used: dreich (perfect description for today's grim, damp and depressing weather, gallus (a combination of bold, cheeky and reckless, characteristic of many Glaswegians) scunnered - which I am right now - and so many more. I grew up in Leeds but it was only recently, so many years after we left, that I found out that the item I always think of as a 'winter edge' and others call a 'maiden' - a clothes horse - was actually a 'winter hedge' - sometimes called a winter dyke in Scotland - from the habit of drying the washing draped over the hedge. I'd never even thought about it. Don't you just love language? Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-70141385186335123482015-02-22T10:19:22.528+00:002015-02-22T10:19:22.528+00:00I love your new definitions of blunderbuss and fli...I love your new definitions of blunderbuss and flibbertigibbet!Ann Turnbullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06484265041343702129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-82237631964303435572015-02-22T00:29:49.113+00:002015-02-22T00:29:49.113+00:00Do squinks eat gremlins?Do squinks eat gremlins?Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-20939933411599655292015-02-21T23:30:53.701+00:002015-02-21T23:30:53.701+00:00Jan, I don't think 'Fernackapan' was y...Jan, I don't think 'Fernackapan' was your dad's. It started with 'Fred Fernackapan', a character invented by the Goons who never actually appeared. I bet that's where he got it from.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-75462143421341584012015-02-21T17:01:14.375+00:002015-02-21T17:01:14.375+00:00Love 'Squinks', Enid.Love 'Squinks', Enid.Pauline Chandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260428070144389154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-66482685030464502952015-02-21T16:59:23.276+00:002015-02-21T16:59:23.276+00:00LOVED this post, and just shared the quiz with a v...LOVED this post, and just shared the quiz with a very bright but aged friend who has Altzheimers - she got eight out of ten!!<br /><br />Here's one you won't have heard of. My IT husband, David, was always complaining about the bugs in the programs he was developing, so I drew them, gave them a name, and even invented an illustrated mythology for them. They are called 'Squinks'.Enid Richemonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17218197995089241666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-57632483923998156232015-02-21T16:30:34.362+00:002015-02-21T16:30:34.362+00:00BTW, I'm amused to have just discovered -- aft...BTW, I'm amused to have just discovered -- after <i>googling</i>, itself an inescapable neologism these days -- that it was Lewis Carroll who repurposed 'portmanteau' for us to now love or hate.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-47247117468839335972015-02-21T16:22:11.689+00:002015-02-21T16:22:11.689+00:00'Genuine evolution of language' depends mo...'Genuine evolution of language' depends mostly on which words manage to stick around. Hating neologisms strikes me as odd for a writer. The problem, as I see it, is deciding which ones are likely to date your writing prematurely.<br /><br />William Gibson managed a remarkable feat with his coinage of 'cyberspace'. So I'm with Lydia on this one.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-71645233939210087972015-02-21T13:17:23.852+00:002015-02-21T13:17:23.852+00:00Had a feeling I'd picked that up from somewher...Had a feeling I'd picked that up from somewhere, Jan! <br />Nick, I hate all these new words, especially vape. Sounds vapid! <br />I love that first meaning of protocol, Lynda. We owe the Greeks so much, but we forget, unless someone reminds yes from time to time, so thank you for that? <br />Nick, thank you! You've promoted me to read The M of Liff again. Love 'trunch'. No, spellcheck! Stop it! <br />Go on then, Bill! Ha ha! Pauline Chandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260428070144389154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-7812952258817484722015-02-21T13:08:23.334+00:002015-02-21T13:08:23.334+00:00Words are endlessly fascinating, entertaining, sur...Words are endlessly fascinating, entertaining, surprising and umpteen other adjectives (and states of mind). The only trick you missed here, Pauline, is challenging us to write a flash fiction piece using as many of your 'super silly' words as possible.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-23590358070031561852015-02-21T12:59:22.268+00:002015-02-21T12:59:22.268+00:00Like Pauline, I'm not sure that forced portman...Like Pauline, I'm not sure that forced portmanteau words like 'slacktivism' should really count, as they are more like one-off journalistic witticisms than genuine evolutions of language. On the other hand, most of the words in The Meaning Of Liff definitely deserve to become official. Like 'trunch' - instinctive resentment of people younger than you.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-31220437476886155332015-02-21T11:39:48.685+00:002015-02-21T11:39:48.685+00:00I enjoyed your post a lot Pauline, though I love n...I enjoyed your post a lot Pauline, though I love new words, many of them are basically portmanteau words but English is very flexible in this way. 'Vaping' will go on as long as people do it I suppose! It's better than 'smoking an electronic 'cigarette' which isn't really and need not contain nicotine'. After all the old words were new once, they arise to fill a need or are nicked from elsewhere. New technologies bring new words, however they also use roots from ancient mythologies and languages too. The use of Protocol in computing (as in the P in IP address) was based on ancient Greek for the first leaf glued to a ms describing the contents. Trojan, for a type of malware (there's another one!) from the Trojan Horse etc.Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-5973346771546938132015-02-21T11:13:16.039+00:002015-02-21T11:13:16.039+00:00Had a feeling I'd picked that up from somewher...Had a feeling I'd picked that up from somewhere, Jan! <br />Nick, I hate all these new words, especially vape. Sounds vapid! Pauline Chandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260428070144389154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-7236061287556431532015-02-21T10:38:38.438+00:002015-02-21T10:38:38.438+00:00I loathe 'contactless'. It wins the prize ...I loathe 'contactless'. It wins the prize for the clumsiest neologism. I would have called it a tap-card, a touchfree card, or perhaps an offhand card.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-64294528001332573452015-02-21T09:25:25.367+00:002015-02-21T09:25:25.367+00:00can't allow you fanackerpan, i'm afraid. m...can't allow you fanackerpan, i'm afraid. me old man called almost everyone his old fanackerpan from time to time! fun, eh?Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.com