Our lovely silly words..Pauline Chandler

(1-A. 2-A. 3-B. 4-B. 5-B. 6-A. 7-A. 8-A. 9-A. 10- A. I'll explain later). 

Did you catch Stephen Fry on Radio 2 recently, talking about words?

He’s something of an expert having worked on a series of programmes about plain English. His main point this time was that, unlike more regimented languages, English is constantly evolving, to embrace how people actually use words. I hadn’t really thought about it, that dictionaries record usage rather than dictating the rules. What a great example of honouring creativity! How sensible!

Fry pointed out this aspect of our beautiful language, when he was asked if he really was the creator of the term ‘luvvie’ for an actor sort of person. The OED lists him as the first person to use the word.  Fry quoted another example of his creating a word that has entered common usage, with his friend Hugh Laurie. The word was ‘spoffle’, to described the muffler spongy bit which is placed on the end of a microphone during recording. He was thrilled when, on a separate occasion, he heard a technician ask for one.

‘Spoffle’ and ‘luvvie’; they’re such lovely silly words, aren’t they? When my children were small, I had affectionate nicknames for them, ‘Spodger’, ‘Billy Bodget’ or, sometimes, ‘Fanackerpan’, though, I'm not sure I actually made that one up. When you go into it, there are plenty of lovely silly words in English. We’ve been making them up for centuries. Hooray, I say! Callooh Callay!

  

Quiz: Here are ten super silly words in English. All you have to do is decide which is the correct meaning.  Answers above!

1.  Mugwump –        A. Politician           B. Mythical bog monster  

2.  Taradiddle –        A. Fib.                  B. Feather  

3.  Pottle –              A. Small stain.        B.  A container for strawberries

4.  Firkin –               A. Small keg.         B. Large barrel

5.  Skedaddle –       A. Small side saddle for a child. B. To leave, guiltily, in a 
     hurry.

  

6.   Blunderbuss –    A.  Old weapon.       B. Clumsy kiss

7.   Flibbertigibbet – A.  Flighty person.    B. Hastily erected gallows

8.   Whiffler –          A. Attendant who cleared the way for the monarch. 

                              B. Fictional creature mentioned in ‘The Jabberwocky’.

9.    Wuffler –           A.  Haymaking machine to fluff up the hay. B. Dog's scarf. 

10.  Boggler -           A. Mystifying puzzle.  B. Small swamp-dwelling mammal.

Before I leave you for this month, I looked up the OED’s list of new words for 2014.

bae n. used as a term of endearment for one’s romantic partner.

budtender n. a person whose job is to serve customers in a cannabis dispensary or shop.

contactless adj. relating to or involving technologies that allow a smart card, mobile phone, etc. to contact wirelessly to an electronic reader, typically in order to make a payment.

indyref, n. an abbreviation of ‘independence referendum’, in reference to the referendum on Scottish independence, held in Scotland on 18 September 2014, in which voters were asked to answer yes or no to the question ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’

normcore n. a trend in which ordinary, unfashionable clothing is worn as a deliberate fashion statement.

slacktivism, n., informal actions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement, e.g. signing an online petition or joining a campaign group on a social media website; a blend of slacker and activism.

The winner was ‘Vape’= ‘to inhale and exhale the vapour produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device’, while both the device and the action can also be known as a vape.  

Mmm, I'm not sure 'vape' has any staying power. Last year’s was ‘selfie’. That seems to have caught on. 

Pauline Chandler

www.pauline.chandler@virgin.net