There seems to be a rash of “word(s) of the year” around this time of year. Fine by me – at least I can guarantee something to write about around Christmas! This month, it falls to the Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English. You may remember that last year’s poll gave us the splendid “muffin top” [...]
|
|
||||
|
The word neologism refers to a word or phrase that has been recently introduced into the language. As always, “recently” can mean different things to different people and there is no definite cut-off point between when a phrase or word is coined and when it passes into common usage – sometimes temporarily, sometimes not. Neologism [...] Absolutely snowed under, so I’ll beg your leave for a short and sweet one today. A frittle (etymology unknown, although quite possibly from the Latin frittilus, a dice cup with an inlaid pattern) is the mark left in skin when it has been in contact with a textured surface for some time. A frittle could [...] Pronounced flan-dge and a very amusing word to say. A flange is a lip or a rim attached or moulded into something to give stability or to provide a surface to which to attach something. When you look at a train’s wheels, the lip at the back of the wheel that stops the train falling [...] Pastafarianism is the name of the religious movement who believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and those who have been touched by his noodly appendage. Stay with me here, there’s a point! The religion was set in motion in 2005 when the State of Kansas Board of Education voted to allow Creationism to be taught [...] I know what you’re thinking – this is an easy one! Yes, it probably is if you don’t use the internet a lot. Let me explain further: A Troll: A small, gnarled creature living under a bridge in fairy tales – famous for eating billy goats gruff. That’s the usual definition. Internet Troll: A person [...] Another word with a great sound. Spelunking (pronounced, well, spelunking) has passed into general use but was relatively unknown outside the USA until perhaps the 80′s or 90′s. It refers to caving or potholing, where groups of foolhardy people take it upon themselves to tool up and crawl into caves for reasons best known to [...] Woo! Big word. It’s the fear of Friday the 13th. More accurately, it’s a morbid and irrational fear of Friday the 13th. The word (which is from Greek roots and composition) was first used by Donald Dossey, a psychotherapist specialising in irrational fears. The origins of the fear itself stem from Friday being an unlucky [...] |
 |
|||
|
Copyright © 2012 Word Du Jour - All Rights Reserved |
||||