As promised, this blog will again be about words – words that I find interesting. Words that are unique. Words that are fun. Words that are weird. And, palindromes. Let’s start with words designated as unique. This is, of course, only a very small sampling of the words in the computer’s list. If you care to pursue “Words” further, I’ve placed the link where I gained most of my information below.
As I explored the unique words for this section of the articles on Words, I decided, in a different manner, how to separate the 250 words to make some sense (other than them being in alphabetical order). I chose these areas of my interest: Actions; Animals; Food; People; Silly; Thing; Vehicle. Some words are nouns; some are adjectives. A few are verbs. I paid no attention to the grammar of the words – I simply applied them to my categories.
The “Silly” category had the fewest chosen words – one: hokum. I thought that I knew what hokum referred to, but I did not. It is described as “an out-and-out nonsense word.” Synonyms for hokum could be “bunk, baloney, claptrap, or hogwash.” My mother-in-law used to say “This is just the bunk!” at times when she was particularly frustrated with something or when trying to do something and was having great difficulty. I thought that “bunk” was a word that she invented – apparently, not. For her, hokum / bunk was not nonsense. It was a real experience, happening to her! Perhaps, “bunk’ was “her” swearword – and she never used swearwords!
Categories Animals and Vehicles come next with two words each; Animals and Vehicles. Animals chosen words are earwig and gossamer. Earwig because right next to earthworms and cockroaches, I consider earwigs the most disgusting creatures on planet earth. In my thinking, they are simply elongated cockroaches. With appendages that look like pinchers and a wiggly gait, they can flit from bush to bush, climb screens, and, in general, prove to be a nuisance. They definitely invite being crushed by the sole of a shoe.
Earthworms, on the other hand, are really good creatures. I just don’t like to hold them with their twisting and turning in my hand. We could not have great gardens with lush plants without these wriggly animals. I have no idea where my dislike for these worthwhile creatures comes from.
Gossamer is such a delicate word. I can see tutu-clad ballerinas dancing on their toes. I see butterflies flitting from one flower to the next for lunch. But, most of all, I see the gossamer-winged visitor to our classroom that morphed from one of the less-than-handsome larva (the ant lion) that we had in our classroom, when I taught at the nationally-recognized hospital for patients (adult and children) with respiratory diseases. It was a beautiful insect that the children chose to set free – out into the grassy area went the children and the lacewing, who flew away as soon as the cage door was opened.
When I think about “Vehicles,” my first thoughts are of cars. Daughter #1 really does not like the term, vehicle. For me, it’s an okay term because I also think of trucks of all kinds – step vans, mini-vans for postal workers, and BIG eighteen-wheelers. Reefers, those big units built to keep cargo such as fresh fruits and vegetables cool and frozen foods, frozen. Or, to keep pharmaceuticals from freezing. Stop and think about it. How would you have broccoli in your grocery store, if it were not for a reefer?
Motor cycles, scooters, and human-powered bicycles – all vehicles. And, don’t forget the horse- or oxen-drawn or people-powered vehicles – stage coaches, wagons, carts, and rickshaws. Apparently, anything that has wheels and moves people or product from one place to another, or, that is designed to do work like loaders, cranes, and tractors is a vehicle.
My thoughts accept non-land vehicles as well. Of course, air travel wouldn’t be possible without airplanes, balloons, or gliders. Space craft, of course, have carried astronauts to the moon and back. Boats, submarines, jet skis – all vehicles.
Wear and tear on vehicles causes their demise. In “olden days” – the days of my youth – we called a tired vehicle a jalopy or, even further back, they were jitneys. I suppose, strictly speaking and, if we pay attention to what a real jitney was, we would have to explain it this way: A small bus or car that shuttles passengers along a flexible, fixed route for a low fare, often picking up and discharging passengers on demand. In my mind, the jitney, therefore, is the genesis of our city buses, our light rail, and even those transportation providers we call, “ride share.” Uber, Lyft. Curb, Maymo, Alto, and Fetii” – depending on where you live in this country. Except that the “low fare” feature may have gone by the wayside, these days.
Who would ever think that there is so much to consider about vehicles? Not me – ever.
You know that term – “she bit off more than she could chew”? Well, although I don’t think this project about words is “more than I can chew,” I now realize that it is a much larger project than I first imagined it to be. Again, I’m at the maximum number of words that I choose to use in a blog. So, look for “Words Worth Knowing, Part 3” soon. I’m rather anxious to introduce you to a “smoozie!”
Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are always welcome.
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