Thanks, Lauren Stringer, for pointing me to Visual Thesaurus, an online wordie paradise (promised land, nirvana, heaven, Shangri-la, Eden). Word mapping is addictive (habit-forming). And the column Fresh Ink is a...well...fresh (novel, original, new; also invigorating, bracing, refreshing, brisk) take on language. Don't miss the entry on Crash Blossoms. There is a word of the day, word lists made from chapters of books and speeches (or make your own), lesson plans, contests, and more. I am partial to traditional, hard cover reference books, but Visual Thesaurus may be my new favorite tool (implement, instrument).
bumber...what? /
I used the word bumbershoot in an email today and discovered that it is a regionalism. I love finding words, like independent stores, that can't be found in every state in every strip mall and coffee shop.
According to DARE, bumbershoot (umbrella) has been heard most places east of the Mississippi, beginning back in 1896. It is a combination of bumbrella and shoot, from chute. Some of its delightful cousins include: blundershoot, brumbershoot, bumblershoot, bumbleshoot, bumpershoot, bumptershoot, and bumshoot. Then there's bumbersol, combining bumbershoot and parasol and its relatives bombersoll, bumbasol, bumbersoll, and bumpersol.
And finally, from my favorite thesaurus, Chambers, two more umbrella words: brolly and gamp.
Stay dry, everyone!
Winter is the Warmest Season /
It snowed last night - less than an inch, but we're in for a heap more over the next couple of days. I broke out the thickest, longest, puffiest of my winter jackets this morning when I went out to shovel. It made me think about my favorite winter book, Winter is the Warmest Season by Lauren Stringer and one of my favorite winter pictures, Great Grandparents Andreas and Maria snug on a sleigh in their cozy chin to toe coats.
From Chambers Compact Thesaurus, coat:
overcoat, greatcoat, redingote, car-coat, duffel coat, fleece, fur coat, Afghan, blanket, frock-coat, tail-coat, jacket, bomber jacket, dinner-jacket, donkey jacket, hacking-jacket, reefer, pea-jacket, shooting-jacket, safari jacket, Eton jacket, matinee jacket, tuxedo, blazer, raincoat, trench-coat, mackintosh, mac, Burberry, parka, anorak, cagoul, jerkin, blouson, cape, cloak, poncho...
And my favorite: windcheater
stark anomaly /
People name babies April, May, June and August (from Latin: grand), but not November. And it’s no wonder. November in a word: stark. If it were a crayon: grey. October’s brilliant yellows dissolve into brown crinkles on the pavement and trees are left shivering black skeletons. But this Iowa afternoon defines anomaly (divergence from what is usual or expected). On my walk: lawns July green, skies September blue. November, you’re nearly name worthy.
parry /
From Michelle Edwards comes this excellent word for the day:
parry
and from my favorite dictionary this brief and poetic definition:
to fend off (a blow)
to sidestep (a question) adeptly
Leo and Phoenix, July
apple of my ear /
There’s a constant thump on our roof in the fall - an all hours thunder; rumbles, bumps, a blunder as apples fall from their tree. These apples aren’t pretty or tasty, just loud. I stomped outside this afternoon to see how many more there could possibly be and found this fellow smiling contentedly into the weak late autumn sun. I hope he hangs on for awhile.
DARE has four full pages of apple entries. From apple haw to appleknock and of course apple pandowdy. But my favorite is an expression from North Brooklyn, circa 1934. Everything is Apple! means everything is okay.
Thanks, Eau Claire! /
Thanks to the Chippewa Valley Book Festival for hosting me last weekend.
Thank you, Putnam School, for this fabulous welcome, including LeRoy's doghouse on the library door.
And cheers to the Eau Claire Humane Society and the volunteers who brought animals to the Petspectives event on Saturday. We learned about these adoptable creatures, heard LeRoy's tale, and wrote stories from the perspective of pets.
Lois the dog stole my heart, but I couldn't bring her back to Iowa. Surely someone in Wisconsin must have a home for this sweet as pie hound and these adorable twin kittens.
spectacle /
Spectacle is one of those words that’s simply fun to say and brings to mind rambunctious antics or unexpected delights. Don’t make a spectacle of yourself, your mother says. So secretly (or not so secretly) you wish to be, in the words of Chambers: a sight, especially one that is impressive, wonderful, ridiculous.
It makes sense then, that eye glasses are also called spectacles. I stopped for ice cream in Grand Marais, MN recently and while I was disappointed to find the shop closed, discovering this envelope exchange taped to the window nearly made up for it.
Ontario Spectacles: Here are your spectacles - Thunder Bay. Thanks a lot for keeping them. Sure could have used an ice cream! Next year!
a dandy by any name /
One lion hearted dandelion holding fast its feathery wigDandelion comes from the 15th century french dent de lion or lion's tooth because of the shape of its leaves but call it by any of these if you'd like: arnica, blow weed, butterflower, butterweed, carrot plant, china lettuce, coffee cup, dandy, down-head, fluff-weed, fortune-teller, grandaddy's whiskers, gray-haired grandmother, hawkbit, Irish daisy, little captain, one o'clock, puffball, puffweed, wine blossom, wine weed, yard flower.
source: Dictionary of American Regional English
This down-head was spied at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.