Friday, December 3, 2010

Did you ever wonder...

Did you ever wonder why there are really strange words like akimbo?  e.g. She stood with her arms akimbo (a human body position in which the hands are on the hips and the elbows are bowed outward).


Or, did you you ever wonder why there are words like laughter and daughter, and cough and dough - words that are spelled the same, but pronounced differently.  And then there are words like read, that can be pronounced 2 ways...e.g. I would like to read today's newspaper because I haven't read  a newspaper since Sunday.


Then there are palindromes, those silly words in the English language that can be spelled the same forward and backward...like level and Dr. Awkward. And then there are people who make up entire sentences that are palindromes...Was it a rat I saw?


And then there are the words we can no longer use because their meanings have changed.  Have you noticed how many Christmas Songs use the word gay..."Don we now our gay apparel" and "a turkey and some mistletoe help to make the Yuletide gay".  I mean, really...why can't we use that word anymore to state that someone is happy?  And pasties.  We can't mention that food item without eliciting snickers.  Pasties are meat turnovers which are sold at little Pasty Stands all over Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.


And last of all, why do people in Australia have really odd terms for things like a willy willy is a tornado, a barbecue is called a barbie, men's Speedo-type swim trunks are called budgie-smugglers...you can Google that one...


And one more thing...did you ever wonder how we got along without Google?

4 comments:

  1. Funny! People here talk about Pasties all the time and I always wondered what they were. Also, another word we don't use is "kin" they use it here, and took me a while to know what they meant. Random, the other day someone told Juli and I we "favor" eachother, never heard it put that way before. Also, yes, I wonder how we got a long without google, email, gps, mapquest, cell phones :) (Longest comment ever sorry)

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  2. Love your comment!! Thanks! There's also that phrase "I reckon". I had a friend in high school use it and I didn't know what he was talking about. Yes, there is a difference in terms even in the USA...

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  3. Yes they say Reckon here and I think it is hilarious! Also, people actually say fixin, as in "I am fixin to go shopping" cracks me up. I also thought of something great to add the other day, but now I can't think of it!

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  4. I reckon you'll think of it...meanwhile, I'm fixin' to go to a concert with your MIL...

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