My Word!

Jenners made an announcement on her blog yesterday concerning an adoption. She made it sound so fun and easy (and free!) that I couldn't resist an adoption of my own.

Words! We're talking about words! If you go to the Save the Words website you will find a whole array of words which are no longer used in the English language. They are perfectly good words. The only thing wrong with them is that no one uses them anymore so they've been discarded. Isn't that sad?

I really had no intention of adopting my own word. I wasn't sure I could truly give one the love and attention (and usage) it deserved. And if I didn't care for it properly, what would happen? Would it be taken away from me? Would I be punished? Would I be emblazoned with a scarlet letter? (or scarlet word?)

Of course I had to take a peek. Jenners warned that they were cute and would call out to us (pick me!). It didn't take long. I knew my word the moment I saw it.

Aquabib

a noun meaning "water-drinker"

I am an aquabib and proud of it! As an aquabib I drink close to 100 ounces of water each day. I'm sitting here drinking a glass of water as I type this entry. Aquabib. Aquabib. I like the sound of it!!

Now my challenge is to try and use my new word as often as possible. Who knows...I might decide to adopt another and give it a sibling!

What's in a name?

If you haven't entered the Caption Contest, it's not too late!

This is one of those games folks send around in e-mails. I've done it before, but thought I'd post it here this time around. Join in if you like.

Take the first letter of your middle name and answer each of the following questions with a word that begins with that letter. Try not to repeat any words.

1. What is your middle name? .....Gene

2. A four letter word.........Gasp

3. A boy's name.......Gary

4. A girl's name.......Gail

5. An occupation........Grocer

6. Something you wear...... Glasses

7. Beverage.........Grape juice

8. A place.........Germany

9. Something you shout........Geronimo!!!

Keep that mind alert!

I think it's pretty much agreed upon that as we age it's important to "exercise" our brains. There are many ways to do this: attempt another language, play bridge, learn to play a musical instrument, take a different route to the store or to work each day. I enjoy working jigsaw puzzles when time allows for it. Life's been too busy for that in recent months, but there are a few "brain exercises" that I always make time for. My local paper carries three daily puzzles that some folks would consider time-wasters, but I look at as ways to enhance my brain power.

I begin with the daily crossword puzzle, which is a simple one. Created by Thomas Joseph, it rarely takes me more than ten minutes to complete. If I'm really feeling daring, I work it using my left hand. (I'm right handed) There is one a little more difficult in the state-wide paper my husband reads, but I'd rather do the easy one and still have time for the other two puzzles. On rare occasions I will work the more challenging Los Angeles Times puzzle which appears in my Sunday paper. If my husband and I take a road trip on a Sunday, I'll take it to work in the car. (Yes, I'm one of those lucky people that can read while riding in a car.)

I next move to the cryptoquote. It's all about looking for patterns that appear in words and grammar. Sometimes the author of the quote is what gives it away. (look for anonymous, source obscure, source unknown, or some country's proverb) Also, if you do these enough, you'll start to recognize a lot of the folks who are quoted. I can't always work the cryptoquote. If nothing jumps out at me I move on to my last puzzle and come back to it later. Even that doesn't always work and it just goes unsolved.

The final puzzle I work is the sudoku. The version in my paper is called Conceptis Sudoku and starts the week easy, getting more difficult as the week progresses. I challenge myself on Mondays to work the puzzle without making any notations in the process. As the puzzles get harder, though, I have to makes notes. By the end of the week, I don't always complete them. If I find I've made an error or I just plain get stuck, I won't slave over it. I think one of my pet peeves is when folks claim they won't try sudoku because they "don't do math". It has nothing to do with math. The numbers could just as easily be substituted with the first nine letters of the alphabet. It's all about logic.

So..... that's how I try to spend about a half hour of my day. I find it relaxing. Hopefully it's doing my brain some good in the process!

Common Words

If you’re like me, another way to waste time on the computer is just what you need. (NOT!) I got an e-mail today with a link to a site where you are given 12 minutes to come up with the 100 most common words in the English language. I never do well at things when timed and only came up with 46.

Give it a try HERE and see how you do.

For the record, if a word you type into the box is correct it will automatically move it to the list (which is not in any order). If it’s not correct, you’ll have to back-space it out and try another word.

Favorite Five – Words

Words are an important part of our everyday life. Reading, speaking, listening… we all use them. Etymology is important to some folks and there are several “daily word” sites, such as the one I subscribe to, which provide this along with pronunciation, meaning and an example of usage.

I like words. You may not think you do, but surely there are a few you like better than others. I’ll tell you mine if you’ll tell me yours…. and please, keep it “G-rated”.

1. Vacuum - Hands down, this is my all-time favorite word. I love the sound of it and especially like spelling it aloud! There’s something about those “u”s.

2. Ominous – I remember learning this word not in spelling, but as a vocabulary word from a story in school. It was used in reference to “ominous clouds” before a storm and I’ve used it in weather discussions ever since.

3. Business - When I learned to type in High School (on an Underwood manual), I liked the way this word seemed to flow from my fingers. Why this particular word I don’t know, but it always just “felt” right.

4. Ombudsman – A fascinating word! I rarely see or hear it, but when I do it jumps out at me. Mainly, I think, because it’s such an awkward word that doesn’t flow from the lips easily. (interesting note: When I checked its spelling in my dictionary, I discovered it’s on the same page as “ominous”.) (additional note: Yes, I tend to use a real dictionary more than “spell-check”.)

5. Viaduct – This is not a word most small children know. However, due to having one over our community’s train yard near the downtown, I would venture to say most kids in our area are familiar with the word. When I was little, it was a known fact that if you didn’t hold your breath the entire time you drove over it, a murderer would come to your house that night and chop off your head while you slept!

freerice.com

I first shared this site a few years ago on my 360 blog. I love words and enjoyed testing my vocabulary and helping others at the same time. After visiting the site a few times, though, I forgot about it.

I was reminded of it recently while thinking up ways for my daughter to practice for a standardized test. She’s the one who informed me that the site wasn't just for vocabulary. It also includes areas in art, chemistry, grammar, geography, language learning and math!

I’ve just spent the last half hour “playing”. Wasted time? Maybe. I prefer to think of it as a way to help others while stimulating my brain at the same time.

Test yourself here!

Gallon Nippers

Seen any gallon nippers lately?

Wait, maybe you know them by another name. How about mosquito hawk, jimmy spinner or gollywhopper? All are names for the crane fly, an insect that resembles a gigantic mosquito. A few weeks ago we saw one in our church craft room that captured everyone’s attention. It had picked up a dust bunny from the floor with some silver glitter mixed in and as a result looked quite interesting cruising around the room.

Like most folks, when surfing the internet I’m easily led from one link to another. While looking up gallon nippers I happened on this page of AR-bonics. Despite living in Arkansas the majority of my life, many of the words listed were “foreign” to me. There were a few, though, that I’ve used a number of times.

Getting back to crane flies... according to Wikipedia it is a misconception that they prey on adult mosquitoes. That’s too bad since the only reason I ever refrained from killing them was the thought they were keeping blood-suckers at bay. In the future they better watch out for my swatter!!

Visuwords ™

A friend sent me a link to an online graphical dictionary and thesaurus a few weeks ago. I just now got around to checking it out and found it to be a rather clever site.

Check it out for yourself!

Visuwords ™