There's nothing like a good word to put a smile on my face. Persnickety, amok, discombobulated, kerfuffle--they all make me giggle. Maybe it's that storied comedic "k" sound. Maybe it's the imagery that accompanies them. Or maybe it's just because they're fun to say.
If it weren't for the fact that a lot of other people love such words, I might think I'm a little nuts (I'm a lot nuts, but that's not the point).
I'm certainly not the only one more than a little obsessed with words and phrases. The chance to use a word like "glissando" (a glide from one pitch to another in music; think harp) doesn't pop up much in my life, but when it does, I get a little giddy.
Last week, Slate posted an interactive map constructed of favorite slang words or phrases in each state, based on input from linguists, message boards, friends and colleagues, and Slate readers. Arkansas got "tump"; I see no problem with that, except maybe their sample sentence: "We're about to hit this bump, so hold your drink or it will tump." Seems a bit too proper for my taste; of course, I grew up in the country, tumping out wheelbarrows (or being tumped out of them) in the garden. Maybe it's just me.
Diane Plummer of Heber Springs wrote me: "I recently was talking to a friend about a heavy rain and described it as a 'toad strangler,' which she had never heard before. I don't know the origin of the expression and couldn't find it in either of the books I mentioned [by Charles Earle Funk] but I've always liked it."
Coincidentally, that phrase was Slate's pick for Florida. As far as its origin, I didn't find much, either, other than that it's chiefly Southern, especially on the Gulf Coast, and has been mentioned in print at least back to 1906, according to The Dictionary of American Regional English.
Ken Greening of Memphis said: "I was thinking recently ... about a word I never hear anymore but one that my parents' generation (WWII) seemed to use a lot. I grew up in Camden. ... 'When are you coming over? Oh, directly.' 'When are you leaving? Oh, directly.' However, the pronunciation came out as ... 'dreckly.' Anyway, that expression seems to have passed into history, but was always well-understood as to what it meant."
Yup, this is one I remember from my grandparents, often with the comment that they would be going "to home." Ah, memories.
John Eberhard, who always amuses me and makes me think when I read his comments on the website, contributed two of his favorites, both "b" words: borborygmi and brouhaha. He noted: "Not that they are particularly inspiring; I just like the sound of them."
While most people likely know what brouhaha means (noisy and overexcited reaction or response), generally the people who know the meaning of borborygmi are fellow word nerds or sufferers of persistent stomach ailments, though everybody has borborygmi (man, it really is fun to say). That'd be the plural of the noun denoting the rumbling or gurgling noise made by movement of fluid and gas in the intestines.
Fun to say, not fun to have on a regular basis. Trust me.
Fellow blogger Sarah Ricard is also a fan of persnickety (we Jan. 13 people think alike at times), but offered a few others (all excellent) in comments on my blog: "I read the word 'befurbelowed' (to be dressed up in fancy clothes) in The Awakening several years ago, and it is one of my favorites. Curmudgeon, meander, frock, contemplative, cerulean are several favorites that come to mind. For example, I could tell my husband, 'You're such a curmudgeon for honking at the contemplative goose meandering across the road.'
"My favorite saying came from a choir director in Texas. He would always say, 'Well, roll my socks up and down' if he got excited about something."
I tend to wear short socks, so people will just have to guess if I'm excited.
Janet Hill of Fairfield Bay said of her favorite phrases: "A few of mine came to mind, but I failed to write them down and now they have left me. But just last night my daughter told me I had got 'a good scald' on the cornbread. My grammy used to say it when something turned out perfectly."
That particular saying seems to be what a lot of grandmas have said, if entries on the Internet are any indication, much of it having to do with chicken. I couldn't track down its origin, but if you get a good scald on that chicken, I'm feelin' a bit peckish. And I definitely understand phrases leaving the mind (in my case, usually to return when I'm trying to get to sleep ... or driving ... not at the same time).
Chuck Anderson, meanwhile, sent a few phrases his momma used to say, including: "'He got his tail over the dashboard,' meaning he got all huffed up over something. 'It's time to break that boy's plate,' meaning it's time to send him on out into the world on his own," and "'The rats are dying,' referring to that last few minutes of frantic run around the room activity before the kids finally give up and go to sleep."
Speaking of, I think I see the rats getting ready to put on Camille.
For those who've asked, my Luke is still ill (and not happy to have been to see the vet so much since last Monday), but hopefully will soon recover. Thank you to everyone for your well wishes!
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Assistant Editor Brenda Looper is editor of the Voices page. Read her blog at blooper0223.wordpress.com.
Editorial on 09/09/2015