by beatriceotto | Aug 29, 2017 | triologisms |
Such jaw-gripping tenacity is used to describe the force that the ending ‘-cious’ adds to words, as in the word ‘tenacious’. Thoreau observes and analyses language as incisively as he observes and analyses nature. ‘… the...
by beatriceotto | Jul 19, 2017 | put in a good word |
A besom is a broom made of twigs tied around a stick, though in Scottish & Northern English it’s also a derogatory term for a woman or girl. ‘A scrawny, buttermilk-faced young besom, allus askin’ questions an’ pokin’ tha’ nose...
by beatriceotto | Jul 19, 2017 | put in a good word |
Graidely seems an alternative spelling to ‘gradely’ which means fine and good; promising and likely; being in good health or physically attractive; fitting and proper. “He’s took a graidely fancy to thee. He wants to see thee and he wants to...
by beatriceotto | Jul 19, 2017 | put in a good word |
Bothered or bewildered. ‘Moither’ can also mean to ramble or speak in a confused way. ‘Mother’s a good-tempered woman, but she gets fair moithered.’ Source: Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden, illus. Inga Moore (London:...
by beatriceotto | Jul 7, 2017 | a quote to note, metaphors |
A clear portrayal of something being unequal to the task, Thoreau uses this maritime metaphor to describe words which strike him as inauthentic, being only half justified or improved by some modifier (‘church’ made true by calling it ‘true...
by beatriceotto | Mar 16, 2017 | a quote to note |
This poem was written by a great uncle who shared my grandfather’s love of books and became a writer, also earning a degree in English literature in his retirement since there weren’t the funds for him to go to university when he was young. I discovered...
by beatriceotto | Mar 8, 2017 | put in a good word |
Savssats ‘occur most often in fjords, where a band of sea ice too wide for marine mammals to swim under on a single breath cuts them off from the open sea. As the fjord continues to freeze over, the animals are restricted to a smaller and smaller opening in the ice...
by beatriceotto | Mar 8, 2017 | put in a good word |
A North American word for a young pig, especially one which is newly weaned. Source: OED and Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams, p....
by beatriceotto | Mar 8, 2017 | put in a good word |
‘A long line of raked hay, corn sheaves, or peats laid out to dry in the wind. In North American English: a long line of material heaped up by the wind.’ ‘Windrows of feather from molting geese.’ Source: OED and Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams, p....
