Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Plenum – Wordplay Wednesday™ 03/27/2019


A Matter of Plenty …   

Being human, we may often feel life is lacking, so we seek ways to fill the void. Extreme sports, insane amounts of chocolate, and binge-watching a favorite show are admiral attempts.

However, perhaps we simply need be more pragmatic and look around our personal physical and mental space. Could be, our lives are already thriving with  …

PLENUM (plēʹnɘm, plenʹɘm) n. – 1) space filled with matter, as opposed to vacuum; 2) fullness; 3) a full or general assembly, as in all members of a legislative body; 4) an enclosed volume of gas under greater pressure than that surrounding the container. [WW #209]

Taken in different contexts, plenum could indicate so full, “about to blow”—if in a lab situation, perhaps cause for worry. Alternatively, a family plenum at your dinner table at least once a week creates positive, lifelong memories. Or the jar on your desk jammed with a plenum of M&Ms is a yummy, immediate satisfaction. Each “filled with matter” in a different way. 

Edward Grant in God and Reason in the Middle Ages (2001) said, "The key to understanding medieval interpretations of motion in hypothetically void space is to realize that medieval natural philosophers analyzed the same bodies in the void that they discussed in the plenum of their natural world."

Word Challenge: PLENUM. If you think your life is a void, look around and count your blessings. In life, “void” is relative … think plenum, as you fit this new word into your week of full writing.

FYI: A search of “plenum” finds a plethora of references to a plenum chamber of pressurized air, gas, or liquid. But it is much more versatile than that, as exhibited above and in Wiki’s definition page.

Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening! Expanding your mind is a no-cost, simple joy. Do you feel that way too? What’s your inspiration? Share your creative genius and Wordplay Wednesday comments below.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

           

[LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series about pioneering R&R Radio DJs. The true behind-the-mic tales make GREAT Holiday Gifts available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!]

E-N-Dzzzzzzzz  

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Recalcitrant – Wordplay Wednesday™ 03/20/2019


Apply Sparingly and Choose Your Battles Carefully  

There’s a time and place for this word. However, it should come with a warning label: Not to be displayed as a permanent personality trait. It is best exercised sparingly, lest you be forever branded as a difficult person ...

RECALCITRANT (ri kalʹsi trant) adj. – 1) refusing to obey authority, custom, regulation, etc., stubbornly defiant; 2) hard to handle or deal with (n. a recalcitrant person). [WW #208]

Recalcitrant came to me in an early morn dream-state, its four syllables repeating slowly and incessantly through my not-quite-awake brain.
Redheads are often described as “stubbornly defiant” so I suppose it’s no wonder I applied it to myself while it mulishly pushed me awake.

And Microsoft’s Word dictionary adds a few more rowdy synonyms defining recalcitrant: unruly, intractable, disobedient, and the dreaded, wayward.

However, it’s obvious by the news and plethora of all types of people who push their agenda in recalcitrant obstinacy, that it isn’t “owned” by redheads. We simply personify it.

Word Challenge: RECALCITRANT. As one with a long, recalcitrant history, a word of advice … know when to use it. Lift your head high, and pick your battles for the right reasons (and be reasonable enough to compromise), as you fit recalcitrant into your week of audacious writing.

Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening! Expanding your mind is a no-cost, simple joy. Do you feel that way too? What’s your inspiration? Share your creative genius and Wordplay Wednesday comments below.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

           

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series about pioneering R&R Radio DJs. The true behind-the-mic tales make GREAT Holiday Gifts available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!

E-N-Dzzzzzzzz  

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Bonnyclabber – Wordplay Wednesday™ 03/13/2019


Green Milk ~ Ew? Or Yum! 
When Americans think of Ireland, we often imagine rural farmers and green pastures. Though it has its urbanites, as we do, much of the rural vernacular with roots in the kitchen, still permeates modern syntax.

BONNYCLABBER* (bänʹē klab’ɘr) n. – [derived from Irish] thickly curdled sour milk.  [WW #207]

In case you don’t spend all that much kitchen time using the multitude of baking dishes languishing in your cupboards, you may not know that your bonnyclabber could be useful, rather than distasteful.

Baking and cooking with bonnyclabber not only brightens your yummy baked goods, but utilizes a food product you would normally toss down the sink.

Put the milk carton back in the fridge and mark it “FOR BAKING” and have a fun weekday event baking pies on “Pi Day”—March 14th—or an aromatic weekend of green Irish shamrock cookies for St. Patrick’s Day! (March 17th) Your bonnyclabber will fit right in.

And if you want a little more Irish to go with your week and Irish-American Heritage Month, a straight-from-Ireland word will motivate you to enjoy a jaunty jig or two when your yummy pies, cookies and cakes are done!
 
IRISH WORDPLAY WEDNESDAY: BACHRAM (“BOCH-rum”): Bachram is boisterous, rambunctious behavior, but it can also be used figuratively for a sudden or violent downpour of rain.

We’ll skip the downpour of rain—had enough for the winter—so let’s get bachram and tip a pint of green beer to go with our bonnyclabber pie. Gabháil le do shláinte agus do shaibhreas! (Cheers to your health and wealth!)

This week, grab your copy of Paddy’s Request, a delightful tongue-in-cheek eBook that perpetuates the fun myth of St. Patrick and the snakes, by the inimitable John F. Harnish. Curl up with your fave green libation, and enjoy your tasty treats made with bonnyclabber while you read!

Word Challenge: BACHRAM (Irish) / BONNYCLABBER*. I don’t know about you, but when I bake with libation in hand, I can become a tad bachram. Makes it tough to measure the ingredients! Enjoy, as you fit bonnyclabber into your week of Celtic writing. (*Bonnyclabber is in the English dictionary.)

Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening! Expanding your mind is a no-cost, simple joy. Do you feel that way too? What’s your inspiration? Share your creative genius and Wordplay Wednesday comments below.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

           

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series about pioneering R&R Radio DJs. The true behind-the-mic tales make GREAT Holiday Gifts available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!

E-N-Dzzzzzzzz