Wordplay Wednesday™ September 23, 2015 – HALLOWMAS Saints-Spirits

Six Weeks of Weird Halloween Words ~ Week #1

“Christmas” is preceded by “Hallowmas”?

HALLOWMAS (halʹō mɘs, -masʹ) n. former name for All Saints’ Day. [Think celebrating sainted spirits …if you lived through the night before hell.]

Painting by Guido di Pietro, 15^th century.

How former, you ask? It reaches back to somewhere between 731-741. And of course, All Saints’ Day is November 1, to honor … well … all saints. [Clever.]

Want to get in the mood? Melanie Rigney’s new book, Blessed Are You: Finding Inspiration from the Stories of the Women Saints is especially appropriate; religious or not, Catholic or not, there is excellent life advice to be gleaned from it.

How does Hallowmas make the Weird Halloween Words list? It’s preceded by All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween) on October 31, a night on which the veil between us and the afterlife is particularly thin.

 

Of course, we don masks so the menacing souls on “the other side,” won’t recognize us, as we feast in preparation for the next two celebratory days. Seriously – they won’t know it’s you under that Star Wars: the Force Awakens Kylo Ren helmet-head, or traditionally sexy Bat Girl mask. And then what happens ...?   

Wordplay Wednesday™ September 16, 2015 – Manitou Halloween

From ancient Indians, Celts, and Christians – Boo! 

Six Weeks of Weird Halloween Words ~ Introduction

Painting by Richard Hook

Halloween’s witching season is just around the next dark corner, as we peruse the discounted, mondo bags of candy in the stores, trying to ignore their enchanting aroma.

Much of Halloween’s mystique is fueled by folklore – which brings me to one of my Words With Friends entries to lead off the ghostly season.

MANITOU (manʹɘ tōōʹ; also manitu or manito): n. Folklore among the Algonquin Indians, any of various spirits or supernatural forces variously conceived of as nature spirits of both good and evil influence.

Spirits have influenced our cultures since the beginning of societies. The advent of storytelling fueled mesmerizing tales of life after death and exploration of the supernatural – and we still don’t know what, if any, is “real.” What should we believe?

Wordplay Wednesday™ September 9, 2015 – Stupid is

Stupid is as stupid does …

Forrest Gump (movie); image credit

For the next time you want to call someone stupid without them catching on (right away):

INJUDICIOUS (inʹjöö dishʹɘs) – adj. showing poor judgement; not discreet or wise. [You’re welcome.]

Not an oft-heard word in casual conversation, injudicious is elite enough to pass over many heads – like our government’s collective policy makers.

After dealing with the SSA this week, I graciously call them injudicious. Do you know that your SSA benefits account is inaccessible at the “2^nd-level” verification stage, if EXPERIAN has incorrect information about you?! INJUDICIOUS. There must be a better way.

The whole world knows, credit reporting companies are notoriously erroneous and nearly impossible to correct. THIS is what our retirement benefits agency relies on for verification?!

“Among all of the companies generating CFPB complaints in North Carolina so far this year, credit bureaus are at the top of the list. Equifax is No. 1, followed by Experian.”* Charlotte Observer, 08/31/15.

Methinks the SSA misinterpreted this policy …

No wonder we have so much identity theft – it’s eating us up like we're a box of chocolates. And our government not only allows it, they feed it!

Any suggestions as to how this policy can be changed? 

'Til next time ... have a "wordful" week!

                                                                  

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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*In the Charlotte Observer quote, the bold on Experian and the link on CFPB are my additions.

 

Wordplay Wednesday™ September 2, 2015 – Noetic thinking

Is being noetic, poetic?

NOETIC (nō etʹik) – adj. of or having to do with the mind or intellect; sometimes specifically able to be understood only by the intellect.

Think “poetic” with your noodle – not the pool noodle, silly – your noggin / noodle / little pea brain. Noetic belly-flops into your intellectual pool of thought.

We “wax poetic” from tidbits of prose floating through our minds. And we grab those tantalizing tastes of wisdom with our intellect – noetic.

But according to famous and infamous Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Jung, “… intellect is, at best, only the half of truth …”*

So many philosophers, so little time … but let me feed your curiosity …

Wordplay Wednesday™ August 26, 2015 – Hiemal cool

Right about now, I’ll bet you could go for a cool winter day with a hint of rain or light, snowy dustup.

Stunning snowflake

Winter will certainly be here before you know it, along with all the holidays. Ugh and yea at the same time, and if the El Niño predictions are right, more “weather” than we might desire.

But today, as you brush the stream of sweat from your brow, you’ll just have daydream of a frosty, hiemal day …

HIEMAL (hīʹi mɘl): – adj. of winter; wintry. [Is your honey in a hiemal mood? Give her / him a warm hug.]

So, Wordsmiths … a question … hiemal is not listed as an archaic word, yet it is rarely seen in common language. Considering this, why in heaven’s name do we have so many words that mean the same thing? Why didn’t we stop at “winter” and “wintry” and leave it at that? (Or whichever came first.) If you’re waiting for an answer …