Wordplay Wednesday™ June 8, 2016 – Stich not Stitch

Stich – not Stitch – Makes a Wordsmith Twitch!

A stich in time saves nine lines of proper prose. Oh … that isn’t how it goes?

Heehee … you Boomers will recognize a butchered version of the ol’ adage, “A stitch in time saves nine.”*

Thought I misspelled “stitch”? Nope – instead of saving stitches, we’ll pull your string with a line …

STICH (stik) n. – delete that dupe “t” to get: Prosody a line of prose or, esp., of verse. [WW #63]

Example: Where art thou, Muse, that thou forget'st so long …

[Shakespeare’s “Sonnet C” (#100) that many a writer knows by heart.]

So it’s almost spelled like “stitch” and it’s pronounced like “stick.” Go figure.

As much as I love words and meanings, I often wish our English language was a tad less complicated, don’t you? Phonetics anyone?

Word of the Week: STICH. Can you fit it into your own line of prose?

'Til next time ... have a wonderful "wordful" week …

                       

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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*SIDE NOTE: Are you wondering how the adage originated? According to Phrases.org, “This proverbial expression was obviously meant as an incentive to the lazy. It's especially gratifying that 'a stitch in time saves nine' is an anagram for 'this is meant as incentive'!” Cool! Love it when there are mysteries and hidden meanings of language. Enjoy!

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Wordplay Wednesday™ June 1, 2016 – Liminal

Between a Rock and a Hard Spot

This Wordplay Wednesday entry is long overdue. Yesterday I stumbled on a years-old notation of it while vegetating on the threshold of my day …

LIMINAL (limʹi nɘl, līʹmi-) adj. – of or at the limen, or threshold; at a boundary or transitional point between two conditions, stages in a process, ways of life, etc [n. liminality; WW #62]

 Had I actually paid attention to, and/or continued my studies of psychology in college, I likely would have known instantly, what Chuck Lorre referred to in his Vanity Card rant #410. “… we have no choice but to pull together as a nation and make do with the liminal.” Admittedly, I had to look it up. Thanks Chuck!

If you watch the Big Bang Theory, surely you pause the ending credits (a liminal moment before your mind returns to its usual evening numbness) to read Chuck’s rambling rants and raves. If you don’t, or worse, are unaware they’re there because you have an itchy finger on the remote control, you’re missing a grand opportunity to expand – or alternately, explode – your mind. Chuck isn’t just another pretty face writing in TVLand.

A longtime fan of his work, I first encountered Chuck’s quirky vanity cards following the insanely inane but fun antics of Dharma& Greg (1997). I derive as much pleasure from his ramblings as I do his creative characters. Obviously, there is a little of his zaniness in each of them.  

A vanity note to Mr. Lorre:

Has anyone told you recently, you’re not allowed to retire? Ever? And that Stephen Hawking should gather his neuroscientist friends to devise a way to preserve and access your brain (his too, of course) when your body finally dissolves? (I was going to say “decays” but that was too gross.) Your special brand of humor | angst | frustration | vision is greatly appreciated. Of course, many of us not only agree with you but could write vanity cards as well – we just can’t get away with it in Social Media like you can. The average person is vilified as “politically incorrect” for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. You, however, like Donald Trump, can say anything and you just become more popular. Don’t stop. In fact … run for President … PLEASE??!!

Word of the Week: LIMINAL. Can you fit it into your own vanity card writings?

'Til next time ... have a wonderful "wordful" week …

 

                       

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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Wordplay Wednesday™ May 25, 2016 – Knur(ly)

Surf’s Up! on Triplet Wordplay Wednesday

Being a “California Girl” I spent a fair amount of time in the surfing community, raising my sun-bleached blonde surfer boys, when cowabunga, super swells, and hang ten,* peppered their chatter.

Of course, for most colloquial terms we can’t point to any one person, day, or event that gave it birth, so as a writer, I like to dream up a scenario … gnarly.

What, in the name of gnarly waves, could have instigated that surf exclamation? Welllllll, what about … close your eyes … and first envision a green flag of tree leaves waving in the wind, the tree’s limbs gently caressing puffy clouds in a soft blue sky …

Run your hand down its grainy brown trunk, feeling every chunk of bark that lay smoothly against its ringed inner core … bump! Oh … we hit a knur.

KNUR (nʉr) n. – a knot, as on the trunk or branch of a tree. [WW #61; 1 of 3]

KNURL (nʉrl) n. 1) a knot, knob, nodule, etc.; 2) any of a series of small beads or ridges, along the edge of a coin or on a dial; 3) (SCOT) a short, thickset person. [WW #61; 2 of 3]

KNURLY (- ē) adj. – full of knurls, as wood; gnarled. [WW #61; 3 of 3]

Aha! We stumbled on the word, gnarl. An apparent synonym for knurl. And what in heaven’s name were the Scots thinking when they slipped a woodland term over a body? I bolded the meanings in my mind … and then …