Penchant for Penning

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Algid – Wordplay Wednesday™ 12/09/2020

Talk About a Cold Day in Hell

With that title, we could be writing about this perniciously unsympathetic pandemic. A year ago, if anyone had suggested we would be in this situation, we’d have told them it would be a cold day in hell before that happens. Welcome to the meat locker of purgatory.

So let’s grab a steak, face the devil, and cook up something tasty for a wintry Holiday Season.

Cold temperatures hit incredible lows from Alaska’s frozen tundra—at -60d. recorded in early 2020, to a high of 9-25d. in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, forecast for some time this month. Well, after all, it is winter …

ALGID (ʹal-jɘd; ca. 1623) adj. – cold. [WW #298]

Short and to the point … seriously, that’s all the dictionary had to say … and with a one-word definition, we feel its chill! So this week’s Wordplay shall be short and to the point …

Use it! An uncommon word for a common occurrence. Great for many casual conversation occasions and alternative literary uses—even rhyming poetry!

No matter what I said or did
His manner turned icily algid
(I didn’t say it had to be good poetry!)

Since cold can be relatively subjective, the uses for algid are boundless. As a description for mood or physical temperature, algid fits in anywhere you have a tight spot for a short, cold word.

I often refer to California for many topics or references of my writings because, well … that’s where I am. But when it comes to weather, it’s obviously on the other end of the spectrum. For December, algid is the word in the upper states from Montana, sweeping down and east to North Carolina. At least according to Weather.com: “The greatest chance for any widespread colder than average temperatures this winter is in December from parts of the Northern Plains and Midwest into the mid-Atlantic and the Southeast.”

So just a heads-up, writers of the storms in life, your fun word for the winter is: algid! (Pun and ♪ music reference* ♪ intended.)

Word Challenge: ALGID. Think outside the freezer box, as you fit algid into your week of frosty writings and clever conversations.

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)

Cheers to learning a new word today, and making the virtual most of your Holidays!

@PenchantForPen
@Irishwriter

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

LR Notes: 1) Dictionary definitions are quoted from Webster’s New World College Dictionary. Yes, we sometimes present them out of “official” context—but that’s half the fun! Think of it as “creative context.” 2) a] Recent dictionary additions to definitions include a date of first use, if known; b] words in small caps indicate “see also.” 3) Neither I (LinDee Rochelle) nor Penchant for Penning are responsible for how you use information found here, that may result in legal action.

*♪The Doors, "Riders on the Storm"

E-N-Dzzzzzzzz

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Whencesoever – Wordplay Wednesday™ 12/02/2020

From Renaissance to the 4^th Industrial Revolution … Words Matter

In the wayward words department (say that three times fast!), are old words making a comeback? How long has it been since you uttered …

WHENCESOEVER (ʹhwen(t)(s)ʹsɘ-,we-vɘr; 1511) conj. – from whatever place or source. [WW #297]

Sounding this word out pretty much gives its definition secret away—that is, if you have ever heard the word whence—still a worthy word game play, for its possible point value. Whencesoever is even more underutilized, but apparently not quite obsolete or archaic.

This elongated whence is too long for word games, and rarely heard in common conversation. Soooooo, what good is it? Just askin’.

However, if you feel like faking out your friends, or have a quaint character in your writings who needs you to put long, pompous words in his mouth, whencesoever fits the bill. Perhaps when it originated in the Renaissance era (around 1511), society needed a word to describe the unknown origin of something.

Hmmmmm, come to think of it, today’s 4^th Industrial Revolution society has learned a lot, but we don’t yet know everything (or in perspective, much of anything). Like whencesoever a certain pandemic illness we know began its origin journey? (Its source is obscure at best and suspicious at its scariest worst.)

At the rate of speed that new words are being inducted into the dictionaries, you’d think we’d dispense more quickly with lifeless words … or pretty much never used words. But then, our vocabularies might be pretty dull without them.

Word Challenge: WHENCESOEVER. Some days it seems, for as much as we know—individually or collectively—there is a thousand times more we don’t. Never stop reaching for knowledge, as you fit whencesoever into your week of inquisitive writings and clever conversations.