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Apr 24, 2022
This week’s theme
There’s a verb form for it

This week’s words
travest
anathematize
immiserate
betrump
manuscribe

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There’s a word for it
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AWADmail Issue 1034

A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and Language

Sponsor’s Message: “A masterpiece.” -- Tim Leatherman, Eponymous Creator & Co-Founder. Try some intellectual distancing for a change this season: The Official Old’s Cool Education III is “A Real-Whirled Delight,” three pocket-sized handbooks that are full of wonderment and glee, how-tos, history, recalcitrance and wit. Trivia too: What’s Sleeping Beauty’s real name? Who is the only U.S. President who wasn’t elected? A ludic and lovely call to intellectual adventure that’s also a wicked bargain -- use coupon “AWAD” for $5 off shipping. Learn more.



From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Interesting stories from the Net

Why This Era of Global Change Demands New Language
Literary Hub
Permalink

The War in Ukraine Has Unleashed a New Word
The New York Times
Permalink



From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Verbing nouns

This week I asked readers for their examples of turning nouns into verbs. Here are some selections:

I made up and often use the phrase “don’t grief me” which is different from “don’t grieve me”.
-Richard Rodzinski, Lake Placid, New York (richardrodzinski intermezzo-productions.com)

“Let’s Wordle.” Each morning as my partner and I play.
-Gale Bayer, Englewood, New Jersey (galebayer optonline.net)

I play doubles tennis, a sport in which you are taught to move in a diagonal at the net. So, I tell my partners to diagonate.
-Penni Fromm, Boca Raton, Florida (pennifromm yahoo.com)

Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy The Official Old’s Cool Education -- How do you get down from an elephant?”
As an artist, a writer and a seeker, I have often put art into a verb form. I am therefore I art... implies the creative potential of every person in the tradition of Joseph Beuys who saw everyone as an artist. I also like the fact the verb to art is close to the verb to be.
-Dominique Mazeaud, Santa Fe, New Mexico (heartistdm gmail.com)

We’re all familiar with “altercation”, which is an angry and heated argument. Rarely do we use its verb form “altercate”. I used it in a high-school English paper years ago, and my teacher circled it in red. I never used it again.
-Tony Pivetta, Royal Oak, Michigan (apivetta aol.com)

There is one in the self-help, mindfulness world that absolutely drives me crazy: efforting.
-Ellyn Varela-Burstein, Cold Spring, New York (ellynvb optonline.net)

How about nepotize? It’s what my granddaughter says whenever I say that her mother has beaten her in a contest. “You’re nepotizing her!”
-Anne Carroll Fowler, Portland, Maine (annecfowler mac.com)

I go to a lot of zoom folk song circles. I have to leave one of them for an hour or so to do a mitzvah -- a good deed, a small volunteer task. The host asked me when I’d be finished mitzvah-ing.
-Elizabeth Block, Toronto, Canada (elizabethblock netzero.net)

One noun that my wife verbicized has been “labelize” (to label something). It works so well and is handy. It’s become part of our regular home-speak.
-Patrick Bernou, Elmira, Canada (patrick.bernou sunlife.com)

My father-in-law famously used to threaten to “throatenize” anyone who disagreed with him.
-Mary Ann Bushman, Normal, Illinois (maryann.bushman gmail.com)

Having survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005 with significant loss to property and possessions (but not to life, thank God), my family and friends speak to something being Katrinarized when we are trying to remember what happened to some object that we can’t locate or about which we are reminiscing.
-Ellen Lee, New Orleans, Louisiana (emlee504 yahoo.com)



From: Jon von Gunten (jon globescope.us)
Subject: timely software projects

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later. -Fred Brooks, computer scientist (b. 19 Apr 1931)

To estimate the actual duration of a software project, begin with your most pessimistic appraisal. Then...
  • Double your number
  • And replace units of time with next-higher unit.

  • Jon von Gunten, Los Angeles, California



    From: John D. Laskowski (johnlaskowski epix.net)
    Subject: Betrump

    “To be Trump or not to be Trump ?” That is the 2024 question!

    John D. Laskowski, Carsonville, Pennsylvania



    From: Dave Lindell (dllindell msn.com)
    Subject: betrump

    You can break that into two words and it will still have the same meaning.

    Dave Lindell, Pasadena, California



    From: Paul Basile (basilepaulm gmail.com)
    Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--betrump

    Respectfully submitted for your entertainment pleasure: a clip (4 min.) from the movie Downfall, about Hitler’s last days in the Fuhrerbunker, with subtitles modified along trumpian lines.

    Paul Basile, Skokie, Illinois



    From: Peter Jennings (peterj benlo.com)
    Subject: betrump

    For five centuries, the word betrump has languished on the scrapheap of forgotten English words. But now the term -- meaning to deceive or cheat -- could be set for a return after winning a poll to choose our favourite long-lost word.

    Peter Jennings, St. Catharines, Canada



    From: Brenda J. Gannam (gannamconsulting earthlink.net)
    Subject: Trump chicken or egg?

    Which came first, the Trump chicken, or the betrump egg? My money’s on the egg.

    The Trumps chose their English-language name. They full well knew the meaning -- or should have. So, they are fair game for mockery, ridicule, scorn, etc., for being so stυpid in thinking they were being clever.

    Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York



    From: Carolyn Friedman (via website comments)
    Subject: manuscribe

    I can’t help but think of a new word: manusplain -- the WRITTEN explanation of something by a man, typically to a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing. [cf mansplain]

    Carolyn Friedman, Charlottesville, Virginia



    Trump Being Trump
    From: Alex McCrae (ajmccrae277 gmail.com)
    Subject: Betrump and manuscribe

    These days, Trump spends an inordinate amount of time out on the golf course, much as he did as president. Here, he is sneakily dropping a pocketed golf ball, which he’ll play in lieu of his original lost ball... Trump betrumping Trump. Sadly, this cheater has no bottom limit as to how low he’d stoop.

    Manuscriber Ruth
    Regular fans of PBS’s Antiques RoadShow would note the amazingly high prices for Babe Ruth manuscribed baseballs. The Bambino was the greatest two-way player of his generation. Early in his MLB career he was a lefty pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but then spent the bulk of his playing days as a lefty slugger and home run king for the New York Yankees.

    Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California



    Anagrams

     
    This week’s theme: there’s a verb form for it
    1. travest
    2. anathematize
    3. immiserate
    4. betrump
    5. manuscribe
    = 1. viz: mock him
    2. swear at the brat
    3. i.e. enervate, tire the masses
    4. bum shafts turbo firm
    5. er...pen a trite meme
         This week’s theme: Well now there’s a verb form for it
    1. travest
    2. anathematize
    3. immiserate
    4. betrump
    5. manuscribe
    = 1. tease, taunt, shame fe/male for rum stammer
    2. beshrew
    3. impoverish
    4. cozen, abet
    5. write letters with ink verbatim
    -Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com) -Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz)
     
     
     
    1. travest
    2. anathematize
    3. immiserate
    4. betrump
    5. manuscribe
    = 1. taunt ‘em; satirize
    2. hammer; berate
    3. a victim’s bust
    4. ream
    5. pen
         This week’s theme: There’s a verb for it
    1. travest
    2. anathematize
    3. immiserate
    4. betrump
    5. manuscribe
    = 1. satirize the event (better embarrass them!)
    2. curse
    3. impoverish
    4. make a theft
    5. write, submit a name
    -Robert Jordan, Lampang, Thailand (alfiesdad ymail.com) -Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2 gmail.com)


    This week’s theme’s “There’s a verb form for it”
    1. travest
    2. anathematize
    3. immiserate
    4. betrump
    5. manuscribe
    = Features ten ‘t’s, five ‘m’s, three ‘iii’, three ‘h’s; a ‘z’, a ‘k’, a ‘b’, two ‘b’s even; a ‘p’, a ‘c’, more ‘m’s … “hmm, a bummer,” trier titters
    -Robert Jordan, Lampang, Thailand (alfiesdad ymail.com)

    Make your own anagrams and animations.



    Limericks

    Travest

    To travest a POTUS, you know
    Is such an easy way to go.
    You take a pot shot,
    Use humor a lot,
    While hearing the crowd’s laughter grow
    -Lois Mowat, Orinda, California (lmowat1810 gmail.com)

    Joan Rivers with jabs and with jest,
    A master of scoff, she’d travest.
    Her punch lines would skewer,
    With some lines much bluer.
    A comedy great, who impressed.
    -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

    Of all of the people I travest,
    I hope I make Donald the maddest.
    I wish he could tweet,
    For it sure would be sweet
    To frame, “Crooked Steve Benko’s the baddest!”
    -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

    Anathematize

    Mosquitoes and hornets and flies
    I often anathematize.
    They bite and they sting;
    Diseases they bring --
    And bedbugs I also despise.
    -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

    On being elected as Pope
    Old man Borgia said: “Now I have scope
    To anathematize
    All those I despise,
    As I’m a confirmed misanthrope.”
    -Duncan Howarth, Maidstone, UK (duncanhowarth aol.com)

    In herbivorous animal guise,
    A wolf we anathematize.
    “You’re no sheep!” we exclaim.
    And yet Trump rose to fame,
    Which is why you see wrath in my eyes.
    -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

    Immiserate

    The tactics of Putin appall;
    His warfare immiserates all.
    I hope and I pray
    Folks soon find a way
    To hasten this dictator’s fall.
    -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

    Alexander said: “I just can’t wait
    To conquer and immiserate
    All the lands to my east,
    And don’t call me a beast --
    For history will call me The Great.”
    -Duncan Howarth, Maidstone, UK (duncanhowarth aol.com)

    “My life coach says stress I must dissipate,
    So a city or two I’ll obliterate,”
    Said Vlad. “It’s so calming
    To do a nice bombing!
    My joy is to others immiserate.”
    -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

    Betrump

    To follow their leader they jumped,
    But now they are feeling betrumped.
    They helped stage a coup,
    Yet very few knew
    That now into jail they’d be dumped.
    -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

    “A bank I would never betrump,
    Nor a girl would I grab by the rump,”
    Declared the man running,
    His stardom quite stunning.
    Of whom do I speak? Forrest Gump!
    -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

    Manuscribe

    I manuscribe all that I write.
    A computer just can’t get it right.
    But my readers complain
    That my script is a pain,
    And my scribble and scrawl do affright.
    -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

    Her carefully manuscribed letter
    Suggested what Santa might get her.
    Instead of a list,
    She said in a twist,
    Some gift cards, she thought, might be better.
    -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

    Penmanship is a vanishing skill:
    Most of us, to write cursively will
    “Manuscribe” (write by hand)
    With a Siri command:
    “Load calligraphy fonts in your quill.”
    -Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com)

    Drinking’s the time-honored curse!
    Of the writer who’s suffering worse
    ‘Cause he can’t manuscribe
    So what else? He’ll imbibe --
    And come up with impeccable verse!
    -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

    In olden days men who do manuscribe
    Were told that they must not imbibe.
    For a hand that does shake,
    It can make a mistake,
    Receiving a scold or a gibe.
    -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

    “How I yearn for a laptop,” sighed Will;
    “To manuscribe plays suits me ill.
    It’ll take a First Folio
    To resolve the imbroglio
    Resultant from drafting by quill.”
    -Duncan Howarth, Maidstone, UK (duncanhowarth aol.com)

    Souvenirs he’d for fans manuscribe,
    Then he’d party, carouse, and imbibe.
    The Babe was a guy
    Who could make baseballs fly,
    And who lit up New York with his vibe.
    -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)



    Puns

    “What a buy! The suit comes with with an ex-travest!”
    -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

    “Y’all need tuh travest-in’ their pensions accordin’ tuh the law,” ruled the judge when the company tried not to pay.
    -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

    Said the King of Siam, “I will let Anathematize my children’s curriculum.”
    -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

    Said Hercule Poirot investigating a young man’s disappearance at Hannibal Lechter’s house, “I theenk h-immiserate.”
    -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

    “I will betrump L’oeil-ing the whole dining room!” gushed the interior decorator.
    -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

    There aren’t many who would want to betrump these days.
    -Lois Mowat, Orinda, California (lmowat1810 gmail.com)

    “No, I don’t want my name to still betrump afterwards,” Ivana told her divorce lawyer.
    -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

    Manuscribe so poorly I can’t read what you wrote!
    -Lois Mowat, Orinda, California (lmowat1810 gmail.com)

    Hoping to preserve his sabre-tooth tiger recipes for posterity, Oog asked his neighbor, “Manuscribe?” “No,” came the answer. “Me invent wheel, but not writing yet.”
    -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)



    Calling A Spade A Spade
    From: Alex McCrae (ajmccrae277 gmail.com)
    Subject: Calling a spade a spade

    Pres. Biden caused quite the stir last week when he declared that the Russian military under the command of Putin was committing genocide in Ukraine. He was criticised by some world leaders for publicly using the G-word. French president Macron acknowledged that Putin was sanctioning war crimes and crimes against humanity, but opined that it may have been imprudent to label the atrocities as “genocide”; an action that Macron felt would only furhter embolden Putin’s inhumanities. Hmm... has the definition of horrific behavior come down to semantics?

    Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California



    A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
    History is all explained by geography. -Robert Penn Warren, novelist and poet (24 Apr 1905-1989)

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