A.Word.A.Day -- AWADmail Issue 1182

A.Word.A.Day

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AWADmail Issue 1182

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

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

The Death of Capital Letters: Why Gen Z Loves Lowercase
The Guardian
Permalink

The Complicated Question of How We Determine Who Has an Accent
ScienceDaily
Permalink

Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy One Up! -- “Guaranteed to ruin Christmas.”

From: Kate Cook (kborst mcn.org)
Subject: onolatry

Donkeys are among the most personable of animals. I have just been to a wonderful donkey sanctuary, called Oscar’s Place, where you might say onolatry is practiced, and thank heavens. They have almost 200 donkeys, nearly all of which have been rescued or surrendered by people who can no longer care for them. Many are purchased at auction in Bowie, Texas, where these sweet but mistreated animals are being sold by neglectful owners who have abused their animals for years. Some five million donkeys are slaughtered every year worldwide for their hides, which contain an ingredient in some bogus Chinese “medicine”.

At Oscar’s Place, the donkeys live in luxury, with plenty of shelter, the right kind of food, medical care, and lots of loving humans to pet or “love on them” as they call it. It’s an utterly heartwarming experience to visit a place where something wonderful is happening. Happy donkeys are adorable creatures, and onolatry makes sense when you’ve met some of them.

Kate Cook, Yorkville, California

From: Andrew Gilmore (aimgilmore att.net)
Subject: Onolatry

Recall the comment of Representative Matt Green on Jan 6th, “The things we do for Orange Jesus.” I propose Donolatry.

Andrew Gilmore, Wilton, New Hampshire

From: Luke Sherwood (lukesherwood1978 icloud.com)
Subject: Dorothy Canfield Fisher

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two weeks’ vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our busy days. -Dorothy Canfield Fisher, author, reformer, and activist (17 Feb 1879-1958)

The author of today’s Thought for Today was an underrated author and educator. I had the delightful and edifying experience some years ago to read her “Seasoned Timber”, the lovely, bittersweet story of a Vermont school headmaster who at 44 years of age falls for a rather younger female colleague.

One image from the novel that stays with me: the schoolmaster brings all the boys (ages roughly 14 and up) to a frozen pond to hone their ice skating skills. A couple of weeks later they’ve mainly mastered it, and so he brings the girls out, and charges the boys to help them. He watches as the boys support the young ladies, physically and emotionally. He marvels at the smiles he sees on every face and revels in the laughter and delightful times the young ‘uns enjoy. He wonders why he hadn’t thought of the whole scheme sooner. Ah, the lovely tricks and conjurings our novelists perform!

Dorothy Canfield Fisher also lends her name to a prestigious children’s book award, purportedly the second-oldest of all such American prizes.

Thanks so much for triggering that memory.

Luke Sherwood, Arvada, Colorado

From: Tom Furgas (tofu4879 gmail.com)
Subject: Grizzle

This word reminds me of a New Yorker cartoon. An older man in pyjamas gazing at himself in the bathroom mirror, unshaven stubble on his face and hair mussed up. He has a wicked grin while he thinks to himself “’Grizzled’ -- I like it.”

Tom Furgas, Youngstown, Ohio

From: Mardy Grothe (drmardy drmardy.com)
Subject: quotation source

That is a lovely thought about teachers today, but it does not come directly from Kazantzakis, instead from the great Leo Buscaglia discussing Kazantzakis. In his 1982 book Living, Loving & Learning, Buscaglia wrote: “Nikos Kazantzakis suggests that ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own.” For more, see here.

Mardy Grothe, Southern Pines, North Carolina

Updated it on the website. Thank you.
-Anu Garg

From: Marc Davidson (flueln hotmail.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--polyphony

“Architecture, said Hegel, is frozen music. Donald Swann’s music has often been compared to defrosted architecture...” -Michael Flanders From Flanders & Swann comic album “At The Drop of Another Hat”.

“Architecture is frozen music” is actually by Goethe.

Marc Davidson, Ormond, Florida

From: Loren Myer (tsk-tsk sbcglobal.net)
Subject: bibble

Ish Kabibble was the stage name of Merwyn Bogue, an American comedian and cornet player during the 1930-50s. My mother (born in 1917) also used the expression “Ish ka bibble” occasionally.

Loren Myer, Frankfort, Indiana

From: Paul Castaldi (paulcast55 verizon.net)
Subject: The Last Straw?

I didn’t know there’s a word for it, but when I was young we children loved to bibble (meaning #3) through our straws as we finished a beverage.

I concede that to adults this is considered rude, but adults reacted as if we were scraping our nails down a blackboard. To put it mildly, they were completely unsympathetic to the joys of bibbling; six decades later, I still think they were overreacting.

Paul Castaldi, Havertown, Pennsylvania

From: Brenda J. Gannam (gannamconsulting earthlink.net)
Subject: jactation and bibble

Another “jac” word ... ejaculate: to throw out (from the mouth, penis, etc.)

While growing up a Catholic, I learned about a “spiritual” exercise called “nocturnal adoration”. Men (only men) were asked to sign up to spend one night each week or month alone, in the church, worshipping Christ, in the form of the host displayed in the monstrance (a fancy gold-footed frame placed on the altar). The prayers recited during this exercise were known as “ejaculations”. As a very young girl I thought this was really weird. Now I realize just how creepy it really was.

My stepchildren, while learning to read, once came to their Jewish father for help. “Dad,” they asked, “what is the Holly Bibble?” Ever since then, I laugh to myself at the memory whenever I see the words “Holy Bible,” and think, maybe the kids were right!

Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York

From: Robert Sanford (rh.4.sanford gmail.com)
Subject: Jactitation

This word was used early on in Inherit the Wind, in a little conversation between the Scopes Trial judge and one of the more sophisticated Chicago lawyers.

Lawyer: “Objection. This is an absurd piece of jactitation.”
Judge: “Counsel uses a word with which the bench is not familiar.”
(video, 24 sec.)

Robert Sanford, Green Valley, Arizona

From: Laurie Kaniarz (lauriszka att.net)
Subject: Jactation

The word jactancia in Spanish is the same! Jactarse is very much in use in Spanish to describe boastful behavior. There’s a lotta jactation being committed nowadays by the current Administration: it’d be good to revive the term in English.

Laurie Kaniarz, Kalamazoo, Michigan

From: Alex McCrae (ajmccrae277 gmail.com)
Subject: bibble and jactation

Many of us have had the restaurant experience of trying to suck up the very last drop of water from a glass with surplus ice, trying to avoid that off-putting slurping sound? Understandably, one may feel slightly self-conscious, concerned about annoyed patrons’ glances. Here, 7-Eleven’s hyper-sugary Slurpees are the culprit. Hard not to bibble when attempting to slurp up that remaining shaved-ice melt.

Trump 2.0, emboldened by what he regards as a mandate to govern with impunity, has taken a wrecking ball to most of America’s institutions/agencies, boasting about his shock-and-awe initiatives. He’s gloating over his executive orders to end birthright citizenship and his nixing of DEI, challenging the Fed courts and flouting the Constitution. Of course, his bromancer and DOGE prime-mover, Elon Musk, is equally braggadocious about turning governance completely on its head.

Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California

Anagrams


	This week’s theme: Words with multiple personas Onolatry Grizzle Polyphony Bibble Jactation	=	Pray to Bible’s li’l donkey? Growl, whimper Harmonise hot jazz & best pop Chew lustily Ostentate in
			-Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com)
=	Holy donkey worship -- (it’s moot) He’ll gripe, blub new Orleans jazz (party time!) Boast Twitch in sleep	=	We worship the jackass Pelt will turn grey Harmonized hymn Tipple booze bottle noisily Boast
	-Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz)		-Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2 gmail.com)

Make your own anagrams and animations.

Limericks

Onolatry

They follow his lies and his braying,
No matter what garbage he’s saying.
Onolatry, yes,
But no giant mess
He’ll make of the planet, I’m praying.
-Lou Gottlieb, Molalla, Oregon (lougottlieb1 gmail.com)

Some leaders can merit idolatry,
While others, it seems, just onolatry.
So Republicans cheer
For the donkey they fear
And democracy dies oh so quietly.
-Steve Cabito, Santa Rosa, California (stevecabito gmail.com)

Individuals standing alone,
With their eyes staring down at a phone.
We may think we’re in touch,
But we’re losing so much --
Such onolatry let us bemoan!
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

She pined that her boyfriend lacked class.
His onolatry was very crass.
This donkey fixation,
Had caused her frustration.
“No wonder I call him an ass!”
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

Said Titania, “In beautiful poetry,
I’ve been struck by the Bard with onolatry.
O, mischievous Puck!
My whole heart hath got stuck
On Nick Bottom; his braying doth grow on me!”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Grizzle

Giuliani’s attempt once did fizzle,
When he dyed his hair’s color of grizzle.
You did see this, I’ll bet,
When he started to sweat,
Down his cheek the black dye then did drizzle.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

Said a grizzled old guy whom I know,
“I would like to look younger and so
My hair I have dyed,
And I therefore take pride
In achieving this tangerine glow.”
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

As I age, it is far from surprising
That every new hair that’s arising
Is grizzled! I’m sad,
For the locks I once had
Were brunette! All this gray’s agonizing!
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

In the mirror I see an old me;
It’s because I am seventy-three.
It makes my blood sizzle;
My hair’s turning grizzle.
But you can’t turn back time, all agree.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

As my hair becomes almost all grizzle,
My other parts gradually fizzle.
I can’t go full throttle,
Or serve as a model;
I’d break Michelangelo’s chisel.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Polyphony

I once met a lass I’ll call Tiffany,
Whose sweet nothings were such a polyphony
Of burbles and coos
I could scarcely refuse,
That this bachelor had an epiphany!
-Steve Cabito, Santa Rosa, California (stevecabito gmail.com)

Now Bach’s a composer of note.
His music, it did rock the boat.
He had an epiphany:
To write with polyphony,
And so a great fugue he then wrote.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“My unique s and k consanguinity,”
Said c, “makes me king of polyphony.”
But g shouted, “Fie!”
So did o, a, and y;
Bashful u, though, reacted more timidly.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Bibble

Old MacGuff had a penchant to bibble
So much that he often would dribble
All over his front,
Then get up with a grunt,
The icebox to raid for a nibble.
-Steve Cabito, Santa Rosa, California (stevecabito gmail.com)

He barks and he bibbles his food,
And my shoes he has not left unchewed.
His breath makes me retch,
And he makes me play fetch;
Whenever he is in the mood.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

The baby would bibble and coo;
Adorable things he would do.
His nana was wowed,
And, boy, was she proud
Whenever he did something new.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

She said to her mate, “I won’t quibble.
This gift that you gave me is bibble.
I won’t tell you twice.
Just take my advice.
You’ll not get from me any nibble!”
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“When the drinkers inside of me bibble,
The abstainers I urge not to quibble.
And I’m part DEI:
A Black girl, a Brown guy,
Queer, white, straight, we’re all here!” exclaimed Sybil.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Jactation

It irks me, his constant jactation.
It’s not helping with rampant inflation.
And it’s led to a crisis:
Just look at egg prices!
Fowl play, and it’s causing frustration.
-Steve Cabito, Santa Rosa, California (stevecabito gmail.com)

“I am known for my brilliant oration,
The most erudite heard in this nation.
I’m King Donald the First.
And with greatness I’m cursed,
I state humbly sans any jactation.”
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

Avoid that guy Wally; he never
Talks of anyone else, no, not ever!
Just constant jactation!
He’s got a fixation
On whatever’s his current endeavor!
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

He supplies us with disinformation,
Relies on relentless jactation.
Trump lies and he crows;
Now God only knows
How we will survive as a nation.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

Young Jack was well known for a boast.
When he raised up his glass in a toast,
He’d make an oration
Of total jactation,
And bore all the guests and the host.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

Said Cruella de Vil, “No salvation
Will there be for a single Dalmatian.”
But all hundred and one
Laughed, “Your name is a pun!”
And escaped from her empty jactation.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Puns

Yoko’s fans were beset with Onolatry.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

Marrying Sonny at just 18, Cher eventually outgrew her B-onolatry and sought a divorce.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“Doc, no matter what anybody says, for some reason I love to respond with exclamations of unpleasant surprise.”
“Ah! Zees ees classic case of Onolatry.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Yogi was the most famous grizzle-y bear in Jellystone Park.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“Love thine enemy,” said Jesus. “To goeth around full of an-grizzle-ousy for thy mental health.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

After his colonoscopy the gastroenterologist told her husband, “You didn’t have a single polyphony.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

The ventriloquist pretended that his parrot could do impressions. He was guilty of polyphony.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“There’s a massive bibble-iography of Trump books by or based on accounts from disaffected associates, appointees, even family members. But they were ignored at the time,” said the 22nd-century librarian to the grad student researching America’s downfall.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“Bibble Dee Bobbity Boo!” Loudly sang Cinderella’s fairy godmother as she changed her pumpkin into a golden coach.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“On our way to a beach holiday we once had a flat tire. My family called the precious time wasted while our car was hoisted up to change it a ‘jactation’,” wrote the AWAD subscriber during portmanteau week.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The theory of democratic government is not that the will of the people is always right, but rather that normal human beings of average intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best course by bitter experience. -W.E.B. Du Bois, educator, civil rights activist, and writer (23 Feb 1868-1963)

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