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Jul 19, 2026 This week’s theme Words with multiple meanings This week’s words arete coprology noodle hock gamy How popular are they? Relative usage over time AWADmail archives Index Next week’s theme Words with hidden animals Wordsmith Games 🧩 Jigsaw Riddle Working the Land 🌍 Langitude Trace zabernism home AWADmail Issue 1255 A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and Language From: Andrew Lloyd (knockroe gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--arete Ah, excellent excellence! H.D.F. Kitto’s riff on the subject: Thus the hero of the Odyssey is a great fighter, a wily schemer, a ready speaker, a man of stout heart and broad wisdom who knows that he must endure without too much complaining what the gods send, and he can both build and sail a boat, drive a furrow as straight as anyone, beat a young braggart at throwing the discus, challenge the Phaeacian youth at boxing, wrestling or running; flay, skin, cut up and cook an ox, and be moved to tears by a song. He is in fact an excellent all rounder; he has surpassing areté. Kitto’s The Greeks, from which this passage comes, figures prominently in Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Pirsig quotes it in Chapter 29 while connecting Greek arete with his concept of quality. Andrew Lloyd, Borris, Ireland From: John Whittier (johnrwhittier gmail.com) Subject: Arete As soon as I saw this morning’s word, my mind went to Robert M. Pirsig’s Lila: An Inquiry into Morals, a semi-autobiographical novel based on a voyage aboard his sailboat Areté. John Whittier, St. Louis, Missouri From: Michael Poxon (mikethestarman gmail.com) Subject: fishbone forest Max Ernst made a grattage painting titled Forêt-arêtes (Fishbone Forest), thereby combining two of your examples with the word of the day. Whether the fishbone forest itself stood on an arete remains unclear, but Ernst was not always quite so earnest. Michael Poxon, Norwich, UK From: Salomon Quintero (squint dsol.com) Subject: arete Arete (ah-RET-eh) in Spanish means earring. Any connection? Salomón Quintero, Esq. (Ret.), San Carlos, California Spanish arete, meaning earring, is formed from aro (ring or hoop) + the diminutive suffix -ete. The origin of aro is uncertain, but Spanish arete appears unrelated to either sense of the English word featured here. -Anu Garg From: Allan Waitz (riplips76 msn.com) Subject: Coprology Many years ago, when I was working as a microbiologist and doing fecal analyses, we used to say, “It may be shit to you, but to us, it’s bread and butter.” Al Waitz, Gold Canyon, Arizona Email of the Week -- Brought to you by Oneupmanship From: Donald Scott (donscott943 gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--coprology In my days as a NASA Circuit Riding Educator, “Reading Rocks” was one of my favorite classroom activities. I’d divide a class into five-person groups, give each group a rock sample, and ask the students to make “first-level observations” -- that is, to use only their five senses. “But,” I’d add, “please don’t taste the rocks.” (Of course, the boys would taste them.) Afterward, one person from each group would report its findings to the class. I’d explain that all the samples came from the same place and ask the students to guess where. Once we finally determined that they came from Earth, I’d reveal what they were. One was a 17-million-year-old coprolite. Inevitably, the group examining that sample would burst out: “Johnny! You tasted poop!” The activity introduced descriptive science and showed how rocks can teach us about their origins. I would then bring out a second set of samples from another place, sealed in Lucite. Hiding the disk’s label, I’d ask the whole class to observe the samples and infer where they came from. They were from the Moon. Donald M. Scott, NASA-AESP (Ret.), Carson City, Nevada From: James Watson (jwatson6 jhmi.edu) Subject: Noodling Something interesting happens at American symphony orchestra concerts before the performance begins. Individual musicians make their way to their seats onstage, where they do some last-minute noodling: warming up their fingers, lips, and instruments, perhaps playing through a challenging passage in an upcoming work. This group noodling creates a cacophony not found in most of the orchestral literature that will be played! For me, this last-minute preparation signals that something special is about to happen. Hearing this competence and care heightens my feeling of anticipation before the conductor arrives onstage. Jim Watson, Pikesville, Maryland From: John Burbidge (johneburbidge gmail.com) Subject: Another kind of noodle Another use of noodle is the swimming aid used to help people stay afloat, popular with young and old alike. I encountered an unusual use for these devices several years ago while visiting vast Lake Argyle in northwestern Australia. At the end of a daylong tour, noodles came in handy while we enjoyed drinks and appetizers in the water. John Burbidge, Maunaloa, Hawaii From: Jonathan Bell (jonathanmarcbell gmail.com) Subject: Hock There is also a Yiddish-derived English hock, meaning to bother. My mother told me a story about a neighbor she had when she was little. He was always doing work on his house and banging on the walls. Her parents used to call him Hockin’ Morris. She didn’t realize his name was actually just Morris until she was an adult. Jonathan Bell, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania From: Phyllis Charnyllis (charnyllis nyc.rr.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--hock From 1962 to 1964, when I was in junior high school on Long Island, my friends and I would go to the local mall (we were the OG “Mall Rats”) to shoplift! We called it hocking, though I really don’t know why. But to this day, I think of hocking as shoplifting! Phyllis Charney, New York, New York From: Alex McCrae (ajmccrae277 gmail.com) Subject: cropology and noodle Let’s face it. Poop can be a delicate and sometimes embarrassing subject. But for biologists, studying animal feces (aka scat) is perfectly normal and rewarding. Here, in the wilds (and suburbs) of Southern California, coyotes abound. Analyzing their scat can reveal much about their diet, which includes small mammals like rodents and rabbits, as well as snakes, lizards, fruits and berries. Oh, the occasional pet pooch, as well. Greyish regurgitated owl pellets have a coloration, shape, texture and composition very similar to coyote scat. So distinguishing between the two can be quite tricky. Pasta-loving Italy had been one of the few remaining Trump allies, until his blatant faux pas at the recent G7 summit in France. He’d claimed that Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had “begged” him for a photo-op, and he agreed because he felt sorry for her. Meloni emphatically denied Trump’s claim, asserting that she doesn’t beg for anything, and that the entire incident was a total Trump fabrication. Trump has tried the same ruse so often that it’s obvious he was lying. Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California Anagrams This week’s words with multiple meanings Arete Coprology Noodle Hock Gamy = Crag Wow he likes lewd Long dough strip, moron too The ankle Seamy, spicy item -Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz) This week’s theme: Words with multiple meanings Arete Coprology Noodle Hock Gamy = A sharp high ridge; unto geek mood Test sh*t Comic moron Pawn (yet owe) Wee smelly kill -Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com) = Ridge; ethic My homework theme’s stool; cheeky wit Pasta; noggin Pawn, sell Mule odor -Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2 gmail.com) Make your own anagrams and animations. Limericks arete We climbed Striding Edge, an arete. That hike I will never forget. You can’t really stride -- It’s narrow, not wide -- The acrophobes got quite upset. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) The mountain goat had great agility, Climbing trails with the surest facility. He started to mate On a narrow arete; I admire his awesome stability. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) There’s something I can’t seem to get; Is my mind slipping down an arete? There’s a new Air Force One, But when Donald is done, What’s a library do with a jet? -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) coprology Coprology’s one form of wit, Which four-year-olds like quite a bit. What preschoolers do Is joke about poo, Though parents all wish they would quit. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) I know quite a scholarly chap, Who said, “My work gets a bad rap. For my field, oh dear me, Is coprology, see, It just means that my job’s full of cr-p.” -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) In the future, the field of coprology Will focus on MAGA psychology. For it’s so full of shit That not one little bit Will survive very long. That’s my prophecy! -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) noodle My friend has a clever young poodle. The pup, with the sweet name of Strudel, Lays his bowl at your feet When he wishes to eat, Which proves that he’s using his noodle. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) After years, the chef’s efforts were futile, Coming up with a new flavored noodle Which tasted like bacon. He hoped he’d be makin’ A dish that would earn him a boodle. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) His appointments show lack of a noodle, Choosing someone who murdered her poodle. ‘Twas a pointer, you say? I took license. Okay? And the guy drew Jeff Epstein that doodle. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) hock Her old boyfriend explained to her shock That her ring he had needed to hock. For he’d made a bad bet That put him in debt -- Now his calls she’s decided to block. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) I’m in hock from my toes to my ears! It’ll take me a whole buncha years To be able to see A bright future for me; Millennia, how it appears! -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) A Frenchman I know name of Jacques, Had a habit that caused people shock. For each day at high noon He would seek his spittoon, Into which a large loogie he’d hock. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) He looked at his savings in shock, And knew that some things he must hock. It broke his poor heart That soon he must part With his mother’s old grandfather clock. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) Student loans keep me deeply in hock; I can’t, like the wealthy, buy stock. And I never can join The mad rush for Bitcoin; Our economy’s “hot”? What a crock! -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) gamy How gamy the taste of that meat The hunter considered a treat! His caribou stew I tended to view As something I’d rather not eat. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “Ooh, what is that weird, gamy smell?” “Why, it’s obvious -- we all can tell -- Mary Beth doesn’t shower For one more half hour -- Come back then when all will be well!” -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) The meat in his fridge, it was rank, For the power went off, so it stank. The smell, it was gamey. It’s really a shame, he Would toss it all out, so he drank. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) Said the fox to the prince from the sky, “When it comes to the heart, don’t ask why. Though I smell rather gamey, I’m here, so please tame me!” Each time that I read that, I cry. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Puns “Though Shakespeare may ask, ‘What’s in a name?’, I say an Ashley is better than arete,” Scarlett lamented. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “In this paper, we will examine why the Statue of Liberty turned green,” the coprology thesis commenced. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) The A-noodle-emma is which words to select and which to drop for AWAD each week. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “Being noodle help you relax!” pitched the naturist resort sales rep. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) It was a s-hock when I first saw Frankenstein’s monster. -Janice Power, Cleveland, Ohio (powerjanice782 gmail.com) “You’ll never amount to anything playing hock-ey all the time,” Mom and Dad Gretzky warned young Wayne. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “Gamey am, Dad,” Oog Junior confessed. “This be New Stone Age. Me love you no matter what,” replied his father. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, “Mother, what was war?” -Eve Merriam, poet and writer (19 Jul 1916-1992)

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