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Sep 6, 2026 This week’s theme Words made with animal parts This week’s words dogleg stickybeak moth-wing griffonage cowhearted How popular are they? Relative usage over time AWADmail archives Index Next week’s theme Uncommon adjectives Wordsmith Games 🧩 Jigsaw Riddle Adulthood 🌍 Langitude Trace whitehall home AWADmail Issue 1262 A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and Language From: Charles A. Mathes (chas.a.mathes gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--dogleg Another automotive use is the dogleg shift pattern, a modified H-pattern in a manual transmission. In a common five-speed layout, first gear is down and to the left, in the position normally occupied by second, so the shift from first to second follows a kinked path. Second and third are aligned, with third straight back from second. Because first is used mainly to get the car moving, this arrangement can be useful in racing, where drivers shift more often between second and third. Charles A. Mathes, Houston, Texas From: Anne Schmitz (annemuryo gmail.com) Subject: No dogleg Electricians make offsets in conduits, for example, to change elevation or route the conduit around an obstruction. If the two bends are not in the same plane, the result is called a dogleg. In 1987, journeyman wireman Ron Aubrey invented a small tool that clamps onto the end of the conduit; its bubble level helps keep the bends aligned. He called it the No-Dog Offset Level. Anne Schmitz, Ottawa, Canada From: Chiq Montgomery (chiqmontgomery yahoo.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--dogleg In magazine layout, dogleg can refer to an L-shaped block of text that wraps around an ad or another page element. Chiq Montgomery, Cleveland, Ohio From: Mary Whitehouse (marywhitehouse52 gmail.com) Subject: Dogleg My mother was a seamstress and used the expression “as crooked as a dog’s hind leg” for a badly stitched seam. The expression can also describe someone dishonest or corrupt. Mary Whitehouse, York, UK From: Lara Lonkewitsch (chejova gmail.com) Subject: In Spanish In my part of Argentina, pataperrero, formed from pata de perro (literally, dog’s leg or paw), describes someone who loves to roam the streets -- like me when I was young, never wanting to stay home. Lara Lonkewitsch, Argentina, Argentina From: Judith Judson (jjudson frontier.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--stickybeak A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: The less a statesman amounts to, the more he loves the flag. -Kin Hubbard, humorist (1 Sep 1868-1930) This made me think of “The Flag of Their Country,” a story in Rudyard Kipling’s Stalky & Co., his rollicking take on his schooldays at the United Services College. A bloviating MP lectures the boys on patriotism, unaware that three-quarters of them are sons of officers and expect to follow their fathers into the services. He waves a Union Jack, to their disgust. Stalky, modeled on the future Major-General Lionel Dunsterville, privately dubs him a jelly-bellied flag-flapper. Ever since a certain tangerine-hued personage was seen embracing the flag, with a fatuous grin on his mangofied face, I have thought of him as the Jelly-Bellied Flag-Flapper. Judith Judson, Pittsford, New York From: Manish Mehra (mmehra_13 yahoo.com) Subject: Your Dad’s griffonage Your dad seems to have been a stock-market aficionado. The griffonage you posted appears to be a list of Indian auto-ancillary stocks that he may have followed or invested in. Manish Mehra, New York, New York Well deciphered! He enjoyed researching stocks. I don’t know whether Dad owned them or was simply tracking them. -Anu Garg From: Matthew Griffin (matthew.griffin gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--griffonage Transcription: Dear Anu, I feel personally attacked by today’s word, given my last name. Sadly, I will have to admit to its accuracy. With thanks for all you do, Matthew Matthew Griffin, St. Catharines, Canada From: Garry Stahl (tesral wowway.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--griffonage In 1968, new clerks at Indiana Methodist Hospital reportedly took a test in deciphering physicians’ handwriting. One read “Ambulate -- walk -- between bars” as “Amputate between the ears.” Garry Stahl, Dearborn, Michigan From: pooder27 (via website comments) Subject: griffonage Now I know what to call my mom’s letters! In addition to her indecipherable scrawl, she used obscure abbreviations fr wds, often -- but nt lwyz -- leaving out vwls haphazardly. She used a similar approach to crossword puzzles -- in ink -- so they were almost impossible to correct after she gave up. ;^) pooder27 From: Hunter Heath (calciophile gmail.com) Subject: Doctors and griffonage As a young physician, I took pride in writing legibly, including on prescriptions. But as my work became more demanding, haste made my script increasingly griffonage-like. My handwriting never became as illegible as that of one colleague, who often couldn’t decipher his own notes when asked about them and was ultimately required to type them. The digital revolution has greatly reduced prescription griffonage. Hunter Heath, Zionsville, Indiana Email of the Week -- Brought to you by ONEUPMANSHIP® From: Marybeth Webster (marybwebs gmail.com) Subject: cowhearted At 97, one of my most joyous memories is of teaching a Jersey heifer to shake hands, give me a kiss, and let me ride her, steering with my knees. Our joyful races all over the pasture were certainly not cowhearted. I could call, “Niña!” from the house, and she would literally hightail it from the far pasture to play with me. I just want to set the record straight: cows are delightfully smart people! Marybeth Webster, Grants Pass, Oregon From: Alex McCrae (ajmccrae277 gmail.com) Subject: dogleg and stickybeak In this scenario, Mickey, a right-handed golfer, expects a gentle right-to-left draw to negotiate the dogleg left. Instead, he overcooks it into a snap hook that finds the deep rough. Goofy’s “That’s rough!” describes both the ball’s landing spot and Mickey’s predicament. From the mid-1990s into the 2000s, I played monthly in the SCGA-affiliated Mickey Mouse Golf League with fellow studio animators. Mickey ears were optional. Here, a younger brother is stickybeaking into his older sister’s open diary. She’s pondering a new entry, unaware that he’s peering through her bedroom doorway and trying to read what she’s already written. His telescoping eyes are a nod to the wild takes associated with animator and director Tex Avery. Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California Anagrams This week’s theme: Words made with animal parts Dogleg Stickybeak Moth-wing Griffonage Cowhearted = A bend with a kink & twist Meddler Fragile Wow! Some geek cacography M...most frightened, white as a ghost = A sharp twisting motion Meddling gawker Featherweight Messy sketchbook image The flawed coward -Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com) -Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2 gmail.com) Theme is: Words made with animal parts Dogleg Stickybeak Moth-wing Griffonage Cowhearted = Twist, hook He meddles Be weak, not mighty A scrawl Got frightened, am cowering, gasp, I’m afraid -Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz) Make your own anagrams and animations. Limericks dogleg The road’s full of doglegs, and so I feel kind of carsick, you know. Straight ahead I must stare, Plus I’ll need some fresh air -- I hope that I’m then good to go. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “What’s a dogleg?” you ask, and I say First you’re going along straightaway. When you gotta turn sharp To avoid an escarp, There’s your answer. More questions today? -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) In movies that star Hanks and Ryan, Says Tom, “If my willy you’re buyin’, It’s got quite a dogleg, My only slight flaw, Meg; I won’t start our romance by lyin’”. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) stickybeak That stickybeak seeks to expose The secrets that no one else knows. A reporter by trade, For this she gets paid -- A nosy profession she chose. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “When government secrets I tell,” Said Julian Assange, “Gosh, it’s swell! As king of the stickybeaks And founder of WikiLeaks, I make politicians’ lives hell.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) moth-wing “The document now on display Is moth-wing,” the curators say. “We know what we’re doing -- It’s here for your viewing, But under that glass it will stay.” -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “You said sushi? My appetite’s moth-wing; From the sea I would not eat some raw thing,” Said Joe’s date. Answered he, “That’s a buzzkill for me, So I guess we will not be betrothing.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) griffonage When you write griffonage I can’t read, Then it makes me quite cranky indeed. I’m missing a lot For I haven’t got All the code-breaking skills that I need. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) Said the teacher, when speaking to Lou, “Were you taught how to write in a zoo? Your griffonage looks Like the mess that some cooks Throw together when desperate -- P.U.!” -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) “Your drawing is real, no mirage!” Laughed Ghislaine, “and it’s no griffonage! It’s clear and it’s neat! Donald, how ‘bout a treat? On the jet, I’ll arrange a massage.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) cowhearted That cowhearted guy full of fear Got nervous when big dogs came near. “Excuse me,” he’d say While backing away. “I need to be going, my dear.” -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) She said, “Fred and I are now parted. The lad, I am sad, was cowhearted. So scared of a mouse, Or a bug in the house. I don’t know how this strange romance started.” -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “When it comes to the war that I started, Those tanker ship crews are cowhearted,” Said Donald. “Why wait? Plunge ahead through the Strait!” And then back to his bunker he darted. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Puns “It was born here! That makes my dogleg-al!” the Chihuahua owner insisted to the ICE agent. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) His son’s hot dogleg-o looked good enough to eat. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “Me invented new kind of sweet bun,” said Oog’s wife. “But it stickybeak-areful to wash hands before throwing spear again.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) The scientist’s wife was so tired of having to wash out his stickybeak-ers and test tubes. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) The mam-moth-wing bone was thought to be part of a pterodactyl fossil. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “We represent the party’s behe-moth-wing. Ten-foot ceilings for all!” shouted the giant Democrats. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “With its mixture of eagle and lion genes, I’m afraid a griffonage-s rather poorly,” the vet explained to the anxious pet owner. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Creating Jeopardy! helped Merv Griffonage in comfort without financial worries. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) Grateful for her new thumbs-free iPhone, Bossie the cowhearted Old MacDonald with her first text message. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. -Robert M. Pirsig, author and philosopher (6 Sep 1928-2017)

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