AWADmail Issue 287
Dec 30, 2007
A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day
and Other Interesting Tidbits about Words and Languages
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From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Speaking/booksigning schedule
Here's my speaking schedule for the coming months:
Bellingham, WA: Tue, Jan 8, 2008, 7pm
Village Books
Seattle, WA: Mon, Jan 14, 2008, 6:30pm
Seattle Public Library, Ballard branch, with Secret Garden Bookshop
Bainbridge Island, WA: Thu, Feb 14, 2008, 7:30pm
Eagle Harbor Book Company
More details at http://wordsmith.org/awad/speaking.html
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From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: 2008 calendar for Wordsmith Chat
Wordsmith Chats are online events where you can chat with invited
guests and ask questions on topics related to words, languages, etc.
We'll kick off the 2008 season of Wordsmith Chat with the following authors.
See more details at http://wordsmith.org/chat
Charlotte Brewer, author of "Treasure-House of the Language: The Living OED"
Chat topic: The Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
Sat, Jan 19, 12 noon Pacific (GMT -7)
Seth Lerer, author of "Inventing English"
Chat topic: The Journey of the English Language
Wed, Feb 6th, 7pm Pacific
Ben Yagoda, author of "When you catch an adjective, kill it"
Chat topic: Friend Me, Pimp My Ride, and Signage: Or, the Ever-Changing
Parts of Speech
Wed, Feb 25, 6pm Pacific
Michael Erard, author of "Um...: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and
What They Mean"
Chat topic: Verbal Blunders and What They Mean
Mon, Mar 17th, 6pm Pacific
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From: Michael Dresdner (janeandmichael msn.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--lahar
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/lahar.html
Here in the shadow of Mt. Rainier, we live in the path of a lahar, and
everyone knows that word all too well. Those who track such things tell us
it is an issue of when the mountain will produce its next flow, not if. As
a result, all the towns in the predicted flow path have lahar warning sirens
and lahar evacuation drills. The area roads all sport signs showing lahar
evacuation routes. However, all the people around here, including those in
the news media, pronounce the word la-HAR, with the accent on the second
syllable.
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From: John Ewen (john_ewen clear.net.nz)
Subject: lahar
The word lahar carries more resonance with New Zealanders than with most
countries' residents. It appeared in AWAD on Christmas Eve, and on that
day in 1953, the crater lake of a volcano here, Mt Ruapehu, broke out and
partially emptied, the resulting lahar washed away a rail bridge miles
downstream, and 151 out of 285 people on an express train were killed when
it crashed into the river.
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From: Marijo Condes (mcondes ph.soluziona.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--lahar
I just want to share that lahar is also a Filipino word for the same meaning.
The most famous event in the Philippines we can relate to "lahar" would be
the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, the effect of which was felt worldwide.
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From: Asit Ganguly (asit.ganguly ril.com)
Subject: feedback: lahar
In Sanskrit lahar means wave and the same word is used in other Indian
languages like Hindi, Bengali etc. Even the Javanese description of the word
is a wave-like structure or formation. I wonder if some ancient connection
of India with Java and the Indonesian archipelago carried this word from
Sanskrit.
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From: Eileen Bertie (nlper999 earthlink.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--adobe
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/adobe.html
I was thrilled that today, Christmas 2007, had the word "adobe". Two years
ago almost exactly, we bought a 1914 adobe house in Superior, Arizona. It
was 843 square feet, and we reduced it from eight rooms to three, ditched
everything but the floor boards, adobe walls, wavy glass windows (quotation
was $11,800 to replace) and will likely spend the rest of our lives
rehabilitating.
Adobe has naturally insulating qualities. We have a defective factory unit
for AC, and the last two years, could not get it running before mid July...
with ceiling fans, and open windows at night and early AM, we have been
perfectly happy for a month or so in the heat.
We have a small furnace that we don't need to run much (we only get into the
30s at night) but the virtues of the adobe building explain why, when
there was no heating or cooling technology, that adobe was the construction
method of choice here in the Southwest.
Adobe is the greatest! It has given us not only a piece of history, but a
screamingly energy efficient house.
Thank you for acknowledging adobe. Check out our rehabilitation trials and
tribulations at http://www.140copper.net/house1.htm
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From: Philip Setnik (psentik yahoo.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--kahuna
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/kahuna.html
In looking at today's word, I thought it interesting that the word for
priest in Hebrew is so closely related. That word is pronounced "ko-hayn"
and gives rise to many English last names: Cohen, Cohn, Kahn, and even
Katz (which is an abbreviation of "kohayn tzedek" - righteous priest).
Kahuna in Hebrew is translated as "priesthood" and refers to the inherent
holiness that priests have. It is possible for a priest to lose his Kahuna
under certain circumstances.
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From: Glenn Farber (farber allmail.net)
Subject: Re: kahuna
It's a stunning linguistic coincidence that "kahuna" in Hebrew is the
term for the priesthood. A priest is a "kohen", and in the ancient Temple
in Jerusalem, the high priest was the "kohen gadol" -- "the big kahuna"!
Philologos, who does a word column in the Jewish weekly _Forward_,
explores the coincidence at http://www.forward.com/articles/big-kahuna/
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From: Doug Nordman (doug_nordman hotmail.com)
Subject: Kahuna
The Hawaiian culture and language has undergone a tremendous renaissance since
the 1970s. The 2000 U.S. Census estimates the state's population of native
Hawaiians at over 280,000, and many of them have revived the language in
their families and at work. Hawaiian music has its own Grammy award category,
including albums produced entirely with Hawaiian lyrics, and there are
numerous popular Hawaiian-lyric songs on local radio stations. In formal
education alone there are several Hawaiian-language schools (grades K-12)
and even a doctorate degree program at the University of Hawaii. The local
Star-Bulletin newspaper publishes a weekly column written entirely in the
Hawaiian language.
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From: Elizabeth Hoffman (ehoff sover.net)
Subject: Hawaiian language making strong comeback (Re: kahuna)
Here's a great article about the current state of the Hawaiian language.
The number of speakers is actually increasing!
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/13/hawaiian_language_making_strong_comeback/
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From: Charles Laufer (Lauferct70 webtv.net)
Subject: Noel
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/awad/awadmail286.html
The New York Times crossword puzzle for December 16, 2007 also related to
"No El" The clues were various movies and the answers after finally
figuring out the theme were a marvel. "The Santa Cause", "Dead Man Waking",
"Pup Fiction",, "The Seventh Sea", "The God Rush", and so on. Is this just
a coincidence or is it something out of this word?
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From: Ann Eddie (aeddie rogers.com)
Subject: No el
Thanks so much for this word game. We used it last night at our Christmas
Eve get together and people who are experienced word-gamers but without
access to pencils thought up every possible connection for the five words.
I had a hard time getting them to free up their thought processes then a
writer, a musician, and a graphic artist working independently got on track
and using pantomime I finally got them to the solution. Loads of fun. Thanks.
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From: Mark Farrell (markf_41 yahoo.com)
Subject: Re: AWADmail Issue 286
A local radio station had a "No L" weekend this past weekend in which they
didn't play any song with "L" in the title.
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From: James Friend (frienddjp comcast.net)
Subject: Another "no el"
Thanks for another great year of word enjoyment. The theme for last week's
words reminded me of the joke that went around New York City many years
ago after they tore down the elevated train tracks on 3rd Avenue.
Q. What do Christmas and 3rd Avenue have in common?
A. No el.
............................................................................
All words are pegs to hang ideas on. -Henry Ward Beecher, preacher and
writer (1813-1887)
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