AWADmail Issue 312
Jun 22, 2008
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: Changes in mailings
Beginning Monday, we're going to add HTML format to A.Word.A.Day. You don't
need to do anything: both HTML and text versions will be included in the same
email.
Also, the To: line of the mail will now show your email address instead
of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Interesting stories from the net
What's in a Name? Possibly a Life of Crime:
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=ff841028-6389-44e9-8609-93ddbef6e4a5
In a Changing World of News, an Elegy for Copy Editors:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/opinion/16mon4.html
[And here at Wordsmith.org, we are truly thankful to our copy editor
Eric Shackle and grammar guru Carolanne Reynolds for what they do.]
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From: Donald Pierpoint (tio cableonda.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--balbriggan
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/balbriggan.html
I knew the word as soon as I saw the email. As a child I had balbriggan PJs
in the winter. I never knew why my Mother called then "balbriggans".
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From: Anna Baggallay (annabag global.co.za)
Subject: balbriggan
I was most amused to see this town in North County Dublin featured in your
week's words. I was brought up a few miles further south on the north Dublin
coast. In fact, have many times passed through Balbriggan, without knowing
it had this claim to fame, to have contributed a WORD to our language in
addition to a fine variety of cloth! There used to be an annual Balbriggan
Show, where all manner of exhibits, from vegetables to flower arrangements
to soda bread to embroidery -- and no doubt items made of balbriggan -- were
displayed in competition, and I once won a pound (before the days of the
Euro!) for a black-and-white photo of my dog. I now live in Johannesburg.
Ah, for the peace, friendliness, and security of an Irish town!
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From: Tom Horgan (horgtom51 comcast.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--brummagem
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/brummagem.html
When I was a kid ('30s), my Dad worked with an "off-the-boat" Brit, and our
families were close. He had great jokes.
"A Brit is talking to an American, and starts talking about some undesirable
that came from Brummagem. The American asks, "Where's that?"
"Oh, I suppose you Americans call it Birmingham."
Later, the American begins talking about "Niffles" as a great place to visit.
The Brit asks where that is, and the American answers,
"Oh, I suppose you Brits call it Niagra Falls."
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From: Darin R. Pankratz (darin.r.pankratz boeing.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--sardonic
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/sardonic.html
I remember a movie named Mr. Sardonicus: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055200/
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From: Georg Schönbächler (georg garbald.ch)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--sardonic
The term sardonic is also used in a medicinal context: A sardonic smile
(medical term: risus sardonicus) is a characteristic spasm of the facial
muscles. It is the first symptom of tetanus, a disease caused by a bacteria
called Clostridium tetani whose spores are found in soil, dust, and feces.
Tetanus spores germinate in the body and produce a highly poisonous
neurotoxin. The infection is rare but often fatal.
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From: Elsa F. Kramer (efk earthlink.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--sardonic
That "Sardinian plant" is in the large genus Ranunculus, all species of
which are toxic. Field buttercups, for example, are a source of free-range
livestock poisoning. Linnaeus noted that human consumption of R. sceleratus
(sometimes called Hecatonia scelerata, Herba sardonia, cursed buttercup,
celery-leaf buttercup, or marsh crowfoot), a wetland weed, produced the
so-called grin. Crushing the plant releases a toxic, bitter oil that causes
a variety of unpleasant neurological reactions, ranging from minor skin
irritation to lip spasms or grimacing and eventually convulsions or even
death if large quantities are consumed. The involuntary grimace called
"sardonic laughter" (risus sardonicus) also is a symptom of lockjaw, or
tetanus infection. Nothing to laugh about!
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From: Rudy Rosenberg Sr (rrosenbergsr accuratesurgical.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--waterloo
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/waterloo.html
Actually, there was never a battle in Waterloo. Waterloo was where General
Wellington had his headquarters. The battle itself was fought at Mount St.
Jean and at the farm of the Belle Alliance. After the battle, the German
General Bluscher and the British General Wellington met to decide on a name
for the battle, they settled on Waterloo because that had been where
Wellington's HQ had been located.
Just as General Custer eventually emerged victorious at Little Big Horn,
Napoleon's greatest victory was his defeat at Waterloo. They both entered
the Pantheon of Heroes. Today, Wellington is remembered only in England
and for a dubious cut of beef. Napoleon is the clear winner in History.
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From: Robert Ward (robert.ward8 btinternet.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--waterloo
Though in fact Wellington led an allied army -- although British troops were
the largest single contingent, and arguably played the key role -- the
larger part of the army was not in fact British. There was also a sizable
Dutch force under the Prince of Orange and contingents from allied German
states (not counting the King's German Legion, a German force in British
service).
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From: Alexa Fleckenstein (coldwatermd yahoo.com)
Subject: waterloo
This comes timely: I am just reading the chapter about Waterloo in Victor
Hugo's Les Miserables -- coincidentally on the anniversary of the battle:
18th of June. I am awed by this novel (which is so much more than just a
musical). And the description of the battle of Waterloo -- some 200 pages
smack in the middle of the story -- is unforgettable!
............................................................................
Words, like eyeglasses, obscure everything they do not make clear. -Joseph
Joubert, moralist and essayist (1754-1824)
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