Here is the 12th podcast for WordSmithie where you’ll find the fun word megrims!
Tohubohu Be Gone!
February 26, 2007 — wordsmithieYesterday, we had a delightful snowstorm. (How can anything that has ‘storm’ in the word be delightful??) The flakes were huge and gently floated down. As I looked out the window to the snow crested pine trees in our yard, it looked like a Christmas card scene. And, I was inside my snuggery, sipping hot cocoa, and doing some light reading – Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. This book will hopefully help me be less dilatory! (Check Feb. 19th’s post for the definition of this mighty fine word.)
Snuggery (snug-uh-ree) is a noun that means a snug, cozy place or a comfortable or cozy room. At 5:14 a.m. my bed is definitely a snuggery that I loathe to leave. During the sub-zero Arctic winter, my family room with a fire in the fireplace, a soft blanket to wrap up in, a good book to read, and a cup of hot chocolate is definitely a snuggery. To my nephews who enjoy Jeeping in Moab, Utah, sitting behind the wheel of a Jeep on a 4-wheel trail is a snuggery. (To me, the thousand foot drop off just inches away from where their tires are tends to counterbalance any snuggery feelings while inside said Jeep. . . .)
My next word is a fun word to say. And to use. It is tohubohu. We have the Hebrew language to thank for this great word. Tohubohu (toh-hoo-boh-hoo) is a noun that means chaos, disorder, and total confusion. Sounds like a teenager’s room, huh? A 5 year-old’s birthday party. Shopping at those pre-dawn Christmas specials where you get a PlayStation 2 for $49.99. Vicious tohubohu at those times. I’m speculating that bookstores like Barnes and Noble might have some midnight tohubohu at the release of the seventh Harry Potter book. Any place where there is confusion and chaos can be considered tohubohu.
Another fun word is jim-jams. Try saying THAT really fast ten times!! Jim-jams (jim-jamz) is a noun that is a slang term for the jitters. If you have to speak in front of a large audience, you could have the jim-jams. Over the week-end, one of my employees was going to ask his future father-in-law for his daughter’s hand in marriage. I dare say he probably had the jim-jams. I’ll have to check to see how he survived when he comes to work today. Sometimes during plays at a local theater, I get the jim-jams. (I’ve often wondered if it’s the restless leg syndrome. But I don’t think so.)
Another definition for jim-jams is the delirium tremens (involuntary tremors and visual hallucinations experienced by someone who is going through alcohol dependency withdrawals). I’m assuming it’s easy for people to know whether a person has the delirium tremens type of jim-jams or just a case of generally nervousness type of jim-jams.
If you eliminate tohubohu from your lives and from your home, you could create a delightful snuggery that would not cause anyone to have the jim-jams!
How Punctilious Are You?
February 23, 2007 — wordsmithieMy how times flies! It seems like I just finish my blog or podcast when it’s time to do it again! If I were punctilious, maybe time wouldn’t sneak by me so quickly.
Punctilious (puhngk-til-ee-uhs) is an adjective that means extremely attentive to small details of action or behavior. Have I been extremely attentive to the small details of my blogging behavior? Not quite . . . .
Punctilious. Mothers need to pay attention to TONS of small details – what their toddler is doing, if there are unsafe items within the toddler’s reach, if the toddler is hungry, sleepy, or has a wet diaper, if the baby’s sneeze is because its coming down with a cold. All of this while simultaneously cleaning the house, doing the laundry, paying the bills, and cooking supper. Being punctilious is an important part of motherhood. Hey, punctiliousness IS motherhood!
A doctor needs to be punctilious as he examines a patient. A tax accountant needs to be punctilious when filling out a tax return. A scientist needs to be punctilious when doing research. Tiny details and lots of them require lots of attention. Punctilious. There are myriads of things to be punctilious about.
Myriad is the next word. Myriad (mir-ee-uhd) is a noun that means a very great or indefinitely great number of persons or things. Sometimes women have a myriad assortment of shoes. Like Imelda Marcos (former First Lady of the Philippines). At one time she had over 4,000 pairs of shoes!!! I did a little math and if she wore only one pair of shoes a day it would take her almost 10 years to wear that many shoes just once! That’s definitely a myriad amount of shoes.
There is a myriad of people in facebook. Myriad??? Did I say a myriad of people in facebook? Silly me. There are over 15 million people on facebook. That’s like myriad to the 8th power! You get the idea just how much myriad is . . . .
The next word comes to us from Yiddish. It is kvetch and is pronounced just like it is spelled. It is a verb that means to chronically complain. A whiner, someone who expresses discontent, unhappiness, or displeasure all of the time. Know anybody like that?
If a person feels that they have a myriad of woes, they could kvetch a lot. If they are punctilious about all of their troubles and sorrows, most likely they REALLY likely to kvetch.
May all of your days be filled with a myriad of happy events so that you won’t feel like kvetching!
WordSmithie 11th Podcast
February 21, 2007 — wordsmithieThe 11th session of the WordSmithie podcast is now available. As I listened to it, my pronunciation of the first word seems rather muffled. Maybe I need to clean out my ear wax. Maybe I need to get a hearing aid. Maybe I need to learn how to speak better. . .
So, here is the spelling and how to pronounce the first word. Hoi polloi — hoi puh-loi.
I hope this helps. I promise to do better next time.
