WordSmithie #1

I’ve recently learned about Gabcast where you can create a podcast using your phone. I thought that was a cool idea and had to try it out. Here it is.

Gabcast! WordSmithie #1

This was pretty slick. Much faster than setting up my mic to my computer, creating it, uploading it, and making a link to it.

There are three drawbacks that I can initially see. First, I cannot edit anything. If I make a mistake, it’s recorded and saved.

Second, there isn’t any way to add a music intro or outro. Rats.

Third, I can’t see a way to delete my Gabcast. I had thought that I would just make a quick podcast, see how it works, and then delete it. Well, it looks like this silly podcast will be available for the world to hear . . . Double rats . . . .

However, it is really sweet that it will automatically load the link to the Gabcast in this blog. That almost makes the drawbacks bearable. . . .

By the way, the word in this podcast is fard — spelled with a ‘D’ and not a ‘T’ . . .

A Wee Bit Overused

The other day I was reading a blog about getting organized. I LOVE it when I feel organized and on top of things . . .

In my reading I came across the word crufty. Within a few more minutes of reading, the author had used that word again. Because I didn’t know the meaning of that word and intrigued as to why the author might use that unusual word two times so close together, I took a jaunt over to my favorite site — dictionary.com. I liked the definition so I made note of it so that I could share it here.

That was about 2 months ago. I’m finally getting around to writing about it. Real Johnny-on-the-spot aren’t I?

Crufty (kruhf-tee) is an adjective that means poorly built. A house could be crufty. A software program could be crufty. A computer operating system could be crufty. Any craft project that I undertake will ALWAYS be crufty!

As I was about to write this post, I couldn’t remember what the author was referring to so I went back to the site to re-read it. As I searched his site, he had over SIXTY posts where he used crufty! I think it must be his favorite word . . . Maybe he needs to increase his vocabulary . . . He used crufty in reference to writing, to to-do lists, to a one word e-mail response, to kitchen utensils, to files on your computer, to a plethora of open windows on your computer desktop.

I almost got the sense that he used the word more to infer something was ‘not good’ instead of using it for the correct definition. Maybe he was a crufty writer who had a crufty vocabulary so his thinking was crufty and his output was crufty . . .

May the crufty force not be with you . . .

My Lost Word is Now Found

I must have a Yiddish fairy godmother who brings Yiddish words into the path of my awareness.

Three weeks ago I read another Yiddish word. I loved it. I wrote it down so that I could look up its definition and then write about it here. But then, I couldn’t find where I had written it down. Was that Yiddish fairy godmother playing a trick on me? Or, was it a sneak preview to what Alzheimer’s would be like?

I looked in all the usual places — the little notebook I keep in my purse for just such use. I looked in the Excel file where I keep track of the words I share here. I looked in every folder on my computer.  Zip.  Nada. Gornisht (Yiddish for nothing).

Then,  just moments ago, I opened up a program that I seldom use.  Voilà!  There was that Yiddish word . . . hiding from me. . . I have captured that recalcitrant word, put it in my Exel file, and am finally writing about it here.   (Whew!  What a long — and possibly unnecessary — introduction to the new word!)

And that word is kitsch (kich).  Kitsch is a noun that means something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste.  Costume jewelry that you might find at Wal-Mart could be called kitsch because the jewelry there is more faddish and ‘in.’  It appeals to people who are more concerned about getting something cheap than something of high quality and value.

Many faddish or ‘in’ clothing could be described as being kitsch.  It has been created to appeal to popular taste. Music videos could fall into the kitsch category.  As could Harlequin novels and recently elected U.S. presidents.