Would you sign up for a lesson in campanology?

My glamping friends are no doubt whooping “YES!” with cabin-fevered fervor.

We’re all chomping at the bit in anticipation of our first spring camping trip,

but campanology really has nothing at all to do with tents or teardrop trailers.

Speaking of which …

Photo by Don Stucke via Wikimedia Commons

Trailer envy!

Wait—what am I saying?

Ah, yeah, back to the point:

Does “campanology” ring a bell with anyone?

(Hint: that was an intentional pun.)

The term campanology refers to the study of REALLY BIG bells, like these:

Photo by Brian Webster via Wikimedia Commons

By study, I mean all facets of bell construction and tuning to the art of ringing these behemoths, an age-old practice that doesn’t command a lot of attention these days, especially here in the U.S.

Derived from the Latin word for bell, campana, campanology was coined in the Campania region of Italy, which is known for the mining of bronze that was used to cast bells.

These days, though, much of the talk of campanology resounds from the hallowed halls of English churches, and I was surprised at how many young people are chiming in.

Take, for instance, Becky Dunnet. She’s the teen star of this fun bit of campanology promotion:

I never would have guessed that campanology is considered cool.

Now, about that camping trip … have you made any plans yet?

Howdy, you ‘uns!

Last Cabbage Night,

Photo by JR Conlin via Wikimedia Commons

Farmer Jane was sitting out on the veranda

Photo by Carl Tashian via Wikimedia Commons

chewing on a homemade grinder

Photo by jeffreyw via Wikimedia Commons

when she heard the spine-tingling scream of a catamount

Photo by Art G via Wikimedia Commons

tearing through the timber.

Photo by IvoShandor via Wikimedia Commons

The sound caused her chickens to pile up in a real gawk block.

Photo by Katie Brady via Wikimedia Commons

Feathers ruffled as the girls gathered to gabble about the clear and present danger.

Jane fled to get her faithful old flintlock

Photo by Andrzej Barabasz via Wikimedia Commons

in case she would need to defend her flock.

But when she returned, all was quiet.

Still prickled with goose bumps,

Photo by turtlemom4bacon via Wikimedia Commons

Jane decided to stand guard a while longer.

She tucked her hair into a horsetail,

Photo by Evil Erin via Wikimedia Commons

popped a PEEcan

(peCON?) into her mouth,

Photo by Judy Baxter, USDA, via Wikimedia Commons

and counted the peenie wallies

Photo by Daniel Schwen via Wikimedia Commons

as they began to flash in the shadows.

Just another night on the farm!

…

Jest dabblin’ in the dialects that pepper various regions of the country. Even though we all speak the same language, nuances abound!!!

To pin down your own dialect, take this fun quiz, published recently in the New York Times.

Were you surprised at your results?

Quiz time, girls!

This is a fun one.

We’re all familiar with common collective nouns that describe groups of animals.

Examples: pride of lions, herd of horses, flock of birds.

Photo by Kumon via Wikimedia Commons

But, there are dozens more descriptors out there that most of us have never heard.

A congress of baboons?

Well, now …

if the shoe fits!

Animated image by Edward James Muggeridge via Wikimedia Commons

Seriously, though, I wonder how many of the following you can match up. I’ll list the group names first and the animals below. In some cases, you’ll find that the group name stems from a species’ behavior; in others, alliteration is at work. Of course, some seem to make no sense at all.

Photo by Steven Straiton via Wikimedia Commons

The answers are at the bottom of this post, so don’t peek until you’re sufficiently stumped!

Group Names:

1. ambush
2. charm
3. clowder
4. crash
5. descent
6. grist
7. hurtle
8. implausibility
9. kine (hint: you may have seen this in a previous entry)
10. knot
11. memory
12. mischief
13. ostentation
14. rabble
15. shiver
16. shrewdness
17. sleuth
18. sneak
19. storytelling
20. zeal

Continue reading →