November | 2011 | Raising Jane

The working vocabulary of the average 14-year-old has declined in the last 50 years from 25,000 words to 10,000. Language reflects the depth of our human experience. Because we think in words, are we losing the capacity to say what we feel?
Like, whatever.

DECO what?

Posted on November 26, 2011 by maryjane

You know, decolletage. Say it with me:

dé·colle·tage

dey-kol-tahzh

1. the neckline of a dress cut low in the front or back and often across the shoulders, noun

or dey-kol-tey

2. décolleté, wearing a low-necked garment or costume, adjective

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excess eating is called …

Posted on November 23, 2011 by maryjane

Chances are this Thanksgiving you and loved ones will gather around the table, say what you are thankful for and then delve into the pilgrim tradition of stuffing your tummies with all sorts of delicious fare — candied yams, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes …

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Annika Laurea-Wood says:

November 23, 2011 at 10:52 am

Oh MaryJane, what a wonderful word! I am proud to admit that I’m a language lover and read dictionaries (The older the better) for fun! I do believe you may be right, it likely is where the term crappy comes from!

Happy Thanksgiving from my home to yours =)

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sylvan secrets

Posted on November 22, 2011 by maryjane

Oh, to gaze out my window over the rolling hills of the Palouse. Gorgeous! It’s a winter wonderland out there. Even as I sit here writing next to my cozy fire, I can’t help but turn my imagination loose, letting it run wild down into those secretive valleys where thick pine groves harbor their sylvan secrets…

Did you catch it? The fancy word I’ve found for this week’s entry is one I can’t believe I’ve lived my whole life without: sylvan.

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Maria Kaul Casper says:

November 22, 2011 at 10:11 am

Sylvan – from the Facebook post, I thought you were talking about Sylvan Learning Center with lead in. I really enjoy the Facebook posts.

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Eileen Widman says:

November 22, 2011 at 11:07 am

When we first moved to the Bremerton area of Western Washington there was a street named Sylvan Way that at one time must have been a road through country farms and meadows. However it had turned into a city street with grocery stores and churches and now is host to other businesses as well. Just down the road from Sylvan Way there were indeed dairy farms at the time we moved there but now the big box stores have moved in with all the requisite gas and go stores too. By the time the town had moved out to where we built our house in the country we decided it was time to move farther out to a more isolated country space. I am still here in my Sylvan environment and loving it.

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swivet

Posted on November 20, 2011 by maryjane

SWIVET: Something a swimming frog says? New handy-dandy carpentry tool for DIY homeowners? Swiffer attachment that swivels? Sniveling swine? Tearful sentiment? Amount of air sniffed up when sniffing? Petite snifter for women who drink whiskey?

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photo-of-the-day

Posted on November 18, 2011 by maryjane

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Skulduggery

Posted on November 13, 2011 by maryjane

Love, love, love SAYING this word … in addition to the fact that it fits certain behaviors. (You know what I’m talkin’ ’bout. Hmmmm, there’s skulduggery in the world?) Skulduggery. A type of crime? Or maybe a ship from The Pirates of the Caribbean? The kids in The Goonies sure get into some skulduggery on their way to finding buried treasures.

The Goonies movie poster, by Drew Struzanl. Courtesy of Wikipedia. Klow

Say it with me: Skulduggery \skəl-ˈdə-g(ə-)rē\ noun. Underhanded or unscrupulous behavior.

Those kids were up to nothing but skulduggery. (I’m sure you have at least once instance of skulduggery you can cite.)

Eileen Widman says:

November 14, 2011 at 1:29 pm

It is fun to say!!! I think of digging up skulls when I hear it but I know this is not a proper definition of the work.

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Betty Stone says:

November 14, 2011 at 5:11 pm

Not only has their vocabulary gone downhill, but their spelling is atrocious.

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Ready for gleaming word olympics?

Posted on November 9, 2011 by maryjane

So one review of The Book of Awesome and many gleaming words later, I stumbled upon a website that is also awesome, but with their vocabulary! The website called randomlyawesomewords.com is dedicated to complex phrases you might hear during a game of Balderdash, and these stumpers are sure to have you scratching your head.

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Eileen Widman says:

November 9, 2011 at 12:18 pm

I learned that word several years ago when studying why weather causes some people to claim temporary insanity. In some countries the Foehns are a legal defense!! We have a similar wind here often referred to as the Chinook winds and they can cause a temporary mental instability in certain individuals.
I love to learn new things about language. The Foehns as well as the Chinook winds usually change the environmental ionization ratios temporarily bring in with them more Positively charged ions causing a dis-balance of positive to negative ions. We need the negative ions in our atmosphere! Just a little more trivia for you.

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photo-of-the-day

Posted on November 8, 2011 by maryjane

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Crux

Posted on November 5, 2011 by maryjane

Crux. Crutch? Crunchy cereal? Or it is that black hole where all of the things you lose end up? Doesn’t that just drive you wild? You set your keys down right there, you swear you did! The cat must have hidden them, they must have “disaparated” (along with Harry Potter) … or most likely they slipped out of your pocket and are under the chair, carpet, or that shirt that was hastily tossed on the floor in your rush to make it out of the house. Let’s hope we can get to the crux of this problem.

Say it with me: Crux \ˈkru̇ks\ noun An essential point requiring resolution or resolving an outcome.
We are down now to the crux of the problem.

Ahh yes, the keys were in my pocket the whole time. I need a better system. Or … go back in time before locks were invented.

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Have you flibbed lately?

Posted on November 3, 2011 by maryjane

Flibbertigibbet. Flipper? Flubber? Chicken giblets? Flibbets from Banjo Kazooie? We may find it a funny sounding word now, but Shakespeare thought it deft enough for the play King Lear.