Tag Archives: gleaming word-a-week

Head Hencho

Parlez-vous Français?

Don’t worry, fluency is not required.

But you can certainly fancy up your vocabulary—and maybe even fluff up your ego—with French flair.

Start by saying the word …

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photo-of-the-day

Mnemonic

Here’s a word that caught my eye—and my memory. Below is a snippet of an article in the upcoming “Smitten” April/May 2012 issue of my magazine.

“It’s the same creativity she puts into caring for her family and writing a blog called …

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photo-of-the-day

photo-of-the-day

photo-of-the-day

photo-of-the-day

Slumming It

Slumgullion (sluhm-guhl-yuhn). Does it mean …

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Cowabunga

Cowabunga. Cow Bung?

Cowabunga was first used by Chief Thunderthud, a character of Howdy Doody, around 1954. Surfers later picked it up as their war cry while whipping through the waves. Remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show? ‘Cowabunga, dude’ was all theirs.

Willie borrows the phrase …

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Word: Mel who?

Mel  lif …

Melli … foo … lus?

Nope, that’s not it.

FLU.

M-E-L  L-I   F-L-U   U-S

Mellifluous

Got it!

Now that I’ve untwisted my tongue, here it is: mel·li·flu·us.

Doesn’t that have a sweet ring to it? The fact is, this dulcet adjective is defined as “flowing with sweetness or honey.”

It can also be used to describe a particularly melodious sound (I awoke to the mellifluous song of a meadowlark at dawn.) Think melodious, mellisonant, ariose, euphonious … ahhhhh.

I dare you to use it in casual conversation.

I double dare you to master its other fabulous forms:

mellifluence (noun)

mellifluousness (noun)

mellifluously (adverb)

mellifluently (adverb) 

Sweeeet! 

Western meadowlark singing mellifluously. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Alan Vernon.