Category Archives: Interesting words

2/28/2024

I started learning how to write music in canon, and it’s sort of amazing. It’s a perpetual music machine. You can cap it off, but the potential is always there to go on and on and on, forever, into musical … Continue reading

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Let’s Hear It for Hats!

My mother, who was a French major in college, learned a lot more about the French language than I ever did. She once told me that a circumflex is often indicative of an S having been removed from the word … Continue reading

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English Is So Weird

One of the things I love about the English language is how interrelated so many of its words are. For example, when I was looking up the meaning of “kenspeckle” (a Scots word that means “well-known” or “conspicuous”), I was … Continue reading

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Rabbit Holes Everywhere!

The other day I spent some time reading about ARGs (alternate reality games), how QAnon is like an ARG, and a phenomenon called “apophenia.” Apophenia is, according to Merriam-Webster, “the tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated … Continue reading

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Day 172: Swearing

Sometimes when I’m surprised or angry, I say “Fuggernuts!” or “Furganots!” in place of the usual vulgarities. I don’t know where these words came from, but I’ve noticed that I’m using them more often lately. There’s a lot to swear … Continue reading

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Day 112: Heard on TV

Heard on TV last night: “A mask is not a big ask.” The rhyme is good, though it doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as you’d think it would. I definitely like it better than “Mask it or casket” … Continue reading

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Day 102: All of You, Not All Y’all

Sometimes I want to say “all y’all.” Then I remember that I live in New England, and we don’t say that here. And we shouldn’t, even when it feels like it would be fun or convenient. It doesn’t belong to … Continue reading

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What to Call It?

I haven’t decided yet what to call our pandemic-induced time at home. Quarantine Self-isolation Lockdown Exile I like “quarantine” and “lockdown” for their simplicity, but “self-isolation” is probably more accurate. It feels like “exile,” though, and that’s the term I … Continue reading

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Day 3: Marshall Law

Since much of the Twitter talk today is in regards to “Marshall Law,” I will tell you about how Marshall Law works, because that’s something I know a lot about. Under Marshall Law, there is/are… No school and no homework … Continue reading

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Day 2: Word of the Year

Today’s Thoughts My husband said to me today that he thinks the Word of the Year will be “flatten the curve.” I thought this was very interesting, because I had already decided that it will be “social distancing.” I was … Continue reading

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