Asinineas·i·nine adjectiveThis one has two meanings: extremely or utterly foolish or silly; or of, relating to, or resembling an assLike so many words, asinine comes to us from the Latin asininus, from asinus ass. The first documented use of the word in English was in the 15th Century. I have no idea what word was…
Word of the Week
My Word! August 3
by Betsey Ellis •
ZEBRINE Ze-brin This one can be used as an adjective, or a noun. Of, like, or pertaining to zebras. The photographer made a mistake when he used the zebine sheets as a backdrop for the wedding pictures.
Word of the Week
WORD OF THE WEEK
by Betsey Ellis •
WHEEPLE Whee-ple Intransitive Verb: To whistle or cry out feebly. Transitive Verb: To give forth a shrill cry or whistle. Dialectic verb used in British English. Harry used to annoy his co-workers when he would wheeple the 1-800-Cars-for-Kids jingle for hours at a time.
States Well Stated
Indiana Wants Me
by Betsey Ellis •
Lord, I can’t go back there. Okay, so I had a senior moment and a song flashback. It ain’t easy finding a way to start these sometimes. I mean, we’ve all been staying home and social distancing (which is really easy if you live alone. And cats are basically the mascots for social distancing…) so…
States Well Stated
Illinois – The “S” is Silent
by Betsey Ellis •
EARTH, WIND AND FIRE What do they have to do with our new destination? Hopefully by the end of this month’s States Well Stated we will both know. So, what follows Idaho? Lucky for me, not Iowa (which I am still sick of). Off we go to Illinois! The area was first “discovered” by Europeans…
Word of the Week
My Word! February 23
by Betsey Ellis •
Digitigrade dig·i·ti·grade Adjective: a mammal walking on the toes alone without the heels touching the ground. From the Latin digitus (finger,toe) and gradus (walking) Cats are an example of a digitigrade animal.
Word of the Week
My Word! February 16
by Betsey Ellis •
Cernuous (cer·nu·ous) Adjective: nodding, drooping, pendulous. Derived from Latin “cernuus” meaning bowing forward. The cernuous peaches were just waiting to be picked.
Word of the Week
My Word! February 9
by Betsey Ellis •
Bromide (bro-mide) Noun This one has two meanings: 1. A trite or obvious remark. 2. Any compound of the element bromide and another metal. These drugs were sometimes used as sedatives or paralytics. John just kept repeating the phrase, “follow your dreams” until it had become a meaningless bromide. Tennessee has been having trouble obtaining…
States Well Stated
What’s In A Name?
by Betsey Ellis •
Thank the good Lord that there is a couple of States before Iowa. I don’t know about you, but I am sick to death of hearing about Iowa. So instead, let’s look at a highly nutritious State (as long as you don’t load it up with butter, cheese and sour cream) – Idaho. Unofficially known…
States Well Stated
Aloha, Hawai’i
by Betsey Ellis •
HELLO GOODBYE Remember that old Beatles song “You say good-bye, and I say hello”? It might well have been written with our next target in mind. Aloha and welcome to the Nation’s most recent state (if you can call 1959 recent) Hawai’i. Yes, for the natives, that extra mark is necessary. They think it helps…