Of bonds and bondage

A bond connects you to someone or something.



Bondage is more like slavery or indebtedness.



Must be related to banns of marriage. Banns is a public announcement of marriage in a church. From Middle English.


Or is it bans?

Bans are things omitted or forbidden. So the bans of marriage, would be quite different. See, the philolog told you spelling was important!!!

Please choose (and spell) your words carefully!

Are desires bad?

Desire. It has an interesting, appealing sound. Why do I hesitate to use the word? Must be those 12 years of Catholic School!

The word "Desire" comes from French. That figures.

Synonyms: covet, crave, wish and want

Okay, "covet" is worse, from the Catholic School perspective...

Crave is like a need.

Wish is like a dream. One of those things you never truly expect to happen.

Want is an overused word. Everybody wants something. And yet no one knows what they want.

Piquant Perspective

I’m piqued by the word piquant. Pique as a verb can mean to offend, stimulate or provoke. Pique as a noun means resentment. It looks and sounds French. I should reread my last post for the etymology. The Unabridged says it comes from piquer, to prick or sting.

Piquant means agreeably pungent, sharp or biting; intriguing or provocative. Charming is listed as a synonym!

Piquancy means having a tart or pungent flavor.

Zestful Zeal (or Zealous Zest)

You don't hear words that start with Z much. It must be a very small section of the dictionary.

Towards the end of the definition section of the dictionary, you will find words that start with ZO, like zoo and zoology. I know they come from a Greek word, zoi, which means life.

Zeal and zest are not much different.

Zeal means enthusiasm, passion, fervor. From Latin, originally from Greek.

Zest means enjoyment, relish. (And also lemon or orange flavoring from the peels.) From French. The closest synonyms are savory, and Piquant. (That could be the subject of a future article for the philologue. Pi-quant! Well, it sure doesn't come from Greek!)

Zesty means hot (temperature-wise) in Greek.

Zealous and Zestful are adjectives, while Zeal and Zest are nouns. A person with Zeal is a zealot. A person with Zest is a ... carefree living treasure?

If you live to be 97 in Okinawa (and lots do!), you have a special birthday celebration, called a ka-jee-maya, and they call you a Living National Treasure. I will discuss this in my next class, The Hypnotic Fountain of Youth, starting Sept 17, at 7 pm, at the Unity Church of Palm Harbor. See http://verbalimpact.blogspot.com/ for details.

Lackadaisical Afternoons

Are you Lazy or Lackadaisical?

Lackadaisical means lacking life, spirit, or zest. The dictionary lists a "folk etymology," that the word comes from an archaic word, "lackaday," which is from the expression, "Alack, the day!"

People don’t speak like that any more. Alas!

Lazy means disinclined to activity or exertion, encouraging indolence or inactivity; sluggish; or droopy. It comes from MLG, which is Middle Lower German.

Alack is used to express regret or sorrow. From Middle English, curiously enough, since the following is from Latin:
Alas is used to express concern or unhappiness.

Alack! I have been lazy about updating my blogs, but I promise that is soon to change!