Phenomenal Words

You are a phenomenal person!

And phenomenal is a phenomenal word!

It comes from Greek, see the "ph?"

The adjective phenomenal means remarkable, outstanding. and comes from the noun, phenomenon, which means something that can be observed by the 5 senses. The plural is phenomena.

Peace of Mind

"For every moment you remain angry, you give up 60 seconds of peace of mind."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Knuckles

I wonder where the expression, knuckle-head" came from? Is it related to knuckle-sandwich?

Knuckle comes to us from Middle English, somehow related to the Old High German word for knot. It is the rounded prominence formed by the ends of 2 adjacent bones at a joint. And a few other things that somehow resemble a knuckle or the prominence at an intersection.

Knucklehead means dumbbell according to my Dictionary, another interesting compound word. This could be confusing, as dumbbell has 2 meanings. It would be strange to hear someone at the health club looking for some knuckles!

Knuckle-sandwich is not in my dictionary. I think the meaning is clear, but there could be people who speak English as a second language and they might not understand that it means a punch to the mouth.

Dismal Predictions

Dismal is an interesting word.

Dis which means down or not.

Mal which means bad, in Latin.

Dismal. A downer.

What is the opposite of dismal?

Optimistic, hopeful, joyful, positive, propitious, un-, in-, or a-dismal? Abysmal?

Hope your day is cheerful, propitious and non-dismal!

Fit and Trim

I am wondering why all the words for thin are so tiny. Like skinny, slim, thin, trim, fit, and my personal favorite, svelte.

A Few More Monosylables

On this World Hynosis Day, I am pondering 2 monosyllabic words:

girth
and
mirth.

Girth is volume or width. Mirth is silliness or happiness.

Of the 2, I resolve to reduce girth this year and to maximize mirth.

Happy 2010, that's "Twenty-ten," not Two thousand ten!