I tweet, do you?

Why do they call it twitter?



Isn't that a saying, I'm all a-twitter?!


Twit is not good. It is a negative term for someone annoying or not-so-bright, like twerp or nit-wit.


Twit is also a verb which means to annoy.


Twitter means agitated, quivering or chirping....


I recently joined the ranks of thousands of twitterers.


Tweeting is fun. Try it!



Come follow me on Twitter... twitter.com/GloriaConstant

Dastardly Deeds

I remember old cartoons referring to nasty villains perpetrating "dastardly deeds," but I have never heard the word, dastard. Actually, it has just come back to me that the villain that Dudley Dooright was always battling was Dick Dastardly!

Memory is a funny thing.

So I was thinking about the word, dastardly, and thought, it sounds like there must be a word, dastard. So I looked it up in my handy pocket dictionary. Dastard was there, and dastardly, the adjective form was listed within that entry.

Dastard - n. craven coward or deceitful sneak.

It seems to come from Middle English. I wonder if it is related to another very similar word which starts with "B?"

Ecstasy

I've been thinking about e-words. No that's not right, that looks like "electronic" words, like e-mail and e-surance. I mean words that start with the letter "e," like elation, euphoria and ecstasy.

I heard the word, elation, on my audiobook this morning.

elation--the quality or state of being filled withjoy or pride. Latin.

euphoria--a feeling of well-being or elation. Greek.

ecstasy--a state of being beyond reason and self-control; state of overwhelming emotion, especially rapturous delight. It came from Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin, from Greek ultimately.

Exultation is listed as a synonym for elation and ecstacy.

I am euphoric about these words!

The Lilt of Language

I like the word, lilt. It is one of those monosyllabic words.

And the only time I hear it is around St. Patty's day when they sing, When Irish Eyes are Smiling...
and the lilt of Irish laughter....
(sure to steal your heart away!)

Such a light airy word.

Lilt is a verb which means to sing or speak in a rhythmic manner; also a noun which means a spirited song; and lilting is the adjective. It just sounds cheerful to me.

I think we should use it more.

Wishing you a lilting holiday weekend and a

Happy, delectable Independence Day, filled with the lilt of your favorite friends!!!

Mentalist Denotation

Interesting quotation and definition:

"The two most beautiful words in the English language are:
check enclosed."
Dorothy Parker

"Mentalist, noun. Someone who uses mental acuity, hypnosis and/or suggestion. A master manipulator of thoughts and behavior."
This is from the TV show, The Mentalist, not from any dictionary. The denotation is slightly different, but less dramatic.

The denotation is the official meaning of a word, the written meaning.

GAD ZOOKS!! Mentalist is not in my pocket dictionary!

Aphorism

In my profile it says, I like aphorisms. So what is an aphorism? It is a brief statement of truth, a maxim. It comes from Greek.



I do like them brief. You may notice that any quotations I put in my blogs are aphoristic; I do not like quotations that ramble on for several sentences.



I prefer something brief, like: "Belief creates Biology." Wayne Dyer.

Where's your moxie?

Curses! We've been jimmy-jacked!



I just saw the movie, The Battle of the Smithsonian. It was funny. There was a lifesized manequin of Amelia Earhardt and she came to life, with very colorful language. Somehow, even though the other figures, from ancient Egypt or Russia, spoke modern English, with a thorough understanding of the current idioms and slang expressions, she was allowed to use some uncommon language, possibly from her own era.



The word I was thinking about was moxie. Amelia said it many times and my son asked me what it meant after the movie. Moxie is a great word! I think it means Boldness, daring, fearlessness.



It means boldness or courage and I think it may come from Yiddish. It is not in my pocket dictionary and not in my thesaurus for Word.