What do you get when
you combine a bit of British humor and word history? You get some
very strange sounding but very descriptive words that may just
deserve a place in today's world of fractured and misused American vocabulary.
I can not take credit
for the research of these words as an article literally popped up on
my computer the other day under the category of 'Thought for the
Day.” But after reading the article, I thought some of these words
were worthy of sharing and if sharing isn't communicating, then you
can call me a mumbudget.
Haven't figured it out
yet? Someone who might be considered a 'mumbudget' is one who keeps
quiet, someone who doesn't talk much, say a great deal or use many
words. Now I know that I can be pretty quiet at times, but a
mumbudget?
If someone calls you a
fripperer, don't be offended. A fripperer is one who may spend their
time on the weekend going to yard sales or at the local antique
auctions, buying up old things and making them almost like new.
There's about 150 of us, fripperers, who get together on Sunday
mornings trying to outsmart and outbid each other for those “must
have” items.
After recently doing
some repair to my lawn mower, my wife shouted to me from the
basement. “You've done it again, You have another grinnow on this
shirt and it won't come out.” A grinnow is a stain that won't
come out and …..yes I'll admit it, I have been known to splash a
bit of oil or paint on some of my, hopefully, older clothes. But
this one looks like it is going to join the rag pile!
I had a bit of surgery
on my knee the other day. As I sat in the sofa, recuperating from the
event of the morning, Lucky, our family dog, knew something was not
right. I had not taken him to the park for his afternoon run and I
was still feeling a bit loobily. And yes, the word means pretty much
how it sounds..... a bit awkward, uncoordinated, just plain loopy,
Lucky, sensing my
somewhat abnormal behavior, decided to snudge with me on the sofa for
the remainder of the afternoon, curling up next to me and joining me
for an afternoon nap. But he was bound and determined to rest his
head on my knee. Maybe he thought it would help take the pain away.
This little setback has
forced me to be a bit flexanimous for the next few days, no biking,
kayaking or jogging for awhile. This was an unexpected obstacle,
a temporary curve ball you might say. But the key to someone who is
'flexanimous' is their ability to look at the bright side to things.
What a great time to catch up on all those television shows we have
been recording, and maybe a brief nap or two. And the lawn, it will
have to wait a few more days before the next cutting. It will give
the neighbors something to talk about.
While doing a bit of
shopping in the local food store, I literally ran into a friend with
my shopping cart, a friend I had not seen for a while. As we spoke, he
shared with me that he had changed jobs and picked up some extra work
to help pay the bills. He had dropped off the social grid, working
many extra hours per week, had not been on the golf course this
summer yet and was “just plain exhausted. He had become a
'mucker'. Circumstances had forced him to lose his balance in life. Golf, seeing friends and
spending time with his family had been taken over by increased work
and earning money to insure he could pay the bills. And each morning, he tells me, he wakes up before dawn and worries, worries about his family, his
friends, his job. And the British had a word for that
too.....uhtceare.
Now we all know that
through life, there have been people who have tried to undermine us
at one time or another, often at work and most of the time we know
who they are or were. Maybe they were jealous of something or wanted to make us look bad. But every so often we come across someone who
is friendly and pleasant to our face, pretending to be a friend when,
in reality, they were actually a secret enemy, a backfriend. Gives a
different perspective to the expression that “the enemy you know
may be better than the backfriend you don't know.”
Speaking of enemies, as
the summer begins to wind down, the political campaigns are
beginning to get into full swing and the November elections are just
weeks away now.
There are some
candidates running for office who are argute; meaning witty, sharp
and very persuasive and very committed to those they serve. But
unfortunately there are others who fall into the categories of shrewd
and unprincipled. The early Brits referred to them as snollygosters.
These folks, in addition to sometimes being mean and nasty, tend to
be those who are constantly giving their opinions and beliefs on
subjects they know either very little or nothing about, a practice
called ultrcrepidarianism. Anyone you know? My biggest problem with ultrcrepidarianism
is.... being sure to spell it correctly. ( Can you imagine trying to text message this word?)
Over the years,
regardless of the language or the country, words and expressions come
and go and what we say and how we say it seems to change as often as
the Maine weather. And the lesson here for all of us is to be just a bit
more 'flexanimous.' Right!
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