It seems like we should have thought of this category from the very beginning, seeing as how we both love words so much. It also seemed appropriate to give this category its own special introduction…but once I created the draft, I was drawing a complete blank as to how to introduce the WORDS. So, instead, here is a list of some of the wonderful things we will put into this category!

Words. Here are some we collected in college. (I knew there was a reason I was saving these.)

epicene: belonging to one sex but having characteristics of the other, or of neither; specifically, effeminate

soi-disant: swa dee zan’; self-styled

chiasmus: kee az’ mes; a reversal of the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases; inversion of the second of two parallel phrases, clauses, for example: “never let a fool kiss you, or a kiss fool you” and “it’s not the men in my life, it’s the life in my men”

tertium quid: tur shyum kwid; a third something related to two specific known things, the third person in the eternal triangle (and the runner-up title of our blog)

Plus a new one, usus loquendi: yooz’ us lo kwen die; current usage in speech

And lastly, here’s one that is not in the dictionaries yet but was in a recent New York Times article, phantonym: a word that looks as if it means one thing but means quite another; for example, noisome does not mean noisy, it means smelly!

Important questions about words.

Here’s one I came up with the other day at the grocery store.

Cow meat is called beef or steak.
Pig meat is called pork or ham.
Even sheep meat is called mutton.
So why is chicken meat called just chicken?

Quotes.

If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.
-Katherine Hepburn

Ever tried, ever failed, no matter.
Try again, fail again, fail better.
-Samuel Beckett

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
-Albert Einstein

Other useful information.

I am supposed to know these, and I find them interesting, so I thought I’d share them with you.

A – alpha, di-DAH*
B – bravo, DAH-di-di-di
C – charlie, DAH-di-DAH-di
D – delta, Dah-di-di
E – echo, di
F – foxtrot, di-di-DAH-di
G – golf (really? they were kinda cool up until golf) DAH-DAH-di
H – hotel, di-di-di-di
I – india, di-di
J – juliet (this was unexpected) di-DAH-DAH-DAH
K – kilo, DAH-di-DAH
L – lima (I am not sure if this is the bean or the capital of Peru) di-DAH-di-di
M – mike, DAH-DAH
N – november, DAH-di
O – oscar, DAH-DAH-DAH
P – papa, di-DAH-DAH-di
Q – quebec, DAH-DAH-di-DAH
R – romeo, di-DAH-di
S – sierra, di-di-di
T – tango, DAH
U – uniform, di-di-DAH
V – victor, di-di-di-DAH
W – whiskey, di-DAH-DAH
X – xray, DAH-di-di-DAH
Y – yankee, DAH-di-DAH-DAH
Z – zulu, DAH-DAH-di-di

* The DAH is a dash, and the di is the dots

And, last but not least, words we invented!

I know there are more, but the only one I can remember at the moment is…

hermetic: one who has a tendency to be a hermit, who likes to hang out in the house all day by themselves working on projects

dictionaries