Wonderful Words 2

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Wonderful Words
Six of the Best: Part 2

Ever wondered why we go on honeymoon or eat sandwiches in the drawing room? Let's look at the fascinating origins of everyday words we never even think about:

steeplechase
originally the name of a horse-race across country where a church steeple was the riders' target

mesmerize
after Franz Mesmer, an Austrian physician who first propounded the theory of 'animal magnetism'

schmuck
of Yiddish origin, in German this means 'jewelry'. It's American English meaning is 'an idiot' or something similar

two-bit
meaning something of little worth or importance, from the days of the Spanish conquistadors back in the 18th century when their dollar was divided into eight 'reals' or bits

ketchup
hotly disputed, but may come from the Chinese kôe-chiap or kê-chiap, meaning 'the brine of pickled fish

attic
plundered from the Greek peninsula Attica, where, apparently, the space under the triangular roofs was being put to good use

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The SNAIL

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Hotch Potch English: The SNAIL ~ 'Wonderful Words: Part 2'

Created & written by Sab Will

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English ~ The Unique English Language Website

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Wacky Word Quiz: No.2

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SNAIL: Wacky Word Quiz No.2

No need to deny it: English is W-E-I-R-D. Or is that wierd? I never now. I mean no... err...

And nowhere more so than on the SNAIL Wacky Word Quiz. Enjoy and... LOTS of luck; you'll need it. As I did writing the thing. I hereby lay claim to all errors, mistakes and cock-ups before anyone else tries to take them away from me. Go!





Feel free to leave your comments or queries in the Comments section below. There's no guarantees I'll be able to add anything worthwhile, but your participation is much appreciated all the same.
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The SNAIL

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Hotch Potch English: The SNAIL ~ 'Wacky Word Quiz: No.2'

Created & written by Sab Will

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English ~ The Unique English Language Website

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Wonderful Words 1

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Six of the Best: Part 1

Ever wondered why we go on honeymoon or eat sandwiches in the drawing room? Look at the fascinating origins of everyday words we never even think about:

drawing room
used to be the withdrawing room and the ladies did so after dinner so the guys could give each other lung cancer in peace and quiet (and smoke)

funny-bone
said to be a pun on the real name, the humerus, of the bone, or rather the attached nerve, that goes 'twang' when you hit said nerve and of course isn't funny at all

honeymoon
newly-weds used to customarily drink honey wine for the first month (or moon) of their marriage

foolscap
a 'fool's cap' was formerly used as a watermark when producing this size of paper

canter
medieaval pilgrims travelling to Canterbury would usually travel at a pace known as the 'Canterbury gallop', which is a bit less than a gallop

sandwich
after the notorious 4th Earl of S, who allegedly dreamed up the idea to keep him going at the gaming table
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Hotch Potch English: The SNAIL ~ 'Lest We Forget'

Created & written by Sab Will

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English ~ The Unique English Language Website

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Lest We Forget

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Lest We Forget

We're all gonna go one day, and when we do, will we know before we go?

In any case, someone will, maybe, if we're lucky, in a manner of speaking, say something about us after the event, with, or indeed without, our consent.

Ultimately, the best bet might be to write our own epitaph, before someone else does it for us (and why not with a bit of humour to boot?)...

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Gone but not Forgotten

This troubled world is sighing now,

The flu is at the door;

And many folks are dying now

Who never died before.
Anon

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On a Dentist

Stranger, approach this spot with gravity:

John Brown is filling his final cavity.
Anon

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On Leslie Moore

Here lies what's left

Of Leslie Moore

No Les

No more.

Anon

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On John Bun

Here lies John Bun;

He was killed by a gun.

His name was not Bun, but Wood;

But Wood would not rhyme with gun,

And Bun would.

Anon
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The SNAIL

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Hotch Potch English: The SNAIL ~ 'Lest We Forget'

Created & written by Sab Will

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English ~ The Unique English Language Website

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Mensa Is As Mensa Does

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Do You Mensa?

If you look up 'mensa' in the dictionary you get two or three varying definitions.

One is a table-top slab used in weird Roman Catholic rituals.

The second would be a faint constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere and containing part of the Large Megallanic Cloud. That would have been my first reaction, obviously.

And the third definition is an international organisation dedicated to passing a so-called 'IQ' test which basically offers the ultimate conclusion that you are good at passing IQ tests. What that says about you as a human being remains fuzzy.

But they generally feel it Means Something.
And this ad (below) is an incitation to join the Australian Mensa club.

I joined the British one once, a long time ago. Which obviously lays me open to accusations of a) partisanship, b) subtle showing off (if you still believe getting a high score in an IQ test has significance), c) deep-inset insecurity (if you don't).

The experience was... edifying. The best of times involved discussing with other Mensans why we would want to belong to such an embarrassingly elitist organisation. The worst of times involved pretentious dickheads who thought they were above everyone else. How wrong they were.

Anyway, here's the ad. I personally found it smile-inducingly funny, but wouldn't take that as evidence that I have an IQ of 150. I've always ridiculed the test as basically testing whether you are good at taking IQ tests. And after I had worked my way through an 'IQ test preparation' book my score instantaneously and miraculously improved by about 20 points.

Ain't self-centredness sweet?

Having said that, I'd love it if people got more of my jokes...

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Hotch Potch English: The SNAIL ~ 'Thoroughly Thoughtful'

Created & written by Sab Will

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English ~ The Unique English Language Website

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Thoroughly Thoughtful

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Thoroughly Thoughtful

Whilst the list below is far from original, the aim of SNAIL is to eventually unite as many of the most intriguing, amusing and why not plain silly quirks and curiosities the English language has to offer us.

For this reason contributions in the spirit of SNAIL are more than welcome. Why not submit your favourites so that we can all enjoy them?

In the meantime, marvel once again at just how fiendishly twisted language learners must find our English pronunciation and spelling conventions. Or rather lack of them.


1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
22) I want it to be on record that I will record my Record.

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Hotch Potch English: The SNAIL ~ 'Thoroughly Thoughtful'

Created & written by Sab Will

Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English ~ The Unique English Language Website

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Gotta Lotta Welly

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Gotta Lotta Welly

This must be the king of all tongue twisters. I defy you to find someone who can say this faster and faster without pretty quickly ending up just mindlessly going 'welly-welly welly-welly welly-welly welly-welly" and for some reason spontaneously cracking up into peals of laughter, English student or, even better, not.


And this is what you should say, slowly at first, and then faster and faster...

Red Welly, Yellow Welly
   

Red Welly, Yellow Welly
   

Red Welly, Yellow Welly
   

Red Welly, Yellow Welly
   


Red Welly, Yellow Welly

   

Red Welly, Yellow Welly
   

Red Welly, Yellow Welly
   

Red Welly, Yellow Welly

...
   

See? Told ya! Enjoy :-D

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Hotch Potch English: The SNAIL ~ 'Gotta Lotta Welly'

Created & written by Sab Will

Copyright 2011 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English ~ The Unique English Language Website

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