Search found 10 matches
- Sun Sep 29, 2019 12:34 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Barrage
- Replies: 1
- Views: 3188
Re: Barrage
You failed to mention the use of this word during WW2. Huge inflated balloons tethered with steel cable were deployed on the coast of Southern California during the war to stop low-flying aircraft over oil refineries and aircraft factories; they were called "barrage balloons". I leaned thi...
- Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:58 pm
- Forum: Pronunciation
- Topic: 'Zh' sound in English
- Replies: 5
- Views: 99529
Re: 'Zh' sound in English
"I wonder if there are parallels in other languages, i.e. sounds which do occur in native words ...." The Zh sound occurs in Quichua very often. In fact, twice in one word such as "allillachu" (meaning "how are you"). Two ells are used in spelling the word because it wa...
- Wed Nov 28, 2018 10:52 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Truckle
- Replies: 1
- Views: 3250
Re: Truckle
Aha! So that's where "hand truck" got it's name. And pickup truck, and bobtail truck, and semi-truck, etc. It seems anything with wheels for hauling is a truck.
- Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:42 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Guttersnipe
- Replies: 2
- Views: 4243
Re: Guttersnipe
How about the "snipe hunt"? "Snipe" was also used to mean that fictitious bird that a dupe was left in the woods at night holding a bag to catch. His pals told him they would herd it towards him if he waited long enough. Of course, his pals went home and left him in the woods all...
- Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:50 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Privy
- Replies: 4
- Views: 7242
Re: Privy
"Private" is also used to describe the lowest (or first) rank in the military. The second rank is "private first class" which seems to be a bit of a redundancy.
- Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:16 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Wretch
- Replies: 2
- Views: 5199
Re: Wretch
Overlooked here is the use of wretch to describe the convulsion of the body that leads to vomiting.
- Tue Apr 24, 2018 11:42 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Bravo
- Replies: 3
- Views: 5769
Re: Bravo
"Bravo" apparently has yet another meaning in South America; I often heard a baby described as bravo (que bravo!) when crying loudly and with great energy in public, and I took it to mean "how angry".
- Sun Sep 10, 2017 11:48 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Shoo
- Replies: 6
- Views: 8842
Re: Shoo
My wife Dawn, who is a Pennsylvaniac, grew up on shoo fly pie, and she tells me that her mother told her that the name came from this: On baking day many pies were made and the leftover dough, sugar, molasses, etc. accumulated on the side and the flies had to be shooed off until there was time to ma...
- Sat Sep 09, 2017 1:10 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Shoo
- Replies: 6
- Views: 8842
Re: Shoo
Of course, I learned "shoo" as a child like everyone else. When I lived in Ecuador for a couple of years I leaned that the Spanish speaking people there said "oosh" to mean the same thing. I wonder why? I see no clue of origins of that in Spain so maybe they learned it from Quich...
- Fri Jul 28, 2017 11:19 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Husband
- Replies: 5
- Views: 7125
Re: Husband
Animal husbandry is a familiar term to most us, but to "husband" a whole farm was a new one for me when I ran across the following quote while researching origins of my name, which is Mixon. "Hard by or at home, better wed over the mixon than over the moor; mixon being that heap of co...