In a Word
accismus
n. feigned disinterest in a desired object
His and Hers
Many masculine nouns can be converted to feminine with a suffix, as HERO-HEROINE and HOST-HOSTESS.
Name a feminine noun that can be converted to masculine with a suffix.
It Begins
Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweth sed, and bloweth med,
And springth the wude nu–
Sing cuccu!
– English round, 1260
Winter is icumen in,
Lhude sing Goddamm,
Raineth drop and staineth slop,
And how the wind doth ramm!
Sing: Goddamm.
– Ezra Pound, 1917
The names of the 12 months can be anagrammed into these lines:
Merry, durable, just grace
My every future month embrace;
No jars remain, joy bubble up apace.
But poet and journalist George Ellis (1753-1815) summed them up this way:
Snowy, Flowy, Blowy,
Showery, Flowery, Bowery,
Moppy, Croppy, Droppy,
Breezy, Sneezy, Freezy.
In a Word
hindermate
n. a companion who hinders; opposite of helpmate
Fitting
… balances. The bottom half of each letter mirrors the top.
A Curious Correspondence
Mr. McNair was a man of few words, and wrote to his nephew at Pittsburg the following laconic letter:
Dear Nephew,
;
To which the nephew replied by return of mail:
Dear Uncle,
:
The long of this short was, that the uncle wrote to his nephew, ‘See my coal on,’ which a se-mi-col-on expressed; and the youngster informed his uncle that the coal was shipped, by simply saying, col-on.
– Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, June 1855
In a Word
unlove
v. to cease to love
Targeted Advertising
New York florist Max Schling once placed an ad in the New York Times that was written entirely in shorthand.
Hundreds of curious businessmen passed the ad on to their secretaries, requesting a translation.
The secretaries read: “When getting flowers for the boss’s wife, remember Schling’s Florist.”
Formal Speech
A puzzle by Isaac Asimov:
What word in the English language changes its pronunciation when it is capitalized?
In a Word
artolater
n. a worshiper of bread
