This is lovely. I’m on a new word a day email list with the goal of memorizing these words. But since I’m also learning Italian new vocabulary words are tough to absorb. Your writing is beautiful and vivid as is the cake you baked for your grandson.
Such a beautiful read again . Love the cake story that gave me a good laugh :)
I'll be looking out for a copy of Country Style, I'm huge fan of old houses and their history.
Im not much one for learning new words as my old memory can't retain them. I read them and try to memorise them and 2 minutes later can't remember what that word was. But I just think that not a word I needed to keep or use ever :) I admire the persistence and the hard word you put in to your writing to give people like me immense joy. So a big thank-you.
What a delightful article. I used to love Roget's and still consult it occasionally -- it's so much better than the online experience. We have all sorts of dictionaries here, they're great for delving into at random.
Prue, I can just visualise you both in the kitchen it really made me chuckle, and poor dog's lip quivering. We've all had to improvise when needs must. As long as the littlest farmer and his chums were happy that's all that matters. 😀 much ❤ 😍 💖
My first husband was a Classics major. When he was in grad school, I would audit his etymology class, taught by a British visiting professor. I fell in love with the origins of words, one of my favorites being Ptuo (spelling?) , the Greek word " to spit upon". I then think upon spitoon and ptooey.. how marvelous!! The Greek word for understanding is Sunesis, a flowing together , as in 2 rivers converging into a larger, deeper one. Again, how wonderful!!
I, too, have loved Pip Williams books and share then with fellow "bibliophiles".
Fist bumps from a fellow fan of Dictionary of Lost Words. Recently, a friend's Substack dealt with her struggle to accept pronoun misuse (me vs. I, him/her vs she/he), and I thought about how well Pip Williams made space for dialect and words that others thought crude or lacking intelligence.
I let go of my hardback thesaurus - I'd had it since high school - in recent past. I now rely on the online version and the other was just gathering dust. But, your story made me regret that decision.
Three cheers for improvisation and cake success! Courage for the cascade of health issues. And, yes, yes, yes, to preserving the innocent richness of lellow!
I love Roget's Thesaurus, but Roget took a back shelf when I was at university in favour of Kluge, THE German-language etymological dictionary, described by the publisher (in German) as '...a unique source of knowledge around the German language'. I used to get lost in the book - in a good way - seeking out how and where my favourite words had originated. (Kluge is pronounced 'CLOO-guh', not 'cludge' (to rhyme with 'sludge'), which my boyfriend at the time insisted on calling it. 🙄
Words, wordage, wordsmith...
This is lovely. I’m on a new word a day email list with the goal of memorizing these words. But since I’m also learning Italian new vocabulary words are tough to absorb. Your writing is beautiful and vivid as is the cake you baked for your grandson.
Such a beautiful read again . Love the cake story that gave me a good laugh :)
I'll be looking out for a copy of Country Style, I'm huge fan of old houses and their history.
Im not much one for learning new words as my old memory can't retain them. I read them and try to memorise them and 2 minutes later can't remember what that word was. But I just think that not a word I needed to keep or use ever :) I admire the persistence and the hard word you put in to your writing to give people like me immense joy. So a big thank-you.
Love the cake story , it made me chuckle xx
What a delightful article. I used to love Roget's and still consult it occasionally -- it's so much better than the online experience. We have all sorts of dictionaries here, they're great for delving into at random.
I liked the cake story 😁
Prue, I can just visualise you both in the kitchen it really made me chuckle, and poor dog's lip quivering. We've all had to improvise when needs must. As long as the littlest farmer and his chums were happy that's all that matters. 😀 much ❤ 😍 💖
My first husband was a Classics major. When he was in grad school, I would audit his etymology class, taught by a British visiting professor. I fell in love with the origins of words, one of my favorites being Ptuo (spelling?) , the Greek word " to spit upon". I then think upon spitoon and ptooey.. how marvelous!! The Greek word for understanding is Sunesis, a flowing together , as in 2 rivers converging into a larger, deeper one. Again, how wonderful!!
I, too, have loved Pip Williams books and share then with fellow "bibliophiles".
I so thoroughly enjoy your writing! Many thanks!
Fist bumps from a fellow fan of Dictionary of Lost Words. Recently, a friend's Substack dealt with her struggle to accept pronoun misuse (me vs. I, him/her vs she/he), and I thought about how well Pip Williams made space for dialect and words that others thought crude or lacking intelligence.
I let go of my hardback thesaurus - I'd had it since high school - in recent past. I now rely on the online version and the other was just gathering dust. But, your story made me regret that decision.
Three cheers for improvisation and cake success! Courage for the cascade of health issues. And, yes, yes, yes, to preserving the innocent richness of lellow!
GREAT cake - with a great story - wow, Prue!
I love Roget's Thesaurus, but Roget took a back shelf when I was at university in favour of Kluge, THE German-language etymological dictionary, described by the publisher (in German) as '...a unique source of knowledge around the German language'. I used to get lost in the book - in a good way - seeking out how and where my favourite words had originated. (Kluge is pronounced 'CLOO-guh', not 'cludge' (to rhyme with 'sludge'), which my boyfriend at the time insisted on calling it. 🙄
This post was fascinating - thank you so much.