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.
I do wish I could remember more words. It's funny - when I speak, I speak simplistically (I suspect that's human nature), but when I put pen to paper, words flow - drifting out of those cobwebbed shelves of my mind. It's like an artist using the brush - a dab here, a dab there.
It's also why I could never be a fan of Twitter. 140 characters in those early days? You're joking! ;)
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.
Have to say as I age, I'm using Roget's even more. I can see the shape of the word, hear its sound but sometimes it just won't manifest and I need a bit of a mental jog.
I do hope you can find Country Style, it's got some beautiful stories inside.
Hi Libby. If you could have watched my husband's and my eyes meeting, totally synchronous thought, and the dog, going 'No no no! Not my CBD Oil!' And then husband and self bursting out laughing. It was a delightful moment...
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!
Hi Elizabeth. I still say 'my husband and I', not 'my husband and me', because that's the way I was taught at primary school. It 'sounds' right and no amount of current English usage will change my mind.
Thank you for your wish for courage. It has been the worst of weeks - one no mother wants to be a part of and I need courage and every other word Roget might wish to offer.
Not sure what Roget might offer, but here are my own expanded wishes: Fortitude, grit, power, bravery, assurance, strength, grace, and hugs, my friend. 💕
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. 🙄
Not any more, sadly! I was last over there in 2001, and am a little rusty, although I enjoy reading and listening to German.
During the first Covid lockdown I seriously explored training to become a German teacher - even to the point of working many hours a day on brushing up my French so as to be able to offer two languages.
Every conversation with the friendly staff at Get Into Teaching (a gov.uk portal for prospective teachers) was encouraging, but then my own research into trying to find a local school that could offer me a stint of teaching experience, an essential preliminary to training, not a single one even OFFERED German as a subject for their students to learn! Very soon after that bombshell discovery, bursaries for modern languages were withdrawn from prospective trainee teachers, and I would not have been able to afford to train as a result.
This morning I saw this news story. Yup, the fact that nobody's learning another language is now being identified as a problem that needs to be remedied. I'm heartbroken - I'd been so keen! https://apple.news/AjDdEq080Rjmu6X0lEdfzQw
Here in the private schools, French, German, Japanese and Mandarin are offered in late primary through secondary. I think Mandarin may be offered in some of the government schools.
It's my dearest wish that our little grandson learn Mandarin. He could do a lot worse in this time of flux in the Asia-Pacific Basin. But what will be will be.
My father learned to speak and write Mandarin in his 70's, topping his grades. Amazing man as its not an easy language and alphabet to learn. I still have some of his exam papers and his calligraphy set.
But Rebecca, if you want to teach - do it! Life is too short for us not to follow as many dreams as we can. To infinity and beyond!!! XXXX
I just don't understand why German isn't served up at every school, when Germany has the largest national economy in Europe and the fourth largest in the world! Why wouldn't we want to be able to speak their language?!
These days it's mostly Spanish and French, I think.
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.
Thank you for your kind words.
I do wish I could remember more words. It's funny - when I speak, I speak simplistically (I suspect that's human nature), but when I put pen to paper, words flow - drifting out of those cobwebbed shelves of my mind. It's like an artist using the brush - a dab here, a dab there.
It's also why I could never be a fan of Twitter. 140 characters in those early days? You're joking! ;)
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.
Thank you so much, Maree.
Have to say as I age, I'm using Roget's even more. I can see the shape of the word, hear its sound but sometimes it just won't manifest and I need a bit of a mental jog.
I do hope you can find Country Style, it's got some beautiful stories inside.
That cake! It was such a laugh!
Love the cake story , it made me chuckle xx
Hi Libby. If you could have watched my husband's and my eyes meeting, totally synchronous thought, and the dog, going 'No no no! Not my CBD Oil!' And then husband and self bursting out laughing. It was a delightful moment...
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 😁
Hi Terry. I agree, the actual layout of Roget's is brilliant. The kind of mind it took to create such a tool is mind-blowing.
I marvel sometimes at what other words I can find for a sentence that will give me the same meaning. It's quite a powerful thing.
That cake! Hopefully the story will go down in my grandson's history!
I agree. And I love the fact that antonyms are given under synonyms. Lol to cake story. It will be told for generations!
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!
Ptuo ... well yes. It makes such sense, doesn't it?
Sunsensis - did it become or contribute to 'consensus'? A flowing together?
Thank you so much for your lovely words.
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!
Hi Elizabeth. I still say 'my husband and I', not 'my husband and me', because that's the way I was taught at primary school. It 'sounds' right and no amount of current English usage will change my mind.
Thank you for your wish for courage. It has been the worst of weeks - one no mother wants to be a part of and I need courage and every other word Roget might wish to offer.
As for lellow - I'm tempted to contact the OED...
Not sure what Roget might offer, but here are my own expanded wishes: Fortitude, grit, power, bravery, assurance, strength, grace, and hugs, my friend. 💕
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.
By which I'm assuming you speak fluent German?
I'd love to speak a second language (although most would say Australians have their own language anyway).
Thank you as always for your comments, Rebecca and best wishes.
Not any more, sadly! I was last over there in 2001, and am a little rusty, although I enjoy reading and listening to German.
During the first Covid lockdown I seriously explored training to become a German teacher - even to the point of working many hours a day on brushing up my French so as to be able to offer two languages.
Every conversation with the friendly staff at Get Into Teaching (a gov.uk portal for prospective teachers) was encouraging, but then my own research into trying to find a local school that could offer me a stint of teaching experience, an essential preliminary to training, not a single one even OFFERED German as a subject for their students to learn! Very soon after that bombshell discovery, bursaries for modern languages were withdrawn from prospective trainee teachers, and I would not have been able to afford to train as a result.
This morning I saw this news story. Yup, the fact that nobody's learning another language is now being identified as a problem that needs to be remedied. I'm heartbroken - I'd been so keen! https://apple.news/AjDdEq080Rjmu6X0lEdfzQw
That's very sad.
Here in the private schools, French, German, Japanese and Mandarin are offered in late primary through secondary. I think Mandarin may be offered in some of the government schools.
It's my dearest wish that our little grandson learn Mandarin. He could do a lot worse in this time of flux in the Asia-Pacific Basin. But what will be will be.
My father learned to speak and write Mandarin in his 70's, topping his grades. Amazing man as its not an easy language and alphabet to learn. I still have some of his exam papers and his calligraphy set.
But Rebecca, if you want to teach - do it! Life is too short for us not to follow as many dreams as we can. To infinity and beyond!!! XXXX
Wow to your father, Prue - that's amazing!
I just don't understand why German isn't served up at every school, when Germany has the largest national economy in Europe and the fourth largest in the world! Why wouldn't we want to be able to speak their language?!
These days it's mostly Spanish and French, I think.