Words You Never Heard!

When our son’s messy handwriting was brought to his attention in third grade, he explained to the teacher that his dad was a doctor. The teacher told me she had a hard time not laughing. Cacography or messy handwriting may be a result of your brain producing thoughts faster than the hand can transcribe them!

 

My husband and I were sitting by the fireplace at our cabin in Colorado when we were startled by a bright-eyed chipmunk who scampered in front of us from the back of the sofa.  Although he was cute, we weren’t too happy he found his way into our house. A male chipmunk is called a buck; a female chipmunk is called a doe, and a baby chipmunk is called a kit.  A group of chipmunks is known as a scurry.

The little nut smugglers are diurnal, in other words, they only come out during the daytime. Chipmunks seem to have (FAG-oh-MAY-nee-uh) phagomania or insatiable hunger.  These pudgy-faced charmers have an omnivorous diet primarily consisting of seeds, nuts, fruits, and buds. However, they have been known to eat insects and other arthropods, small frogs, worms, and bird eggs.  What’s a word for having large projecting teeth?  Gubbertushed!

 

 

 

Did you know that in Missouri, it is illegal to drive with an uncaged bear in your car? Or drive with a gorilla in your car in Massachusettes? How about to ride a camel on the highway in Nevada? Here are some other crazy laws brought to you be the randomtocracy of the US legal system.

While there aren’t any whales in Lake Erie, it’s still illegal to go whaling on Sundays.  This blue law — a law prohibiting mallemaroking on Sundays — likely went on the books in the 18th century, presumably because it wasn’t known at the time that whales don’t swim in Lake Erie.  Mallemaroking is a word used to describe the drunken exchange between sailors on a whaling ship.

Another blue law that sounds absurd: it’s illegal to walk the streets of Alabama with an ice cream cone in your pocket on Sundays. Apparently, eating ice cream on Sundays was prohibited way back. I guess some people loved ice cream so much they were willing to hide it in their pockets. That’s the scoop, but you might get so cold with ice cream in your pocket that you get spumonia:)

 

 

What does your hen scratch or penmanship say about your personality?  A graphologist or handwriting analyst might say you are bungdungerous  or outgoing and friendly if you write with big letters that spill outside the lines. Conversely, very small handwriting can suggest that someone is introverted.  An emotional and creative person might sneak some (mal-if-u-ous) malifuous or graceful, loopy letters into their cursive. If your script has been compared to chicken-scratch, take it as a compliment. Many influential artists and thinkers throughout history were known to have borderline-illegible handwriting.

When our son’s messy handwriting was brought to his attention in third grade, he explained to the teacher that his dad was a doctor. The teacher told me she had a hard time not laughing. Cacography or messy handwriting may be a result of your brain producing thoughts faster than the hand can transcribe them.

 

The Iowa State Fair is known for its over-the-top food and with nearly 200 concession stands, this year’s vendors are urging fairgoers to make room for dessert.  The strange wave of entrée-themed goodies includes ice cream nachos, brisket mango tango, and beef sundaes. What are other words for junk foods? Lubberwort and Geedunk!

Vendors began experimenting with chocolate chip cookie dough a few years back and it became very popular with fairgoers.  This year's newest show stopper is cookie dough spaghetti, a dish that can rival any fried concoction. Cookie dough spaghetti noodles are topped with Italian chocolatier (Ferro Ferrero Rocher Roshay) chocolate "meatballs," while the red sauce is substituted with a strawberry dessert sauce.

Yaffling means to eat or drink noisily or greedily, and this cookie dough spaghetti is made for Yaffling! There are more than 80 food options on a stick at the Iowa State Fair. And most of them messy! What’s another word for messy food? Maw-wallop!

 

 

 

 

 

When you were young, did your mother call you in for dinner or supper?  Historically, the word dinner was associated with the largest meal of the day, regardless of whether it was served in the morning, afternoon, or evening.  What’s another word for a dinner fork? A Flabbernackle!

Supper stems from the Old French word souper, meaning an evening meal, and it was generally lighter than other meals throughout the day.  In the evenings it was tradition to serve soup and the act of eating it was referred to as supping.

A linguist might be able to guess what region of the country you live in based solely on what you call your evening meal. Supper is more commonly used in Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. But dinner is by far the more popular term nationwide. (I guess it’s not as romantic to go out for supper and a movie? What’s a word for an excellent dinner (or supper) conversationalist? A  Dipnosephist!

 

 

 

There are coffee houses in Russia where the lattes are free, but you pay for the time. A Russian entrepreneur named Ivan Meetin has introduced a new concept in coffee houses where customers pay for the amount of time they spend in the establishment rather than the food and drink. The café in Moscow is called Tsiferblat, which means Clockface Cafe in English.  So far his new business model for coffee houses has been a huge success as several franchises have now opened up in London and Manchester.

Patrons are greeted at the door with dobryden which means good afternoon.  The time is noted upon arrival and then customers are handed an alarm clock that serves as a table marker and a reminder that they are “on the clock”. Upon leaving,  customers pay for the time spent and say spasibo which means thank you.  It’s an interesting concept. Which would you rather pay for food or time?

 

 

 

On a recent trip to Colorado, I looked out the window of our cabin one morning and saw four beautiful horses. Three of them were standing perfectly still like statues, not even swatting flies with their tails, while the fourth was eating grass. I realized the three were sleeping standing up. The method by which horses stand while sleeping is called the “stay apparatus" and it’s a system of ligaments and tendons that keep them upright with relative ease.

Horses use the buddy system for sleeping, where one horse watches over the others while they’re snoozling. The role of watch-horse will rotate as each member of the herd gets the sleep they need. Horses are also known to snore. Other words for snoring are stomatolalia, sternutation, and snuffling!

Where did the saying ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’ come from?  Equestrians can often determine a horses health and age by looking in its mouth.  Therefore, if someone gives you a horse and you look in its mouth it’s almost the same as looking for the price tag! 

 

 

 

 

It’s summertime, and you know what that means: attack of the mosquitoes!   Other names for the mosquito are gallinipper, katynipper, gabber napper and galliwopper. A quote from the 1906 book The Parson’s Boys asserts that gallinippers are so-called “because at each ‘nip’ they took a gallon!”  Mitsy is a deceptively cute shortening of mosquito that might be heard in Ohio! Mossie , another abbreviation,  is primarily Australian slang for this annoying insect. 

If you’re in Virginia and hear someone complaining about cousins, they might have annoying relatives—or they might just be talking about mosquitoes.  Why do they call mosquitos cousins? “Because they are so many and they stick so close,” In Florida you might hear a mosquito referred to as a swamp angel and in Illinois, mosquitos are sometimes called drill bugs.   But whatever you call them, all this begs the question,  “Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitos?"

 

People in Pennsylvania might refer to you as a snoopy if you are a picky eater.  Shark bait is another term Pennsylvanians use to describe beachgoers who are very pale. Every state has their own unique slang words and recently created a definitive list. Hawaiians sometimes greet each other by saying shaka which means hello.  Poho is Hawaiian slang for a waste of time. And a hot minute is what Alabaman’s call a long time.

A goper is a derogatory term folks in Colorado use to describe a beginning skier.   When I first moved to Alaska, the natives called me a cheechako, which means a newcomer.  And a  yooper is someone who was born in the upper peninsula of Michigan.  If you travel to Rhode Island, you should try an awful awful.   That's not a typo, its what they call a tasty milkshake. And ring-tail-tooters? A southern colloquialism that refers to folks who are mischief-makers.