Weird Words of a Wonderful World


Letโ€™s begin at the beginning. Always a good place to start. Letโ€™s see. Ahhโ€ฆ

Aa.

Pronounced Ah; or Are. A Hawaiian word for a rough and frothy lava flow. The smooth lava flow is called Pahoehoe (pronounced pa-hoey-hoey). Youโ€™ll not get your aas mixed up with your pahoehoes from now on, will you? Youโ€™d be very argute to use these words in the right place. (Shrewd)

Have you ever come across a blatherskite? Iโ€™m sure you have. A person who rambles on without making much sense. Some say Iโ€™m a blatherskite, but I tend to waffle on regardless anyway.

I hope my waffling comes across as couthy, which is Scottish for warm and friendly (in relation to a person) or cosy (for a place). Hopefully, you find this blog couthy.

Get this word into a sentence and you can award yourself ten points. Although, the points themselves are worthless, as youโ€™d guess. Floccinaucinihilipilification. Hehehe. Iโ€™ll say that again. Floccinaucinihilipilification. Floxin-orsinie-hillypilly-fickayshun. This word has Latin roots, and for some reason is rarely used today. And as you now know itโ€™s the action of estimating something as worthless.

Now, Iโ€™m not being personal, but do you have any idea where on your body youโ€™d find a hallux? If you said your face, youโ€™d be wrong. Handsโ€ฆ youโ€™d be getting warmer. Feet, well, youโ€™re positively on fire! Itโ€™s a big toe.

In the animal kingdom, you may, on the odd occasion, come across a tigon. Or a liger. A tigon is the hybrid cub of a lion and a tigress, and a liger is that of a male tiger and a lioness.

Does the thought of some words make you go all aquiver? Anticipating with excitement, trembling even, at their very meaning? Me neither, but I like playing with words. Such fun.

And finally, the word to end on this time is madtom. How rude. Oh, thatโ€™s the word. Ahem. A madtom is a North American catfish which has poisonous spines.

And on that note, Iโ€™ll end things there. Next time I may explore strange numbers of the Universe…

31 responses to “Weird Words of a Wonderful World”

  1. Susan Feniak avatar

    A good smile without my hallux anywhere near my face. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      Thanks, Susan. Good job we don’t need to be contortionists to smile, isn’t it! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Jodi avatar

    “Floccinaucinihilipilification. This word has Latin roots, and for some reason is rarely used today.” Hmmmm – I wonder why??! Heck – auto-correct doesn’t even like it!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      Ten points, Jodi! ๐Ÿ˜€
      It’s not an easy word to say over and over again… however, it’s probably had more use in the past few days than it has over the last hundred years! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Soul Gifts avatar
    Soul Gifts

    Your couthy blathering is definitely not floccinaucinihilipilification ! There, I used it in a sentence – proud ten point moment ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      Of course, Raili! Ten points to you! ๐Ÿ˜€
      And thank you! Very kind of you to say so.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. prenin avatar

    I’ll stick to English, especially the roots of rude words!!! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Still smiling!!! ๐Ÿ™‚

    God Bless!

    Prenin.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      There may be more along soon, Prenin.
      Pleased you smiled… but remember those can be the roots of all evil…

      Liked by 1 person

  5. -Eugenia avatar

    Ah, couthy moments in the blogosphere. It doesn’t take much time to determine the floccinaucinihilipilification of words by intelligent people. Now, I must find my hallux. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      Hope you find it without walking into something, Eugenia. Ouch! ๐Ÿ˜€
      Oh, and ten points to you! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Liked by 1 person

      1. -Eugenia avatar

        Thank you, Tom.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Tom Merriman avatar

          My pleasure. ๐Ÿ™‚

          Liked by 1 person

  6. bcparkison avatar

    Oh goodness…you lost me.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      Hehehe!
      Sorry, Beverly. I got lost myself there as well! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Like

  7. thecobweboriumemporium avatar

    This Blog Post has been brought to you courtesy of Stephen Fry and the QI Team.

    I could actually hear Stephen Fry saying the whole thing.
    You’ve missed your calling. Sandi Toksvig and QI might want to chat with you, with a view to taking you ‘on-board’. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    I’m off now to try and unboggle my brain.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      Go Bungle!
      That’s a way to unboggle, Cobs! Hehehe!
      Couldn’t possibly go on the telly, though. Sorry Cobs, Sandi and Stephen…

      Liked by 1 person

      1. thecobweboriumemporium avatar

        [smiles and then makes chicken noises and moves arms to mimic chicken wings] ๐Ÿ˜€

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Tom Merriman avatar

          ๐Ÿ˜ฏ
          [folds arms, indignantly]
          I merely wouldn’t want to put folk off their tea, Cobs. I don’t look good in HD or in widescreen, and in real life I look as though the horizontal hold’s gone as well.
          [smiles and blushes]
          Sorry Cobs, I also wouldn’t want to put the others to shame. ๐Ÿ˜‰

          Liked by 1 person

          1. thecobweboriumemporium avatar

            THERE’S THE REAL TRUTH!
            That last line.

            We all suspected that you were the next James Bond in training!

            Of course you can’t go on Widescreen … for then we would know who this mysterious man in the black suit was.

            Hmm… actually … it could be …. Oh. My. Goodness!! Is it James Bond, or could it be ….. THE MILK TRAY MAN???!!!

            [thinks to self:] “who would I prefer it to be, James Bond, sauve and sophisticated. OR The Milk Tray man who arrives silently, leaves a box of Chocolates and then departs silently?

            Who? C’mon Cobs …. WHO? MAKE A CHOICE WOMAN!!

            You are … The Milk Tray Man. (no other choice really. Not when chocolate is involved!)
            ๐Ÿ˜€ ~ C. x

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Tom Merriman avatar

              Mmmm. Yes. [thinks…] Or his stunt double.
              Or perhaps the Milk Tray Man’s getaway driver – or pick up in the boat – depending on how he makes his daring escape. I couldn’t possibly do all of those stunts by myself…

              Liked by 1 person

              1. thecobweboriumemporium avatar

                Yeah you could. You get paid in chocolate!

                Liked by 1 person

                1. Tom Merriman avatar

                  ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€

                  Liked by 1 person

  8. Diane Henders avatar

    What fun! I love obscure words! I might have a bit of a problem working “floccinaucinihilipilification” into my next conversation, though. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      Ten points, Diane! ๐Ÿ˜€
      Not at all. It’s one of those words that simply flows off the tongue once you practiced several thousand times! Good luck! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Deb's World avatar

    I love the f word Tom!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      You can have seven and a half points, Deb. I know which F word you are referring to… and it IS rather a good one compared to some of the other F words out there! ๐Ÿ˜‰

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Sue Dreamwalker avatar

    Fascinating Tom, And I can see why Floccinaucinihilipilification is rarely used today Tom.. I think I would shorten it to Flipping Heck.. xxx ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom Merriman avatar

      Hehehe! ๐Ÿ˜€
      It’s a lot easier to say, that’s for sure, Sue! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Liked by 1 person

Would you like to leave a comment?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.