Comments | dexterjerome: Merriam-Webster words of the day

dexterjerome

Merriam-Webster words of the day

Feb 15, 2005 14:23

As an internet junkie, the three things I look forward to most are getting email, reading your LJ posts, and checking out the Merriam-Webster words of the day. These are some of my favorite recent M-W words du jour! I like reading the word history best of all, and sometimes their word selections make me chuckle.

( TYPHOID MARY! )

Comments 15

somecamerunning February 15 2005, 21:40:41 UTC

I used the word "fey" at Lucas one day, and the man I was talking to had no idea what I meant.

dexterjerome February 16 2005, 17:01:42 UTC

It was Michael, right? Bet it was!

cookieguggelman February 15 2005, 23:33:17 UTC

Typhoid Mary is the best! I had never, ever heard of her. Whutta gal!

I want to start calling people brummagem to their faces...as if anyone would know what I meant!

dexterjerome February 16 2005, 17:10:20 UTC

I'll never forget sitting in some sleazy bar when this sassy cad walked in, and I overheard some guy say, "Oh no, here comes TYPHOID MARY, get her..." :)

phyllisgabor February 15 2005, 23:52:49 UTC

"Typhoid Mary" is a common insult in my family--if someone is sick and you don't want to catch what they have, you get to sneer, "stay back, TYPHOID Mary." The flip side is that if the healthy person is being especially nasty the sick person can fire back with, "You're a regular Florence Nightengale."

I'm afraid of earwigs--they give me the willies.

dexterjerome February 16 2005, 17:16:42 UTC

A coworker coughed on me this morning -- coughed right on me -- and I was SO TEMPTED to pull that Typhoid Mary bit. I mean, it was on the very tip of my tongue. But since I don't really know her that well, I was afraid she might not see the humor, and in the end my Emily Post manners prevailed. Oh well, some other time, some other place!

rossboss February 16 2005, 10:12:02 UTC

Do you by chance use a typewriter? then my attention would be at its feyest.

dexterjerome February 16 2005, 17:25:02 UTC

I certainly do! If I could rig a typewriter to the internet, you better believe I'd use that instead of this rinky-dink keyboard.

I have a small collection of typewriters, and each one has some sentimental value. My favorite is a powder blue one that I got from my grandfather. I used to compose my school papers on it, but the UT profs never seemed to appreciate my fine sense of style.

Wow! madge_pastiche February 16 2005, 13:33:59 UTC

Those are fabulous words! I was going to tell you that we are internet junkie twins because I'm totally addicted to Bartleby's word of the day, which comes in a daily email with a quote, famous person's birthday, and poem, but I think your Mirriam Webster word origins are better! I am totally going to call my germy students Typhoid Marys! But bartleby does have really funny pronounciation sound bytes. Listen to this! Does a quidnunc earwig?

QUIDNUNC QUIDNUNC QUIDNUNC dexterjerome February 16 2005, 17:35:27 UTC

Ooh, I love Bartleby.com! Didn't know they had a word of the day, though -- I'm gonna have to start keeping an eye on that. I like Hyperdictionary sometimes. Urban Dictionary is a lot of fun -- you might like it.

Okay, I listened to that QUIDNUNC sound byte not once or three times but over and over, maybe ten times! Such magic it is.