megorious

Merriam-Webster has added more than 100 new entries to its new edition of the Collegiate Dictionary. My favorite — definitely a word I’ll be weaving into my lexicon — is mondegreen. Can you decipher its meaning? A hint: “Very close veins” is a mondegreen for “varicose veins.”

mondegreen (n.) — a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung.

According to Merriam-Webster, mondegreen first appeared in the English language in 1954. Its etymology derives from the mishearing in a Scottish ballad of “laid him on the green” as “Lady Mondegreen.”

These words are so new that your spell checker will probably underscore them with squiggly red lines. But it’s probably safe to say that you can start dropping some of these bad boys in Scrabble. A few choice additions of note:

fanboy (n.) — a boy who is an enthusiastic devotee (as of comics or movies).

air quotes (n.) — gesture made by raising and flexing the index and middle fingers of both hands, used to call attention to a spoken word or expression.

edamame (n.) — immature green soybeans, usually in the pod.

pretexting (n.) — the practice of presenting oneself as someone else in order to obtain private information.

webinar (n.) — live, online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments.

wing nut (n.) — 1. a nut with wings that provide a grip for the thumb and finger
2. slang : a mentally deranged person
3. slang : one who advocates extreme measures or changes : radical.

I found this short story last week and meant to post it, but The Grammar Vandal beat me to it. I think she has my computer bugged with her secret legion of grammar bugs (comma caterpillar, sentence structure spider, transitive termites, ect.). I adore absurd and abundant alliteration.

This short story was published in the 19th century by an unknown author. Read it out loud.

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A bipolar bear is:

a.) a bear suffering from a mental disorder marked by alternating periods of elation and depression.
b.) a bear who regularly frequents both the north and south poles.
c.) a polar bear that is sexually attracted to both men and women.
d.) a person with two poles or extremities who forecasts that prices of stocks or commodities will fall.

I’ve been called a lot of things in my life: “charming,” “megorious,” “THAT;” to name a few. I’ve also been called “ridiculous” on more than twelve occasions. A few weeks ago I was called something entirely new when Jim Cummings wrote on my Facebook wall, “you’re rediculous.” I immediately called him out because I have observed that spelling “ridiculous” with an ‘E’ has become a fairly common syntax error.

“Ridiculous” is one of those common words that can easily be misspelled and, regardless if you spell it correctly or not, it simply might just look wrong, especially when handwritten. You write out “ridiculous” or “rediculous” and then look down at your scribble and think: Why are there so many vowels? That’s not write! Even though it is.

I can understand why so many people think there is an ‘E’ in there. It’s pronounced riˈdikyələs not rīdikyələs. But it is an ‘I’ not an ‘E.’ When you insert an ‘E’ it’s as if you’re sending out a memo with the subject heading “Re: Diculous,” as in with respect to; in the matter of; concerning diculous; or simply regarding diculous. And “diculous” is not a word. To think otherwise would be simply ridiculous.

So the next time you witness someone spell out the word “rediculous,” play along by saying, “Give my regards to diculous.”

I’m not ashamed to admit that I subscribe to the dictionary.com word of the day. I have a convenient widget on my dashboard that feeds me delicious words every morning for my pre-coffee consumption. In fact, I have multiple word of the day widgets from different sites other than dictionary.com. I even subscribe to the worthless word word of the day just for kicks. My vocabulary expands and that makes me feel good. (God forbid I would ever be labeled a macroverbumsciolist.)

Some words I know, like incongruous - (adj.) not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something. Some words I don’t know but might use one day, like gambrinous - (adj.) being full of beer. And then some words I don’t know and will never have a use for, like veliger - (n.) a larval stage of a mollusk characterized by the presence of a velum.

Yesterday’s word was:
superfluous - (adj.) more than is wanted or is sufficient; rendered unnecessary by superabundance; unnecessary; useless; excessive.

Of course I’ve used the word superfluous before. I believe the word has even been used in reference to me and probably Megorious on more than one occasion.

This morning I was perusing news over at CNN when I noticed the headline: Ted Turner blasts the media, Bush — and himself. My interest was immediately piqued. I love when CNN covers “news” that somehow relates to the news network itself. Turner, of course, founded CNN but lost control when AOL and Time Warner merged. The company, known then as AOL Time Warner is now just Time Warner again. Turner made comments while being honored Tuesday for promoting global understanding.

“There’s an awful lot of superfluous news, the pervert of the day and someone that shot seven people at a fraternity party. Who needs it all?”
-Ted Turner

I didn’t read the article in total because I was in awe by the eternal bond that I share with a billionaire. We are brothers Mr. Turner. I can only assume that the “global understanding” Turner was promoting is the global understanding of the dictionary.com Word of the Day.

In addition to his snazzy WotD shout-out, Turner criticized the Bush administration and cried about loosing control of CNN. Turner has been invidious of Time Warner since he lost control of the news network he founded in 1980.

For the record, today’s word is:
invidious \in-VID-ee-uhs\, (adj.)
1. Tending to provoke envy, resentment, or ill will.
2. Containing or implying a slight.
3. Envious.