Tag: wacky holidays

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Wacky Wednesday: August 26

On this final Wacky Wednesday of August, the words are wackier than usual. The first word you may not have heard before, but you might be familiar with what is describes. Kakorrhaphiophobia is a noun which refers to an abnormal, persistent, irrational fear of failure. Everyone has experienced a fear of failure, but people with this phobia can find their fear debilitating to the point of them doing nothing. Our next word is another noun. Lamprophony means loudness and clarity of enunciation. One might say something like a stage actor was praised for their lamprophony during the performance.

The holidays today have a bit of everything. For our token food holiday, today is National Cherry Popsicle Day. Who doesn’t like popsicles? It is also National Dog Day. If you were considering finding a new four-legged roommate, today is the day! Next we have two women focused celebrations today. First is National Webmistress Day celebrating women in the web development field. Second is National Women’s Equality Day which commemorates the adoption of the 19thAmendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. After a century, women are still fighting for equal rights in many areas. Show your support for Women’s Equality and be sure to appreciate any women web developers you know today.

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Wacky Wednesday: August 19

Welcome to another Wacky Wednesday. We’ve all survived another wacky week and since it’s 2020 things can only get more bizarre. Our first word for today is Impignorate. This transitive verb has a simple definition. It means to pledge, pawn, or mortgage. Our next is Jentacular. An adjective which means of or pertaining to a breakfast taken early in the morning, or immediately on getting up. I guess most people don’t eat breakfast right away. I’m always hungry when I wake up, but I start with coffee.

Our national holidays today are a little all over the place. First is National Bow Day. This refers to bows on clothing and in one’s hair. Men wore bow ties in the 18th century and, as fashion trends changed, women began wearing them to accessorize. Next we have National Aviation Day which was started in 1939 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He designated the anniversary of Orville Wright’s birthday as this holiday. Finally, we have National Soft Ice Cream Day. Soft serve ice cream has been popular since the 1930s. It contains less milk fat than hard ice cream and isn’t kept as cold as hard ice cream.

Sounds like a lot of fun things to celebrate today. If nothing else, get yourself some ice cream and throw some bows in your hair. And if you want to wear a bow tie, please get a real one and not a clip on. We need to make bow ties popular again.

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Wacky Wednesday: August 12

Today is an unusual day for Wacky Wednesday. I say this because the words and holidays are unusual. Our first word is Gabelle. A noun referring to an unpopular tax on salt in France. It began in the mid-14th century lasting until 1790 in the midst of the French Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte reinstated this tax in 1806. It was terminated then reinstated again and finally abolished in 1945. Salt was used for cooking, preserving food, making cheese, and raising livestock making the salt tax the most hated tax in France.

Our next word is Halfpace. This noun has a few meanings. It can be another name for footpace. It can be a small stage on which something stands; like a throne or an altar. It can also be a landing at the top of a flight of stairs before the stairs turn and ascend in the opposite direction. With the stairs definition, one can think of it as a floor between floors.

For our holidays this week, we only have one that’s related to food. Today is National Julienne Fries Day. Julienne Fries are sometimes called shoestring fries and they refer to a specific type of cut for the skinny sliced potatoes. The look like matchsticks. This was also a method for cutting different vegetables for soups. Today is also National Vinyl Record Day, National Middle Child Day, and Congressional Startup Day (changes annually). Startup Day celebrates small business startups and helps entrepreneurs connect with their lawmakers. So, are you a middle child? Do you still have vinyl records? Today is the day to buy more.