Tag: wacky words

Posted on

Wacky Wednesday: March 3

Welcome to the first Wacky Wednesday of March. It’s a pandemic in March…again. We are on our second to last post about old English insults. I think you’ll enjoy these. First, we have Wandought. Wandoughty is an old word for impotence and wandought refers to a weak and ineffectual man. There are many of those in the world. Next, we have Whiffle-Waffle. This refers to an indecisive, time-wasting ditherer. There are many of those kinds of people too. You could even call someone who posts random nonsense, like words and holidays, a whiffle-waffle.

There are several holidays to celebrate today. For our token food and drink holidays, we have National Cold Cuts Day and National Mulled Wine Day. Cold cuts go by many names including deli meats, sandwich meats, and lunch meats. Mulled wine is usually made with heated red wine with various spices and fruits. Though not intended to celebrate a food, today is also National Soup it Forward Day. Learn more about this holiday that started a few years ago by the Soup Sisters. To sum it up, spread love and kindness with a bowl of soup.

Today we also celebrate National Anthem Day. March 3, 1931 is the day the “Star Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key became the National Anthem of the United States. And finally, today we also celebrate National I Want You to Be Happy Day. It’s a simple as it sounds. Help spread joy and happiness in others. Try to see the happiness from the other person’s perspective. Genuine happiness requires effort. Sometimes everyone needs a little help or a boost to keep that happiness going. So, help out a stranger or a friend and spread some happiness.

Posted on

Wacky Wednesday: February 24

The final Wacky Wednesday of February is a little light. There isn’t much wackiness today. To continue our trek into the world of old English insults, we have Tallowcatch. Another of Shakespeare’s inventions directed at the gross, womanizing knight Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 1. It’s probably derived from “tallow ketch,” literally “a barrel of fat.” Our next word is Triptaker. This word refers to someone who is a finicky, fault-finding pedant, someone who nitpicks at every detail. You could say they have a problem for every solution.

For our wacky holidays this week, we have our token food holiday National Tortilla Chip Day. And that’s it. That’s the only holiday you need worry about today, and let’s be honest, you don’t need any other holidays because I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like tortilla chips. Tortilla chips came about in the 1940s when Rebecca Webb Carranza repurposed rejected tortillas from the automated line in her workplace. She would later receive the Golden Tortilla Award in 1994 for her exemplary contribution to the food industry. Try using the new insults you learned today while enjoying some tortilla chips in honor of Rebecca Webb Carranza. But maybe don’t insult people to their face or while chewing the chips.

Posted on

Wacky Wednesday: February 17

Welcome to the Wacky Wednesday following Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday). If you’re unfamiliar with Fat Tuesday, it’s always the day before Ash Wednesday. More about that a little later. First, we have our old English insults for the day. Stampcrab refers to a heavy-footed, clumsy person. Have you ever met someone who always bumped into or knocked over things? That’s a stampcrab. Our next word has more of an explanation. Stymphalist refers to someone who smells unpleasant. In Greek mythology, one of The Twelve Labors of Hercules was to destroy the Stymphalian birds, a flock of monstrous, man-eating birds with metal beaks and feathers, who produced a stinking and highly toxic guano. And that’s where the name comes from.

Today’s only token food holiday is National Cabbage Day. The cabbage family of greens includes Brussels sprout, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, kohlrabi, and kale. Cabbage helps create some of the best Celtic recipes. Consider some corned beef and cabbage in March. As a part of Random Acts of Kindness Week, today is National Random Acts of Kindness Day. To learn more about the week and the day, visit the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. Finally, we have Ash Wednesday. 46 days before Easter, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lenten season for Christians. The day begins a time of meditation, reflection, self-examination, study, and contemplation when Christian consider their own mortality and sinfulness in preparation for Easter.