Comments for The Etyman™ Language Blog

Comment on irruption /ɪˈrʌpʃən/ by meghnabalakumar

meghnabalakumar — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 11:37:17 +0000

If only there were still guitar soloists out there today! Eruption is definitely at the top of my favorites, let’s hope we find some new prodigies soon who know how to rock! My blog piece on the death of the guitar soloist may interest you!
http://livingonthebside.wordpress.com/

Comment on “A” is for “aalii” by sparksmcgee

sparksmcgee — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:57:22 +0000

No, he swaps Sting for a vial of nano-bots that install an iTunes apps and a wi-fi connections to the brain.

Comment on “A” is for “aalii” by Etyman

Etyman — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:41:53 +0000

I love the imagery! Perhaps there’s still time to get Peter Jackson to change the next installment of “The Hobbit” to show Smaug sitting atop piles and piles of books instead of treasure! We then get Bilbo to swap “Sting” for a fountain pen and we have a political statement!

Comment on “A” is for “aalii” by sparksmcgee

sparksmcgee — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:44:44 +0000

Good gracious, are there still bookstores? I thought Amazon had bought up all the books and was hoarding them in an enormous warehouse in a great pile, sitting on them like Sauron.

Comment on “A” is for “aalii” by Etyman

Etyman — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:47:51 +0000

Well, the good news is that in the town where I live there is something called a “bookstore.” It’s a large building where you’ll find shelves of real books – you know, made of paper… have covers… you hold them and turn the pages… – and so she went there and asked the owner to get them. Problem solved! Once they arrived, she picked them up (they came on boxes of four, I think) and covered them in gift wrap and hid them in the house – although I can’t for the life in me how she managed to do that!

One of the nice things about buying from the local bookstore – apart from the fact that David is good friend with whom I go drinking regularly – is that if there’s a problem, you don’t have to ship stuff back to Amazon, or wherever you may have bought it online. One of the dictionaries had a printing error (blank pages!) and he simply took it from me and gave me a new one a week later. No shipping costs.

So if you really want to splash out, using a local bookstore is a good way to do it. Incidentally, David also came to the surprise 50th birthday party, too. A good bookstore owner is a friend indeed!

Comment on “A” is for “aalii” by sparksmcgee

sparksmcgee — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:09:09 +0000

Um…where did your wife get that? I’ve been trying to track down the full set for purchase…

Comment on tatterdemalion /ˈtætədɪˌmælɪən/ by Lyn

Lyn — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 17:16:03 +0000

Thanks for the explanation! I’m reading a fantasy book called Going Under by Justina Robson, and she mentions Tatterdemalion as a character. I knew I’d heard the term before, many years ago, but couldn’t remember it’s meaning. I notice that Google describes the Marvel comic character, but this book has her as female with ‘tricky’ powers. I’ll have to read on to find out more…

Comment on troll /trəʊl/ or /trɒl/ by IKEA video & Textile Memories « Totally donebyme

IKEA video & Textile Memories « Totally donebyme — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 16:02:02 +0000

[...] We would go to Rags & Riches to buy little bits of cloth & felt to make clothes for our troll dolls. We would go in with just a few cents each and ask the lady how much fabric we could buy [...]

Comment on guy /gaɪ/ by Etyman

Etyman — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 04:15:14 +0000

That’s a new meaning to me! Thanks for sharing it

Comment on guy /gaɪ/ by wrantandwrave

wrantandwrave — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 01:02:37 +0000

I was 7 years old and was a member of a stamp club in the SF Bay Area. I yelled at the fellow kids “Hey you guys!” Mr. Cooper, who ran the group, a man in the 60′s already in his 90′s turned and pointed his finger at me, which was unheard of at that time. It was then I learned the meaning of this word as it was used during his lifetime: It meant “horse thief.” Just thought I would share that with you! —B from WAW