Words

I love to learn new words, in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and even Hungarian.  I learn most of them from the crosswords that I love to do.  American crossword puzzles, for the most part, are straight-forward definition-based.  Spanish and French crossword puzzles are quite easy, American types. German puzzles are quite varied and fun to do.  British cryptic crossword puzzles bend your mind and, regardless of scientists saying that puzzles do not ward off Altzheimers, I think they are wrong when it comes to  cryptics.  Hungarian puzzles have me stumped.. because I am having a very hard time with the language.  It may take me a few years to be able to do even one of them.  We'll see.

When I can, I purchase German puzzles at an international delicatessen.  I purchased French and Spanish puzzles on the Internet. One of my programmers at the Social Security Administration brought me Italian puzzle books when she returned after a long Government assignment in Italy.  My Hungarian puzzles were brought to me by Elaine's daughter, Emily.  She and her family lived in Europe for a year.

I just purchased a Great Courses seminar called "words."  I'm looking forward to 24 30-minute lessons on word origins and usage.  This will be lots of fun for me.

I boxed up a couple hundred Enigma's and sent them to RON, a fellow member of the National Puzzlers League (NPL).  Enigma is the monthly puzzle magazine published by NPL. The copies I sent to RON are mostly pristine, because I do the puzzles on separate sheets of puzzles.

RON is a Nom.  Everyone in the NPL has a nom.  Mine is AHAB.  (you know, New Bedford and the whale thing.)

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"The Romans had a word for it."  Yes.. and here is a little of how they used words.

Marcus Aurelius:  "Do not forget: a man needs little to lead a happy life."

Ovid:  "Everywhere chance reigns, just cast out your line and where you least expect it, there waits a fish in the swirling water."

Terrance: "An easy task becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance."

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The word IRONIC is often misused.  The Readers Digest offered this information on irony.

"Strictly speaking, irony involves a reversal.  A traffic cop who has 13 unpaid traffic tickets is ironic because that is not expected.  Rain on a wedding day may be dampening and a tall man named Tallman might be coincidental... but it's properly ironic only if the rain falls on a sun festival or if Mr. Tallman is short."

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Interesting (at least to me) words and phrases as pseudonyms encountered in crossword puzzles:

Every Mother's Son ...  A 1967 NYC Rock Band extracted this phrase from A Midsummer Night's Dream and used it for their name.

OUIDA ... Pseudonym of English novelist Maria Louise de la Ramee. He wrote A Dog of Flanders.

ERTE ,,, Pseudonym of Romain de Tirtoff (1892-1990) Russian born French artist and designer.  He is known as the "father of art deco," and the "oriental ballet" designer.

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Here are a few mis-used words, as submitted to the Mensa Bulletin in September 1976.

Barnett Shaw:   assiduous Big in the hips.

Phil Beggs:   horary  A place for ladies of the evening.

Lawrence Perkins:  pismire  Swampy ground used as a latrine.
                                midrash  A skin rash over or near the belly.

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Here is some more inanity from 1976 Mensa:

"Tell a man that his son is a 'cheeky young pup' and he just grins."
"Tell a man that his son is an 'insolent son of a bitch,' and you have a fight on  your hands."

The British call women "birds".. so:

Call one your 'pigeon' or 'turtle dove,' and get a nice kiss.
Call one a 'crow' and get a nice slap.

Tell a woman she has a well-built chassis, and get that nice kiss.
Tell a woman she's built like the back of a bus, and get that well-deserved slap.

Likewise:

''Shapely filly' vs 'a bit horsey.'

'Pretty young heifer' vs 'a young cow.'

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Some Interesting Signs:

"Ears pierced while you wait."

"God helps those who help themselves."  vs  "God help those who help themselves."

"Road wet when it rains."

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Fellow Mensan, Richard Lederer, is a word expert and his articles are very well written.  I will try to steal some examples in the future for your enjoyment.

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