WORDLE ETC

A Banned Word?

The Washington Post (WAPO) reports that the New York Times folks who now control WORDLE were worried about Monday's solution word. It may have sounded as though the game was joining in the current scrap over abortion rights, so they did a change in "real time" to a less controversial word.

The word in question was "fetus."

The Boston Globe's Mark James Pothier tweeted: "Apparently, fetus is a four-letter word to the #Wordle deciders."

I wonder if they would change words that are used by businesses in their ads?  Hint. Hint.

Row the BOOT.

When I awoke this morning, a word popped into my head.  "BOOT."  Why, I don't know.

I thought about opening WORDLE with "boots," but that has 2 o's, so, instead I used "bolts."  It didn't help me at all.

I kept thinking about "boot."  It's amazing to me how often it is used in English.

"boot" = a fitted covering for the foot that usually reaches above the ankle.

That reminds me:

When I was eleven years-old I was 5'7" tall if I stood upright. I never got taller.  However, if I wore boots, I could almost reach a respectable 5'10'.  I loved my black boots and wore similar ones for many years, except in Air Force "Boot" Camp.

 My drill Sargeant was from Dixie and hated our "flight" because we were all Yankees.  He was a mean cuss.

One day he pulled me aside and said: "Do you know why you're so short?"

"No, SIR!"

"Well, it's because some Rebel done beat the s... outta you!"

"Yes, SIR!"

He walked away from me in disgust, trying to look taller than his 5'3" height.

By the way, I was the only rookie that he did not physically hit.  I think he may have been scared of me.  I did think about using "the maneuver known only to the emperor" when he made a fellow rookie stand at attention for thirty minutes while bleach dripped upon his legs from a bag he was forced to hold.

Later, in Germany, one of my boots was home for our mascot, "Donald."

"boot" = an instrument of torture used to crush the leg and foot (Used a lot in The Inquisition.)

"boot" = British - an automobile trunk

"boot" = a kick with the foot

"boot" = summary dismissal - "gave him the boot."

"boot" = momentary pleasure - "got a boot out of that joke"

"Denver Boot" = get enough parking tickets and you will know what this means

"boot or reboot" - what you do to your computer after the power has been lost for a while

"booty" = plunder

"bootstraps" = pull yourself up by your bootstraps - refers to the ability of a person to lift themselves up by pulling on their boot laces

(My boots did not have those pesky laces.)

When I was a computer programmer, I used a "bootstrap tape" to call up a program from storage and get it working.

A "bootstrap" program is necessary in order to make computers work.

"Boots and her Buddies"  - a comic strip by Edgar Martin that ran from 1924 to 1968.   The strip triggered "the Boots Bob" haircut in 1926.  Boots paper dolls and coloring books proliferated over the years. I believe my cousin Winnie had some books  that she let me color.

One usage of the word "boot" goes back to the time of "horse-drawn" carriages when coachmen sat on a chest that stored their "boots."  This became known as the "boot locker." (I'll be darned if I know what that means. (Foot locker?)

I would look up "boot" in the OED if I had the inclination.  Just take my word that it's from Old Norse and Old French into Middle English.  

The word was used by Kate in "The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare.  "The door is open, sir, there lies your way; You may be jogging whiles your boots are green."

Other Usage:

Boots on the Ground

Die with one's boots on

You can bet your boots.

This boot's not made for walkin'.

ENOUGH! TMI!

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