November 23, 2008
Sounds & Vocabulary
I've just spent the better part of 2 hours listening to dialects spoken in the International Dialects for English Archive. Funny how various accents instantly conjure people and places. Texas One for example, recalls my 4th grade teacher, whereas England 62 recalls a long forgotten friend I made many summers ago in England. Anyway it's an interesting archive, if an incomplete one. The Louisiana page houses only 4 samples whereas it should rightfully hold scores.
More dialect links.
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Unrelated.
Here are a few words I've learned recently. I love them already. What do you love?
barlafumble - a call for a truce by one who has fallen in fighting or play; a request for a time out.
ephemerist - one who studies the daily motions and positions of the planets.
zenzizenzizzenzic - the eighth power of a number.
xenodochium - A house for the reception of strangers. In the Middle Ages, a room in a monastery for the reception and entertainment of strangers and pilgrims, and for the relief of paupers.
to this site
11/23/08 09:40 PM
Charmaine said...
Have you seen the PBS program, 'Do you speak American?' It's pretty interesting which focuses on the different accents and the way people in America speak.
11/29/08 07:52 PM
Milena said...
Xenodochium sure conjures up images of coziness is all I'm saying. ;-)
Wow, I've got so many Raul that I don't even know where to start.
How about these for appetizers?
Grimoire - a manual of black magic (for invoking spirits and demons)
Frangipani - a perfume prepared from or imitating the odor of the flower of a tropical American tree or shrub, Plumeria rubra, of the dogbane family.
Apoplectic - of or pertaining to apoplexy.
Termagant - a violent, turbulent, or brawling woman.
Syzygy - an alignment of three celestial objects, as the sun, the earth, and either the moon or a planet.
And then, not that I'm trying to trump your zenzizenzizzenzic or anything, I've got a new tongue twisting and headache inducing favorite. It might help if you know some Gaelic by the way.
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch
You may Google it to find out what it means.
12/05/08 07:46 PM
Anonymous said...
Raul Andres - (before showing me his impressive book of photography) shared a new word with me (his creation) - I forget the name - but the meaning was when a certain part of your brain hurts and then turns red. Ask him.
12/05/08 11:36 PM
raul said...
Hey there k! Apparently raul andres was somewhat taken by you. He's normally pretty slow to cool so this is an impressive feat. I hear you liked the picture of me asleep. He's been shooting lots of pictures of me sleeping lately. I've created a monster!