Yvonne
… Is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we have encountered in our reading.
It is hosted by Kathy, over at BermudaOnion’s Weblog.
You can either stop by and leave a link to your own ‘mystery’ words of the week, or just browse the eclectic mix of words that others have discovered, there is always a great selection.
Don’t forget that Kathy and the rest of us, all love to read your comments as well, so that we can visit and share your words of the week!
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My first word this week, comes from an excellent debut novel, a copy of which was sent to me by the author, for review. ‘Primal’ by D.A. Serra, definitely lived up to all my expectations as a gritty thriller … Great stuff!
IDIOPATHIC
Doctor Hartman called it idiopathic – but she told her dad (privately) that Doctor Hartman was the idiot because it was obvious she was allergic to burying her mother.
I totally agree with her in this instance, I wouldn’t take too kindly to telling me I had an idiopathic illness, I would take it as a complete insult!!
IDIOPATHIC …
Of, relating to, or designating a disease having no known cause.
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Each morning, I log onto ‘JigZone’, an online jigsaw site, where daily at 6am, UK time, a new mini jigsaw puzzle of the day is uploaded. On average they only take 5-10 minutes to complete and are a great way to wake up the old brain cells! This picture and word certainly had me thinking! 6am is a little too early for all the brain cells to be up and running!
DIMORPHISM
The Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus roratus) is a parrot native to the East Asia. It is unusual in the parrot family for its extreme sexual dimorphism of the colours of the plumage; the male having a mostly bright emerald green plumage and the female a mostly bright red and purple/blue plumage.
DIMORPHISM …
The occurrence of two forms distinct in structure, coloration, etc., among animals of the same species.
The occurrence of two different forms of flowers, leaves, etc., on the same plant or on different plants of the same species.
The property of some substances of crystallizing in two chemically identical but crystallographically distinct forms.
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My next word I came across when participating in the regular ‘Mailbox Monday’ meme. I stopped over to visit the lovely Naida at ‘The Bookworm’. A print copy of the book ‘Crocheted Amigurumi’ had been sent to her, in return for an honest review and I could just tell that she was itching to find crochet hook and wool, to get started on one project or another. Me … I was just itching to get to the dictionary to find out what amigurumi is …!
AMIGURUMI
Crocheted Amigurumi by author Amy Palmer
AMIGURUMI …
Amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll. Amigurumi are typically animals, but can include artistic renderings or inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features (suggesting human characteristics for animals or inanimate things), as is typical in Japanese culture.
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I think I shall leave this post at just the three words this week … It is past 11pm Tuesday, here in the UK and I run the risk that anything else I might try to write now, will be complete and utter gobbledygook! Looking forward to checking out all your great new words.
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I love that you found words in so many different places! I’ve seen people talk about amigurumi before and had an idea of what it meant but I’ve never looked it up. I’m glad to know it’s actual meaning now. Dimorphism is an interesting word too – I’ll try to remember it but doubt I’ll have the opportunity to use it in a conversation.
Hi Kathy,
Although I quite often come across ‘new to me words’ in so many different places, I seldom think to stop where I am to look them up and then remember where I first saw them, to include them in my WWW posts. So now, I have taken to jotting down the words and where I first saw them, on small ‘post-it notes’ as a reminder, but … you guessed it … I have piles of ‘post-it’s’ all over the desk, alongside all my other lists!
I may not take part in WWW every week, but this is an excellent meme and thanks for hosting.
Amigurumi is the only word I haven’t heard before. Something I’m quite surprised about as quite a few of my fellow bloggers are creative types. Thanks for some more great words Yvonne, I always enjoy your selection and as I think I’ve mentioned before try to use them in as many sentences as I can that day.
Hi Tracy,
I am not sure exactly when I could slip ‘Idiopathic’ into a sentence, at least not without getting some real stick from the recipient if they didn’t happen to know what it meant! … so good luck with that one!!
The same goes for ‘Amigurumi’. If there hadn’t been pictures on the front cover of the book, I’m not really sure what I would have thought it was about!! My mother-in-law has knitted this type of character for her grandchildren when they were young, so I shall have to run the word past her and see what kind of response I get! It would be interesting to know what your creative friends make of it!
Thanks for taking the time to check out today’s word selection, I am only sorry that you didn’t find them a little more challenging.
I’ve heard of the first two previously, but not “Amigurumi”. Interesting!
Hi Nikki,
I definitely haven’t come across ‘Idiopathic’ before and I would feel quite insulted if a doctor even suggested that I had such an illness! There must be a slightly more sympathetic word or phrase to describe an illness with no known cause, that would make the patient feel a bit more at ease!
‘Amigurumi’ completely flummoxed me, when I came across the book on Naida’s site. The Wikipedia article was actually really interesting, although some of the images of completed characters on Google, were pretty spooky.
I shan’t be turning my hand to making anything like it anytime soon, as it isn’t legal for us to sell any knitted toys in the charity shop where I volunteer, unless they have a certifiable CE label and you have to jump through hoops to get this!
Thanks for the visit, it is good to have you on-line more often, I always enjoy chatting with you.
All new and interesting words, thanks for sharing.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/08/wondrous-words-wednesday_14.html
Hi Mary Ann,
It’s funny, I always thought that I was reasonably intelligent, however I seem to come across so many new to me words, that I am seriously doubting either the quality of my education, or my assimilation and learning abilities!
I did think that all three of my words this week, were quite interesting, however I guess the one which I would probably use the most, would be ‘Dimorphism’. Most birds seem to have Dimorphism in varying degrees, with the male birds generally the prettiest and most colourful and the female usually much plainer in appearance and colour. We have quite an array of birds resident in our garden and have often commented on the phenomenon, without knowing the correct terminology to describe it … now I know!
Thanks for stopping by, I always appreciate your comments.
Great words Yvonne. I hadn’t heard of idiopathic illnesses before. And your JigZone puzzles sound like a nice activity.
Ha! Glad my post inspired you to use “amigurumi” as one of your words this week! Aren’t they cute? There is something whimsical about those little stuffed animals. They are fun to make, and like you say, I am itching to get my hook and yarn out 🙂
Hi Naida,
Jigsaw Puzzles are one of my other hobbies and something I have enjoyed doing since I was a youngster. I find them very therapeutic, if addictive, although my husband does have a valid argument when he asks what the point of it all is, as you make the jigsaw then break it up just as soon as it is finished. The online ‘JigZone’ puzzles can become quite addictive also, especially as there is a winners board to discover who can complete the ‘puzzle of the day’ challenge in the fastest time. I have never achieved the ‘fastest’ time slot, although I do always aim to achieve a time better than the ‘average’ rating … not always so easy at 6am I can assure you!
You post about the amigurumi pattern book was a great inspiration for a word that I could never have dreamed up, let alone thought was a genuine word. The little characters aren’t probably a project that I shall ever tackle, as I dont really have a use for them, however I shall look forward to watching them appear in your posts from time to time!
Thanks for stopping by, interesting comments, as always.
I knew idiopathic from my days as a physical therapist, but I really love the play on words the author used in the snipped you shared from “Primal.” Funny and clever. Thanks for enlightening me on the other two words!
Hi Julia,
I too, think that the use of idiopathic in this particular sentence and context, was indeed very clever and would well mirror my own thoughts, if a doctor were to say it to me, as I find it a very patronising and insulting word.
I am not saying that there aren’t illnesses out there, which have no known cause, but there must be a more pleasant and generic word to describe them, rather than one which must make the patient feel like a complete idiot!!
I trust that in your role as a physiotherapist, you didn’t have to tell too many patients that their symptoms were idiopathic?
This word has evoked a conversation that would make a good dinner discussion, thanks for taking part.
Tricky words this week!
Not sure I will ever need them in a sentence…but handy to know next time I come across them in a book 🙂
Hi Brona,
There are several words I have come across over the weeks I have been participating in the meme, that whilst good to know, I am not sure that I will ever remember into the future and certainly would have no use of on a daily basis.
Having said that, the authors who use them in the first place manage to phrase the words into sentences, so perhaps I am just a little more culturally and conversationally challenged then they are!!
Interesting comment, thanks for taking the time to stop by.
I didn’t know dimorphism but did know the others.
Thanks for the link to JigZone, I love brain puzzles!!
Hi Vicki,
You are the first person to comment this week, who knows of ‘Amigurumi’, even some of the avid craft fanatics hadn’t come across this one before.
JigZone is really quite an addictive site and also very competitive, if like me, you set yourself the challenge of always beating the average solve time.
I don’t often get the chance to change the shape and quantity of the pieces, however I can imagine that there is some great fun to be had, with all the various permutations for each jigsaw.
The site will never take the place of my ‘real’ jigsaws, but as a game, it is completely addictive!!
Thanks for taking the time to check out the post so thoroughly and ‘happy puzzling’
Lovely words you have there this week (well probably last week now) Yvonne. I knew the first two, but not amigurumi- it’s quite the mouthful. Idiopathic isn’t insulting, nor meant to be insulting, the base isn’t referring to idiots- it’s more akin to idiosyncratic.
Hi Louise,
I realise that idiopathic isn’t probably meant to be insulting, but for me, it’s all in the perception. If I was feeling very sick, or in great pain, the last thing I would want ot be told, was that I had an idiopathic illness.
I do agree with you that amigurumi is quite a mouthful to say and is one heck of a big word, for what amounts to a crocheted or knitted toy. Some of the ‘google’ images are quite spooky and they are really not my thing at all. I did chuckle at a news story, here on the BBC earlier in the week, where woman from Leicester has used ‘crochetdermy’ to transform her shop … this is ‘amigurumi gone large’!!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-23696994
Thanks for stopping by, great to speak to you again.