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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I am becoming worried about the increasing number of words I am coming across, that I am completely unaware of and have no idea of their definition … I had always assumed that I was reasonably intelligent, but now I am beginning to wonder!
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1. My first word this week, I came across in a news article on the BBC. One of our most ‘marmite’ (you either love him, or you hate him) news broadcasters, Jeremy Paxman, has recently appeared sporting a brand new beard, which it seems he is thinking of keeping, causing outrage amongst the viewers and on the social media networks, for some unknown reason!… Looking at my ‘pogono’ list, I never knew that this whole beard scenario was so complicated!!
POGONOPHOBIC
Pogonophobia … Why are some people hostile to beards in the workplace?
POGONOPHOBIA …
Pogonophobia is the fear of beards. The origin of the word pogono is Greek (meaning beard) and phobia is Greek (meaning fear).
BANGORRHEAThe overuse of exclamation points.
Urban Dictionary goes a step further by calling bangorrhea a “grammedical” condition.
Looking forward to checking out all your great new words. (Ooops, nearly gave in to the urge for the dreaded exclamation point again, everything looks kind of naked without it)
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There are so many words in the English language Yvonne, that’s why I like this meme, bloggers like yourself showcase words I don’t think I’d hear of otherwise. So thank you! I do think I’m guilty of bangorrhea. I tend to use exclamation points a lot.
lol about Pogonophobia!
Hi Naida,
I must admit that some of the words I come across, do make me wonder …. exactly why we need such a complicated way of describing something that is really quite mundane and uninteresting … and just who sits and thinks up all these new words and expressions.
Matching an everyday expression, word, event or action; with a lengthy, many syllabled, and sometimes almost unpronounceable single word; must take a certain type of person .. don’t you think!
Certainly someone unlike myself, who definitely has a bad case of ‘bangorrhea’!
Thanks for stopping by, I’m glad this post gave you cause to smile.
I was wondering why Jeremy Paxman was sporting a beard, but only because he doesn’t usually have one!
Hi Nikki,
I must admit that I am not a great ‘Paxman’ fan, although his style of interrogation (I mean interviewing) is what all interviewers should aspire to. It is joyful to watch some of the politicians and other interviewees squirm, like the proverbial bait on the end of the fishing line, when he gets started.
I haven’t seen his new beard yet, however I have noticed that several of the Channel 4 regular news correspondents, seem to suddenly be actively taking an interest in pognotrophy!
Thanks for stopping by, I hope that you are enjoying this sudden burst of Summer sunshine.
Ah dear Jeremy Paxman and ‘that’ beard. Why all the furore?
Guilty of Bangorrhea myself, I’m far too fond of commas.
Great post as always, like you I find myself increasingly having to look up words. Still, it could be worse …. I could be discovering all these new words and finding myself uninterested as to their meaning.
Hi Tracy,
I don’t think I shall ever stop looking words up, even if I don’t always remember the definitions and sometimes end up by checking out the same word again in future books! Even though I can make an educated guess at some definitions, I hate reading a word and not knowing what it means.
I am all too eager in the use of exclamation marks and, if it comes to that, commas. To me an exclamation mark, is used purely to emphasise a point and is for me, an alternative to a full stop. Apparently though, I am only using exclamation marks to laugh at my own comments, which is not good. Maybe I need a few more grammar lesssons, along with all those 16 year olds, who will now have to study English until they are 18, if they don’t come up to scratch.
Thanks for the interesting comments, I appreciate your input to the discussion.
Your words are all new to me as is marmite, so I’m glad you defined it. I find pogono fascinating and can’t imagine why people fear beards. I’m rather indifferent towards them.
Hi Kathy,
I am not a huge fan of facial hair, I have to admit. When I first met my husband, he was serving in The Royal Air Force and sported a moustache. I was most surprised and dare I say pleased, when I arrived at the alter and a cleanshaven serviceman in full military uniform was there to meet me. The moustache never returned, thank goodness!
Marmite is a spread, very much the same as the Australian Vegemite, which we used to buy in the US when we visited. The British version of the product is a sticky, dark brown, yeast extract based food paste, with a distinctive, powerful flavour, which is extremely salty. This distinctive taste is reflected in the British company’s marketing slogan: “Love it or hate it.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miOMcls_qPI
The ‘love it or hate it’ analogy, is used as part of everyday speech these days.
Me, I love it!!
Interesting new words , glad that you shared them.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/09/wondrous-words-wednesday.html
Hi Mary Ann.
Sometimes, writing down the definition of a new to me word, will help it stick in the old memory bank for a little longer than simply reading it and moving on to the next word … but only sometimes … which makes this great meme all the more important and fun!
I have always been interested in words and vocabulary and if I get the chance, nothing is more relaxing than sitting down with a nice mug of coffee and doing a crossword puzzle, so long as it isn’t the cryptic variety, which I don’t enjoy and which totally escape my cognitive skills and rationale.
Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your visit.
I love these Yvonne! I actually knew pogonophobia only because an ex boyfriend of many years ago once grew a beard and I didn’t like it and found out the word! I love bangorrhea and am probably guilty of it sometimes.
Here’s mine. http://thelittlereaderlibrary.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/wondrous-words-wednesday-1.html
Have a good week!
Hi Lindsay,
I just couldn’t believe all the derivitives of the word Pogono and the thought of someone compiling and writing a treatise on the subject is really off the wall, isn’t it?
I definitely suffer from bangorrhea, although I certainly don’t use it in an attempt to laugh at my own jokes, so to speak. For me it is solely used to emphasise a point, which I don’t consider would be stressed enough by simply using a full stop. I will try to curb my enthusiasm for the humble exclamation mark, in future, but I can’t make any promises!!!
I discovered a great article on the use, or non-use of the excalamtion mark and this single sentence stood out from all the others …
http://www.kowal.com/?q=When-Should-You-Use-An-Exclamation-Point
So stop exclaiming!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you really want to be a bangorrheic?
No one calls me a banghorrheic and gets away with it.
Have a great week Lindsay and thanks for stopping by, I always appreciate your comments.
Great post. I think looking up words is a sign of intelligence and enduring curiosity, rather than indicating anything else. What great words you found this week. I only knew excoriated. I do love your other two words, how fabulous. So many pogono words- so tempting to use an exclamation mark there. I have mild bangorrhea I think, I tend to use a single mark at times, rarely a string of them. But did resist all temptation today…. Wonder if there’s a word for overuse of full stops….
Hi Louise,
Anyone that even comes close to calling me intelligent, can certainly call again, although I love the phrase ‘enduring curiosity’ even more.
I was so tempted to include a couple of exclamation marks in that last sentence, it just looks so ‘naked’ without it somehow. There is just no emphasis or visible stressing of any of the more notable comments … oh well!
I couldn’t come up with any reference to the overuse of full stops, however it does seem that authors are using them more freely and making much shorter, more punchy sentences, these days. That kind of works for me, although I do find myself taking many more breaths when reading, than I otherwise might have.
Thanks for such an interesting comment, it is good to have you visit.
Great words! The only one I’d heard before was excoriated. I have a beard, so now I have a word to use if someone is wary of my facial hair. I think there are a number of times that I have been guilty of using too many exclamation marks. Bangorrhea is an awesome sounding word, though. Here is my first Wondrous Words Wednesday post.
Hi William,
Thank you for deciding to stop by Fiction Books this week. I love ‘meeting’ new people, so your visits will always be welcome and your comments always appreciated.
I don’t take part in WWW every week, however it is such a great forum for airing all those newly discovered words. It has actually become quite a challenge for me, as I try to unearth as many words as possible, published by my fellow meme participants, that I already know. Great when it works, but a little disillusioning and depressing, on the occasions when I can’t find a single one!
I just can’t avoid the dreaded exclamation marks entirely, text just doesn’t look or ‘sound’ right without them.
Welcome to WWW
Sometimes, I search for a larger, more complicated word, just to change the flow and cadence of the sentence. Changing the vocabulary makes the reading richer and less mundane. Reading your blog, and having a medical background, I immediately thought that I should incorporate the word ‘excoriate’ into my current work! (Evidence of my bangorhhea, obviously.)
Here in the US, high school students take a test, called the S.A.T.’s (Standard Aptitude Test) in which one-third is a vocabulary section (in my day, it was one-half). We spent years in “SAT prep” classes, learning words that one very rarely uses in everyday conversation. All your words could definitely be considered SAT words. Being many years removed from taking my SAT’s, I now feel pride (or actually hubris) when I can remember and implement my SAT words.
Hi Kathryn,
Thank you for choosing to visit Fiction Books this week. I love ‘meeting’ new people, so your visits will always be welcome and your comments always appreciated.
Here, in the UK, SAT’s are Standard Assessment Tests and are taken by every child, at the ages of 7 and 11. At Key Stage 1 (aged seven), a child will be assessed by their teacher (known as the teacher assessment) on speaking and listening, reading and writing, maths, and science. At Key Stage 2 (aged eleven), teacher assessment will cover English and maths. A child will also sit in exam conditions to take written tests in reading, writing (including handwriting), spelling, maths, mental arithmetic, and science.
I guess that vocabulary is loosly covered in the reading and spelling tasks, however when I was at school, many years ago, reading , spelling and vocabulary were tested on an almost monthly basis, with each child being given a ‘reading age’ appropriate to their abilities. Fortunately for me, this is one area of my education in which I excelled and which I thoroughly enjoyed, although I have to admit that it was at the expense of both maths and science, which suffered accordingly.
There is one school of thought, which advocates that language, both written and oral, should be kept as basic and simple as possible (we even have a group called the Plain English Campaign); whilst I, like yourself, do tend to intersperse both my conversation and writing, with longer words whenever possible, not to show off, but simply to accentuate or highlight an idea or concept in slightly more descriptive terms.
Apparently, women are much more likely to suffer from bangorrhea than men, using exclamation marks four times as often!!
Have a great weekend.