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Today I Learnt A New Word.....


Chrissy

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This is as simple as the title suggests. Just come in here and share any words you learn that are new to you. :)

Here's mine for today.

 

Calque :

In linguistics a calque or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word translation. Wikipedia gives the example; 'the comon English phrase "flea market" is a phrase calque that literally translates the French "marche aux puces".

 

Now all I need to do is to find a sentence into which I can use the word! :lol:

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Well since I'm reading Jane Eyre atm is supplies me with new words every few pages. ;) However, one I really had to look up was, pinafore. It's not just a word but an item of clothing that I had no idea what it was.

 

Wikipedia;

A pinafore (colloquially pinny in British English) is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron.

 

Aha. ;)

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Tesserae is mentioned in 'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins, I had a idea of what it meant because of how the word is used but I wanted to know the official meaning ~

 

One of the small squares of stone or glass used in making mosaic patterns.

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Well since I'm reading Jane Eyre atm is supplies me with new words every few pages. ;) However, one I really had to look up was, pinafore. It's not just a word but an item of clothing that I had no idea what it was.

 

Wikipedia;

 

 

Aha. ;)

 

A pinafore can also be a sleeveless dress, usually worn over a top off a t-shirt or shirt, I used to wear one at school. I have a feeling this is the way Jane wears it in Jane Eyre, she wears one as part of her school uniform doesn't she? Usually it's more meant to mean this now. The type of pinafore wiki talks about would usually be called an apron, the type that is sleeveless (rather than with string round the neck) and ties round the back. The discription wiki gives you makes it sound more like a tabard (which is similar but has a back and a front and is fastened at the sides)

 

 

 

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Back around the time of Jane Eyre, the pinafore would most likely have been the kind of tabbard/apron type worn over a regular dress as a school uniform. The pinafore dress didn't really come to the fore until later, I think. I used to wear them when I was a kid - often over jeans!

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  • 2 years later...

A bit like being in primary school this, but I had an e-mail from a customer this lunchtime thanking me for the celerity of my reply.

 

I initially thought he was taking the wee, but it turns out he was thanking me for my speedy response.

 

So my new word for the day is:

 

celerity n. (literary) swiftness.

 

Have you learned a new word today? If yes, share it here!

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I gave a sad little sigh when I read the thread title, and thought that I would not often get a chance to post in here. I'm currently watching 'Only Connect' and a new (to me) word has been thrown at my brain........MONDEGREEN! :D

 

It's meaning : a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung <“very close veins” is a mondegreen for “varicose veins”>

It's origin; from the mishearing in a Scottish ballad of “laid him on the green” as “Lady Mondegreen”

First Known Use: 1954

(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

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Chrissy, I was just thinking exactly the same thing! I'm not normally very good at the first two rounds on Only Connect (my speciality is the missing vowels round) but I got a few this week, including this connection, although I only knew it as misheard lyrics, and learnt the term mondegreen the same as you!

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Celerity is a new word to me too, Raven and mondegreen is something I excell at :D

 

My favourite mondegreen is one of my son's. He was convinced that Cat Stevens' 'I'm being followed by a moonshadow', was 'I'm being swallowed by a moonshadow'.

 

My favourite would be Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze - " 'cuse me while I kiss the sky" sounding like " 'cuse me while I kiss this guy".

 

One the news they were dicussing the new edition of the Collins dictionary, so my new word for today is Frenemy - a supposed friend who behaves in a treacherous manner.

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One the news they were dicussing the new edition of the Collins dictionary, so my new word for today is Frenemy - a supposed friend who behaves in a treacherous manner.

 

Ooh, I like that one! There's one of two people I know fit the bill fo that one!

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I learnt a new word from Little Dorrit today, 'parsimony'. Apparently it means 'extreme unwillingness to spend money or use resources' (Concise Oxford English Dictionary).

 

The mondegreen examples made me laugh. When I was little there was a song (I'm not sure what it is now) that had the words 'there's a rat in the kitchen, what am I gonna do, I'm gonna get that rat, that's what I'm gonna do'. And I genuinely thought for years that it was 'I'm gonna get that rat and flush him down the loo' :doh:

But then I asked my Mom why he was going to flush a rat down the toilet and (once she'd finished laughing), the song became much clearer :D

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Today I learned Diglossia - in sociolinguistics, when you grow up speaking one language at home for instance, and another language at school or with friends etc. You switch language depending on the situation.

My mom grew up like this. Meänkieli at home, Swedish at school/friends.

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Celerity is a new word to me too, Raven and mondegreen is something I excell at :D

 

My favourite mondegreen is one of my son's. He was convinced that Cat Stevens' 'I'm being followed by a moonshadow', was 'I'm being swallowed by a moonshadow'.

 

:D My ex used to think Stevens sings 'moonshine, oh moonshine, oh!' :lol:

 

It was only a couple of years ago that I learned that the Aerosmith song goes 'Dude looks like a lady', I always thought it went 'doodles like a lady'.

 

Edit: No new words for me today, at least so far.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm off work at the moment and I went in today to hand in my sick line and I found out that since I started working there, I have been teaching people new words (without realising), the main one (apparently) is ~

 

Pedantic ~ 1. ostentatious in one's learning. 2. overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching.

 

:)

Edited by Weave
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  • 4 months later...

I haven't seen the last film (nor the one before that, yet XD), do you mean that you didn't like it? I thought the first three were okay but not brilliant (I'm not a big fan of the books (borrowed them from my sister), though I did like them). I liked book one and four the most, so maybe the last two films were better than two and three.

 

Sorry if this was off-topic :blush:. I have to say, this topic is a great idea! I don't think I learn a lot of new words these days, though if it counts, yesterday I learned that it's "computation time" and not "computational time". I looked this up for my brother who's writing a report.

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Well since I'm reading Jane Eyre atm is supplies me with new words every few pages. ;) However, one I really had to look up was, pinafore. It's not just a word but an item of clothing that I had no idea what it was.

 

Wikipedia;

 

 

Aha. ;)

Yes my mum used to say put a pinny on , when in the kitchen. :giggle2:

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My student told me she was a hotmess today, I did not know the meaning of the word so looked it up on urban dictionary:

 

HOTMESS: you have gone above and beyond being a mess. You attract attention to yourself in such a displeasing way, people can't help but
to clown the shhhhhhh out of you.

 

or:

A pretty, intelligent girl who works hard and plays hard. Don't let her looks fool you, she can drink you under the table! Her infectious kindergarden smile is hard to escape.

 

or:

A person who makes a stellar leader...can be a disaster 24/7 but pull off any task given to them. Makes things ten times harder than they need to be but handles business. Can laugh off and make look good falling down a flight of stairs, rear ending people regularly and over all making a fool of themselves.
 
I'm none the wiser - I'm not sure which meaning she meant.
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  • 2 weeks later...

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