It was on this date in 1758 that Noah Webster was born. In his honor, I thought I would change my blog up a bit…have a little fun, perhaps even become a bit of a "slangwhanger" (obnoxious writer).
I love the English language. It is full of interesting words! Take the word "like" as an example. What would you say if your child asked, "Mom & Dad, did you like Kiss when you were a teenagers?" Of course the answer would have to be something to the effect of, "Well, yeah, like duh, didn't everyone?" Certainly you were thinking of the act of kissing and not the band until they asked what your favorite song was, right?
Some of the most common words really do not seem to make sense. How can you logically explain to someone unfamiliar with our language the word "butterfly"? The insects don't necessarily have anything to do with the food; nor does the food have much in common with the insect! And why is it that we say we have butterflies in our stomach? Talk about freaking a person out! "Collywobbles" is the technical term there, by the way.
A couple other questions I have: Why is the word abbreviation so long? How come the word "thing" can be used so many different ways? Really, who thought of that? Do you think that person was just at their wits end trying to recall what the object was or what they were doing?
I could go on with more common English craziness, talking about words like quean and queen. Seriously? Who came up with two words spelled so closely and pronounced the same, yet represent two very different types of people? (quean - prostitute or disreputable woman; queen - the wife or widow of a king)
Back in my day, we used to watch Elmer Fudd on television. He was always out hunting those wascally wrabbits. But are you aware that after a long night with your good ol' "goombah" (old friend who protects you), you may come home "wrabbit"? The word means exhausted, tired, worn out.
I'm sure that you can think of a plethora of words that exhibit the follies of the English language. As for me? I think I will simply say good night to you all. I will dream of life as a "yahoo" (country bumpkin) and write more in my "gonzo" (far out journal) another day.
Happy birthday, Mr. Webster!
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