WHAT'S THE WORD?

THE NEFF ZONE -- BY JIM NEFF

CADILLAC NEWS -- DECEMBER 7, 2024

Words matter. Knowing fun word facts can help you entertain the throng at any holiday get-together. Sometimes, such knowledge can even cause the crowd to cachinnate (laugh loudly). 

 

Such may be the case in the game of Scrabble. “Strategists have a word with an astronomically high point total in excess of 1,700. Note that this word is fifteen letters long, so it not only necessitates drawing the right tiles, but also requires several perfectly placed words to be already on the board.”  

 

The word is oxyphenbutazone, an anti-inflammatory drug. How to play this word requires quite a few special circumstances. Those (somewhat convoluted) instructions are at: https://wordsmarts.com/scrabble-score/. 

 

Losing a board game could cause some people to curse. If so, using vintage terms might be an option. “Old-fashioned curse words may have been considered on the verge of profanity at one point in time, but today they sound almost quaint.”

 

If you lose, use “consarn it” to indicate your annoyance. Or perhaps a “gadzooks” would express your surprise. And if someone insults you, give them a hearty retort with a “zooterkins.” (https://wordsmarts.com/cursing-sign-intelligence/)

 

Considering vintage words, some words have been forgotten but deserve to be brought back into common use. A good candidate is the word respair. “Working as a diametrically opposed concept to despair, the word respair expresses renewed hope or reprieve after a period of distress.”

 

Terms in this category include: gigglemug (an individual with an infectious or constant smile), whooperup (someone who engages in joyous partying), and pang-wangle (an individual who remains upbeat and succeeds in coming out victoriously from an unpleasant or tricky situation).” More at: https://www.dictionaryscoop.com/article/Would-you-bring-back-to-everyday-use-any-of-these-12-forgotten-words. 

 

Then there are words that we use incorrectly. WordTrivia.com notes: Many of us use language every day without giving much thought to whether we’re using words correctly. However, some commonly used words are often misused or misunderstood, leading to confusion or miscommunication.” 

 

For instance, when it comes to reading this column are you disinterested or uninterested? “Disinterested means impartial or unbiased, while uninterested means lacking interest or concern. If you want to convey that someone is neutral in a situation, use disinterested. If you mean that someone simply does not care, then uninterested is the right choice.” Nine more of these at: https://www.wordstrivia.com/definitions/10-common-words-youre-probably-using-wrong-and-how-to-fix-it.

 

WordSmarts.com weighs in on this topic with a discussion about the dreaded double negative. “A double negative is any statement with two negative words. A person might say, for example, 'I didn’t see nobody.' The two negatives are did not and nobody. The problem is that double negatives result in the opposite meaning. 'I didn’t see anybody' would be clearer. Two negatives cancel each other out and turn the statement into a positive. Combining 'didn’t' and 'nobody' flips the meaning to imply the speaker did see somebody, which wasn’t the goal of the statement.” (https://wordsmarts.com/double-negative/)

 

Some simple words have confusing usages. What's the difference between supper and dinner? “Supper is defined by Oxford English Dictionary as the last meal of the day, while Merriam-Webster classifies it as the evening meal especially when dinner is taken at midday.” 

 

Now it gets tricky. WordSmarts.com observes: “The definition of dinner has undergone a slight evolution and has been defined as the main meal of the day, taken either around midday or in the evening. So, you can technically swap supper for dinner if you’re talking about the last meal of the day.”

 

There's more. We're not done yet. “The most common term for the midday meal now is lunch. If we were in Great Britain, we could devote many additional lines to the differences between high tea, afternoon tea, and royal tea.” Understand all that? (https://wordsmarts.com/supper-dinner/)

 

Things that stand for words can also be confusing. Some common emojis have undergone changes. “As lexicographers can attest, the meaning of a word or an emoji only works if that is how people are using it. Often, the intended meaning of an icon is all but forgotten as users put their own spin on it.”

 

One example of this is the ROFL emoji. “The smiling face tilted on its side with tears stands for rolling on the floor laughing. However, this emoji has fallen out of use recently — the Gen Z crowd is more likely to use a skull emoji to suggest they’re dead from laughter.” Fifteen more of these conundrums at: https://wordsmarts.com/emoji-dictionary/. 

 

Something common during this time of year is sending out holiday cards. You want to be sure that the spelling of your name is correct. “Are you about to commit a holiday faux pas with your family’s greeting cards? Before you add that apostrophe to your last name, learn the simple rules that will save you from this common grammatical mistake.”

 

There is a basic rule of thumb. “The only reason apostrophes are added to nouns is to show possession; they should never be used for plurality. A last name is a proper noun. So, on your greeting cards, get rid of those apostrophes. You want to sign those cards from, the Freemans or the Joneses.” More about apostrophes at: https://wordsmarts.com/holiday-card-plural/. 

 

Finally, don't forget to visit the Neff Zone holidays page at: https://www.neffzone.com/holidays/. With words in mind, check out the Greetings From Around The World. These are ways to say “Merry Christmas” or “Season's Greetings” in such languages as Danish, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Finnish, German, Swahili, and more.

 

Jim Neff is a local columnist. Read Neff Zone columns online at CadillacNews.com and NeffZone.com/cadillacnews.