The Word Of this Week is;
Shivoo
Look out! There’s been a mudslide. The mundane mumble-tongues couldn’t understand, remember or pronounce the EYEtalian word Charivari, so it slid down the linguistic hill, and entered the English language as
shivaree
noun (US & Canadian)
a discordant mock serenade to newlyweds, made with pans, kettles, etc.
a confused noise; din
Also (esp. dialect) charivari
Then it made its way by tramp steamer to Australia, land of kangaroos, platypuses, and Diggers who can’t handle three-syllable words, where it ended its ignominious tumble, as the Abo word
shivoo
noun, plural shivoos. Australian.
a boisterous party or celebration.
Origin of shivoo – origin uncertain
This is like the story from several years ago, where a Florida woman had been brain-dead from an accident for five years. Her husband wanted to pull the plug on the life-support machine and achieve closure, but her Catholic parents fought him in the courts.
His/their family name was Chiavo, and even the more intelligent of the TV talking heads insisted on pronouncing it Shy-voe, when any good Italian made three syllables of it, and pronounced it Shee-ah-voe.
Out among the street trash, one could get kicked in the nuts, or the balls. Some tried to describe being mugged with a more upscale word. Whether it was too intellectual, or simply too long to say, gonads quickly shrank to ‘nads. The mud has slud even further. Now, ‘nad’ is (mis)pronounced nard, a word which used to mean ‘an ointment used by the ancients.’
Jimmy Cliff sang I Can See Clearly Now. If we could get more of the great unwashed to hear and pronounce clearly, communication and comprehension would benefit greatly. 😯
In spite of frequent bastardization, you’ve gotta admire the malleability of the language.
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It’s hard to keep up at times, especially for us old fogies. 😉
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Here’s one for you: :Lackadaisical (Adjective)
Lazy, lethargic, or listless
a glimpse at their lackadaisical work ethic explained why the shipments kept being delayed.
Good luck
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You’ve just described my entire retired life. I don’t give a da…rn if the shipments are delayed anymore. I’m too busy counting daisies – or the lack of them. 😉
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as long as you aren’t pushing up the daisies, I wouldn’t worry
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I never heard of the word of the day until you, Archon. Thank you for giving me something additional for my vocabulary.
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