One potato – two potato
One
MUMP
Two mumps
Definitions for mump
- to sulk; mope.
- to grimace.
- to mumble; mutter.
Origin of mump
The rare English verb mump is akin to the equally rare Dutch mompen “to mumble, grumble,” and the magnificent German verbs mumpfen “to chew with one’s mouth full” and mimpfeln “to mumble while eating.” The Germanic verbs most likely derive from a Proto-Indo-European root meuǝ- “be silent,” from which English also derives mum “silent,” Latin mūtus “silent, mute,” and Greek mustḗrion “secret rite, mystery,” a derivative of mústēs “an initiate,” a derivative of mueîn “to initiate, instruct, teach,” itself a derivative of múein “to close the eyes, mouth, or other opening” (lest one reveal what is not to be revealed). Mump entered English in the 16th century.
When the wife saw the beginning of this post, she immediately declared that I am just an old MUMP, a much better word than ‘grump,’ to describe me, as I sulk and mope and mutter and mumble. When you have
- an infectious disease characterized by inflammatory swelling of the parotid and usually other salivary glands, and sometimes by inflammation of the testes or ovaries, caused by a paramyxovirus.
and both sides of your throat (and perhaps your nuts) are sore and swollen, you can sulk and mope, you can grimace because it hurts to eat/swallow, and you have to mutter and mumble because the swollen throat makes it difficult to talk…. then you have a double serving, and the medical plural is called
Mumps – noun (used with a singular verb) Pathology.
And neither of these have anything to do with my WOW #11 – Mumpsimus, which was about officially not knowing what you’re talking about. (Also see – Trump) 😯
I’m still trying to find the line where I can be different, without crossing over into weird. While I appreciate the homespun attraction of ‘Mump,’ I still want to be a ‘Grump.’ I like being G.O.D. much more than I would, being a M.O.D. See you in a couple of days with more prosaic words. 🙂
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