Tag Archive for Americanisms

Americanisms

This week’s theme with A.Word.A.Day is Americanisms. What a fun bunch of words: hornswoggle, flummadiddle, discombobulate, absquatulate, and skedaddle.

As Anu Garg wrote when he kicked off the week:

“Use these words to bring a certain earthy flavor to your discourse. But like spices in a preparation, a little goes a long way. Use them judiciously.”

Again, I plugged this site a while back. Only because I love it. If you like words, if you are a reader, then you must subscribe (resistance is futile). It’s that simple. The thing I love about the daily emails is that they are brief, fun, never a chore to read. (For more background on Mr. Garg, check here or here.) I also learned that he’s got actual books available, for adults and kids alike, so I’m thinking Xmas presents, too. Every bathroom should have one!

This holiday season, like every gift-giving occasion, it’s all about going into stores and buying books. Putting our money where our mouths are. And now all the more reason, after Black Wednesday. And go ahead, click on that link if you dare read about the publishing industry’s precipitous fall as delineated by Andrew Wheeler at The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

A name that somehow brings us full circle, in a meandering, bloggish sort of way. For though Hornswoggler sounds to me like an Americanism — I can hear Yosemite Sam saying it, sputteringly — it was, I believe, used most famously by Roald Dahl, English author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . As everybody knows, Hornswogglers are nasty creatures from Loompaland that threaten the very existence of our beloved Oompa Loompas. Heaven forfend!