September 30, 2014 Tuesday "Valhalla" "Valkyrie"

September 30, 2014   Tuesday 

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

It seems to be time for more words from Old Norse:

Valhalla:  [Old Norse meaning 'hall of the slain,' holl hall, valr slain]
     the hall of Odin in Norse mythology where warriors who have died in battle are received

     Well, here is a connection to a previous word, Wednesday (from Woden or Oden).  I had mentioned  the word Valhalla to my kind, chess playing friend who was getting ready to retire from his job fixing the copying machines a Fuji…sometimes a thankless job.  I mentioned that I had just read that Valhalla was where deceased warriors were taken.  He surprised me and said, with his dry sense of humor, "I knew that was what Valhalla meant."  I asked him how he knew.  "The headquarters of Fuji is in Valhalla, New York."  I think he was making a comment on the toll that this job had taken on him…

Valkyrie: [also Old Norse for 'chooser of the slain']   \val kear' ee\
     one of the maidens of Oden who chose the heroes to be slain in battle who would be taken to Valhalla.

    I especially like this word because it is the mysterious name of the quaint, gentle restaurant that Odd Horten goes to in my favorite movie (which is set in Oslo, fittingly) O'Horten.
 

September 29,2014 Monday "valediction"

September 29, 2014   Monday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

valediction: [Latin vale  farewell dicere  to say]

     an act of bidding farewell

    valedictorian: the person, usually with the highest grade point average, who gives the valedictory speech at the commencement exercises

   This etymology, saying farewell, makes this speech at graduation all the more poignant.  Tom Paradise, in 1970, on his way to Harvard, gave the valedictory speech at my high school graduation.  He was a soft spoken, kind person.  What do I recall of the speech?  Nothing…but I do recall the feeling; the sentiment of all of us standing on stage, four years of hard, intellectual work behind us, eagerly ready to embark on an new, exciting and distant path silently observing that proud look in the eyes of our elegantly dressed parents.  A beautiful moment frozen in time. 

September 28, 2014 Sunday "vade mecum"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 28, 2014   

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

     To my dear readers: I have been away for four days… I am sorry about not making an entry.  I was in Carrboro, NC and, incidentally, went to Jessee's coffee shop for the Saturday chess games.  I played a young man appropriately named "Ishmael," newly arrived to this country.  He informed me after we played two hard fought games that he was in the third grade…ranked in the 1600's I think I overheard.  A beautiful and sometimes humbling game.  Great fun. 

vade mecum [Latin, go with me]  \vah' day mee' cum\

     a book for ready reference; something regularly carried around.

     I guess I have many vade mecum's (?plural) …Don Quixote, Walden, James Herriott, Mark Twain and seemingly hundreds of other books that are 'indispensable.'   I was talking to one of my daughters and she thanked me for inspiring our family as they were growing up with my various passions…no TV, no computer games, lots of books and music, walks and conversations.   My vade mecum was a portable encyclopedia that I carried around when we were in the car and going on vacations she tenderly reminded me as we both laughed.  It has continued in these various blogs and she wanted me to know that she was thankful for that too.  Very sweet and loving for a Father to hear this.  They still remember that at bedtime I would pull out their notebook and ask them questions from our prior bedtime conversations : the definition of a talon, the captain's sidekick in Moby Dick, etc.  (see below).  Wonderful memories, the nidus of which tonight is the word vade mecum.


(Answer: Starbuck)

September 23, 2014 Tuesday "vaccine"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 23, 2014   Tuesday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

vaccine: [ Latin vaca cow]  

     As a doctor and scientist (hopefully), so much depends on my/our ability to 'see.'  The inquisitive, creative mind is so important.  I think of this with Jenner, who noticed that milkmaids (girls who milked cows) were immune to the scourge of small pox.   I was going to say that I wonder why no one else had noticed this…but five other people in the preceding 20 years or so had tried this but didn't pursue it.

     These milkmaids had been exposed to "cowpox," a milder form of this blistering illness and had built up an immunity to small pox.  Why not expose other people to this mild form of cowpox so that they wouldn't come down with the small pox?
     Jenner took some of the fluid from a milkmaid's infection and inoculated it into an eight year old boy, James Phipps.   Amazingly, he then exposed the boy to small pox and he was immune.
    Who was James Phipps? He was the son of Jenner's gardener.
    The name of the cow that was involved was Blossom.

September 22, 2014 Monday "vanadium" "Vanadis"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 22, 2014   Monday

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email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

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The last post was the end of the "W's."   Here is a list of the words:

W:

     West
     westerly
     Weltanschauung
     Weltschmerz
     wettability
     whoops
     window
     wingding
     wispish
     witch of agnesi
     witenagamote
     Woden
     woodnymph
     wow
     wyvern

   My vote for the most poetic word: wyvern.

   The "V's"…24 pages

V:  the symbol for Vanadium

vanadium: [Old Norse Vanadis  or Freyja]

    This soft metallic element  is often used in high speed drills made of steel alloys.  It was part of the chassis in the original Model T cars, for example.  

    Another interesting Norse etymology: because the various salts and alloys of vanadium turned beautiful colors, it was named in 1830 by the Swedish chemist Nils Sefstrom after the Scandinavian goddess of beauty and fertility "Vanadis," also known as "Freyja."

     **Nils Sefstrom has a glacier named after him: Sefströmbreen, which may be a dubious honor in this age of global warming.  

September 21, 2014 Sunday "wood nymph" "dryad" "nymph"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 21, 2014 Sunday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

I would love for you to share your thoughts, comments, anecdotes on these words on this blog.  Thanks.  Glenn :)

wood nymph: a dryad

dryad: [Latin dryad  tree]  a wood nymph  (see 'nymph,' below)

    I love the tautological definitions that crop up in the dictionary.  I will start an index of tautologies as well under the first post for this blog.  I  decided that for every definition that includes a word or concept that I an not familiar with, I would look up that new word elsewhere in the dictionary…or do some investigating.  Interesting.

nymph: [Latin nympha bride]  one of the minor divinities of nature in ancient mythology represented as beautiful maidens in the woods, forests, mountains, trees…

September 20, 2014 Saturday "windhover" "wingding" "wisteria"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 20, 2014 Saturday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

I would love for you to share your thoughts, comments, anecdotes on these words on this blog.  Thanks.  Glenn :)

windhover: a kestrel

kestrel: a small European falcon that is known for its habit of hovering in the air against a wind; it is one foot long.

    This word reminds me of the beautiful poetry of the shy Jesuit poet, Gerald Manley Hopkins.  Rich, emotional, Dylanesque words and images.   The poem, "The Windhover," is at the bottom of this post.


wingding: a wild, lively or lavish party


wisteria:  [named after Carl Wistar, 1818]

     a colorful flowering plant

Carl Wistar (1761-1818) was a physician and famous anatomist who lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (He did the definitive exposition on the ethmoid bone…)  He was  a friend of Thomas Jefferson.  He would throw open his home every week during the Winter to friends, scholars and students and have lively intellectual discussions…called "Wistar Parties."  This flower was named after him (and misspelled).




                                         "The Windover"

 

I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,	5
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion	10
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.        by Gerald Manley Hopkins

September 19, 2014 Friday "west" "vespertine" "crepuscular" "westerly" "window" "whoops"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 19, 2014 Friday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

west: [Latin vesper evening, evening star]

     the direction of the sunset

     Although the word 'west' doesn't seem that unique or interesting, it is romantic in its definition: the direction of the setting sun.  My main reason to mention it here is that now I see the relationship to one of my favorite two words (in the "V's" and the "C's"):  vespertine and the synonym crepuscular: both meaning dusk.  I didn't make the connection of vespertine to 'the west' (i.e. vesper).   I also grew up in Westerly, Rhode Island.  Little did I know that i was growing up in a poetic town…facing the setting sun.


window:  [Old Norse vindr wind, auga eye]

     (No need for a definition here...)

     Similar to the prosaic word "west"  this etymology strikes hidden gold for me.  Very poetic and symbolic.  It is not just an opening in a wall…it is a place to contemplate, to really see with your eyes, the wind outside your sheltering home.   These Norse words are magical.  It reminds me of the sweet joke, "How many poets does it take to change a lightbulb?  Two…one to change the bulb, and one to stand by the window, gazing at the fading sunset."

whoops: 

     oops

September 18, 2014 Thursday "waterloo"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 18, 2014  Thursday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

waterloo: a decisive defeat 

    This term comes from Napoleon's decisive defeat in 1815 at Waterloo, Belgium.  

    I have experienced many and varied waterloo's in my life time: in tennis, in chess, in relationships…I think I will stop there.

    It would be a good time to review some things about Waterloo and Napoleon, neither of which I've taken much interest in previously.  Some important tidbits:

     1. Napoleon had a magnetic personality and was very intelligent.
     2.  The battle was fought on a Sunday.
     3. Waterloo is located in Belgium, not France.
     4. Napoleon was the Emperor  (not the president) of France at the time.  He abdicated after the loss at Waterloo and died six years later.
     5. He lost to the English and the Prussians.
     6. Most importantly, Waterloo is the site of one of my favorite, eclectic music stores in Austin, Texas.  I have been there during the SXSW music festival and seen bands perform outside the store.  Iconic and cool.

September 18, 2014 Thursday "wettability:

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 18, 2014  Thursday 

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

wettability: the quality of being wettable

     An interesting concept…plastic vs cotton for example.   I think every tennis player knows this.  I learned the hard way and wore a cotton t-shirt during one tournament and was completely soaked.  My teammates had me buy an actual tennis shirt that stays dry.  Amaxing …and very unwettable.

W: the symbol for Tungsten

     "Ttungsten" [

     The name for Tungsten is "Wolfram" therefore the W

September 16, 2014 Tuesday "witenagemot" "Wyvern"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 16, 2014 Tuesday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

I would love to hear your comments, anecdotes or thoughts...

witenagemot: [Old English: witena sages or advisers]  \wit' ten ag' ah mote\

     an Anglo-Saxon council to advise the king

     a 'gemot' is an Anglo-Saxon judicial assembly…if that helps at all...

wyvern:  [Middle English wyvere  Latin vipera  viper]

     an imaginary two legged creature with wings that resembles a dragon

    I love this word because I came across it in a beautiful book called The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Invention, by Cathrynne Valente.  The book is incredibly inventive and literate, and received innumerable awards and best book mentions.  For example, as I recall, the gentle Wyvern who is the protector of the girl is named "A though L."  Why? Because his father was a dragon and his Mother was a library…  It is a fantasy book for middle-school children you would say but…it's not.  Here's a typical review: “One of the most extraordinary works of fantasy, for adults or children, published so far this century.”—Time magazine.

  

     

September 15, 2014 Monday "Wow" "Wednesday" "Woden" "Frigga"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 15, 2014  Monday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

Wow: a word with increasing and decreasing pitch.

     I love this definition.  Simple, elegant.
     I saw a cartoon in The New Yorker years ago that showed a Grandfather sitting in his living room, his young Grandson sitting on the floor looking up to him.  The Grandfather said, "Yes, in 1947 I was the first one to ever use the word "wow."


Wednesday: (see Woden, below) named after the Germanic god, Woden or Odin

Woden: [Old English,  also Old Norse; Woden Odin]  

     Oden, the chief god of Germanic mythology.

     This is the origin of the word "Wednesday"…a mystery solved.  To paraphrase Thoreau in Walden, 'I don't measure my days by heathen gods,' a thought I have always liked.  I don't think he was being mean spirited (not Thoreau) but, rather, he was pointing out that he wanted to enjoy each day, without labeling it.

    Frigga was Odin's wife.  She is the Norse goddess of marital love and the home.
The word frigorific [Latin frigo cold] means cold,  as in refrigerator.
I guess a marriage can be loving, warm and Frigga-rific…or cold and frigorific.   

September 14, 2014 Sunday "Whoops" "wingding" "wimpish" "witch of Agnesi"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 14, 2014  Sunday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

If any readers have comments or anecdotes about the words, please share them.  It would be fun to have a dialogue.  Glenn

Whoops:  oops

wingding: [origin unknown]   wild, lavish party


     It seems to me that the "W's" have great sounds, onomatopoeic, such as wispish, wingding and whoops.

     I will create a category in the index (see the first post) of words of 'unknown origin' which I think is fascinating.    

wispish:
 
    resembling a wisp (insubstantial,frail, slight)
 

witch of Agnesi: \ah 'yay zee\

    a mathematical formula, the curve of which (so to speak), on the x y coordinates, resembles a witch's hat.

This simple phrase about a mathematically formula really peaked my interest, so I did some investigating.  Interestingly, the mathematician responsible for this is a female (hallelujah) named Maria Gaetana Agnesi, b. 1718.

The Witch of Agnesi with labeled points

Now this diagram is confusing…from wikipedia…but the line of the Witch of Agnesi is the beautifully curved line from P to M, like a gentle hill.












     Maria's biography is truly astounding:
     She was born in 1718 to the wealthiest family in Milan, Italy.  She was a child prodigy, speaking seven languages at age eleven, giving a lecture, in Latin, on the right of women to be educated.  Gloria Steinem would be proud.  They say that she was very shy and also  very beautiful.  She was a  philosopher as well as a professor of mathematics.  She also became very spiritual, desiring to join a convent (but was not allowed to), and treating the poor and the sick in her family's home.
     Wow...

September 13, 2014 Weltanschauung Weltschmerz

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 13, 2014  Saturday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

The letter "W" has 43 pages of words; a little different from the "X's."

Weltanschauung \velt' en shung\  [German velt world, anschauung  view]

     literally one's world view ('a comprehensive conception of the world').

     A word that, to me, draws up feelings of longing and memories, long lost dreams.  What was the Weltanschauung of one's innocent life as a four year old?  In grade school?  The air, the light had a certain quality, a pervasive warmth, my home had a certain loving glow…joyful and hopeful  All was new.  

    It reminds me of a book written about, I think, the wonderfully productive time of a culmination of the arts and literature in Austria and Europe in general in the late 1800's…the book was beautifully titled with the word fin de siecle (Vienna), pertaining to this time and culture and it always sounded so exciting and romantic to me.  It was the atmospheric Weltanschauunng of that time of renaissance.

    In my dry, Bob Newhart style of humor, I have used this word for decades as an almost 100% failed joke…no other philosophy majors to appreciate the subtlety of this insight (sarcasm here)…When someone asks me to write a brief note to someone, an opinion perhaps, I will look up, pen in hand, and say casually, "How do you spell Weltanschauung?"  See what I mean?  

Weltschmerz \velt' shmerts\  [German velt world  schmerz pain]

     mental apathy or depression caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state.  A mood of sentimental sadness.

     Of course, this word is diametrically opposed to the beautiful connotations of Weltanschuaang.  I worked with Dr. Hal Winters, a gray haired, elderly African-American pediatrician, an exact replica of Bill Cosby (with extra poundage) when I was in the Public Health Service in inner city Paterson for two years after my residency.  I could fill a small book with his humor.  We saw a lot of alcohol and drug abuse and we would sometimes just sit back in our cramped, dilapidated office in the middle of this poverty and squalor and talk about the state of the world.  I said to Hal, "The  problem with drugs and alcohol is that it distorts your view of reality."  He looked around the room, at the chipped plywood doors, the peeling paint, the water stained ceiling as the constant stream of poor children from the Public Housing walked by, looked at me with a wry smile and said, "And we wouldn't want to distort reality."

September 12, 2014 Friday "xeno-" "xenophobe" 'xylo-' 'xylographer"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 12, 2014  Friday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

This was short and sweet…only the second post on the letter "X" and we are done.  (Index below)

xeno- [Greek xenos, strange]

     xenophobe: afraid of strangers and foreigners
     xenophile:  one attracted to foreign things (culture, styles)
     xenon: an element

     I am definitely of the xenophile bent as opposed to being xenophobic, diving into other cultures for their wisdom and beauty.  My taste in movies, for example, is Norwegian, French, Danish, Egyptian, Indian, Israeli…pretty xenophilic when I think about it.
     The Scottish chemist, William Ramsey, a Nobel Prize winner, discovered xenon in 1898 and named it after this Greek root word for "strange" since it was only 1 out of ten millions parts found in air.  I am glad he was classically educated.  (He also discovered and named "argon" from the Greek for "lazy"…but I haven't gotten to the "A's" yet.)

xylo- [Greek, xylon wood]

     xylophone (which has wooden slates0
     xylographer: a woodworker

     I now know what to call my carpenter the next time I need one.  I would guess playing the 'vibes" or vibraphone entails metal slates as opposed to the mesmerizing, delicate sound of a xylophone.  I recently saw a musical performance of a college xylophonist that was incredibly beautiful.    I will try to remember the name of the piece so I can post it.  It was a musical epiphany.

X: 

     Xanadu

     xantho- 

     xanthic

     xanthochromic

     xeno-

     xenophobe

     xenophile

     xenon

     xylo-

     xylophone

     xylographer

September 11, Thursday "Xanadu" "xantho-" "Xanthippe"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 11, 2014  Thursday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

Thus begins the mysterious "X" category…the shortest segment with only one and one-half pages.


Xanadu:  [the derivation is from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's wondrous poem Kubla Khan (1789)] 

     a place of idyllic beauty
   
     The poem starts,

     "In Xanadu did kubla Khan
       A stately pleasure dome decree"

     I have not found the pleasure dome yet…


xantho- [Greek, xanthos]

     yellow
     related words:  'xanthic' or 'xanthochromic'


Xanthippe noun \zan 'thip ee\ [the shrewish wife of Socrates]

     an ill-tempered woman

     Who knew?  I do have to say that reading the dictionary backwards has made for some interesting conversations.  I was listening to NPR and the puzzle maestro gave a clue…'Who was Socrate's wife?"
I immediately answered, "Xanthippe…of course."  It was so obvious.  It rolled off my tongue…because I had just read it.
     My brother asked me about a word or concept in conversation and I gave my now standard joke..."I'm on the 'r's'…I'm not in the "G's" yet.  Ask me later."
     One last anecdote: similarly, while we (four siblings) at the request of our loving parents were discussing who would like to inherit which of their major pieces, I felt compelled, having read the "U's," to tell them about ultimogeniture…the opposite of primogeniture, i.e. the youngest son inherits everything (apologies to the the feminists, of whom I am one).

September 10, 2014 Wednesday "yogh" "yoni" "yoyo"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 10, 2014  Wednesday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

This brings to an end the "Y's" - all 5 pages of them.

Here is a wild one for today:

yogh:  \pronounced like 'yoke'\  [from Middle English: yogh, 3ogh]

a consonant in Middle English represented by the number 3, which is a palatal fricative  (a consonant created by a narrowing of a passage of the palate)

As far as I can tell, it represents the sound "y" (as in "eye") or the sound "g" (as in "night" which used to have the 'g' sound pronounced, as in 'neye gt.'   That solves the mystery of the spelling of the word "night" or "ni3t."

yoni:  [Sanskrit: vulva]  a Hindu religious symbol of the female genitalia

Now this one surprised me.  I wonder if Freud, with his discourse on the pervasive phallic symbol, was aware of this opposite theme, found in a totally different culture.  To me it makes sense…the beauty of the feminine, the female property of generation and the nourishment of life…fecundity.  

yo-yo:  I only mention this word because it is the only word I have found whose etymology is derived from the Philipines.

So, here's an index of the Y words:

Y:
  -y (suffix)
Yahoo
Yahweh
  Yahwism
Yahwistic
yalmulke
year
Yiddish
Yiddishist
yogh
yoni
yoyo

September 9, 2014 Tuesday "Yiddishist"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 9, 2014  Tuesday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

Yiddishist: an expert in the Yiddish Language

     Semitist (a synonym)

     I love Yiddish words, especially since they have the "-ish" in them.  They are earthy, blunt and humorous to me.  Yiddishist takes the cake.  I recall reading a New York Times obituary about the demise of a famous "Yiddishist."  Amazing.  Of course, this even inspired me to take on the semi-palidromic name of "Ishmaelish36."

     Yiddish [a Yiddish word meaning Jewish] is actually a High German language, not Hebrew, spoken by Jews largely in  Eastern Europe.
      When we get to the "sch's" I will list an abundance of Yiddish words, all wonderful, i.e. schlepp.  

September 8, 2014 Monday "Yahweh, yarmulke, year"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 8, 2014  Monday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

Yahweh: []Hebrew, Yahweh]  the Hebrew God.

     Yahwism: the worship of Yahweh.
     Yahwistic: adjective, relating to Yahwism

     As a Catholic,  the reference to Yahweh had mystified me, so to speak.   And yet, it is just a sound…whose syllables are right?  God…Allah…Yahweh…Om…  In any case, the sound of the term Yahwism introduces a little comic relief.

    Continuing with this Jewish or Yiddish theme, the next word's spelling was a mystery to me:

yarmulke [Yiddish, jarmutka skullcap]   a skullcap worn by Orthodox Jews in the synagogue and at home.

    I thought it was spelled like it sounded to my non-Jewish ears: ya-ma-ka, almost a Japanese word.  Coming from St. Louis, trained at a Jesuit school, I thought the entire world was Catholic.  When I went to Princeton, as a Freshman I excitedly told a Jewish friend of mine that I had just read this incredible book by this author called "Chaim Potok."  I pronounced it as it is spelled …'chame.'  He let out a tremendous, loud guffaw and literally almost fell on the floor laughing at my pronunciation.  


year: the time it takes for the sun to return to the same, arbitrary fixed position in the sky.

     How out of touch I often am with the seasons and nature.  I haven't really noticed the position of the sun in mid-winter as opposed to mid-summer.   How often have I looked up at the sky and noticed?  I recall recently, when someone asked about which way was North, searching on their iPhone for an answer, I mentioned that if we just looked at the evening sun, we might get an idea of which way West was.   A scientific breakthrough.

September 7, 2014 Sunday "ish"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 7, 2014  Sunday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

I would love to hear your comments and experiences with any of these words...

This is the start of the "Y's."  It will be more challenging than the "X's" because there are five pages instead of four.

This is one of my favorites, similar to the "zig" and "zag" that initially hooked me:

-y: suffix: defined as "ish"


   I heard a Jewish doctor in New York tell a patient to come back in two weeks.  She said, "In two weeks?  Exactly?"
   He looked at her, held his hand up and rotated it back and forth, and simply said, "ish."
   No other explanation was needed.  I miss that humor.



yahoo: an uncouth person.  If capitalized as "Yahoo," this is from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels: a  member of a race of brutes who have the form and vices of man.

September 6, 2014 Saturday "zymurgy"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 6, 2014  Saturday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

zym-  [Greek, zyme, leaven]  fermentation 

     'enzyme' for example


zymology, zymurgy: the branch of chemistry that deals with fermentation

     I was speaking to one of the book dealers at The Fly Leaf (a wonderful book store in Chapel Hill) and mentioned this project of reading the dictionary backwards.  He asked, "What is the last word in the dictionary?"  I hesitated and then said "zygote"…but I was wrong.  The last word is zymurgy.

    So…this ends the four pages of the "Z's."   Again, my favorite word is the poetic "Zephyrus"  but they all are fascinating.

Z:

zany

zeitgeist
zenithal

Zephyrus

zest

zeugma

zilch

zoot suit
zugzwang

zym-

zymology

zymurgy

September 5, 2014 Friday "zilch" "zoot suit"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 5, 2014 Friday 

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

zilch:

     zero



zoot suit [derivation: sounds like the word 'suit']

     from the 1940's; a long jacket, wide shoulders, pants that were wide at the top and narrow at the  bottom.   See Lawrence Block, "a rest pleat with a drape sheet."

September 4, 2014 Thursday "Zeugma"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 4, 2014  Thursday  "zeugman"

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

zeugma  [Latin, a joining]

     a word that modifies two words, applying to each in a different sense, i.e. "she opened her heart and her home to the homeless boy."

     See the wonderful Modern English Usage by Fowler.   A treasure.

    An aside: zeug means "rubbish or junk" in German (sounds like 'soyg')

    Ok, some other loose "zug" associations:

     In chess, zugzwang means to force the opponent to make a bad move - they have no other moves available.  Zug in German means "move"  (sounds like 'zoog'); and zwang means 'to force'  (sounds like
'svahng').


     

September 3, 2014 "zest"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 3, 2014 Wednesday  "zest"

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

zest: [French, zeste, orange or lemon peel fused as flavoring]
     piquancy; a quality of enhancing enjoyment  (lively, interesting; or a spicy agreeable taste)

     The definition is as interesting at the actual word.  The characteristics seem to also apply to a very attractive, agreeable date (or friendship) as well…
     A French phrase: donner du piquant (to add or give zest…)
     A cooking term, also French: to add the scrapings of the peel of a lemon or orange.

     Maybe to add zest to my life I should "eat a peach" (eat the zest or peel of the peach?) i.e. The Love Song of Alfred E. Prufrock by T. S. Elliot.  Now there is a stretched analogy.

September 3, 2014 "zenithal"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 3, 2014 Wednesday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

"Z's"

zig: the line opposite the zag

       both a noun and a verb

zenithal (adj) from zenith [zen' i thal] (short e sound)

     the highest point reached by a heavenly body

     I like the sound of this adjective, as opposed to the noun.  I can't remember ever using this word in a conversation but it is tempting…to talk of one's zenithal intellectual or athletic period?   Does anyone have any memories of using this word?   

     similar words: 

          summit

          peak (vs nadir)  (definition of zenith: the point of a celestial body directly opposite the nadir)

          to wax and wane (the 'waxing' moon is a moon that is enlarging, i.e. 1/4 moon to a 1/2 moon to  

               full moon;

               i.e. waxing a candle…repeatedly dipping it in wax as it slowly enlarges
          apogee