Word of the Week – Tween

by Roseanna White | Aug 28, 2017 | Word of the Week

So this has been a debate in my house in recent weeks.


Xoe will say something about being/looking up pictures of/something geared at a tween. Rowyn will reply with, “I hate that word. It’s not even a thing. I’m not a tween and I’ll never be a tween.”

To which Xoe will retort, “It is so a thing!”

Cue the “Mooooom!” shouts from both of them. I’ve already been called upon to referee this particular argument no fewer than 3 times, which neither ever being satisfied, LOL.

So, tween.

It’s been a shortened form of between since around 1300, which is obviously not the way it’s being use in the debate above. 😉 No, we’re talking about “a child nearing puberty, between the ages of 9 and 12.” Not quite a teen, but not always wanting to be grouped with the little kids. Well, this use can be traced to 1988, apparently–just a couple years before I would have been termed one, though I don’t recall ever hearing the word until I was in my 20s. It’s thought that this use is mostly linked to its nearness to the spelling of “teen,” but it may also have been influenced by J. R. R. Tolkein using tween in The Lord of the Rings to refer to a period of irresponsible behavior in the Hobbit life-cycle.

Interestingly, before tween was used for this age group, there was apparently the word subteen used for the same, in the 1950s.

In earlier days, the word tween or tweenie was also used for a maid who served two others.

Word of the Week – Eclipse

by Roseanna White | Aug 21, 2017 | Word of the Week

Figured I’d jump on the eclipse bandwagon today and talk about a part of it I haven’t seen anyone else mention–the word itself! 😉

Eclipse has been in English since around 1300 (since, you know, there was English), taken from French, which was taken from Latin, which is taken from Greek, all sounding like the original ekleipsis. But what did that original word assigned to the phenomena mean?

Quite literally, it means “an abandonment, a failing, a forsaking.” Ek is “out” and leipein is “to leave.” So when something abandoned its spot and went out, much like the sun and moon sometimes appear to do . . . there you go!

Are you planning on (safely) viewing the eclipse today? It’s our first day of school, and we figured that was a pretty sweet science lesson for day 1. =) We bought eclipse glasses for the family last year when we were studying our astronomy unit and will be breaking those out today for sure!

Word of the Week – Galumph

by Roseanna White | Aug 7, 2017 | Word of the Week

Yesterday, my family and I went hiking at Seneca Rocks. On our way there, we passed a sign that said Watch for West Virginia Wild Life. “I’ve already seen it,” I said. “I saw that groundhog galumphing along.”

Later last night, my husband was finishing up the first draft of An Hour Unspent (Shadows Over England, Book 3) and started laughing. I looked over at him from the pages of The Sign of The Four (Sherlock Holmes–I’m finally reading some!) and asked what was funny. “Galumph,” he said. “You just had an elephant galumphing in here. That’s twice in a day. It needs to be your word of the week.”

And so, here we are!

If you consult Merriam-Webster on the meaning of galumph, it reports “to move with a clumsy or heavy tread.” Which is certainly how I was using it. But did you know that it originally meant something far different?

Lewis Caroll coined the word in 1872, in “The Jabberwocky.” In his version, the word is a combination of gallop and triumph, describing how the vanquisher of the dread Jabberwocky returned home. His contemporary writers apparently quite liked the word and immediately began borrowing it…but in a different way. Etymologists assume that the shift in meaning from “triumphant” to “clumsy or heavy” is simply a reflection of the way the word sounds. Say it a few times. Galumph conjures up an image, doesn’t it? And it isn’t one of triumph. 😉

Here’s hoping there’s minimal galumphing through your day in the new sense, but plenty of it in its original! Have a great week, everyone!

Word of the Week – Hoot

by Roseanna White | Jul 24, 2017 | Word of the Week

So as I was writing last week, trying to finish up the first draft of An Hour Unspent, book 3 in the Shadows Over England Series, I ran into a silly problem.

I was trying to have someone describe the hero’s little brother. He’s a bit of a prankster, but only in an endearing way. He pushes the boundaries, but with such charm that you can’t help but love him for his spirit. He always has a jest ready, but he’s also a dependable sort of chap.

So how do you sum that up in a word or two??

My first thought was to call him a hoot–in modern slang, that would indicate that he’s always good for a laugh, but wouldn’t carry any negative connotations. But upon looking it up, I soon realized that wouldn’t work. Too new. But interesting nonetheless, so you get the lesson. 😉

Hoot started its career in English as a verb from the mid-15th century, likely a variant of Old English huten–literally meaning “to shout or call out.” The first noun form was said shout, from about a hundred years later. The idea of “a laugh or something funny” unfortunately didn’t come along until 1942…so my 1915 lieutenant certainly couldn’t use it.

But what I found quite interesting indeed is the meaning of “small amount” that we see in the phrase “I don’t give a hoot.” This was first recorded in 1891, but it’s actually a shortening of the form used from 1839 on, “I don’t give a hooter.” So where did that come from? Etymologists think it’s a corruption of iota, so changed because of some American accents. Interesting, eh?

Hope everyone has a great week, and thanks for bearing with me as I put the blog on pause while I finished up my edits of A Song Unheard and the draft of An Hour Unspent!

Word of the Week – Blessing

by Roseanna White | Jul 3, 2017 | Word of the Week

You may have seen last week that I posted the video of my recent sermon on blessings and gifts. I figured that, since not everyone has the time to watch a half-hour video, I’d also give you the super-brief summary of what I learned.

The English word blessing comes from the Latin benedicere, which carries the same meaning as the Greek eulogia and the Hebrew barak–all these words, as used in the Bible and even today in other languages’ translations, mean “a praise, a good word.” This why we “bless the Lord,” and why a father’s blessing was so important–it was a spoken word, a promise.

English, however, has an interesting history of its version. Bless and blessing began to take on the meaning of “a gift, something given to make one happy” in the 14th century.

Why?

Because bless sounds and looks like bliss. People therefore began to confuse a praise to or from God with a thing meant for our happiness. And what makes us happy? GIFTS. Isn’t that crazy? So for the last 700 years, English has been using the word and teaching the Biblical concept in a way that has absolutely no basis in the actual idea.

A blessing isn’t the thing given–it’s the word of promise. A blessing isn’t something meant to make us happy. It’s something said to invoke holiness.

I for one will never look at this word the same way again!