Written by Paisley Kirkpatrick One of my children sent me an email this week using whopperjawed, a word I'd never heard before. She lives in Florida and I live in California. I thought maybe it's a regional word.
WHOPPERJAWED means slightly off kilter. By the content of the sentence it was fairly easy to figure out its meaning. It got me to thinking about unusual words that have been around for a long time. Some of them are fun to use and have become favorites of mine.
DUNDERHEAD: blockhead - dunce - fool - dolt,
ADDLEPATED: confused - eccentric,
HOGWASH: nonsense,
DUMBFOUNDED: astonished - speechless
Since I write western historical romance, I've started looking for unusual words used in my time period to give my stories a bit more 'flavor' and fun. It's like adding spice and at the same time it makes me smile.
Do you have favorite words? My most favorite is propinquity, which means togetherness. I taught my Dutch grandsons the word and they went home and taught it to their teacher.
6 comments:
I live in FL and never heard of WHOPPERJAWED. It sounds funny. I may borrow it, Paisley. LOL
I sure Miz Carla wouldn't mind a bit. I just love the word. :)
Hi Paisley. I enjoy reading stories that include unusual words for a bit of spice.
Paisley,
I love unusual words and enjoy adding them to my Tudor and Regency historicals. In fact, I've used the word ADDLEPATED.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi back attcha Dawn Marie. I love words and the ones that are fun to say are my favorite. I used dunderhead the other day describing my hero - he wasn't too happy with me I am sure. ;)
Hi Josie. Isn't addlepated fun to say? I think it will make your reader smile when they see it. Thanks for visiting with me.
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