Naming Things
Georgia in springtime is a beauty to behold! After blooming a little all winter, camellias burst into full flower. First the forsythia and daffodils, then the Bradford pears appear. Tulip trees and snowball plants and wildly colorful azaleas show off, joined by these lovely, delicate trees with tiny purple blossoms. For years, I’ve wondered what those trees are called but always forget to look it up by the time I drive home.
The while back, my older brother, Steve, and I were driving around checking out assisted living homes for Mom. I pointed to the tree and asked if he knew what it was. Imagine my total shock when he told me this plant with very purple hued foliage was called a REDBUD!
Who in his right mind would name it that? A colorblind person?
I guess in his defense, he may have based the name on an earlier form of the flower. But it got me to thinking about words.
Raising daughters in a home with an English teacher for a dad and a quirky wordsmith such as I am meant that our conversations have always run a little to the nerdy side. Ronald entertained us with stories of hilarious homonym mistakes from his students. One student swore that Americans have the right to “bare arms.” That brought on our own funny ideas for spelling mishaps. We came up with examples of the ever-hilarious dangling participle. “Hanging in the closet, Bobby found his tie.” (Sadly, you may find some of those in my blogs. It was always one of my writing downfalls.)
Yes, folks. I raised some real nerds.
We even discussed the words we hated to hear. One of the girls hated moist and cornucopia – which meant when the other girls would want to aggravate, those words were chanted in repetitious scorn! The word pus is totally disgusting. Pustule, ooze, follicle, phlegm, mucus – there’s a theme there for sure! As I read through lists other people had posted, I found my family’s aversion to certain words was not uncommon! Who knew?
I find there are words that just don’t have a ring to them – hammock for instance. Like the redbud, I think it was misnamed. I think a string swing would be a much better moniker.
Of course at my age, I call a lot of things ‘thing-a-hooties’ in lieu of the word I can’t remember.
Back to my rant. I hate the word roast. If I were a cow and had to name my parts, it would not be roast! And how about ham hock? Even a pig has to be offended by that one!
And who first started calling things by their name so they actually stuck? They didn’t even have the internet to popularize the term!
On the other hand, I love the word wisteria. Wisteria is not only a beautiful, scented flower, it is a word that rolls off the tongue with a satisfying sigh and brings to mind the beauty of the old South.
I would be interested to know if other people have thoughts along these lines. Or is it just me? I would hate to think I’m alone in my craziness! Let me know so we can commiserate together!
PS In order that I may fulfill my life’s purpose to share wisdom in addition to nonsense, I am going to add one small Grammie Rant to remind us all to speak with care.
Words are non-refundable!
Blessings
Kara Beth
Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
