Kerfuffle

Every now and then I hear a word I've never heard before.  And by that I don't mean baby babble, I hear new baby words all the time.  And I don't mean a word that is field specific like some of the exceptionally long and arduous medical procedure terms.  I also don't mean something in a foreign language.  Or slang.

I suppose now that I think of it, I hear words I've never heard before on a regular basis.  But for the most part those are words that aren't of note or interest to me or would be terms I could integrate into my vocabulary.

But every now and then there's a new word.  Usually, when this happens, I write down the word and look it up later.  These days, you can look up the word right away because, hey, smart phone.  Then you can tell the people around you that yes, "kerfuffle" is a real word meaning "commotion or fuss" and you can make a mental note to work the use of kerfuffle into a conversation sometime in the near future.  Or at least if your me, you do.

I remember when I heard the word "cloying" for the first time.  I remember where I was (Rhode Island) and I know who said it (my co-worker's mother) and I remember the situation.  I love the word cloying.

I remember the first time I saw the word "flummox" as I read the back of a video game box years ago.  I remember how the game promised to give you hours of fun.  You would, "flummox a monkey" among other thrilling game-pursuits.

Words can be fun.  I like new words.  I get this from my mother.  I think she's taught me new, interesting words more than anyone else.

The Big Boy Update:  "There's Daddy Gavin.  Where's Momma Gavin?"  Tonight at Movie Night our friend, Louie, came but his wife and their three children, the youngest of whom is named, Gavin, were out of town.  My son looked around and when he didn't see the rest of the family, he had to ask me where they were...in his own verbal way.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  We went to another language lab study yesterday.  This is volunteering we do at a lab at a local university doing research on language development in children.  This time she was asked to play sets of two items, one she would know and one that was foreign.  After a bit, the researcher would ask her, "can you hand me the zarbood?"  Sometimes it would be a word the child would know, such as "apple".  Sometimes it would be a word that the child didn't know and didn't apply to either item and sometimes it would be a gesture, not unlike sign language that the child didn't know.  How the child responded to each of these helps them understand what they do when they encounter an unknown word or label.

Fitness Update:  Earliest workout at the gym yet.  We got up at 4:30 so we could get to the gym and start working out at five as my neighbor had an early morning at the office.  Don gave me some exercises to do while I'm giving my shins a rest for the next week that are the kind of thing you can do while standing around. 

Someone Once Said:  Brainpower is the scarcest commodity and the only one of real value.