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Issue 276:: Friday, January 20, 2012
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 | by Jason English |  | |
We don't make many (formal) declarations, so I hope this one will resonate. We're declaring 2012 The Year of Good Words! Starting with the March/April issue of our magazine, an entire page will be devoted to words. New words you should know. Very old words you should resurrect. And great moments in etymology you can use to wow your friends.
On the web, starting in February, we'll be posting a word each day - a foreign word we need in English, old carny slang, questionable portmanteaus, whatever - and asking you guys to use it in a sentence. As we go along, we'll be building the Amazing Word Generator*, which will work like our Amazing Fact Generator. Except, you know, with words. And definitions. And the best of those sentences you guys submit. And your names, so you can stick it on your resume.
If there's a brilliant word you've been hoping to get some attention, send it to us! Email flossyjason@gmail.com and put the word WORD somewhere in the subject.
Here are just a few wonderful words that showed up in mental_floss stories in 2011. Looking forward to topping these this year!
Kummerspeck (German): Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon.
milliHelen: The quantity of beauty required to launch just one ship.
Paper-belly: A person unable to drink liquor straight, or one who grimaces after drinking.
Karoshi (Japanese): Death from being overworked.
Lawn Mullet: A neatly manicured front yard and an unmowed mess in the back.
Cheers!
Jason
*We'll need to come up with something better than "Amazing Word Generator." Feel free to pass along any suggestions!
From the mental_floss Twitter Account... Since 2009, at least two vegans (in Colorado and Tennessee) have been rejected after requesting the vanity license plate ILVTOFU. In chess (or life), when every move you can make is to your disadvantage, you're in zugzwang. According to one survey, 29% of people who call for tech support end up swearing at their customer service rep. When the Giants played the Packers in 2008, Green Bay's Fox affiliate didn't air a Seinfeld rerun because it's Eli Manning's favorite show. Hiroshi Yamauchi has owned the Seattle Mariners since 1992, but he's never been to a game. "I don't really like baseball," he said. When Garvey White died in 1908, he left 50 cents to his son-in-law "to buy for himself a good stout rope with which to hang himself." At a White House luncheon, Teddy Roosevelt once entertained guests by throwing the Swiss minister to the floor to demonstrate a judo hold. After abdicating the British throne in 1936 to marry a Baltimore divorcée, Edward VIII was appointed Governor of the Bahamas. And for amazing facts, 140-characters at a time, follow us on Twitter. | |
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Keep a civil tongue.