Word-Wednesday for December 20, 2023

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for December 20, 2023, the fifty-first Wednesday of the year, the thirteenth Wednesday of fall, and the three-hundred fifty-fourth day of the year, with eleven days remaining.

 
Wannaska Phenology Update for December 20, 2023
The pileated woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus, is one of the few active birds visible (and audible) apart from bird-feeder congregations in Wannaska this time of year. An insectivore, it inhabiting deciduous forests in northern and eastern North America, these red, black, and white beauties excavate their large nests in the cavities of dead trees, and their roosts usually have multiple entrance holes. A pileated woodpecker pair stays together on its territory all year round. The pair defends their territory in all seasons, but often tolerate interlopers during the winter. When clashing with conspecifics [/ˌkɑn-spə-ˈsɪ-fɪks/, n., an organism belonging to the same species as another], they engage in much chasing, calling, striking with the wings, and jabbing with the bill.

December 20 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


December 20 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily by 11:00am, usually.


Earth/Moon Almanac for December 20, 2023
Sunrise: 8:14am; Sunset: 4:29pm; 7 seconds less daylight today
Moonrise: 12:55pm; Moonset: 12:49am, waxing gibbous, 52% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for December 20, 2023
                Average            Record              Today
High             17                     40                     28
Low              -1                    -34                     26

Spellbound
by Emily Brontë

The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.
The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.
Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.

December 20 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• Go Caroling Day
• National Sangria Day
• Mudd Day
• International Human Solidarity Day
• Feast Day of Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne

December 20 Word Riddle
How much space should you give to fungi?*


December 20 Word Pun
Sven’s a generous person, but his presents get a bad wrap.


December 20 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
CHRISTMAS, n., A day set apart and consecrated to gluttony, drunkenness, maudlin sentiment, gift-taking, public dullness and domestic misbehavior.

    What! not religious? You should see, my pet,
    On every Christmas day how drunk I get!
    O, I'm a Christian—not a pious monk
    Honors the Master with so dead a drunk.


December 20 Etymology Word of the Week
solstice
/ˈsōl-stəs/ n., the time or date (twice each year) at which the sun reaches its maximum or minimum declination, marked by the longest and shortest days, from mid-13th century, from Old French solstice (13th century), from Latin solstitium "point at which the sun seems to stand still," especially the summer solstice, from sol "the sun" (from Proto-Indo-European root sawel- "the sun") + past participle stem of sistere "stand still, take a stand; to set, place, cause to stand" (from reduplicated form of Proto-Indo-European root sta- "to stand, make or be firm"). In early use, Englished as sunstead (late Old English sunstede).


December 20 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 1812 Grimm's Fairy Tales or Children's and Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm is first published.
• 1918 Eugene O'Neill's play Moon of the Caribees premieres.
• 1972 Neil Simon's play The Sunshine Boys premieres.
• 1985 Position of American Poet Laureate established.
• 1990 The world's first website and server go live at CERN.

December 20 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1729 Franz Xaver Thomas Pokorny, Czech composer.
• 1831 Helen Mabel Trevor, Irish landscape and genre painter.
• 1875 T. F. Powys, British novelist & short-story writer.
• 1911 Hortense Calisher, American novelist.
• 1951 Peter May, Scottish novelist.
• 1954 Sandra Cisneros, American writer.

Words-I-Looked-Up-This-Week Writer's Challenge
Write a story or pram from the following words:

• a chara: /uh-KHAR-uh/ n., Irish English, sed in the vocative, as a term of endearment: my friend, my dear; frequently as a polite form of address at the beginning of a letter, either on its own or following the name of the recipient.
• cozen: /ˈkəz-(ə)n/ v., trick or deceive; obtain by deception.
• dilettante: /ˌdil-ə-ˈtänt/ n., a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge.
• gamin: /ˈɡa-mən/ n., a street urchin.
• halidom: /ˈha-lə-dəm/ n., something held sacred.
• mummery: /ˈməm-ər-ē/ n., a performance by mummers.
• puckerooed: /puh-kuh-ROOD/ adj., New Zealand slang, useless, broken; finished.
• roost: /ro͞ost/ n., a place where birds regularly settle or congregate to rest at night, or where bats congregate to rest in the day.
• spatrify: /SPAT-rih-fahy/ v., to besmirch or befoul; to spat, to spot, to defile.
• whittawer: /wit-TAW-er/ n., a person who makes whitleather; a saddler or harness-maker, especially one who works in whitleather; a person who converts skins into white leather; a tawer.

December 20, 2023 Word-Wednesday Feature
New Zealand Slang
Two of my children are tramping about New Zealand this week. As foreshadowed in the Words-I-Looked-Up-This-Week Writer's Challenge above, this week we explore some of the slang I’ve learned from their travels. The Kiwi slang is a rich admixture that includes British, Australian, and Maori slangs, where pronunciation gives the words their flavor — especially the Maori. Happily, so much of the Kiwi slang is devoted to words of leisure, socialization, and having a good time, so I’m learning a lot of words this week. Here are but a few of the family-friendly ones:

Kiwi

• all good: /'ôl ɡo͝od/ exclam., that’s ok, never mind.
• bach: /bach/: n., holiday home.
• bring a plate: /'briNG ə plāt/ exclam., bring a shared dish of food to a party/gathering.
• buggered: /ˈbə-ɡərd/ adj., really tired.
• chilly bin: /ˈCHilē bin/ n., an insulated container for keeping food and drink cool or Esky.
• choice as: /'CHois az/ affirmative exclam., that’s great, awesome, sure.
• chur: /CHər/ n.exclam., used as an expression of good wishes on parting; goodbye.
• Esky: /ˈes-kē/ n., a popular New Zealand cooler brand name styled after the word Eskimo, an antonomasia for cooler.
• Hokey-pokey: /ˌhō-kē ˈpō-kē/ proper name, ice cream flavor (definitely try this while in New Zealand).
• jandals: /ˈjaNG-ɡ(ə)lz/ n., flip flops, thongs.
• jumper: /ˈjəm-pər/ n., sweater/pull over.
• knackered: /ˈnak-ərd/ adj., really tired.
• mate: /māt/ n., friend or enemy (depending on the speakers tone).
• no worries: /nō ˈwər-ēz/ exclam. you’re welcome.
• she’ll be right: /SHĒL bē rīt/ idiom, it will be fine, everything is ok, don’t worry about it.
• stubbie: /ˈstə-bē/ n., bottle of beer.
• stubbies: /ˈstə-bēz/n., short shorts.
• sweet as: /SWĒT az/ adj., great, good, fine.
• togs: /täɡz/ n., swimsuit.
• tramping: /ˈtramp-iNG/ v., hiking.
• wop wops: /'wäp wäps/ adj. the middle of nowhere; the sticks.
• yeah nah: /ye na/ idiom with a large variety of meanings, the most common one’s being: an acknowledgment that you have spoken, but disagree with what you said; a space filler within a sentence:

    “Sven thought the show was rubbish, didn’t you Sven?”
    “Yea, nah”

• you right?: /yo͞o 'rīt/ interrogative, Are you ok? Is everything ok?

Maori

• Haere mai: /high-RĀY mīy/ exclam., welcome.
• Haere ra: /high-RĀY rah/ exclam., goodbye.
• Ka kite ano: /ka-KĪ-tə a-'nō/ exclam., see you later (commonly used by news anchors).
• Kai: /kīy/ n., food.
• Ka pai: / ka PĪY/ exclam., good work.
• Kia ora: /kēy ŌR-a/ exclam., hello.
• Mana: /ma-NA/ exclam., respect.
• Whanau: /far-NŌ/ n., family.

From A Year with Rilke, December 20 Entry
Completion, from Letter to Anton Kippenberg, February 9, 1922

Dear friend, now at last I can breathe. Everything is doable now. For this was huge beyond imagining. In these days and nights I bellowed as I did back then at Duino. But even after that struggle I did not dream that such a storm of heart and spirit could come over me. That I survived it! That I survived it.

Enough. It is here.

I went outside in the cold moonlight and I caressed this little chateau Muzot as though it were a living thing—the old walls that harbored me—just as Duino once did.

Let this be called: The Duino Elegies.

Rilke: The Duino Elegies
by Maria Bozoky

Be better than yesterday,
learn a new word today,
try to stay out of trouble - at least until tomorrow,
and write when you have the time.





*As mushroom as possible.