Word-Wednesday for December 17, 2025

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for December 17, 2025, the twenty-seventh Wednesday of the year, the thirteenth Wednesday of fall, the third Wednesday of December, and the three-hundred fifty-first day of the year, with fourteen days remaining.

 
Wannaska Phenology Update for December 17, 2025
Pine Siskin
From the same family as the Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin, Spinus pinus - another ozaawaabineshiins in Anishinaabe, is a North American bird in the finch family. It is a migratory bird with an extremely sporadic winter range — breeding across central Canada, but irrupting into Wannaska for winter fun and food. Although Pine Siskins prefer evergreen or mixed evergreen and deciduous forests with open canopies, they are opportunistic and adaptable in their search for seeds. They'll forage in weedy fields, scrubby thickets, or backyards and gardens. And they'll flock around feeders, especially thistle feeders. The male's song is a slow, soft, "sweetly whistled warble or trill" that includes a mix of notes and is generally described as having a nasal or wheezy quality, including, "zreeeeeeet", "zwee", "psee", and "tit-a-tit".

December 17 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


December 17 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily, occasionally.


Earth/Moon Almanac for December 17, 2025
Sunrise: 8:12am; Sunset: 4:28pm; 21 seconds less daylight today
Moonrise: 6:21am; Moonset: 2:18pm, waning crescent, 5% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for December 17, 2025
                Average            Record              Today
High             16                     49                     32
Low               0                    -41                     16

Runny Nose Romance
by Mari Felices

You're like a runny nose, unsure and sly,
Will you stay for good or say goodbye?
I try to hold you, sniff you back,
But in every tug throws me off track.

My head is aching, tears now flow,
From loving you and saying “no.”
I want you here, yes, I truly do,
But pain keeps knocking, then what should I do?

If love means weakness, sleepless nights,
Then maybe I’ll give up, all the fights.
I’ll blow you out, release the strain,
And I will never let you back again.

No matter how you plead or cry,
I’ll wave you off, I won’t ask why.
Winter’s here, the cold winds bite,
But I’ll be strong, I’ll win this fight.

So laugh I must, through sniff and tear,
This emo time, both sad and dear.
A love like mucus, strange but true,
I held too long, now I’ll bid adieu.

December 17 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• National Say It Now Day
• National Maple Syrup Day
• Wright Brothers Day
• International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

December 17 Word Pun
Pre- means before, and post- means after.
Using both at the same time would be preposterous.


December 17 Word Riddle
The second time Hansel and Gretel found a house made of cookies and candy, they sent someone else in to test-nibble first. By what name is this technique now known?*


December 17 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
NECTAR, n., A drink served at banquets of the Olympian deities. The secret of its preparation is lost, but the modern Kentuckians believe that they come pretty near to a knowledge of its chief ingredient.

    Juno drank a cup of nectar,
    But the draught did not affect her.
    Juno drank a cup of rye—
    Then she bade herself good-bye.
                    —J.G.


December 17 Etymology Word of the Week
tinsel
/TIN(T)s(ə)l/ n., a form of decoration consisting of thin strips of shiny metal foil, from mid-15th century, kind of cloth made with interwoven gold or silver thread, from Anglo-French tencele, Old French estencele, estincelle "spark, spangle" (see stencil (n.)). "In 14-15th century France, the s of es- had long been mute" [OED]. The meaning "very thin sheets or strips of shiny metallic substance (as tin) cut in strips or threads" is recorded from 1590s. Used especially for an inexpensive, sparkling effect, hence the figurative sense of "anything showy with little real worth, superficial glitter," attested by 1650s, suggested from 1590s. Tinsey (1680s) was a popular corruption of it. Related: Tinselly; tinselry. Tinseltown for "Hollywood" is by 1972. As a verb, "adorn with tinsel," literal or figurative, from 1590s. Related: Tinseled; tinselled; tinseling; tinselling.


December 17 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 1790 Aztec calendar stone discovered in Mexico City.
• 1865 Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8, Unfinished Symphony, premieres.
• 1887 Georges Feydeau's Tailleur Pour Dames premieres.
• 1892 Tchaikovski's ballet Casse-noisette premieres.
• 1902 Frank Wedekind's play Der Erdgeist premieres.
• 1953 Dmitri Shostakovich's 10th Symphony premieres.
• 2018 Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's word of the year is "justice".

December 17 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1685 Thomas Tickell, English writer and poet.
• 1706 Gabrielle Chôtelet [La belle Emilie], French writer (Voltaire).
• 1734 Georg Peter Weimar, German cantor and composer.
• 1749 Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer.
• 1770 Johann Friedrich Schubert, German composer.
• 1796 Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist.
• 1800 Gergely Czuczor, Hungarian-Czech poet.
• 1807 John Greenleaf Whittier, American Quaker poet.
• 1821 Frederick West Lander, American poet.
• 1830 Jules de Goncourt, French novelist.
• 1838 Berthold Tours, Dutch-English composer.
• 1840 C. F. E. Horneman, Danish composer.
• 1847 Émile Faguet, French writer.
• 1848 Frederick Grant Gleason, American composer.
• 1859 Paul César Helleu, French artist.
• 1863 Ion Vidu, Romanian composer.
• 1864 (John) Felix Körling, Swedish composer.
• 1869 Nikolai Ivanovich Kazanli, Russian composer.
• 1873 Ford Madox Ford [Hueffer], British novelist.
• 1881 Jan Sluyters, Dutch painter.
• 1884 Stanislaus Joyce, Irish writer.
• 1887 Josef Lada, Czech painter and writer.
• 1894 Hans Henny Jahnn, German playwright.
• 1900 Lucijan Marija Škerjajanc, Slovene pianist, composer.
• 1902 Albert Drach, Austrian-Jewish writer.
• 1904 Paul Cadmus, American etcher and painter.
• 1905 Érico Veríssimo, Brazilian writer.
• 1906 Fernando Lopes-Graça, Portuguese composer.
• 1908 William Brocklesby Wordsworth, English composer.
• 1910 (Donnell) "Spade" Cooley, American Western swing fiddler.
• 1916 Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer.
• 1916 Toon Hermans, Dutch poet.
• 1926 Jeremy Brooks, English writer.
• 1930 Makoto Moroi, Japanese composer.
• 1931 Yvonne Keuls [Bamberg], Dutch writer.
• 1933 Paul Snoek [Edm Schietekat], Belgian poet.
• 1936 Frank Martinus Arion [Frank Efraim Martinus], Curaçaoan poet.
• 1937 John Kennedy Toole, American novelist.
• 1943 William Brooks, American composer.
• 1944 Giedrė Lukšaitė-Mrázková, Lithuanian–Czech harpsichord player.
• 1944 Jack L. Chalker, American science fiction author.
• 1945 Jacqueline Wilson, English author.

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

• commorth: /KUM-orth/ WELSH, n., a contribution or collection made or taken in aid or as a subsidy; spec. a tribute or homage (typically of livestock) periodically rendered by a tenant to a lord; (also) a contribution paid on certain occasions such as marriages, a new priest's first mass, or in expiation for a crime. Also in early use: a meeting or gathering at which such a contribution is collected.
• fart: /fart/ n., a small, baked confection with a sweet spiced filling and a crisp pastry case, typically served as a delicacy at feasts.
• grittle: /GRID-uhl/ v., to crush or coarsely grind (a grain or pulse).
• löyly: /LUR-yuh/ n., FINNISH, The life force of the sauna.
• maar: /mär/ n., a broad, shallow crater, typically filled by a lake, formed by a volcanic eruption with little lava.
• muskeg: /Mə-skeɡ/ n., a North American swamp or bog consisting of a mixture of water and partly dead vegetation, frequently covered by a layer of sphagnum or other mosses.
• olm: /ōlm/ n., a blind, cave-dwelling salamander. 
• paillette: /pə-LET/ n., a piece of glittering material used to ornament clothing; a spangle.
• roundel: /ROUN-d(ə)l/ n., a small disk, especially a decorative medallion; a short poem consisting of three stanzas of three lines each, rhyming alternately, with the opening words repeated as a refrain after the first and third stanzas. 
• scutch: /skəch/ v., to separate the woody fiber from (flax or hemp) by beating; n., a bricklayer's hammer for cutting, trimming, and dressing bricks.

December 17, 2025 Word-Wednesday Feature
British Expressions
All these seven years, and Word-Wednesday hasn't explored British expressions. We won't bore you with Bob's your uncle, fiver, or C of E. Instead we'll do a rundown of the common British expressions that should be part of the identifiable Yank vocabulary. Here are the British expressions and American translations:

• absobloodylootly: exclam., YES!
• arse-over-tit: v., to fall down.
• bespoke: adj., custom made.
• bits and bobs: n., various things.
• bog roll: n., toilet paper.
• bugger: n., jerk.
• chuffed: adj., proud.
• cock-up: v., to screw up.
• daft cow: n., idiot.
• do: n., party.
• dodgy: adj., suspicious.
• dog's bollocks: adj., awesome.
• dog's dinner: adj., dressed nicely.
• fancy: v., to like.
• fortnight: n., two weeks.
• give you a bell: v., to call you.
• gobsmacked: adj., amazed.
• kip: v., to sleep or nap.
• knackered: adj., tired.
• know your onions: v., to be knowledgable.
• I'm off to Bedfordshire: v., to go to bed.
• lost the plot: v., to go crazy.
• nicked: adj., stolen.
• nutter: n., a crazy person.
• pants: n., panties.
• pissed: adj., inebriated.
• punter: n., customer.
• scouser: n., someone from Liverpool.
• skive: v., to be lazy or avoid doing work.
• toff: n., upper class person.
• wanker: n., idiot.
• whinge: v., to wine.
• wicked: adj., cool.
• wonky: adj., not right.

From A Year with Rilke, December 17 Entry
Along with the Laughter, from The Book of Hours II, 10

Lovers.
Awakening desire,
make a place where pain can enter.
That's how we grow.

Along with their laughter,
lovers bring suffering
and longings that had slept and now awaken
to weep in a stranger's arms.

Lovers in Pink
by Marc Chagall

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.






*Munch Housen by Proxy.