Word-Wednesday for August 19, 2026

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for August 19, 2026, the thirty-third Wednesday of the year, the ninth Wednesday of summer, the third Wednesday of August, and the two-hundred thirty-first day of the year, with one-hundred thirty-four days remaining.


Wannaska Phenology Update for August 19, 2026
Ghost Pipe 
Monotropa uniflora is pushing its spooky heads up through the floors of Wannaskaland forests. Monotropa is Greek for "one turn" and uniflora is Latin for "one flowered" as there is one sharply curved stem for each single flower. Mipitahmaskihkih in Cree, and tmaqn in Mi'kmaq, there is no word for Ghost Pipe in Anishinaabe. The Cherokee, Cree, Mohegan, and Potawatomi, traditionally used the plant for its medicinal properties, such as easing nerve pain or calming spasms.

You'll find Ghost Pipe growing in clumps of two or more, with its fungal source nearby — usually waxy white, but some specimens have been described as having black flecks or pale pink coloration.

Ghost Pipe has been featured in several pieces from renowned American poet Emily Dickinson, including this:

White as an Indian Pipe
Red as a Cardinal Flower
Fabulous as a Moon at Noon
February Hour —

August 19 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


August 19 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Closed until further notice.


Earth/Moon Almanac for August 19, 2026
Sunrise: 6:22am; Sunset: 8:33pm; 3 minutes, 17 seconds less daylight today
Moonrise: 2:52pm; Moonset: 10:53pm, first quarter, 48% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for August 19, 2026
                Average            Record              Today
High             77                     91                     78
Low              54                    34                     56

Cherry Tomatoes
by Anne Higgins

Suddenly it is August again, so hot,
breathless heat.
I sit on the ground
in the garden of Carmel,
picking ripe cherry tomatoes
and eating them.
They are so ripe that the skin is split,
so warm and sweet
from the attentions of the sun,
the juice bursts in my mouth,
an ecstatic taste,
and I feel that I am in the mouth of summer,
sloshing in the saliva of August.
Hummingbirds halo me there,
in the great green silence,
and my own bursting heart
splits me with life.

August 19 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• National Potato Day
• National Soft Ice Cream Day
• National Aviation Day
• World Humanitarian Day

August 19 Word Pun
Sven’s friend, Jared, got caught stealing toilet paper. Sven thinks it’s a bum wrap.


August 19 Word Riddle
What do you call a reluctant potato?*


August 19 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
REACH, n., The radius of action of the human hand. The area within which it is possible (and customary) to gratify directly the propensity to provide.

    This is a truth, as old as the hills,
    That life and experience teach:
    The poor man suffers that keenest of ills,
    An impediment in his reach.
                                                —G.J.


August 19 Etymology Word of the Week
surname
/ˈsərˌnām/ n., a hereditary name common to all members of a family, as distinct from a given name, from circa 1300, "additional name; a name, title, or epithet added to a person's baptismal or Christian name," from sur "above" (from Latin super-) + name (n.). The word is modeled on or Englished from Anglo-French surnoun "surname" (early 14th century), a variant of Old French sornom, from sur "over" + nom "name." Surnoun also was used in Middle English. Also compare nickname.

Usually derived from a quality, achievement, or place, surnames tended to be passed down and become family names. Hence the word took the sense of "a family name, a last name" by late 14th century.

Hereditary surnames existed among Norman nobility in England in early 12th century., among the common people they began to be used 13th century., increasingly frequent until near universal by end of 14th century. The process was later in the north of England.

An Old English word for this was freonama, etymologically "free name;" Middle English also used toname, Old English tonama "surname, nickname," literally "to-name". The Lindisfarne Gospel (8th century) has Jesus asking the demon for his toname (a fiend would have no proper name), and the answer (Mark v.9): "Here (legion) tonoma me is, forðon moniʒ we sindon."

The verb is attested from 1510s, "give an additional name to." Related: Surnamed.


August 19 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 1665 World's "most mysterious book", a codex known as the Voynich manuscript, written in an unknown script, is sent by a rector of Prague University to a Jesuit scholar (now in Yale University Library and still undeciphered) in 1666.
• 1725 J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, BWV 137, a cantata setting the unchanged text of Neander's hymn.
• 1839 Louis Daguerre's daguerreotype photographic process with complete working instructions is published "free to the world" in Paris as a gift from the French government.
• 1897 First electric taxis drive in London.
• 1912 Percy Grainger's orchestral piece Shepherd's Hey premieres.
• 1914 Elmer Rice's play On Trial premieres.
• 1918 Irving Berlin's military musical revue Yip Yip Yaphank opens at the Century Theatre.
• 1980 Willy Russell's play Educating Rita premieres.
• 2018 N. K. Jemisin becomes the first author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel in three consecutive years with her work The Stone Sky; she is also the first to win for all three novels in a trilogy.

August 19 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1398 Marqués de Santillana, Castilian poet.
• 1570 Salamone Rossi, Italian violinist and composer.
• 1609 Jan Fyt, Flemish painter.
• 1621 Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Dutch painter.
• 1631 John Dryden, English poet.
• 1674 František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect.
• 1686 Antonio Tonelli, Italian cellist and composer.
• 1686 Eustace Budgell, English writer .
• 1689 Samuel Richardson, English novelist.
• 1737 Johann Georg Christoph Schetky, German-Scottish cellist and composer.
• 1780 Pierre-Jean de Béranger, French poet.
• 1815 Harriette Newell Woods Baker, American children's book writer.
• 1824 Georg Goltermann, German cellist and composer.
• 1848 Gustave Caillebotte, French painter.
• 1860 John Kane, Scottish-American primitivist painter.
• 1864 Adolf Černý, Czech writer.
• 1881 George Enescu, Romanian composer.
• 1886 Robert Heger, German composer.
• 1887 Rancis Ledwidge, Irish poet.
• 1890 Yves Alix, French painter and graphic artist.
• 1895 Arnoldt Bronnen, Austrian playwright.
• 1896 Eino Linnala, Finnish composer.
• 1896 Walter Lang, Swiss composer.
• 1902 Ogden Nash, American poet.
• 1902 Vladimir Kirshon, Russian playwright.
• 1903 James Gould Cozzens, American novelist.
• 1905 Jacques de Menasce, Austrian-American composer.
• 1907 Zygmunt Mycielski, Polish composer.
• 1907 Jiří Srnka, Czech composer.
• 1908 Al Morgan, American jazz double-bassist.
• 1909 Jerzy Andrzejewski, Polish writer.
• 1920 Lucila Engels-Boskaljon, Curacao-Dutch painter.
• 1920 Paul Kont, Austrian composer.
• 1921 Gene Roddenberry, American creator of Star Trek.
• 1925 Claude Gauvreau, Canadian playwright and poet.
• 1928 Shiv Prasaad Singh, Indian Hindi writer.
• 1930 David G. Compton, British-American writer science fiction novels.
• 1930 Frank McCourt, Irish-American Pulitzer Prize winning author.
• 1931 (Dorothy) "Dot" Miles (née Squire), Welsh, teacher, sign-language poetry pioneer.
• 1944 Bodil Malmsten, Swedish writer.
• 1944 Jack Canfield, American author.
• 1948 Petr Mikeš, Czech poet.
• 1950 Jennie Bond, English author.
• 1950 Sudha Murty, Indian author.
• 1953 Luis Muñoz, Costa Rican jazz percussionist, composer.
• 1957 Li-Young Lee, Indonesia-born American poet.
• 1965 Johan Botha, South African operatic tenor.
• 1978 Jakub Dvorský, Czech artist.
• 1981 Kevin Power, Irish writer.
• 1988 Veronica Roth, American writer.
• 2335 William T. Riker, Fictional character and Starfleet officer in Star Trek: The Next Generation, born in Valdez, Alaska.

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

• acersecomic: /uh-ser-suh-KOM-ik/ n., a person whose hair has never been cut.
• bally: /BAL-ē/ adj., used to express anger, annoyance, or shock, or simply for emphasis.
• dúshlán: /DOO-hlawn/ n., IRISH, a challenge.
• epiphytic: /eh-puh-FIH-tik/ adj., growing on top of another plant for physical support without taking food or water from it.
• frass: /fras/ n., fine powdery refuse or fragile perforated wood produced by the activity of boring insects; the excrement of insect larvae.
• impudicity: /im-pyoo-DIS-ih-tee/ n., a lack of humility or shame; immodesty.
• muckibus: /MUK-ih-buhs/ adj., tipsy, slightly drunk, or drunkenly sentimental.
• numpty: /NəM(P)-tē/ n., a stupid or ineffectual person.
• prittle: v., to chatter or talk idly; n., silly or meaningless babble.
• saleing: /SAY-ling/ v., the action or practice of shopping for items which have been reduced in price; bargain hunting in the sales.

August 19, 2026 Word-Wednesday Feature
Mushroom Words
/MəSH-ro͝om/ n., the fruiting body of certain fungi, typically having the form of a domed cap on a stalk, with gills on the underside of the cap, from mid-15th century, muscheron, musseroun (attested 1327 as a surname, John Mussheron), from Anglo-French musherun, Old French meisseron (11th century, Modern French mousseron), perhaps from Late Latin mussirionem (nominative mussirio), though this might as well be borrowed from French. Today Word-Wednesday explores the many words associated with this fungi form so prevalent in our landscapes this time of year. 

Interestingly, fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants — physiologically and genetically. The common thread is their cell walls of chitin: /KĪ-tn/ n., a fibrous substance consisting of polysaccharides and forming the major constituent in the exoskeleton of arthropods and the cell walls of fungi. Here are the terms used for each major phylum [/FĪ-ləm/ n., a principal taxonomic category that ranks above class and below kingdom] of the plant and animal kingdoms:

KINGDOM ANIMALIA PHYLA

• Annelida: Segmented worms, like earthworms and leeches.
• Arthropoda: Arthropods, the largest phylum including insects, spiders, and crabs, featuring jointed legs and exoskeletons.
• Chordata: Chordates, which include all vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, Wannaskans) and a few primitive marine animals.
• Cnidaria: Jellyfish, corals, and hydras, which have stinging cells and radial symmetry.
• Echinodermata: Echinoderms, like starfish and sea urchins, which have spiny skin and radial symmetry as adults.
• Mollusca: Mollusks, such as snails, clams, and squids, which often have soft bodies and hard shells.
• Nematoda: Roundworms, which are small, unsegmented worms pointed at both ends.
• Platyhelminthes: Flatworms, which have soft, unsegmented, flat bodies.
• Porifera: Sponges, which are simple, pore-bearing, water-dwelling creatures without true tissues.

KINGDOM PLANTAE PHYLA

• Bryophyta: Mosses, liverworts, and hornworts, which are small, non-vascular plants needing moist areas.
• Lycopodiophyta: Clubmosses and spike mosses, which are primitive seedless vascular plants.
• Magnoliophyta (Anthophyta): Flowering plants (angiosperms), which produce enclosed seeds within fruits and make up the vast majority of modern plant species.
• Pinophyta (Coniferophyta): Conifers like pines, firs, and spruces, which produce seeds in cones (gymnosperms).
• Polypodiophyta (Monilophyta): Ferns and horsetails, which are vascular plants that reproduce via spores instead of seeds.

KINDOM FUNGI PHYLA

• Basidiomycota: large and diverse phylum of fungi (kingdom Fungi) that includes jelly and shelf fungi; mushrooms, puffballs, and stinkhorns; certain yeasts; and the rusts and smuts.

The life form that we call "mushrooms" have two main components: (a) hyphae [plural of hypha: /HĪ-fə/ n., each of the branching filaments that make up the mycelium of a fungus] that are underground or in the wood upon which they grow, and where mycelium /mī-SĒL-ē-əm/ n., is the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a network of fine white filaments, which many homo sapiens refer to as "roots"; and (b) fruit, which includes all the parts that appear above the surface of the ground or wood (from bottom to top):

• volva: /VÄL-və/ n., a veil which encloses the fruiting body, often persisting after rupture as a sheath at the base of the stalk.
• stipe: /stīp/ n., a stalk or stem, especially the stem of a seaweed or fungus.
• annulus: /AN-yə-ləs/ n., a ring-shaped object, structure, or region.
• gill: /gil/ n., the vertical plates arranged radially on the underside of mushrooms and many toadstools.
• cap: /kap/ n., the broad upper part of the fruiting body of most mushrooms and toadstools, at the top of a stem and bearing gills or pores.

Not all mushrooms have an annulus or gills, but all mushrooms produce spores to propagate. Gill-alternatives include pores, tubes, teeth, spines, smooth or wrinkled surfaces, or in the case of puffballs - enclosed chambers.

Besides the scientific names and Latin-derived words for mushroom parts, people get to develop their own terms for these delicious fungi; here are just a few playful mushroom names:

• Barometer Earthstar
• Bearded Tooth Mushroom
• Butt Rot Fungi
• Bug Sputnik
• Cinnamon Jelly Baby
• Dead Man's Fingers
• Dead Molls Fingers
• Destroying Angel
• Dewdrop Dapperling
• Festina Lente
• Fried Chicken Mushroom
• Golden Navel
• Hair Sedge Smut
• Hairy Nuts Disco
• Hot Lips
• King Alfred’s cakes
• Lemon Disco
• Midnight Disco
• Old Man of the Woods
• Octopus Stinkhorn
• Pancake Crust
• Pear-shaped Wolf-fart Puffball
• Pink Disco
• Plums and Custard
• Powdery Piggyback
• Scurfy
• Shameless Phallus
• Snicklfritz
• Sven's Svfortitood
• The Bleeding Tooth Fungus
• The Devil’s Cigar
• The Drumstick Truffle Club
• The Gassy Webcap
• The Humpback
• The Pretender
• The Vomiter
• Twiglet
• Ula’s Umderwheretowhomtheummmbelltollicus
• Weeping Tooth Crust
• Witch’s Butter
• Wolf Fart

In case you haven't already guessed by some of these names — yes, some mushrooms can affect the digestive processes and/or thinking of homo sapiens. If you're in the mood or wish to exercise some James Joycean creativity, go to the fungopark and come up with your own name for one of your favorite mushrooms. 

From A Year with Rilke, August 19 Entry
Erect No Gravestone, from Sonnets to Orpheus I, V

Erect no gravestone. Just let the rose
bloom every year for him.
For this is Orpheus: metamorphosis
into one thing, then another.

We need not search for other names.
It is Orpheus in the singing, once and for all time.
He comes and goes. Is it not enough
that sometimes he outlasts a bowl of roses?

Oh, if you could understand—he has no choice but to disappear,
even should he long to stay. As his song
exceeds the present moment,

so is he already gone where we cannot follow.
The lyre's strings do not hold back his hands.
It is in moving farther on that he obeys.

Roses and Mimosa
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.






*A hesitater.