Dear readers:

We are dedicating the postings over the next several days to the students at Sandy Bank School (and everyone else of course) to boost their use of language.

What do the following words have in common?
• squiggle
• flare
• breakfast
• glimmer
• glitz


DID YOU GUESS?
Yes, they are called Portmanteau
port•man•teau

A portmanteau (plural: portmanteaus or portmanteaux) is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or parts of words to give a combined meaning. A folk usage of portmanteau refers to a word that is formed by combining both sounds and meanings from two or more words (e.g. 'animatronics' from 'animation' and 'electronics'). Typically, portmanteau words are neologisms. One of the most well-known examples is cyborg, a term which is commonly used to refer to a cybernetic organism.

Here are some examples:
• Brunch (breakfast + lunch)
• chocoholic (chocolate + alcoholic)
• infotainment (information + entertainment)
• edutainment (education + entertainment)
• dancercize (dance + exercise)
• KnowledgeBase? - Knowledge + Database -
• modem - modulate + demodulate
• chortle - chuckle + snort
• smog - smoke + fog
• squiggle - squirm, wiggle
• flare - flame, glare
• flounder - flounce, founder
• glimmer - gleam, shimmer
• glitz - glamour, ritz
• smash - smack, mash

Can you locate more portmanteaus?

Great job Dr.Honeyghan.

I am in my forties and found this very interesting.One is never too old to learn.

You've probably seen some of these sentences before:

• The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.
• Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
• How quickly daft jumping zebras vex.
• Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.


DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY ARE CALLED?

• They are called pangrams (sentences that use every letter of the alphabet).
Perfect Pangrams (exactly 26 letters) have been composed, but none makes good sense, being rather more a string of obscure words than a sentence.
Listed below you will find a number of English pangrams arranged in descending order of length. No pangrams over twice the length of the alphabet (i.e. 52 letters) have been included.
• (50) We promptly judged antique ivory buckles for the next prize.
• (49) How razorback jumping frogs can level six piqued gymnasts.
• (48) Sixty zippers were quickly picked from the woven jute bag.
• (46) Crazy Fredrick bought many very exquisite opal jewels.
• (36) Jump by vow of quick, lazy strength in Oxford.
• (33) The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.
• (32) Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
• (30) How quickly daft jumping zebras vex.
• (29) Sphinx of black quartz: judge my vow.
• (29) Quick zephyrs blow, vexing daft Jim.
• (28) Waltz, nymph, for quic

WHAT DO THESE WORDS HAVE IN COMMON?
• Mumble
• Murmur
• Ping pong
• Plop
• Poof
• Pop
• Splash



DID YOU GUESS?

Yes, they are called "Onomatopoeia"

In rhetoric, linguistics and poetry, onomatopoeia (also spelled onomatopia) is a figure of speech that employs a word, or occasionally, a grouping of words, that imitates the sound it is describing, and thus suggests its source object, such as "bang" or "click", or animal such as "moo", "quack" or "meow".
Examples and uses of onomatopoeia
[edit] Everyday sounds
Some other very common English-language examples include:
• Bang
• Beep
• Boing
• Bonk
• Boom
• Burp
• Buzz
• Clang
• Cuckoo
• Hiccup
• Hiss
• Hush
• Ka-boom
• Mumble
• Murmur
• Ping pong
• Plop
• Poof
• Pop
• Splash
• Splosh
• Splish
• Zap
• rang
• ring
• bing
• wham

Machine sounds
Aside from the above, machines are usually described with:
• Automobile - "honk" or "beep-beep" for the horn, "vroom" for the engine, "screech" for the tires
• Train - "clickety-clack" crossing rail splices (when tracks were individual sections, not welded), "choo-choo" or chuga-chuga" for the steam pistons, "choo-choo" or "woo-wooo" for the whistle.
• Cash register - "ka-ching"/"ca-ching"/"cha-ching"/"che-ching"/"ker-ching"
• Jet - "whoosh"
• Electric guitar power chord - "Kerrang"
Machine - "Pocketta-pocketta" Animal sounds
For animal sounds, these words are typically used in English:
• Bird - "chirp", "tweet"
o Chicken - "cluck", "cackle", "bawk", "bwak", "buck", "puckuck"
o Crow - "caw"
o Dove - "coo", "roo-coo"
o Duck - "quack"
o Owl - "whoo", "hoo" or "hoot"
o Rooster - "cock-a-doodle-doo"
o Turkey - "gobble"
• Insects - "buzz"
o Bee - "buzz", "bzzz"
• Mammals
o Buffalo - "waagh"
o Cat - "meow" (U.S.)/"miow" (UK), "purr"
Lion - "roar", "rawr"
o Cow - "moo"
o Dog - "woof", "ruff", "arf", "grrr", "bow-wow" (see bark)
o Dolphin - "click"
o Donkey - "hee-haw"
o Horse - "neigh", "whinny", "snort"
o Human - "prattle", "blab", "blah blah", "murmur", "brouhaha", "yadda yadda", "ra ra ra", "squeee", "sarumph", "d'oh!"
o Mouse/Rat - "squeak"
o Pig - "oink", "wee-wee-wee", "squeal", "soo-wee"
o Sheep/"baa"
o Goat /" Maa"
o Wolf - "howl", "arooo"
o Rhinocerous - "erooooo"
• Reptiles
o Snake - "hiss", "sss"
• Amphibians
o Frog - "ribbit", "croak" (Note: many species of frog make different

Read these words:

MOM
MOM
POP
DAD
SIS

WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON?
Yes, they are all relatives, but look at these:

Toot
pip

Did you guess? They are called “Palindromes”. A palindrome is a word, phrase, number or other sequence of units (such as a strand of DNA) that has the property of reading the same in either direction (the adjustment of punctuation and spaces between words is generally permitted). The word "palindrome" was coined from Greek roots.

level
Hannah
rotor
kayak
eye
racecar
nun
civic
deed
peep
noon
did
wow

2002 is a palindrome number; 2112 will be the next; 911 is a palindrome number in Roman numeral IXXI
Palindrome sentence: Blessed are they that believe they are blessed.

Now, try to come up with some palindromes of your own.

MNEMONICS

Mnemonics are devices to help us remember (aide memoire or memory aide). They come in many varieties and flavours, and can aid memorisation of many types of information.

Order of colours in the rainbow, or visual spectrum:
(Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet)
"Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain."
_______________________________________________
Order of taxonomy in biology:
(Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species)
"Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach."
_________________________________________________
Order of geological time periods:
(Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Recent)

"Cows Often Sit Down Carefully. Perhaps Their Joints Creak?"
"Persistent Early Oiling Might Prevent Painful Rheumatism."
________________________________________________
Order of Mohs hardness scale, from 1 to 10:
(Talc, Gypsum, Calcite, Fluorite, Apatite, Orthoclase feldspar, Quartz, Topaz, Corundum, Diamond)
"Toronto Girls Can Flirt, And Other Queer Things Can Do."
__________________________________________________
The order of sharps in music, called the "circle of fifths":
(F, C, G, D, A, E, B)
"Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle."
And in reverse for flat keys the mnemonic can be neatly reversed:
"Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father."
________________________________________________
The notes represented by the lines on the treble clef stave (bottom to top):
(E, G, B, D, F)
"Every Good Boy Deserves Favour."
And the notes represented by the spaces between the lines:
(F, A, C, E)
"Furry Animals Cook Excellently." Or just the word FACE
________________________________________________
The notes represented by the lines on the bass clef stave (bottom to top):
(G, B, D, F, A)
"Good Boys Do Fine, Always."
And the notes represented by the spaces between the lines:
(A, C, E, G)
"All Cows Eat Grass."
__________________________________________________
The order of planets in average distance from the Sun:
(Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)
My Very Easy Method: Just Set Up Nine Planets.

Order of mathematical operations

Please excuse my dear Aunty Sally

Parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition and subtraction

Thank you Karen

Dr. Honeyghan

Thank you for thanking me. Your inspirational and educational postings are greatly appreciated and your humilty is greatly admired.

SEE HOW FAST CAN YOU READ THE FOLLOWING.

THEY ARE CALLED TONGUE TWISTERS.
A tongue twister is a phrase, sentence or rhyme that presents difficulties when spoken because it contains similar sounds. To get the full effect of a tongue twister you should try to repeat it several times, as quickly as possible, without stumbling or mispronouncing.

Tongue twisters have long been a popular form of wordplay, particularly for schoolchildren, but they also have a more serious side - being used in elocution teaching and in the treatment of some speech defects.

The collection of tongue twisters presented here, however, is purely for entertainment, and consists of many old favorites as well as some new ones. Try to tackle tricksy tongue twisters today:
_____________________________________________
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper Picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
She sells seashells by the seashore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.
_________________________
I'm not the pheasant plucker,
I'm the pheasant plucker's mate.
I'm only plucking pheasants
'Cause the pheasant plucker's late.

__________________________________

I need not your needles, they're needless to me;
For kneading of noodles, 'twere needless, you see;
But did my neat knickers but need to be kneed,
I then should have need of your needles indeed.
_________________________________

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
And chuck as much as a woodchuck would
If a woodchuck could chuck wood.
________________________________
Mr. See owned a saw.
And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw.
Now See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw
Before Soar saw See,
Which made Soar sore.
Had Soar seen See's saw
Before See sawed Soar's seesaw,
See's saw would not have sawed
Soar's seesaw.
So See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw.
But it was sad to see Soar so sore
Just because See's saw sawed
Soar's seesaw!
_____________________________


Betty Botter bought some butter,
"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
It will make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter -
That would make my batter better."
So she bought a bit of butter,
Better than her bitter butter,
And she baked it in her batter,
And the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
Bought a bit of better butter.
________________________________

A tree toad loved a she-toad
Who lived up in a tree.
He was a two-toed tree toad
But a three-toed toad was she.
The two-toed tree toad tried to win
The three-toed she-toad's heart,
For the two-toed tree toad loved the ground
That the three-toed tree toad trod.
But the two-toed tree toad tried in vain.
He couldn't please her whim.
From her tree toad bower
With her three-toed power
The she-toad vetoed him.
__________________________


Do you know any other popular tongue twisters? Try to create one of your own. It doesn't have to be as long--just a line or so.

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS LIST AND NOTICE WHAT EACH COMBINNATION OF WORDS IS
DOING:

open secret
larger half
clearly confused
act naturally
alone together
sweet tart

WHAT ARE THEY CALLED? DID YOU GUESS?
They are called “OXYMORONS”. Oxymorons (or oxymora) are literary figures of speech usually composed of a pair of neighboring contradictory words (often within a sentence). However this is not always the case. The Webster Dictionary
defines oxymoron as "a combination of contradictory or incongruous
words".

Here are some more:

Death benefits
Living dead
Freezer burn
Small crowd
Deafening silence
Jumbo shrimp
Original copy
Dry wine
Terribly pleased
Sweet sorrow
Soft rock
Childproof
Friendly argument
Guest host
Passive aggression
Live recording
Taped live
Student teacher
Clearly misunderstood
Work party
Act naturally
New classic
Found missing
Plastic glasses
Genuine imitation
Sure bet
Good grief
Same difference
Definite maybe
Pretty ugly
Twelve-ounce pound cake
Almost exactly
Alone together
Working vacation
Silent scream
Exact estimate
found missing
deafening silence
seriously funny
living dead
tragic comedy
unbiased opinion
virtual reality
Almost exactly
minor crisis
extinct life
genuine imitation
only choice
freezer burn
free love
working holiday
rolling stop

CAN YOU ADD SOME MORE OXYMORONS Of Your own?

"More perfect (union)" is another. Lincoln had the right idea, but his speechwriter used poor word choice!

Just want to say what a wonderful addition this is to the site, Dr. H. This is one of the reasons Rebecca and I created TBNet...to educate those in the community.

Could I suggest opening a new thread for these. It might help keep things more organized. Email me if you need help on making a new one.

Respect due,
Eric

My favorite:

eschew obfuscation

Are you the Eric that went to Purdue University

Here's another tongue twister:

"A black bug blead black blood."

Joe:

Yes, I attended Purdue.

If this is about that library book, I swear I returned it back in '92!

Can you spot the word that is used inappropriately in the following sentences? And what are they called?

•Flying saucers are just an optical conclusion.
•A rolling stone gathers no moths.
•Let's get down to brass roots.
•Their father was some kind of civil serpent.
•The flood damage was so bad they had to evaporate the city.

Did you guess? The words are conclusion, brass, serpent, evaporate, and they are called Malapropisms

In his 1775 Restoration comedy, The Rivals, Richard Sheridan introduced a humorous character by the name of Mrs. Malaprop. The name is derived from the French mal ΰ propos, which means inappropriate (we also have the word malapropos in English), and describes the manner in which she used many words in her speech. The self-educated Mrs. Malaprop was always substituting a similar-sounding word for the word that she actually intended, often with the consequence of a hilariously nonsensical sentence. The name Malaprop has been immortalised in the form of the malapropism, any sentence in which one word has been used incorrectly in place of another. These slips are sometimes divided into two broad classes: classical malapropisms, in which the mistakes are due to ignorance (as in the case of Mrs. Malaprop), and temporary slips of the tongue, in which the intended word is known by the speaker, but has been inadvertently replaced by another.

Famous Malapropisms

Famous people are far from immune to making mistakes. Unfortunately for them, unlike us "nobodies", when they come out with a hilarious slip of the tongue it is often recorded for posterity on pages like this! Below is a selection of celebrity malapropisms – from politicians, TV stars, and sports personalities. Can you spot the inappropriately used word in each quotation?

•"Your ambition - is that right - is to abseil across the English channel?"
Cilla Black

•"It is beyond my apprehension."
Danny Ozark, baseball team manager

•"Listen to the blabbing brook."
Norm Crosby

•"This is unparalyzed in the state's history."
Gib Lewis, Texas Speaker of the House

•"She's really tough; she's remorseful."
David Moorcroft

•"And then he [Mike Tyson] will have only channel vision."
Frank Bruno, boxer

•"Cardial - as in cardial arrest."
Eve Pollard

•"Marie Scott... has really plummeted to the top."
Alan Weeks

•"He's going up and down like a metronome."
Ron Pickering

•"He's on 90... 10 away from that mythical figure."
Trevor Bailey, cricket commentator

•"Unless somebody can pull a miracle out of the fire, Somerset are cruising into the semi-final."
Fred Trueman

•"We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile."
George W. Bush

•"The police are not here to create disorder, they're here to preserve disorder."
Richard Daley, former Chicago mayor

•"He was a man of great statue."
Thomas Menino, Boston mayor

•"Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child."
Dan Quayle, Vice President

•"Well, that was a cliff-dweller."
Wes Westrum, about a close baseball game

•"If Gower had stopped that [cricket ball] he would have decapitated his hand."
Farokh Engineer

•"We seem to have unleased a hornet's nest."
Valerie Singleton

•"This series has been swings and pendulums all the way through."
Trevor Bailey, cricket commentator

•"Be sure and put some of those neutrons on it."
Mike Smith, ordering a salad at a restaurant

•"It's got lots of installation."
Mike Smith, describing his new coat

Hey Eric, and Joe,I went to Purdue (Homecoming-Blackout) with Minnesota in September, great game.

"Earn your success based on service to others, not at the expense of others."
~H. Jackson Brown~

Hey readers:

I'm in Jamaica. Came to support Miss Dolly's and Maas Will's families as they mourn the deaths of loved ones. While we are at it, how about a taste of good old Jamaican folk song. Remember this one?

Moon shine tonight

Moon shine tonight come mek we dance and sing
Moon shine tonight come mek we dance and sing

Mi deh rock so
You deh rock so
Under banyan tree
Mi deh rock so
You deh rock so
Under banyan tree


Ladies may curts and gentleman may bow
Ladies may curts and gentleman may bow

Mi deh rock so
You deh rock so
Under banyan tree
Mi deh rock so
You deh rock so
Under banyan tree


Come we join hands and mek we dance around and sing
Come we join hands and mek we dance around and sing


Mi deh rock so
You deh rock so
Under banyan tree
Mi deh rock so
You deh rock so
Under banyan tree

I enjoy your poems everyday, please post the one about REASONS, people comes into your life for a reason,for a season.....

Hi Canada:
I hope this is the poem you are referring to:

REASON, SEASON, AND LIFETIME

People always come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty,
or to provide you with guidance and support,
to aid you physically, emotionally, or even spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend to you, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time,this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they just walk away.
Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.


When people come into your life for a SEASON,
it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.
And like Spring turns to Summer and Summer to Fall,the season eventually ends.


LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway);and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas in your life.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
Thank you for being part of my life.

~©Brian A. "Drew" Chalker~

Glasceta thank you so much, greatly appreciated. Keep them coming.

Dear Readers, I hope someone will feel upbeat by R. Kelly's lyrics. Sing along and have a great Wednesday:



"I Believe I Can Fly"

I used to think that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
But now I know the meaning of true love
I'm leaning on the everlasting arms

If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

[1]
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

See I was on the verge of breaking down
Sometimes silence can seem so loud
There are miracles in life I must achieve
But first I know it starts inside of me, oh

If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

[Repeat 1]

Hey, cuz I believe in me, oh

If I can see it, then I can be it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

[Repeat 1]

Hey, if I just spread my wings
I can fly
I can fly
I can fly, hey
If I just spread my wings
I can fly
Fly-eye-eye

Hi Glass.
I have to share this paindrome with you. I am putting on some weight [Laugh) but I have to find some means to prevent the fat and especially when we have to work.

PALINDROME:

DOC NOTE I DISSENT A FAST NEVER PREVENTS A FATNESS I DIET ON COD.

You make my day everyday with your inspiration. Sorry not to be with you in JA. and to eat some saltfish.

TODAY
Author Unknown
But Greatly Appreciated!



We shall do much in the years to come,
but what have we done today?
We shall give our gold in a princely sum,
but what did we give today?
We shall lift the heart and dry the tear,
We shall plant a hope in the place of fear,
We shall speak the words of love and cheer
but what did we speak today?

We shall be so kind in the afterwhile,
but what have we been today?
We shall bring each lonely life a smile,
but what have we brought today?
We shall give to truth a grander birth,
And to steadfast faith a deeper worth,
We shall feed the hungering souls of earth,
but whom have we fed today?

We shall reap such joys in the by and by,
but what have we sown today?
We shall build us mansions in the sky,
but what have we built today?
'Tis sweet in idle dreams to bask,
but here and now do we do our task?
Yes, this is the thing our souls must ask,
"What have we done today?"

LIMITATIONS

I know that some readers will take issue with this, including the most entrepreneurial types among us, but today I am suggesting that you
accept your limitations. God alone does not have limitations, so we must accept that we have some.

Limitations need not restrict us from doing anything we really can do. Accepting our limitations is a matter of recognizing the border between:

- what we can and cannot do
- what we can do and is worth reaching for and what we can do but the
value to us would not be as great as the sacrifice.

This is not easy to do, and there is no set formula. But accepting our limitations can help us focus on what we realistically can and want to
accomplish, rather than wanting to be or do everything.

~David Leonhardt~

Whatever you want in life,
you must give up something to get it.
The greater the value,
the greater the sacrifice required of you.
Everything has a price.
There's a price to pay if you want to make things better,
and a price to pay for just leaving things as they are.
Nothing worthwhile ever comes easily.

© 2006, Max Steingart

FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOURSELF

Figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You've all that the greatest of men have had;
Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes,
And a brain to use if you would be wise,
With this equipment they all began--
So start from the top and say, I CAN.

Look them over, the wise and the great,
They take their food from a common plate,
And similar knives and forks they use,
With similar laces they tie their shoes;
The world considers them brave and smart,
But you've all they had when they made their start.

You can triumph and come to skill,
You can be great if you only will;
You're well equipped for what fight you choose,
You have arms and legs and a brain to use;
And the man who has risen great deeds to do
Began his life with no more than you.

You are the handicap you must face,
You are the one who must choose your place.
You must say where you want to go,
How much you will study the truth to know;
God has equipped you for life, but He
Lets you decide what you want to be.

Courage must come from the soul within
The man must furnish the will to win.
So figure it out for yourself my lad,
You were born with all that the great have had;
With your equipment they all began,
Get hold of yourself and say, 'I CAN.'

~George Washington Carver,
African American Botanist