Tipp Talk—July 6

From Greg Enslen.com.

If you’re interested in buying a copy of “Tipp Talk, 2010,” a collection of the Tipp Talk columns from 2010, along with a number of photos and short vingettes about life in Tipp, please visit the author’s webpage at www.gregenslen.com/tipptalk/

Tipp Talk—July 6

Events, activities and other hometown items going on in Tipp City, Ohio, by Greg Enslen

Outdated Words and Phrases

This week, I’m highlighting outdated words that one just doesn’t hear anymore. Thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions or caught me at the Antique show last week. I got so many that I’ll do two columns—this one on words, and another on phrases. All definitions came from dictionary.com. Here are the most interesting “words from yesteryear” that I could find:

• Anon: in a short time. One reader said that her father used to say “anon” to mean “soon.” I’d never heard that! It also appears in “ever and anon,” which means “now and then” or “occasionally.” Whatever happens, don’t confuse it with “Al-Anon,” the shortened version of Alcoholics Anonymous.
• Curmudgeon: a bad-tempered or surly person. Liz wrote in with this word, which I still use on occasion.
• Druthers: one’s own way, choice, or preference—as in, “if I had my druthers, I’d choose Hickory River instead of Smokey Bones.” I still use this word, but two people suggested it to me as being out of style. I’m not exactly sure what that means for me—maybe I need to update my language!
• Fetch: to go and bring back or return with. A reader said that this word, usually used as a dog command, might be one of the most versatile words in the English language. It means to go out, search for an object, find it, and bring it back. The reader, Susan, suggested that few words can convey so much meaning is so few letters. It can also mean the amount of money an item brings in at auction—as in, “that ugly ol’ dresser fetched $400!”
• Jeepers: a mild exclamation of surprise or emotion. This is a Tara Dixon Engel favorite, along with “gloriosky” and “gee-wilikers.” It sounds like Tara has a lot to exclaim about! If you see her at Bob Evans, tell her to try the decaf! I actually found “gloriosky” onwww.urbandictionary.com (an online dictionary that includes slang, puns, and some really dirty words), which defined it as “to think something extra ordinary or glorious.” “Golly gee wilikers” was a favorite saying of Batman’s sidekick Robin on the 1960s TV show. Maybe it’s gotten shortened to “geez,” which I hear a lot nowadays. Robin was also a fan of saying “Holy ___, Batman,” filling in the blank with something related to the plot.
• Mayhap: perhaps. This is a Shakespeare favorite, and I found it on www.phrontistery.info/archaic.html, a great listing of once-everyday words that have fallen out of favor. Oldies but goodies include “afore,” “aught,” “betwixt,” “fain,” “forsooth,” “gramercy,” “hark,” “hither,” “methinks,” “ruth,” “sweven,” “swoopstake,” “wellaway,” and “yonside.”
• Picayune: something trivial or unimportant. This word comes from the Spanish “picaioun,” meaning a small coin, which in turn comes from “picaio,” meaning money. Sam says her grandma used to pronounce it “pick-ee-ooney.”
• Ragamuffin: this term comes from the Middle English “ragamuffin,” a name for a ragged, oafish person. Most of us have heard it used to mean a dirty, disheveled child.
• Rosinear: an ear of corn. This one was difficult—Anita suggested it when she saw me at the Antiques and Artisans show, saying it was pretty common in Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. I’d never heard of it, but I Googled it and found that it might be short for “roasting ear”—a cob of corn that’s good for roasting.
• Smitten: struck with a hard blow; stricken or afflicted; very much in love. The “very much in love” definition was the only one I had ever used, so I was surprised to find that meaning listed third. It seems “smitten” doesn’t always have positive connotations!
• Toots: a slang term for “babe,” “sweetie,” or “honey”—or, more negatively, “tart” or “prostitute.” My editor Tara calls everyone “Toots,” including the occasional police officer. Everyone gives her strange looks, and now she knows why, assuming she reads this column before she prints it. Tara, just tell them you’ve mistaken them for Toots Meretsky, the Canadian basketball Olympic medalist.
• Yonder: in that place or over there, or being the most distant. My folks still use this word all the time!

And I got a lot more words that I didn’t have time to research. Maybe I’ll write a book about them: “forby,” “peachy,” “piffle,” “prithee,” “sodi” instead of “soda,” “toodles,” “velocipede,” and “verily.”

Thanks to Anita, Danny, Deann, Liz, Molly, Sam, Susan, Tara, and Tonya for writing in or catching me out in public and suggesting words and phrases. You made this column so much easier!

Oh, and I learned something: “Etymology” is the study of words and phraseology, whereas “Entomology” is the study of insects. What a difference those two letters make! Oh, and I just used the word “whereas,” which made me feel very smart for about five minutes.

New Words for 2011

We’ve talked about old words … what about new ones? Every year, the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary choose a few new words to add to their tome.

This year, they added a few words that are more likely to be seen in text messages than written in a book or spoken: LOL (“laugh out loud”), OMG (“oh my gosh”) and a “heart” symbol were all added. Seriously?  Other new words include “auto-complete,” “babe,” “cryonaut,” “gender reassignment,” and “green fuel.” Try using those in a sentence together!

Check In With Me

Hear something interesting for “Tipp Talk?” Visit my website at www.gregenslen.com and drop me a line using the “Contact Me” page. And don’t worry—I won’t quote you unless you want me to!