When T and I were first getting to know one another, she asked me if I liked to make up words. In fact, I do, and I offered up a few words of my own invention; words I use to describe my view of the world. As it turns out, I am a mere rookie at this game. T is a master of the genre. And there's no reason I should be the only beneficiary of her language largesse. So I proudly offer up a new monthly feature for the blog: Vocabulary with T. These words won't appear on your SAT test, but they should.
January's word is actually a phrase: jimmy-jangled. Near as I can tell, jimmy-jangled is both a verb and an adjective….context matters in the use of jimmy-jangled. If something has been fixed or repaired slightly out of skew from the ordinary, it's been jimmy-jangled. This can be good (it's fixed-ish and it seems to be working) or this can be bad (it's fixed-ish, and that ain't gonna last or is otherwise inconvenient). Either way, it's been jimmy-jangled. One can also engage in jimmy-jangling, thus making it a verb. For example, my trash can lid has been attached to my trash can and that act was jimmy jangling. The trash can itself has now been jimmy jangled. Really, jimmy jangling is both a useful skill and an effective description. That's a word that can go the distance. Unless I miss my mark, it's been jimmy-jangled.
That's so much more creative than my hubby's vocabulary. In fact, I should start a weekly blog post about words I want him to take out of his vocabulary. Let's start with "gots". For example, "He gots two new pairs of pants."
ReplyDeleteWord verification is ablented = being both able and talented at something. I'm going to start using it. New vocab word! I'm now officially ablented at baking bread after months of practice.