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A.WORD.A.DAY

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Jun 23, 2024
This week’s theme
Kangaroo words

This week’s words
balsam
exultation
balderdash
transgression
amiable

How popular are they?
Relative usage over time

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Index

Next week’s theme
There’s a word for it

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AWADMAIL ISSUE 1147

A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about
Words and Language

Sponsor’s Message: OLD’S COOL. LACRAWESOME. HOW IS THE COW? -- Try our wit on
for size. 100% Cotton Beautifully Made in America T-shirts. The perfect gift.
Shop Now.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Interesting stories from the Net

Do We Need Language to Think?
The New York Times
Permalink

The Mysterious Tyranny of Trendy Baby Names
The Washington Post
Permalink



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From: Daren Krause (dnaxke yahoo.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--balderdash

This joey in today’s kangaroo wouldn’t be BS. Too easy, too short, not a word.

Daren Krause, Cocoa Beach, Florida



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From: Eric F Plumlee (ericfplumlee hotmail.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--balderdash

For all those word fans out there, I’m sure most of you are familiar with the
so-named board game. A commercialized version of Fictionary or the Dictionary
Game, Balderdash is aptly titled as the participants spend their time either
inventing nonsense or trying to see through it.

Eric Plumlee, Niederlenz, Switzerland



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From: Eric Lester (eflester gmail.com)
Subject: Joey

I thought the joey of “transgression” was “arson”.

Eric Lester, Marysville, Washington



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From: Scott Swanson (scott jaswansonagency.com)
Subject: Kangaroo words

A guy came into my office with a copy of his dad’s will and asked me to go over
it with him. We got to paragraph 3. It said “I hereby disinherit my son.” He
asked me what that meant, I explained that he wouldn’t get any money when his
father died. The son then said a joey word in “disinherit”: “Shit!”

Scott Swanson, Pendroy, Montana



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From: Kate Cook (kborst mcn.org)
Subject: Kangaroos

Love the theme! Kathleen is my given name. Apparently, Kate is my joey name.

Kate Cook, Yorkville, California



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From: Ron Rozewski (ronroza1 yahoo.com)
Subject: kangaroos

Speaking of kangaroos, they make mating displays like macho men.

Ron Rozewski, Santa Rosa, California


Perhaps an eponym for this type of behavior would be to schwarzenegger, a joey
of which is shag.
-Anu Garg


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From: Mariana Warner (marianaw6002 gmail.com)
Subject: Friday AM finale to Thursday night’s sonnet of sorts

See what you started? A sonnet of sorts with an ever-so-tragic Fri morning
ending!

THURSDAY NIGHT SONNET OF SORTS
So far the score is 1 & 1,
two strikes, two balls,
as you warm up to hurl
another curve-ball word
across the plate tomorrow.
For Friday. I can hardly wait
to find a kangaroo word
lurking within your word
du jour so I can make it
to first base,
or at least foul back
again and again until
at least I wear you down.
If I should strike out first
I will suspect the worst
of the ump, who might
first have served
on a kangaroo court.
No, I won’t keep a stiff upper lip!
Who sez I’m not a good sport?

FRIDAY MORNING P.S.
Alas, you stumped me again today with “amiable,”
which I am not; but I’ll get over it, soon as I’m able!

Mariana Warner, Asheville, North Carolina



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Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy OLD’S COOL -- Wit you can wear.

From: Jerry Bradley (fxb3 verizon.net)
Subject: Anti-kangaroo words

Anti-kangaroo words used in a paragraph:

Friend or fiend, I was unsure. In return for his animosity should I show amity?
I became communicative but he remained mute. When at last he spoke, it was a
fabrication: a far cry from a fact. Rather than exacerbate the situation, I
remained silent, allowing the tension to abate. When I finally gave a courteous
response, his reply was curt. I realized that he was not a threat, but it
certainly was no treat conversing with him. Not fearing a calamity, I remained
calm. As I left this unpleasant predicament, I turned and voiced, “Have a
wonderful day, you woeful excuse of a person.”

Jerry Bradley, Springfield, Virginia



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Anagrams



This week’s theme: Kangaroo words
1. Balsam
2. Exultation
3. Balderdash
4. Transgression
5. Amiable = 1. Balm, ointment
2. Shows us waxing elation
3. Blather
4. So rash -- a dark misdeed
5. Agreeable stars, ok -Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com)


= 1. Ointment (balm also works)
2. Raw delight
3. Bunk, starts a hoax
4. A misdeed or a sin
5. (S)he’s agreeable = Anagrams to:
1. Sweet balm
2. Exuberates
3. Tosh, rot
4. Wrong, sins, his ordeal’s ahead
5. Am likable, kind -Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2
gmail.com) -Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz)


THIS week’s theME: kANgaroo wordS
1. BALsaM
2. ExuLtATION
3. BaLderdAsH
4. transgresSIoN
5. AMiABLE = good worker, seek what THIS MEANS:
1. as BALM
2. tux? ELATION!
3. sadder BLAH
4. as stronger SIN
5. i, AMABLE -Josiah Winslow, Franklin, Wisconsin (winslowjosiah gmail.com)


Make your own anagrams and animations.



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Limericks

balsam

When on Christmas we two disagree
As to what is the very best tree,
I always get stressed.
Balsam firs are the best!
They’re a balm for me, I guarantee.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

Since music’s a balsam, a balm,
It often can make me feel calm.
But when I’m on hold,
The tunes leave me cold,
And quickly I lose all aplomb.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

I thought balsam was only a tree!
But it’s much more than that, you will see...
When applied where it hurts,
Somehow it subverts
All the pain, which then dissipates! Whee!
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

When Faye’s mood was sad, she would call mum,
Whose comforting voice was a balsam.
And with mum’s loving care,
She would lose her despair.
So Faye, she was no more at all glum.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

“Your telephone voice is like balsam,
But there’s food in your teeth; you should floss ‘em”,
Said the dating coach. “Once
You don’t look like a dunce,
You should ask for girls’ numbers and call some.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

exultation

I’m in need of a brief explanation.
Just what is that thing “exultation”?
From what I have heard,
It’s a ten-letter word.
Is it better than shorter “elation”?
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

Her puzzle she sits down to play
And once again solves it -- hooray!
With great exultation,
A sense of elation,
“My streak is unbroken!” she’ll say.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

How best to describe utter joy?
Exultation is how! The schoolboy
Who’s finally granted
The right to be “pant”ed!
(Those knickers were so awful! Oy!)
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

The reason for my exultation,
Extreme joy, also mounting elation?
My first grandchild’s birth
Is the source of my mirth,
And the cause of my grand celebration.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

As we pulled out of Grand Central Station,
I was feeling complete exultation.
I’d retired! No jerk
Would now boss me at work;
I’d write lim’ricks, and go on vacation!
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

balderdash

It’s best to hold on to your cash,
For the stock market surely will crash!
So, please do not blunder.
Just keep that cash under
Your mattress. That’s no balderdash.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

Whatever comes into his head --
What balderdash Trump’s gone and said!
He makes foolish remarks,
About man-eating sharks --
And more of his drivel I dread.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

“What? Herpes, contagious? What balderdash!”
The girl’s boyfriend exclaimed, and soon caught her rash.
But lacking insurance,
There’d be no occurrence
Of healthcare, until he had sought her cash.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

transgression

Although he’s committed transgressions,
Trump never makes any confessions.
Instead he’ll resort
To our nation’s high court,
Relying on their intercessions.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

Said Rudy, “I’ll make no confession,
For whatever I did’s no transgression.
Now excuse me, it’s hot,
And I’m sweating a lot,
So my hair dye I must go and freshen.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

amiable

I once had an amiable friend,
On whom all my money I’d spend.
One day I went broke.
Don’t laugh. It’s no joke.
For our friendship, he said, would now end.
-Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com)

He’s amiable, handy, and kind,
Good-looking, with such a fine mind.
The fellow’s ideal!
Too bad he’s not real --
His like I’m unable to find.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

What an amiable creature am I!
Suggest something? I’ll likely comply.
Always ready to smile
Not the least bit of guile
(Lest you happen to cross me -- don’t try!)
-Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com)

Petruchio said, “It is true;
My new wife is no longer a shrew.”
He then boasted his mate
Is now amiable Kate.
But, really now, who’s fooling who?
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

Said Ivana, “Let’s try to be amiable,
But do me a favor and save me the bull.
If it’s time to divorce,
Then around please don’t horse.
I want millions; shut up please and pay me in full.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)



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Puns

The baby had colic and would bawl and then balsam more.
-Janice Power, Cleveland, Ohio (powerjanice782 gmail.com)

“What do you do for a living?” asked the call girl in the hotel room. “I play
balsam,” answered the ever-modest Babe Ruth.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Fred seeing in the mirror he was getting balderdash-ed to the drugstore to buy
some Rogaine.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

Moe: What would you say if I told you I made love to the instrument panel in my
girlfriend’s car?
Joe: Balderdash!
-Tim Carr, Decatur, Georgia (carrfamily mindspring.com)

“Gender change treatment for children will not be tolerated in my state!”
declared Governor DeSantis, an opponent of any such transgression.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

“Vanderbilt may call herself the number one authority on etiquette, but frankly
I find amiable-s**t artist,” fumed Miss Manners.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)



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A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
It’s like, at the end, there’s this surprise quiz: Am I proud of me? I gave my
life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth what I paid? -Richard
Bach, writer (b. 23 Jun 1936)





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