These include huffle-buffs, which Susie describes as “Old, comfy clothes that you shrug on at the end of the week that are incredibly cosy and you will keep on all weekend” and tartle, “to hesitate when you’re introducing someone because you can’t remember their name – a word for an experience that we’ve all had.” Susie also sees emojis as an extension of modern communication. “In some ways, emojis are the successors of ancient hieroglyphics, they are pictorial representations of language. I don’t think we should be completely reliant on emojis but nor do I think we should be scared of them,” she said. And so it goes on: our ancestors had the chance to be “pecunious” (rich), “toward” (obliging and hopeful), “ruth” (full of compassion), and “wieldy” (handy with a weapon). Linguistics has a term for the accidental omission of a letter or word when it should occur twice in close proximity: “haplography”. It is a combination of the Greek haplo, “single”, and graphy, “writing”: you might write “mispell” for “misspell”, for example, or ask “Is there anyone I can talk to resolve this issue?” instead of “Is there anyone I can talk to to resolve this issue?”. You might even employ a “bookeeper” for your accounts. For Dent, words matter. “Not because of 18th-century Latin rules about split infinitives and prepositions, but because words are joyful, and we have such a vast lexicon there for the taking.” So, what three joyous words would she use to describe herself?

Susie Dent: ‘English has always evolved by mistake’

The Zerhunt Bubble Machine blows a beautiful, steady stream of bubbles, runs on batteries or electricity, and has a large reservoir for hours of fun. English has two spellings of “jail”, both of which come from French. “Gaol” was a borrowing from northern or Norman French, while “jail” is from central or Parisian French. This type of double borrowing is not uncommon – “warranty” and “guarantee” both come from French, but entered English via different routes and at different times, as did “guardian” and “warden”, “pâté” and “paste”, “fete” and “feast”, and “chattel” and “cattle” (cattle were once so central to livelihoods that they became a token of all property, hence “goods and chattels”). You may also be “mayed” (possessing power), “ept”, “flappable”, “peccable”, “bridled”, and “descript”. (But never “promptu”, “petuous”, “shevelled”, “chalant”, or a “nomer”.) The category is so full that today’s survivors have been given their own linguistic moniker: “orphaned negatives”.The six spinning wands on this bubble machine can be set for two levels of output — though, knowing kids, they're always going to want it set to the max. It holds up to 12.5 fluid ounces of any bubble solution and can go for up to a half hour without running out. People use it for weddings and parties so you can imagine the volume of bubbles that continuously stream out of it. While the design bodes well mostly, it does hinder your ability to neatly pour in the solution. The bubble reservoir is very small (less than 4 ounces). Due to the tiny design of the machine, there’s just not enough space to easily pour in bubble solution without spilling. A large medicine dropper or small baster might work better than pouring directly from the solution bottle. P G Wodehouse was born on this day in 1881, a man who went on to inspire laughter and deep affection for his literary creation of Bertie Wooster. He was also single-handedly responsible for giving the world the possibility of being “gruntled”: “He spoke with a certain what-is-it in his voice, and I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled” (The Code of the Woosters, 1938). Holly: “No. The blues are because you’re getting fat or it’s been raining too long. You’re just sad, that’s all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you’re afraid, and you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Don’t you ever get that feeling?” 8. Mubble-fubbles One of the most significant actions of the French Revolutionary Wars took place on Oct 11 1797. The Battle of Camperdown saw British and Dutch forces at loggerheads, and ended in a decisive victory for the British thanks to their strategic cunning and superior firepower. The defeat was to linger long in the minds of the Dutch for years afterwards. The British had “nailed their colours to the mast”.

7 Best Bubble Machines for Kids of 2023 - Reviewed

Apparently, Dent has always been this way about words. She was the sort of child who can’t sit at a table without reading the label on the ketchup bottle; then studying German and French at A-level really got her “in the groove”. She did modern languages at Oxford University and then German at Princeton – and if you think she’s blissed out by English etymology, you should see her face when she talks about German. “When I listen to it and speak it, I honestly feel like I’m coming home,” she says, lighting up. She thinks it might have been Goethe who compared English to a country garden, French to an ornamental park and German to a deep, dark forest. “And that’s how it feels to me. It’s thorny and it’s dense and it’s quite dark sometimes, but I just find such joy within it.” As it turns out, many of the happier siblings of words like these were once alive and well. “Kempt” is from the German for “combed”, and is a useful byword for being neat and tidy. The language contains a large number of terms that, at some point in their past, have lost their mojo and now travel on alone. These are the “unkempts”, “uncouths”, “underwhelmeds”, and “nonplusseds” – terms that linger on the bad, sad, seamy side of life. Those that can never quite be gruntled without being dissed as well. Pull the trigger of this unicorn-shaped bubble blaster and three things happen: it blows a continuous stream of beautiful bubbles, it plays enchanting music, and it lights up! Mostly, testers responded to the adorable dolphin design of this bubble machine, perfect for an under-the-sea themed kids' birthday party or waterside picnic, vacation or reunion. It comes with two 8 fluid ounces bottles of bubble solution and the dolphin can hold 6 fluid ounces at at time, so our experts appreciated that you get enough solution from the start to do a couple of rounds of bubble making.has been a challenging year, to say the least. Nevertheless, we hope to make your Christmas and Hanukkah shopping as stress-free as possible! According to Green’s, this phrase was coined by Truman Capote in Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1958; it also made an appearance in the 1961 film:

Fubbles Bubble Unicorn Bubble Blaster - Best for Ages 3 to 10 Fubbles Bubble Unicorn Bubble Blaster - Best for Ages 3 to 10

Susie had her own anxiety last week when a rough draft of her new Word Perfect book made it to the shops, spelling errors and all. All Hallows’ Eve, the Eve of All Saints, is thought to be the Christianised successor of a festival that marked the last night of the year in the old Celtic calendar. Celebrants of Samhain believed that this was the time when the barriers between the physical and spiritual world broke down. Today’s Hallowe’en is little different: it’s a time when folklore and superstition come together to provide both menace and thrills, as well as painted cheeks puffed with chocolate. colloquial , obsolete ) The doldrums; the blahs; a downer; a mood of depression, dejection or melancholy. [16th & 17th c.] When it comes to volume of bubbles per penny spent, this machine wins. It claims to blow 4,500 bubbles per minute, and our testers said it does, indeed, create a ton of bubbles. (To be honest, there were too many to count.) The fan starts up immediately and bubbles start pouring straight up seconds after you turn it on.

For more than 100 years our Lab scientists and seasoned experts have been reviewing consumer products and revealing what's worth your money when it comes to new tech, beauty products and more. We're the team that brings you the 411 on everything for your kids, including the year's best toys and the best STEM sets for kids according to engineers. At midnight on this day in 1990, East and West Germany were finally reunified, less than a year after the destruction of the Berlin Wall. The day is celebrated as Tag der Deutschen Einheit, or Day of German Unity. While Susie Dent is keen to resurrect words and phrases frequently neglected or forgotten, she admits that language is constantly changing and evolving.

the mubble fubbles: Celebrity wordsmith Susie Dent on Year of the mubble fubbles: Celebrity wordsmith Susie Dent on

Cocomelon," the hit Netflix show for kids, is everywhere these days—even bubble makers. The Cocomelon Bubble Machine can blow bubbles and play songs from the show, entracing kids who can’t get enough of the catchy bops. The machine also works in bubble-only mode, for those times when you don’t want to listen to another “Cocomelon” song. The songs, which cycle through the same variety, are loud enough to hear when you’re sitting closeby, and are at a just-right volume for little ears (there are no volume controls). If you are looking for the best bubble machine for a party, you’ve got to go with the Zerhunt Automatic Bubble Blower. It runs on batteries (not included) or you can plug it in using the included power cable, making it perfect for all-day birthday parties or an afternoon playdate. It also has a very large 12.5-ounce reservoir for bubble solution, which is above-average capacity for most tabletop bubble machines, also making it an ideal choice for a party or school event. There's also a sturdy handle around the middle that makes this lightweight bubble blower very portable. Perhaps the greatest delight in writing the book was choosing lost gems or obscurities from the corners of the dictionary. I made many fresh discoveries along the way. When asked for a word to perfectly sum up 2020 so far, Susie lands on mubble fubbles. She explained: “It’s a 16th-Century word that means a sense of impending doom or despondency; never quite knowing what’s around the corner.The lightweight and portable design also better lends itself to little hands who want a bubble machine that goes where they do versus other bubble machines that are larger and have open reservoirs that spill easily. When it comes to durability, we (accidentally) dropped the bubble maker directly on the grass and pavers without any damage, much to my surprise. Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer. As for the incantations used to mitigate any wrongdoings from ghosts and goblins on this of all nights, they were once known as “nightspells” – special words to protect you at night. Belief in devilry and the supernatural once inspired all kinds of spells and incantations, designed to counter the threat of evil. Many were contained in the “grimoire”, a magician’s book of sorcery and magic used for calling up spirits. Its spells might seek to protect against the evil eye of those who, with just a look, were thought to possess the power to bring misfortune, illness or death. For the superstitious Romans, a practitioner of such magic was known as a “fascinator”, one capable of causing, according to later historians, “impairment of function, especially the sexual function ... headache, hiccoughs and yawnings”.