I'll leave off the usual excuses, valid as they are. This blog is long enough to deserve updating without breaks or constant apologies following its intermittent revivals. I recognize if you read my posts in order, the past few years would be a bunch of fitful starts consisting of a few words, then long distances between dates, and an apology from me and a few more words, followed by another long pause and apology.
My brother has inspired me to continue blogging, though, by encouraging shorter posts. I tend to expect a lot from my writing, but this leads me to a) put off writing until it doesn't get done, and b) readers getting bogged down and feeling less inclined to check up on my blog. Besides, when it comes down to it, if people like this blog at all, it's for a personal recommendation for a word of the day. So to get back in the grind, I'm just posting this and continuing.
borborygm (n.)
Pronunciation: bor-bê-'rig-êm
Definition: the gurgling sounds made by the digestive system after eating
Despite its denotation, and perhaps ironically, I was not at all borborygmic when I decided to write this post, though I did just finish dinner. Strangely enough, all this word makes me wonder about is what the word is for the gurgling sounds that come before eating. The word comes from French, who in turn took it from the Greeks. Ultimately it's just onomatopoetic, though, so it may as well have come from any language.
I really love this word for a couple reasons: first, it retains most of the spelling from its Greek roots; and second, its plural is "borborygmi." The word lends itself well to puns.
Zsa Zsa Gaborborygm.
Borborygmi hippopotami.
-----------------------------------------------------------
A completely unrelated tangent: the pizzicato in Prokofiev's second symphony sounds like a piano. Give it a listen some time. I highly recommend taking full advantage of the incredible music selection available for perusal at your local library.
Posts
