Word Play
AKA: Things overheard while playing Scrabble…
Is topsy a word without turvey?
Is hob a word without nob?
Can the word oodles be singular?
Is pest an alternative plural for pet when you have too many of them?
Coyote is coy. His name tells us so.
I know listen and silent are the same word with the letters switched around, but semen and menses?
It makes sense that the word “evil” is “live” backwards.
My favorite letter is V. If a word has a V in it, you can be sure it’s infused with action and vitality.
It’s no mistake that “VERB” begins with the letter V.
Have you noticed that the word “astonished” has “stoned” right in it, and “embarrassed” seems to say “I’m bare assed?”
And lust and slut are so closely related that they’re the same word.
Photo: My Scrabble partner, Mara, using one of her life lines.
December 12th, 2005 11:04 am
your bursts of activity always seem to produce such vivacious wordplay
guess you got your head back on alrightxo
December 12th, 2005 12:16 pm
I’ll never be able to play Scrabble the same way again (and that’s a good thing) — thanks! 🙂
December 12th, 2005 1:43 pm
Great questions you’ve asked…indeed
December 12th, 2005 2:03 pm
Wow.. I never really give much thought to words..your post changed that. I especially liked how listen and silent contain the same letters. This is all rather fascinating.
December 12th, 2005 3:02 pm
I love words too! The other day I was writing about commitment, which is essentially a promise to ourselves. When we break a commitment , or promise, we compromise our will. I nearly fell over when I noticed the word “promise” hiding in plain sight in the word comPROMISE. Interesting stuff.
December 12th, 2005 3:19 pm
I love it! Those are conversation snippets are priceless. Thinking of you and hoping you’re doing okay these days.
December 12th, 2005 5:30 pm
And is “skee” a word without “daddle?”
December 12th, 2005 7:43 pm
Puns are the lowest form of humor. That’s why my blogs are solo (groan).
December 12th, 2005 7:56 pm
Very funny. Interesting about the letter “V”. It is said that if you have a “V” or a “K” in your name, you are an old, old soul.
December 12th, 2005 8:49 pm
It’s good to know thta people still play scrabble.
December 12th, 2005 10:24 pm
I have always been fascinated with word play as well. Here are a few interesting ones.
Embarassed sounds a lot like the Spanish word “embarasada”, but “Embarasada” actually means pregnant. Interesting…
The word “arigato” in Japanese has no official Japanese meaning. Some linguists speculate that it is derived from the Portuguese word “obrigato” which means “thank you” as well. Apparently the Portuguese had a big influence on the Japanese.
There is no real word for Love in Japanese, at least not in the sense we know it.
I could go on and on…maybe later I will.
December 12th, 2005 11:03 pm
Judy are you going to be the one to tell Vicki that she is an OLD SOUL?
Colleen, my favorite of these is: Is pest an alternative plural for pet when you have too many of them? I love this probably because sometimes it feels that way with our crew. They say pets help lower your blood pressure….with the number we have mine should be rock bottom. 🙂
December 13th, 2005 12:06 am
Love that dictionary diving! We do it with our “secret word game,” too (I’ve just posted the rules). I thought Topsy went with Mopsy and Cottontail….
December 13th, 2005 3:18 am
That was amazing..so many words that I know but hadn’t put together the things you came up with…I love Slut & Lust…hello???
And I’d never thought about Verb and V’s having so much ‘action’ as you saud, but..indeed..it does and you are correctemundo! Great fun, words.
December 13th, 2005 9:39 am
I love that you can get so much out of a game of scrabble! It’s so much fun. We can play for hours and not even realize it.
It sounds like you have a really great friend there. Almost like you too were meant to cross eachothers paths. God Bless you both.
Take care
December 13th, 2005 4:09 pm
I never gave any thought to some of the forward/backward options 😉