Words with a little mystery THINGS AREN’T QUITE WHAT THEY SEEM…

Let’s start with a French term…

Faux (pronounced “foe”) Means fake/false

What is called when… At a fancy dinner meal, you daintily take a sip out of the “finger bowl.” You show up to a Packer’s party in an old Favre jersey. You go to a job interview in a shirt that says, “I’m not dumb, just lazy.” You dog-ear your book to keep your place, only to see that the author is sitting right next to you. You are so busy texting during a wedding ceremony that you are the only one not standing when the bride comes down the aisle. You are still wearing “saggy pants” when they clearly went out of style about 5 years ago. You start making fun of your teacher’s outfit, only to discover that she’s right behind you. These are all examples of…

Faux Pas (translates to “false step”) An error of manners. It might be an indiscreet comment or an embarrassing social blunder.

Another root for false: PSEUDO- WORD TOWER

PSEUDONYM “Fake Name”

What is this called?

How does this word (metamorphosis) make sense? Meta: Morph: Two other words that contain “meta”: Five other words that contain “morph or form”:

Morpheus Greek God: “Shaper of Dreams”

Amorphous

Anthropomorphism

Prefixes: uniform= deform= Inform= reform= conform=

Spooner (from “Ordinary Finds”) The Reverend William Archibald Spooner is a big hero, not for his noble deeds, nor for his good work at New College in Oxford - but for being a trail-blazer among tongue-twisters, coining numerous, so-called spoonerisms in his attempt to have his tongue keep up with his racing brain… Spooner, who also was an albino and a sufferer of poor eye-sight, was born July 22, 1844 (d. 1930). Photos of him are scarce, but the National Portrait Gallery in London has the one reproduced above…

Some of his more famous lines… "Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?" (customary to kiss) "The Lord is a shoving leopard." (a loving shepherd) "A blushing crow." (crushing blow) "Three cheers for our queer old dean!" (dear old queen, referring to Queen Victoria) "A well-boiled icicle" (___________________) "You were fighting a liar in the quadrangle." (_______) "Is the bean dizzy?" (__________) "Someone is occupewing my pie. Please sew me to another sheet." (___________________________)

Spoonerisms: Play on words we'll have the hags flung out we'll have the flags hung out you've tasted two worms you've wasted two terms a half-warmed fish a half-formed wish Rindercella

Latin Misunderstandings: Ad- Means “to”

Ad hoc Means: “To this”. It refers to something improvised/put together in a hurry. Example: We formed an ad hoc panel to address the problem of H1N1 last year.

Ad Infinitum Means “to forever/without limit” A savings account should earn interest ad infinitum.

Ad Nauseam Means: “to sickness/to a ridiculous degree” (Watch the spelling)