As The Mind Bounces

I whammed the beejeepers out of my toe the other day and as I was contemplating the pitiful, multi-colored wreck that resulted (if a thing is worth hurting, it's worth hurting well?) I found myself thinking, "not a lovesome thing, God wot"...

Really, it's absolutely maddening that my brain will throw up these pointy, irritating shards of a quotation and then refuse to disgorge the rest of it. Because, of course, I cannot let it be… No, no. I must know…it's a personal challenge. (Clearly, I once knew the whole quote, so spit it out, brain!) So I seethe for hours in itchy discontent until I finally stop wracking my brain and simply Look It Up. (One of the few times I will concede the superiority of the interwebz over books: Google just plain wipes the floor with Bartlett's…)

So, anyhow, I did the search.

And because I know you want to know - it's "a garden" that is a lovesome thing (God wot)

But once again, I couldn't just stop there.

Nope, I had to read the whole article.

(Apparently, I didn't learn my lesson from that whole unfortunate giraffe epsidode…)

But I can't help it -- you learn the most fascinating stuff when you keep digging!

To wit: did you know that this one very popular line from that one fairly atrocious Victorian poem has gifted the English language with the most superb word?

Are you ready for it...? .....

     Godwottery

Isn't that magnificent????

Seriously… I am thoroughly enchanted.

The mere sound of the syllables is enough to win my heart, but it gets better...

   Just read the definition:

"Godwottery can mean two things. First, it can mean the use of affected archaisms, and verily, the poet that useth godwottery is a tosser, iwis.

Godwottery can also mean tacky gardening. The collective noun for a horde of gnomes and charming water-features is godwottery." (From The Inky Fool)

There is A Word for Excessive Gnome Usage!!

(really, can you blame me for being over the moon??)

So, naturally, being completely charmed by this discovery, I was then moved to read several more posts by the Inky Fool, which led, of course, to following the side links to books he has written (Horologicon - a compedium of arcane English words, organized along the lines of a medieval book of hours; and Etymologicon - a circular stroll through the hidden connections of the English language) and the next thing I know, I've ordered one for giving to BookMan for Christmas, and put the other on my own Christmas wish list!

So to recap, in the space of seven minutes, I skipped from a mangled toe to heinous poetry to coined words to fascinating reads to successful Christmas shopping… 

Sometimes I don't know whether to kiss my brain or shoot myself!