Category Archives: Word of the Day Haiku

November 25, 2016

Schlockmeister – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

Happy Friday! Black Friday to be exact, and whooo-boy do I have a deal, I mean word for you! Actually dictionary.com has a word and a very timely one at that! Today’s word of the day…it’s a word you didn’t even know you needed until now…in fact it will change your life and you’re gong to want to say it every chance you get. The word…here for a limited time only, is none other than Schlockmeister!

Schlockmeister is called an Americanism, originating around 1960-65. It’s a combination of schlock, a Yiddish word meaning cheap or trashy and mayster or German Meister which means master craftsman.

I’m sure you will agree this is the perfect word for today as bargain hunters flood the shopping centers and malls in search of the latest, greatest next big, must have thing that will likely be collecting dust when next year’s Black Friday rolls around!

Happy Holidays!

schlockmeisters don’t care
if you need what they’re selling
they will convince you

people who must have
the latest, greatest new things
are schlockmeister’s tools

the internet is full
of schlockmeisters in disguise
with perfect selfies

kat – 25 November 2016

14 Comments | tags: Challenge, Haiku, schlockmeister, word of the day | posted in Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

November 18, 2016

Juvenilia – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

By Kat Myrman

Another Friday, another interesting word of the day from dictionary.com:

Juvenilia means “youthful (works)” in Latin. It is the neuter plural form of the adjective juvenilis, a derivative of the adjective and noun, juvenis, “young, a young person (ie., between the ages of 20 and 40).” It entered English in the early 1600’s.

When I read the origin of this word, I found it interesting that a “young” person is considered, according to dictionary.com, to be between 20 and 40. I can think of several young authors, much younger than 20, who have had a profound impact on the world.

heartsongs

I think of Mattie Stepanek, who wrote “Heart-Songs” and four additional books of poetry before his death from muscular dystrophy just before his 14th birthday.

dorothystraight
And then there is Dorothy Straight who wrote “How the World Began” for her Grandmother at the tender age of 4! Perhaps not particularly profound, but notable for the fact that she is considered one of the youngest published authors.

annefrank
And of course, many of us are familiar with Anne Frank’s, “The Diary of a Young Girl”, the heart-felt words of a young author who filled the pages of a diary that she received on her 13th birthday while confined to an attic before her family was betrayed and sent to a concentration camp during the Nazi regime. Sadly, Anne succumbed to Typhus while imprisoned, but her diary was found by her father, Otto, the only survivor of his family, and published in 1947. It has been translated into more than 60 different languages.

I’ll stop here. There are many other wonderful books by children, wise beyond their years. Wise perhaps because they have not yet learned to filter truth and reason to make it palatable to overly-sensitive ears. How I love the unabashed honesty of children. We would all do well to discount the common saying, “children should be seen and not heard” and give them a listen every now and again. We might learn something.

Especially during these interesting, and for some frightening, times, I’m dedicating this week’s haiku to Miss Frank…

Ann Frank’s diary,
a wise juvenilia
holds truth for our times.

kat ~ 18 November 2016

4 Comments | tags: Anne Frank, Haiku, juvenilia, Poetry, word of the day | posted in Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

November 4, 2016

Obdurate – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

By Kat Myrman

obdorite

Happy Friday! Today’s dictionary.com word of the day is another election-themed gem.

According to dictionary.com, Obdurate is defined as:

unmoved by persuasion, pity,or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding.

stubbornly resistant to moral influence; persistently impenitent: an obdurate sinner.

It comes from the Latin verb obdūrāre, a derivative of the the adjective dūrus”hard.” In Classical Latin obdurare meant “to harden,be hard,” and also “to hold out, endure.” In Late and Christian Latin, the verb meant “to harden the heart (against truth or God).” It entered English in the mid-1400s.

“Hardened hearts (against truth or God) and stubbornly resistant to moral influence.” Sound familiar? That pretty much describes our current U.S. election cycle. At a time of unprecedented access to knowledge, information and truth we are even more entrenched, so polarized that we cannot even stand to hear an alternative viewpoint. We can’t be persuaded, change is the enemy and truth cannot be known. “What is truth?” I hear this argument every day.

How did we get here? I have a few thoughts on this topic and word of the day…and a few haiku too…

Knowledge is power, limited by those in power, when only the powerful have access.

Information is only as good as its source.

Truth is truth when based on facts, not on opinions.

But then, what do I know? You probably have a few theories of your own. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. I can’t promise it will change anything for anyone else, but it will empower you just for having said it. May we all relearn the art of compromise and the beauty of engaging alternatives.

Peace Out!

Here are my haiku…

An obdurate mind
has one response to the truth…
la, la…la, la, laaaa!

“Because I said so,”
can’t move an obdurate teen,
consider a bribe.

kat ~ 4 November 2016

3 Comments | tags: Challenge, Haiku, word of the day | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

October 28, 2016

Ensorcell – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

By Kat Myrman

Happy Friday! Time to take a look at today’s Word of the Day on dictionary.com and come up with a haiku or two…or three.

It would not be an understatement to say that I am ensorcelled by words, though I didn’t realize it until today, that I am, or that ensorcelled is a thing. At any rate it is, a thing that is, or at least it was, sometime back in the late 16th century when it emerged from the old French verb ensorceler meaning “to bewitch”, related to “sorcerer” and “sorcery.”

Apparently, other similarly ensorcelled wordies have recently stumbled upon this new, old word. It is cropping up in modern dialogue in social and political commentary. Actually if one thinks about it, “ensorcelled” is the perfect way to describe unthinking masses who fawn over blatantly unqualified political candidates with wild ideologies. But I digress!

I also discovered that ensorcell is term used in video gaming circles as it refers to tools and weaponry that allow one to gain new levels of play. As you might suspect, these games tend to feature wizards and dragons and the like.

And finally, Ensorcelled, is the name of an award winning American-style dark, barrel-aged, sour beer that derives its “puckering tartness and beguiling complexity” from raspberries, with a hint of chocolate. If that sounds enchanting to you, best of luck finding a bottle. The producer’s website states that its latest batch is “sold out”, which is probably the best way to define something that is ensorcelled. It is often the illusion of a thing, however real or attainable, that enthralls us most.

Here are a few Haiku to put this word of the day, and me, to rest. I just noticed that it is 3 am. It’s a wearily familiar occurrence. Once again, I am ensorcelled by the words rattling around in my brain at this witching hour! I need sleep! Good night and good day! 😊

Ensorcelled – The Haiku

we choose our poison
based on preconceived notions
all are ensorcelled

they were ensorcelled,
a generation silenced
by driveling tweets

ensorcelled voyeurs
gasp, but cannot look away
like moths to a flame

-kat – 28 October 2016

5 Comments | tags: ensorcell, Haiku, word iof the day | posted in Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

October 21, 2016

Rollick – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

By Kat Myrman

rollick

In the field of linguistics, when two words are combined into one word, the resulting new word is called a “blend word” or more specifically, as is the case with today’s Dictionary.com Word of the Day Dictionary.com Word of the Day, a “portmanteau”. Wikipedia gives an excellent definition with examples for the word portmanteau:

A portmanteau word is a linguistic blend of words, in which parts of multiple words, or their phones (sounds), and their meanings are combined into a new word. A portmanteau word fuses both the sounds and the meanings of its components, as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog, or motel, from motor and hotel. In linguistics, a portmanteau is defined as a single morph that represents two or more morphemes. (In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest grammatical unit in a language. In other words, it is the smallest meaningful unit of a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology.)

“Rollick” is thought to be the result of blending the words “romp” and “frolick”, entering the English language around the early 1800’s.

Were the early 1800’s particularly rollick-worthy? My inquiring mind needed to know! So I launched google in a search of historical events of the 1800’s (or 19^th century). Here’s what I found:

Historical Event	Rollick Meter
Napolean worked on building his empire conquering Italy, Rome and Spain, as well as transforming France from a consulate to an empire, with you know who as its Emperor!	Meh…not so much a rollicking series of events …unless of course, you were Napoleon! Was Napoleon known for rollicking? I wonder…:)
Alexander Hamilton was mortally wounded in a duel (yes, duels really happened… SMH) with Aaron Burr.	Not so rollicky for old Alexander, but a good day for Mr. Burr.
Alessandro Volta produces electricity!	Definitely a rollick-worthy event! Woo Hoo Al!
The Battle at Waterloo…bub-bye Napoleon!	Yes there was rollicking…lots and lots of rollicking!
Lewis and Clark launch their expedition.	I’m thinking they may have had a rollicking send off.
Washington DC was established as the capital of the U.S.	More rollicking…I’m certain of it. J
In Virginia, Martha Washington set all her slaves free.	…and more. Midst the bad and usual ugly shenanigans we humans get involved in…there were definitely some bright spots…most definitely, some rollicking to be had!