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Have fun with a new word each day. I'll choose a word. You make up a meaning.
Visit my Writing Bug website
How to Play:
1. I choose an obscure dictionary word.
2. You invent a wacky meaning and add it as a comment.
3. After a certain time I list the true meaning and choose a winner for the invented meaning.
There are no prizes, just lots of fun!
Remember, children use this site too.
2. You invent a wacky meaning and add it as a comment.
3. After a certain time I list the true meaning and choose a winner for the invented meaning.
There are no prizes, just lots of fun!
Remember, children use this site too.
About Me
- Word Imp
- I am a children's author who has had a handful of books published by trade publishers. They're in book shops and libraries. I've also had a sackful of books published by educational publishers. These are mainly found in schools. I love words and that's why I invented this blog site.
Followers
Please note...
By posting to this site, you give the site a nonexclusive right to any copyrighted works posted.
What I'm writing...
- Picture books in my head...
- Job applications so I can earn actual money.
- Boring stuff for companies to earn actual money.
- This blog
What I'm reading...
- Penina Petersen's Table Tucker
- Rereading my fave - The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
- Mike Gayle's To Do List
- Any good biography
- The dictionary!
18 comments:
'Martinet' is the word used to describe someone when they are walking down a spiral staircase after having one drink too many and then trying to sing "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime". Well, ideally the staircase is spiral, one one can always use poetic licence of course. And it might be any other Dean Martin song, possibly "That's Amore" (which I love because it was one of our wedding songs). Anyway, hopefully those out there who are old enough will get my drift. And no offence to Dean Martin, I love the guy.
A "Martinet" is a young man who is always well-groomed, impeccably polite, and who has his entries in high society. It is almost synonymous with "dandy", but also implies an element of social climbing and, dare I say it, of the gigolo.
"Mrs Astor's new Martinet is quite the sweet young thing, isn't he. I hear she's taking him to St Moritz this winter."
It is believed that the word Martinet comes from the drink, martini. Naturally the typical Martinet doesn’t only drink martinis, but he is fond of slightly old-fashioned, sophisticated cocktails and would never be caught drinking Red Bull and vodka.
Occasionally the word is used in the feminine form, Martinette.
A Martinet is a device used for catching the phosphorescent algae known commonly as 'St Martin's fire'. The algae is the active ingredient in candle wax and is also used in the manufacture of light bulbs.
Martinets are made from the hair of unmarried women aged between 50 and 60. The hair must be cut with silver scissors during the first full moon in August.
Martinet has to be a whole roomful of House martins having a meeting to see who will pull the net off their favourite fruit tree.
(Forgive please the Brit spellings)
A martinet is the fastening on a farthingale - the big frames under ladies skirts in the 16th and 17th century.
....Everyone thought that the wife of the new ambassador to court was rather stuck up, in fact she was just worried that her farthingale might come loose as her new maid had not fastened her martinet tightly enough...
A martinet is actually a common mispelling for "marionette."
The correct spelling refers to female residents on Mars. but they dropped the last two letters ("te").
Martinet is a dance performed by military personel during their annual formal dance. The Martinet is marked by precise turns and quick footwork.
A martinet is like a wine flight, only instead of samples of wines it's a tray with 3-5 sample size martinis -- say a sour apple, a Cosmo and a lemon drop or maybe a chocolate. Fun for sharing. More fun for NOT sharing...
Actually pronounced "marti-nay", a martinet is a type of fur coat made popular by the French. The coat is rather warm with decorative buttons and short bell sleeves so as to be worn with long formal gloves. Thought to have received its name since first such coats were made from the fur of martins.
A martinet is delicate musical instrument, like a mini piano that has a beautiful, almost celestial sound. The angels played a heavenly duet, one on the martinet and the other on the harpsichord.
Those who had just arrived through the golden gates looked back on their grotty old tumulus and knew they had come to a better place!
By the way, I was delighted when I came across the word panoply in a book that I am reading and I actually knew what it meant, word imp, you should be proud of yourself, you are raising the literacy standards of the world!
Ok, it's not even Halloween, but it's SPOOKY that I really know what this word means. So, I guess I can't play, but I feel pretty good about myself anyway. :)
P.S. At my high school, the drillteam was called "The Martinets."
Like Rhonda, I know what a martinet is (have even encountered a few!) However, have no idea what a drillteam is - perhaps that should be tomorrow's word?
A martinet is a (now) decorative sash on military uniforms, originally used to support the officer's saber.
Martinet was actually the original name for Fishnet Stockings. A lovely English gentleman by the name of Martin was the originator of Fishnet Stockings. When he started visiting various stores in the UK and Europe trying to sell his Martinet Stockings, the product was very well received, however the name was not, and the sales just did not happen. One day Martin was at the pub lamenting his difficulty in getting stores to stock his wonderful Martinet Stockings, when one of his friends, who happened to be a first mate on a fishing trawler, exclaimed "Blimey! They'd be good for chucking out the back of the boat and catching Herrings!" Hence, the name Fishnet Stockings was born....and Martin never looked back!
Hey,
If you happen to know the meaning, you can still guess at a different one. I don't want it to stop you playing the game. Unless you want a day off that is. However, before you think of having a day off, go to the latest post of hillgrandmom who has posted a meaning for martinet today. She poses an interesting question about what your mind looks like to you. I enjoyed answering it. Hope you do, too.
Martinet - n. a martini made with bathtub gin; popular in the prohibition era of the US (1920s).
this drink took the French "et" because the bootleg alcohol was normally made or stored in bathtubs found in the toilet room. the drink lost favor with people after the repeal of prohibition because quite frankly, though the gin was strong it usually also tasted of someone else's body odor.
Thanks for the posts on my blogs, Word Imp. I am not really all that strong, but thanks. I do love your blog. I love learning new words. When I took Medical Terminology class, it was so much fun. When I read medical journals, I actually know what part of the body they are talking about. This is no different for me. One never really stops learning.
Is a type of colourful fish that changes from a dull brown to a bright red when disturbed. Native to Fiji where the locals catch it with a special trap. Best eaten roasted with coconut milk.
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