Phantasmagoria

Okay. I'm really not sure
what to say here.

Phantasmagoria is a fantastic sequence of images randomly strewn together, as in a surreal dream. Dictionary.com also lists it as "a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination."

One of us has had a little too much,
and I'm not sure which it is.

In fact, the word is closely related to "phantasm" or "phantasma" (a phantom or apparition), and may be a joining of that word with the word "allegory". Alternatively, the second part may be related to "agorá", a Greek word for "assembly" or "gathering" (thus, a gathering of phantasms).

It would appear that Jack London was a fan of the word, as he used it in at least four of his stories: Before Adam, Jerry of the Islands, John Barleycorn, and Martin Eden.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, phantasmagoria, phantasm, phantasma

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Uff da

Uff da (pronounced and occasionally spelled "oofda") is a fairly versatile Norwegian word that means "oops", "drat", or "ouch". It can also be used in a sympathetic manner (like saying "wow" or "man" at the beginning of a sentence in English). The term is fairly common in the Minnesota-Wisconsin area of the U.S., where culture has been influenced by Scandinavian immigrants over the years. In that area of the country, the phrase might also be used as a general expression of suprise.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, uff da, Norwegian, Scandinavian

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Quail

Far from meaning "acting like a quail" (at least, in any way I can think of) to quail means "to shrink back in fear; cower" or "draw back, as with fear or pain". Lest you think that this might actually be based on some sort of ornithological behavior, the two words come from very different origins: The bird name comes from the Middle English "quaille", which in turn comes from Old French (and possibly from Vulgar Latin), whereas the verb "quail" is from the Middle English "quailen" ("to give way"), which in turn may be from the Middle Dutch word "quelen" ("to suffer"). So don't knock the quails. They don't quail on you. Or if they do, it's rather something of a coincidence.

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Brae

Brae is a Scottish word for a hillside or slope. In addition, it is a settlement in the Shetland Islands.

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Picayune

A picayune is a Spanish coin that was at one point worth about five cents. However, it has become a more general word for something trivial, petty, or nearly valueless.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, picayune, Rocky, Bullwinkle

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Foster's

Foster's is Australian for beer.

Uh... Maybe I shouldn't write this so late at night.

Let's try this again.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, Foster's, beer, Australia

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Hakuna matata

Yep. Straight from Biblical Hebrew to Disney. If it makes you feel any better, I'm far more interested in the phrase's larger context than it's musical one.

Hakuna matata means "no..." Uh, that is, it means "here there are no concerns". The phrase is in Swahili, and, no, it was not made up for the movie. In fact, a literal Kiswahili translation of "no worries" would be "hamna shida". Hakuna matata is a rather common Swahili phrase, and has appeared in plenty of other places outside of the movie whose name I have narrowly avoided mentioning thus far.

You can take apart the phrase as follows:

haku: Locative prefix; "there are not".

na: Negative suffix.

ma: Plural prefix.

[ji]tata: Concerns.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, hakuna matata, hamna shida, Swahili, Kiswahili

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סלה (selah)

סלה: The pause that refreshes.

In the heading of the article, Wikipedia refers to the Biblical Hebrew word סלה (transliterated as selah or çelâh) as meaning "stop and listen", a term that stresses the importance of the preceding passage. However (as the rest of the article makes clear), this is something of an oversimplification.

The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible refers to çelâh (Hebrew word #5542) as a "suspension (of music), i.e. pause". Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words believes that selah is connected with sālāl (meaning "to lift up"): The instruments would be lifted up to increase their sound while voices were kept silent. Alternatively, it mentions the possibility that selah is connected with shālāh (to rest), but Vine's seems far less confident of that connection. Vine's final word is that selah effectively says "This being so, give heed to what is now to be said", effectively connecting what precedes with what follows, stressing both.

Insight on the Scriptures (volume two) somewhat more bluntly admits that "although it is generally thought to be a technical term for music or recitation, its exact significance is unknown". However, it suggests the meaning of a "pause, suspension, or holding back", saying that "the pause was doubtless used to make the fact or sentiment just expressed more impressive, to allow the full import of the last utterance to sink in".

Hebrew is written from right-to-left, so (if your browser is rendering this properly), the letters should be read in that direction. Character by character, the letters are:

ס: Tameka's

ל: La'medh

ה: He'

Depending on your browser, you may notice an odd effect when you drag your mouse over the text: The English part highlights from left-to-right, but then the highlighting jumps to the right side of the Hebrew text, at which point it begins moving to the left. Once you highlight past the Hebrew text, the highlighting should appear continuous. Go ahead and give it a shot.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, סלה, selah, çelâh

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