It’s been a good week for ... words
The verb "betrump" – meaning to deceive or cheat – has languished for five centuries at the bottom of the big box labelled “forgotten words”.
Now it's poised for a comeback after being chosen as our favourite long-lost word.
It’s uncertain if this reflects public opinion on the present incumbent of the White House, but the use of President Trump's surname to signify a liar won convincingly, attracting more than four out of 10 votes in a recent poll.
York University language experts had selected 30 obscure terms and put them to a public vote, with the winning word being submitted to the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary in the hope of being included.
A convincing 42 per cent voted for betrump – which hadn't previously featured in the English language since the 16th century. Trailing in second place with a mere 7.5 per cent was the colourful concept of “ear-rent” – the figurative cost of listening to gossip.
In third place was “rouzy-bouzy” meaning boisterously drunk. Next came “slug-a-bed” – one who lies long in bed through laziness – and “merry-go-sorry”, meaning a mixture of joy and sorrow.
The York University team spent three months scouring historic texts and etymological dictionaries to find forgotten terms which would fit into today's English.
They could just have asked the President to invent something. He is, after all, credited with securing “fake news”, the title of 2017 Collins Dictionary Word of the Year.
Betrumped by fake news? There seems to be a theme emerging ...
It’s been a bad week for ... hamsters
Coming to terms with the death of a pet is supposed to be a defining milestone in a child’s life. But what about when they get a resurrection thrown in as part of the experience?
Fudge the hamster was cold, stiff and still. Assuming he had gone to the big hamster reel in the sky, owner Lisa Goodman broke the news to her daughter Lillie and prepared for burial.
They steeled themselves with a cup of tea ... and then discovered Fudge was not dead after all. He was just hibernating.
Fudge will live happily ever after. A merry-go-sorry tale if ever there was one.
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