Dictionary Moment: Jibe

While the little boys were occupied with not cleaning their room the other night, we decided to introduce the older ones to the joys of Scrabble.  Actually, I was surprised that they had not played previously.  It must have to something do with having little ones in the house.  Anyway, due to the boys' inexperience, the opportunities at hand , and lucky combinations of letters in my draws, I was stomping everyone soundly.  Until Scoot landed JIBE with the J on a double letter score and the E on a triple word score.  63 points.  Yikes!

We all knew it was a word, of course, but only had a vague idea of the definition.  So we consulted the red Webster's, our official game dictionary, and found three definitions:

1:  to shift a fore-and-aft sail suddenly and forcibly from one side to the other

2:  gibe, or taunt

Both of these definitions were familiar, probably relating to the Pirates game the guys like to play.  But then

3:  to be in accord, agree, as in "that doesn't jibe with what I know"

Wait.  I thought that was "jive."  So we looked across the page, and found that jive means

1:  swing music or dancing

2:  deceptive or foolish talk, jargon

3:  to tease

Nothing about agreement.  So, next time you're at the dance hall, where people change direction with the wind and engage in foolish talk, and you hear someone say, "That doesn't jive!", you can smugly answer, "It certainly does not.  Neither does it jibe." 

Overdue Photos

Here are a couple of subjects I should have posted on previously.  This first has become, to me, rather commonplace.  While I'm impressed, I'm not surprised about it anymore.  But occasionally someone will see it for the first time and ask, "Have you taken a picture?"  Well, I finally did this week.  So, here it is:

Yes, that is D2, sleeping soundly in a shopping cart.  I've had some remarkably successful shopping sessions because of this ability, but I still don't know how he does it.

The next is not on the same order of cuteness, but I am pleased with it:

My new winter dress, that I sewed sometime around Thanksgiving.  It is made from a lovely, slightly fuzzy peachskin material.  Luckily I do not suffer haptodysphoria.  I followed Simplicity 2338, and added pockets.  These flowers by the Delightfuldesigner are a perfect match!

Culture Shot

Feeling restless a few days after Christmas, we headed for the hills on the east side of Seattle

and found the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

It has these lovely doors

and a nicely varied collection inside.

Can you see how much the boys appreciated this cultural experience?

I thought it was wonderful.

We are grateful for vacuum cleaners

Dictionary Moment: Floccinaucinihilipilification

After looking up "duff," which the Caterpillar found in a fire safety pamphlet, I flipped randomly to the F section of the SOED and found this vaguely related word.  Duff, in the context, means "decaying vegetable matter covering forest ground," but more generally denotes "something worthless."  "Floccinaucinihilipilification" caught my attention by being a very long word (29 letters and four Latin roots), right in the middle of the page.  And it means "the action or habit of estimating as worthless."

It sounds like a bad habit to me.  When you are tempted to dismiss something as duff, consider it carefully.  Do you want to be guilty of floccinaucinihilipilification?  Let us value people as children of God, the world around us as His creation, and the new year before us as full of opportunity.  Not, of course, that everything has equal worth.  When we meet items or habits which are not of worth to us, let us replace them with that which is more edifying. 

Seize the year!