"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."
Thursday 21 October 2010
Wyvern
The Wyvern was a mythical fire-breathing dragon used in medieval heraldry; had the head of a dragon and the tail of a snake and a body with wings and two legs
Velox is latin for swift so presumably Vauxhall were letting us know the Velox was a fast car. Interestingly, Geococcyx velox, is a large, long-legged member of the Cuckoo family, the Lesser Roadrunner.
My daughter Helen commented in November 2008 in her Blog that she was now keeping a notebook of new words that she came across during her reading. "This week I bought a lovely little leather bound book to write new words in as I read them . I've added a few from "1984", but my favourite has to be persiflage (from the French persifler) which means banter." I later discovered that my older daughter, Bryony, also kept a similar notebook.
This inspired me to create a Word blog. This will include both new words, favourite words and the origins of phrases that we commonly use. A definition and some comment, perhaps even a relevant quotation, will acompany the word or phrase.
“I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me.” - Winnie the Pooh
How do you pronounce it?
ReplyDeleteAnd was also the name of one of Vauxhall Motors cars manufactured between 1948 and 1951. Have you any idea what a Velox was?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt is pronounced WHY-vern, Librarian.
ReplyDeleteVelox is latin for swift so presumably Vauxhall were letting us know the Velox was a fast car. Interestingly, Geococcyx velox, is a large, long-legged member of the Cuckoo family, the Lesser Roadrunner.