I need you...

There are a million and one ways of saying this to someone. It goes unsaid a lot, but here are some words that express need of something or someone.

Necessity, requirement, essential, desire, requisite, long, urgency, wish, ache for, needy, hankering, jones, fiend, thirst, yearn, crave, pine, hunger--the list goes on.

This post goes out to my husband. Baby, bread does NOT nourish me. I love you and I NEED you.

Portmanteaus

I sometimes create words as I need them. Grampo (grammar + typo) is one I coined. I also claim responsibility for "flying lane change" (flying lead change + lane), to refer to the act of changing lanes mid-intersection (those who are equestrians will understand this one), and "synagoggling" (synagogue +goggling), to propose what a Jewish friend should do in his search for a nice, Jewish girl. All are portmanteaus.

portmanteau
noun
A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words, as chortle, from chuckle and snort, or smog, from smoke and fog.
"portmanteau." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 07 Nov. 2005. http://www.answers.com/topic/portmanteau-new-word

Some Portmanteaus with which most are familiar
alphabet
Spanglish
fantabulous
brunch
gaydar
infomercial
meld
motel
moped

Some Portmanteaus that may be unfamiliar
bacne (back acne)
bootylicious (booty +delicious)
Chunnel (Channel tunnel)
dramedy (dramatic comedy)
spork (combination spoon fork)
ginormous (gigantic + enormous)
Texican (self-explanatory)
mimbo (male bimbo)

The Incredible Skulk

skulk (skŭlk)
verb

1. To lie in hiding, as out of cowardice or bad conscience; lurk.
2. To move about stealthily.
3. To evade work or obligation; shirk.

Eeeew, he's ŭg'lē!

He tried to honeyfuggle me!

Honeyfuggle is a word that was used daily in the 19th century. Now, it's gone. Noone says this anymore. Why don't they say it? Well, I'll tell you why! Because noone knows what the hell it means, that's why! What a silly question...

Honeyfuggle means to deceive by flattery or sweet-talk. Like salespeople who work on commission do when they KNOW that your butt looks huge in those jeans. Or what your husband does when he KNOWS he has messed up and he's trying to get back in your good graces (and that'll never work, I'm a hard sistah to crack! No I'm not... *sigh*). We say something like "Did he just try to play me?" or "Are you tryin' to trick me" or "Is this a $#!%& joke, man?!"... something like that.

So, next time someone tries to honeyfuggle you, let them know that you're not falling for that crap.

Some other facts:

*President Roosevelt was "the prize honeyfuggler of his time".
*Fugle used to mean the "F" word to young girls in the late 20's and 30's. Apparently, that had something to do with the disappearance of this word.

This place has some interesting words... I will use all of them in a sentence by the end of this year if it disables me momentarily (hey... I don't want to die!).

fanfaronade, gasconade, or rodomontade?

Since we're sharing pics of our dogs, those are mine. Aren't they marvelous? Salsa is the sweetest, most noble dog ever. I cannot believe someone took her to the shelter and left her on Death Row. Pep was a newborn stray when rescued by a local group.

(Charlie wasn't vaunting about her dogs, but I am. I don't always, though.)

fanfaronade
noun
An act of boasting: boast, brag, braggadocio, gasconade, rodomontade, vaunt.

(Best synonyms ever)

Off-Topic

When I went out to get the paper this morning, I could smell the mountains in the air. Almost everyone is familiar with "smelling the ocean", but many do not realize that mountains also have a distinctive aroma - crisp and cool and moist and verdant. It makes me involuntarily inhale deeply just like the salty beach fragrance.

hisssssss

When my brother and I would tick my mother off, but we were in public so she couldn't "snatch us bald" (a pet threat that she never made good on), she would usually handle it with The Look. The Look was bad. The Look meant business. The Look worked 98% of the time.

The remaining 2% of the time, she resorted to a kind of whispered/hissed admonition, heavy with implied doom. However, on those few occasions that she did, it was very effective.

Sssssit down NOW! And husssssssssssssh! Zip it! I sssssaid ZIP IT!

sibilate
verb

1. To utter or pronounce with a hissing sound.
2. To make a sharp sibilant sound

Synonyms: fizz, fizzle, hiss, sizzle, swish, whiz, whoosh

a horny what?

scutum, n.
A horny, chitinous, or bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle or the underside of a snake. Also called scutum. [From Latin sctum, shield.]

If you're not gonna use the word "scutum" today, I beg you, at least use "chitinous".

of course

I didn't want to admit it. I was in denial. Not my babies.
But yes, the dogs got fleas. They're both now scratching in stereo as I type.
As we were putting the state-of-the-art flea goo on their backs this morning, I read the following: "...provides convenient and effective flea and tick control for dogs and cats, puppies and kittens. It is effective against all stages of the brown dog tick, the American dog tick, lone star tick and deer ticks..."
Yes, Lone Star Tick.

Scientific name: Amblyomma americanum Linnaeus
(Acari: Ixodidae)

Facts: The lone star tick has a white spot on its back by which to identify it. This is one of the hard tick family because it has a shield-shaped plate (scutum) on its back. Piercing-sucking mouthparts help this pest take blood from the host. Ticks that take in a lot of blood enlarge and are called engorged.

Texas has their own tick, and why not, the state has more ticks than dogs and cats combined. Just ask anyone from Texas, we've all got crowd-disgusting "tick stories" that will haunt your camping trips for years to come.

Hunker hunker burning love

hunker
verb

1. To stoop low with the limbs pulled in close to the body. crouch, huddle, hunch, squat.
   
2. To sit on one's heels. squat.

As you can see, he comes from good hunkering stock.

It's no Dyson, but...

"At least they didn't name me Cuthbert"

harry

verb

1. To disturb or distress by or as if by repeated attacks; harass.
   
2. To raid, as in war; sack or pillage.

I have a cousin named Harry. That's not he, though.

Peppermint Patty Trashpalooza

Is she is or is she ain't a lady? She's pretty rough around the edges and the way I see it, she's a lady, but boy is she... a macho lady. The way she harasses Charlie Brown, episode after episode is just awful. I mean, who the hell does she think she is anyways? Does she have a crush on Chuck Brown or is she just after him for his superior football skills? I dunno, but I do know one thing--she's annoying. I don't mean annoying like I can be, but just.... pluck, pluck, pluck on my nerves.

She's not very bright either. She asks the same questions all the time "What ya doin', Chuck... huh, Chuck?" or "Wanna play ball with me, Chuck?" Ugh! How aloof do you have to be to not notice that you are always playing ball with a dog? HELLOOOOOO--his name is Snoopy and he's a beagle. How did you miss that?

She's really cute and funny, but she's the polar opposite of a live-wire. :o)

(I usually don't feel this strongly about cartoon characters but just the thought of her sent me into this blind insanity that I just typed out. If I offended any Peppermint Patty fans, sorry for ya!

One redeeming factor, probably the only.... her sandals are BOSS! Those sandals are like none other. If I may be frank, they rock harder than "Jesus" sandals. That's quite major. She's not all THAT bad afterall.)

Not loose.... OLD

hoary
adj

1. Gray or white with, or as if with, age
2. Covered with grayish hair or down
3. Ancient

These women subscribe to the maxim that you are only as hoary as you feel. Also, that every outfit benefits from a strong hat showing.

Sláinte, ladies!

Compulsion

com·pul·sion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (km-plshn)
n.

The act of compelling.
The state of being compelled.

An irresistible impulse to act, regardless of the rationality of the motivation: “The compulsion to protect the powerful from the discomfort of public disclosure feeds further abuse and neglect” (Boston Globe).
An act or acts performed in response to such an impulse.

What compells someone to view something over and over and over again? Why bother if you have nothing to add, nothing to gain?

I wish I knew, I wish I could stop this compulsion.

Complete Aside

Quotes from related news stories, including an AP Wire Report entitled Life-Sized Statue of Betty Boop Beheaded ...

"Without it, she's nothing." - store owner Larry Estes

"Who would do this?" - store owner Larry Estes

“I’m sure a lot of people saw her like that. That’s not good.” - store owner Larry Estes

"People are sick.” - customer Meg Turco

“We just want her head back.” - store owner Larry Estes