Aloud

It was my own error. I didn't realize how long it had been since the youngest ate. Strapped into a forward-facing shopping cart at Babies R Us, he began to whimper and whine. The older woman just ahead of us decided she would let him know his antics were upsetting her day, so she made a taste-a-lemon face at him. Frightened, he screamed into her face. I swung the cart quickly around and held his head in my arms while he fretted and I cooed. Evil Lady kept giving pointed looks to the cashier as she checked out. I ignored Evil Lady's attempts to make eye contact with me.

Then, thankfully, her transaction was over and we were at the register. But as she was leaving, she just had to turn around one more time to again make that face at my child. I swear I just thought it, but apparently it popped out of my mouth. I had no expression on my face, no tone to my voice, just two little words hanging in the air in front of me. "Old bag."

oops
interjection
Used to express acknowledgement of a minor accident, blunder, or mistake.
"oops." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 06 May. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/oops-1

I am my mother

This morning, the oldest had a positively absurd idea. I opened my mouth to say so, and out fell my mother's words.

Are you out of your cotton-picking mind?

cotton-picking
adjective, informal, Chiefly Southern US
Used as an intensive: a cotton-picking fool; out of your cotton-picking mind.
"cotton-picking." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 05 May. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/cotton-picking

My mother used to declare me out of my own cotton-picking mind quite often as a child.

I love you, new old word!

Behold my new favorite word, discovered tonight in a very old unabridged dictionary:

ugsome
adjective
Disgusting; loathsome.
"ugsome." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 03 May. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/ugsome

How did ugsome ever fall out of use? It's fabulous!

Traffic Jam

When I'm stuck in traffic, my mind starts to wander. Often, I think about words. Two recent such thoughts:

1. mean is a verb, an adjective, and a noun. I'm trying to think of another such word.

2. queue and aqueous are two words that have four vowels in a row. Are there any words that have four vowels in a row that are not immediately preceded by the letter q though?

You can see why traffic is a problem for me.

If anyone has an answer to either of these, I will be mightily impressed. And grateful. They're driving me mad.

Offal is pronounced like awful

I've signed up for a Scrabble fundraiser. My father misheard me and thought I said I'd signed up for a Scrapple fundraiser. No thank you.

scrapple
noun
A savory cornmeal pudding in which the cornmeal is simmered with pork scraps and trimmings, then cooled and hardened into a loaf. Scrapple is made of hog offal such as the head, heart, liver, and other scraps.
"scrapple." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2005. Answers.com 30 Apr. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/scrapple

offal
noun
1. Waste parts, especially of a butchered animal.
2. Refuse; rubbish.
[Middle English : of-, off (from Old English, from of) + fal, fall.]
"offal." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 30 Apr. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/offal