Tag: Word of the Month

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Word of the Month: Tsuris

David Zapatka Friend Marty Minnich and I were discussing the coronavirus pandemic when he closed his email with this statement, “I hope you and I will see each other fairly soon on the other side of all this tsuris.” Marty loves words, so threw in tsuris at the end of his message. He’s a fellow verbivore.…

Word of the Month: Pismire

David Zapatka Reader Diane DeCarlo writes, “I enjoyed your article ‘Word’ in our January paper. I just wanted to share with you a favorite word of mine which is ‘pismere,’ another word for ‘ant.’ But I use the word for an annoying person.” Thank you for your suggestion Diane. I discovered you’re not the only…

Word of the Month: Ten Words Turning 100 in 2019

David Zapatka Entering the 2020s, which seemed so far into the future, caused me to pause and focus on the plethora of words that come into our language every year. Entering the year 1920, some of the world’s great minds were inventing the rotary dial telephone, the pop-up toaster, and forming the League of Nations,…

Word of the Month: Shungite-fullerenes

David Zapatka Shungite-fullerenes: a unique combination of carbon and silicate minerals found in an ancient deposit in Karelia, Russia. Friend and fellow wisdom seeker book club member, Sandria (Joy) Valente, gave me a special gift recently—a shungite-fullerenes rock. I had never heard of these before. Joy explained shungite-fullerenes rocks have special properties and are called…

Word of the Month: Carillon

Joe Dias, Missouri State University carillonist, giving us a private concert.

David Zapatka While traveling this summer on the Goldwing, I was fortunate to receive a private tour of Missouri State University’s Jane A. Meyer Carillon. Carillons are the world’s largest instruments, and this one is the largest of all those located in the U.S. Midwest. This carillon is made up of 48 bronze bells and…

Word of the Month: Extirpate

David Zapatka While traveling this summer on the Goldwing, I chose to visit the granddaddy of all outdoor sporting goods stores, Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Missouri. If you’ve never been there, it’s spectacular and certainly worth a visit. More than 4,000,000 tourists visit this store every year, more than double the tourists to the…

Word of the Month: Demotic

David Zapatka I attend a five-day conference every summer where experts are brought in to speak about a wide variety of topics. This year’s annual gathering had 218 speakers lecturing, hosting interactive gatherings and running tournaments on 308 interesting and entertaining topics. Being a lifelong student, I’m in my element when I can learn from…

Word of the Month: Sarcophagus

  David Zapatka Just having toured the Valley of the Kings and Queens in Luxor, Egypt, my mind is filled with hieroglyphic and sarcophagus images. Touring the tombs of Tutankhamun, Seti 1, Seti 2, Ramses 2 and Nefertari, I was astounded by the beauty, artistry, vibrant colors, carvings and intricate work done by these ancient…

Word of the Month: Curry

David Zapatka Having spent the past week in Myanmar and India eating fabulous cuisine off the cruise ship, curry dishes are fresh on my mind. I’ve long loved Indian cuisine and all those many curry flavors. I’m impressed by how many different types of curry and varying spices there are. What I’ve learned is curry…

Word of the month: Cenotaph

David Zapatka I’m writing this column as I’m departing from Hiroshima, Japan on the cruise ship Insignia, part of the Oceania fleet. Having just visited the Atomic Bomb Dome and seeing the memorials to all those who lost their lives, I felt somber and my throat was constricted with the flood of emotions coursing through…