Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Wondrous Words Wednesday: More Words with Friends

I'll admit that I spend too much time playing Words with Friends on my iPhone (though I'll willingly turn off my cell phone on airplanes).  One of the pleasures of playing is making up words that sometimes turn out to be actual words, by trying various combinations of letters to form plausible words.



Yesterday I played zorils and scored 54 points. It wasn't a mega-word (100 or more points), but it was substantial enough to give me a nice lead.  I then looked up zoril. 


1. zoril:  a weaselike African animal, resembling a skunk in coloration and habits, also called an African polecat, zorille, or zorilla

Our night safari tour guide told us to beware of the zoril; The Guinness Book of Animal Records states that a zoril once kept nine lions at bay while it was scavenging their kill, due to its strong, putrid smell.  (I smell a . . . zoril?)



Zoril


I also "made up" the word jato.  It was accepted as a word by Words with Friends. What on earth does jato mean?

2. jato: an acronym for jet-fuel assisted take off; an aircraft takeoff aided by an auxiliary jet or rocket; an auxiliary jet-producing unit providing additional thrust for a takeoff

Some of you probably already know that jato is a term used in engineering and aeronautics. 


America's first "rocket-assisted" take-off,
performed at March Field, California, in 1941.


Apparently, jota is also a word. I could have played jota, but went with jato instead.

3. jota: a genre of music and the associated popular dance known throughout Spain, most likely originating in Aragon; the music to which the dance is set, normally of 3/4 or 6/8 time

The jota dancers wore colorful costumes and were quite energetic.

Aragonese Jota Dancers


Photos courtesy of Wonderful Wikipedia



Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy from BermudaOnion's Weblog. What new words have you made up discovered recently?

21 comments:

  1. I love it! I'm thinking of featuring words I'm learning playing Boggle on my phone.

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    1. Thanks, Kathy! Your meme gives me another reason to take note of words.

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    2. And I hope you do a Boggle words post!

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  2. I deleted my Words with Friends bc all my "friends" were beating the poo out of me! And, I'm an English teacher!!

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  3. With all the games I play online, it's surprising I never played this one before. I know it's very popular.

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  4. Peppermint, I feel you. I am having that trouble with Scramble with friends... killingme!

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  5. I'll have to try making up words when I play Literati on Yahoo games! Don't have an iPhone, so can't play Word with friends!

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    1. Harvee, you can play Words with Friends on Facebook and in other ways--you don't need an iPhone. Literati sounds like fun!

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  6. Great words Suko! These are all new to me. By the looks of it, that zoril might be a distant relative of my chihuahua lol

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  7. I once played puja, and had no idea that it was a real word! It was interesting to discover that it was! Great words today!

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  8. I love it that you looked up the words you "made up"! All of them new to me. Zorils sound particularly fasinating, they sure must stink though. I've never even smelt a skunk. I've avoided words with friends so far. I waste enough time with computers and things now without finding new ways.

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  9. My current favorite, which I played at random to get rid of my last tiles: "gutta". A gutta (Latin pl. guttae, "drops") is a small water-repelling, cone-shaped projection used in the architrave of the Doric order in classical architecture.

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  10. Thanks for sharing, Suko. I like your words... nad the pictures : all is clear for me !

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  11. All new words to me, thanks for sharing them, I'll have to see if I can drop any of them into my conversations today which is a game I like to play when I see any words I don't know. Anyway, Happy Easter.

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  12. What fun to find new words. I love playing SCRABBLE, I've not played the WORDS WITH FRIENDS game. I know some of my friends do, but, I already waste to much time on the computer. Keep making up those new words and sharing them with us. I enjoyed reading about them and the meanings.

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  13. So impressive that you actually researched these new words, and pictures too!! Thanks!

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  14. That is so cool! Maybe I should start playing Words with Friends (but i'd never stop...). That zoril looks like something from a medieval bestiary. Wonderful post, Suko, thank you.

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  15. Suko, I love playing Words With Friends too! Email me your name and we can start a game :)

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