What does that mean?

Quite difficult looking words….aren’t they? Let’s start with ‘Ambi’ , which is common between the two words – Ambi is not a word but a root which means ‘both’ or ‘both sides’ . ‘Ambidextrous’ is someone who is skillful in using both the right and left hand equally well. Similarly, ‘Ambisinister’ is someone who is clumsy or unskillful with both the hands.

Think the title makes it clear that Cachinnate means to laugh loudly, immodestly or continuously.  But by the looks of it – the word Laugh and Cachinnate look so distant in meaning. There's nothing that connects the two words. Pronounced as /Kæ-Ki-neit/ The sound æ is pronounced like the " a " in a pple.

Job + Robbery….  That’s a portmanteau morph – discussed in one of my earlier posts. Literally means using one’s public office or position of trust for the sake of improper private gain. Reminds me of Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa's 18 land scams amounting to over 150 crores.

Have you ever uttered a sentence such that the initial sounds of several words got misplaced? Actually, a slip of the tongue. I am sure, you are not clear what I am talking about; let me quote some examples. By the way, the examples I am quoting were actually the errors made by Reverend William Archibald Spooner after whom the term ' Spoonerism ' is named. "You have hissed all my mystery lectures" Actually should have been - You have missed all my history lectures "A well-boiled icicle" (well-oiled bicycle). Sometimes, these Spoonerisms can change the meaning altogether, take a look: "Save the whales" instead of...Wave the sails "The pain is roaring" instead of.. The rain is pouring ~ ~ ~

Brunch = Breakfast + Lunch Moped = Motor + Pedal Liger = Lion + Tiger Smog = Smoke + Fog FedEx = Federal + Express Spork = Spoon + Fork Camcorder = Camera + Recorder Got it? Portmanteau morphs or portmanteau words are formed by two existing words and their already existing meanings are combined in the newly formed word. ~ ~ ~

Remember, when you wake up in the morning - yawning and stretching yourself. Now, in a word, that’s what’s called ‘ Pandiculation ’. Well, you may or may not be pandiculating, but cats surely do pandiculate. Even dogs do. BTW, there’s one particular way my pet dog pandicualtes, that I like the best – ‘He stretches his hind legs on a cushioned chair and the front legs are stretched out on the carpet (on the floor). In all, he stretches out a 180 degrees. ~ ~ ~

Wish I had come across this word in the 1990’s when my cousin often threatened my little sister that he will throw her out of the window (kiddingly - the intention was to show her that she’s so small that she can be thrown out of the window, despite the little space between the window grills). So must be clear by now – the next time you want to tell someone – I’ll throw you out of the window – you can save yourself some words and instead say – I’ll defenestrate you :) Hey, it’s not just for throwing people out; you can even defenestrate things!!! ~ ~ ~

The first few classes of Linguistics and the strangest (funny to pronounce) word I came across was ' Onamotapoeia '. Looks like quite a complicated meaning to be unveiled, isn't it? But you have come across Onamotapoeic words ever since you were a toddler. Remember those 'Bow-wow', 'meow', 'tick-tock', - those are what it means. Words that imitate the sounds of what's been described. Words that resemble natural sounds like - the 'buzz' of bees, the singing 'cuckoo', the 'quack-quack' of ducks and 'oink-oink' of pigs. Onamotapoeic sounds can be understood beyond language barriers. They belong to the language that uses these natural sounds in their vocabulary and for that matter even a kid can interpret what that word stands for - we've all heard those bow-wows and meow meows. ~ ~ ~