OED WOTD: 2 out of 3 ain’t bad January 2, 2009
Posted by Olivia McDowell in Blogging, Etcetera, Laughing, Words.Tags: Energy, Etymology, Handsel, New Year, OED
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More on New Year’s offerings from OED Word Of The Day:
31 December 2008: “New Year”
Yes. Very good. Simple. Self-explanatory.
I do like the intentional nebulousness of “The coming year; the year about to begin or just beginning; the beginning or first few days of the year. Also: the season immediately before and after 31 December”.
1 January 2009: “Handsel”
More specifically, the second definition:
Wonderful! Perfect timing! Intriguing! Fancy living another year of my life thinking that Handsel/Hansel was just Gretel’s younger and more calculating brother!
And then…
2 January 2009: “Energy”
Energy? Force or vigour of expression? Impressiveness of an event… maybe (but even as admitted by the OED, obscurely so). “Energy” so soon after the general excess of the New Year (including the season immediately before and after)? No, not yet.
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