Coromind - Issue 34 - October25 - Coromandel's Collaborative Magazine - Flipbook - Page 13
I’ve just found a scrap of paper
squashed at the back of my socks
drawer. Must have been there a
while. It’s a list of my favourite
words. There are words to impress,
some that sound silly, words of
comfort and words that make me
giggle. And giggle is on that list –
ask children to giggle when taking
their photo and I guarantee you’ll
get cheeky grins.
Sometimes I come across a word
that needs concentration, like
abiogenesis or ignominious. Try
saying these when you’ve had a few
wines! Bryce Courtenay invented
a delightful word in his bestseller,
The Power of One, when Doc said
“Absoluddle”.
After emigrating to New Zealand,
I dropped a few dialect words
from my vocabulary. I grew up in
the UK’s Derbyshire, where the
word ‘duck’ is the equivalent of
‘mate’ or ‘friend’. So the 昀椀rst time
I visited a butcher in Waipukurau,
in my stylish English coat, two
toddlers by my side wearing
leather laced-up shoes, I said, “I’ll
have a some sausages, mi duck”.
“We don’t sell duck sausages,” said
he, smirking as he recognised my
Pommie accent. Lovie is another
word I ditched that week. In
the UK I would happily call the
burly dustman lovie, but it might
be misunderstood in Godzone.
Mithered (feeling bothered) is
another word I’ve abandoned.
My mum used to tell me Phoebe had
gone to bed, meaning the sun was
behind the clouds. She mashed,
not brewed, a pot of tea at a time
when tea bags weren’t invented.
She scrummaged (searched) for the
shilling that rolled under the table
and I can see the link with rugby.
Swilly is a dip in the road and cockbod means excellent, though I
am shy of saying that! One useful
word at the pub is gerrumin,
which means “it’s your round, mi
duck”, but I can’t guarantee your
drink will be paid for at a swanky
Auckland bar.
One of the most powerful words
must be ‘sorry’, though sometimes
it’s hard to say.
Here are some of my favourites:
wondrous, squishy, slurp, tittered,
exquisite, bigwig, skulduggery,
rascal,
rigmarole,
dinky,
nincompoop, ninny, kerfu昀툀e,
gobsmacked, frumpy, dawdle,
slosh, astonished, swanky, glee,
piddling,
giggling,
wriggling,
skedaddle, snort, aroha and
compassion.
The words we use can heal, make
folk laugh and give hope. They
can even change lives. Why don’t
you start a list? And use them.
Absoluddle!
Words by
Pamela Ferla
This magazine would not exist
without the magic of words. Do
you have a cool story to share
about words or expressions that
marked an important or funny
moment in your life? What about
your favourite words?
We would love to hear from you!
Email us at hello@coromind.nz
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