Thursday, September 10, 2009

Funny Words

Our American Dictionary is made up of many different funny words. Funny words can have all sorts of diverse sounds that make them abnormal to written or verbal language. There are certain words that roll off your tongue awkwardly and there are some words that simply get stuck to your tongue and you can never quite say them right. To little kids their funny words consist of “fart” or “cooties” but when you get more mature and intellectual funny words become terms like “balderdash” and “scallywag.” Some funny words may contain double o’s or possibly could have 20 letters. As a group we decided to investigate the world of silly, funny, and down right asinine words of the English language. For each word, we will give the definition, an incorrect sentence and a sentence that shows the proper use of the word.


The first word that we that we examined was the word: Supercool
verb
To cool (as in a liquid) below it freezing point without solidification

Incorrect Sentence:
Our friend Sally had on a supercool pair of socks on yesterday.

Correct Sentence:
We were supercooling the lemonade, but of course we stopped in time to make a lemonade slushie, rather than a lemonade popsicle.


Another word that we examined was the word:
Chomp
verb
To make vigorous biting or chewing motions with the jaw and teeth.

Incorrect Sentence:
The propeller started to chomp, so the ship started to sail.

Correct Sentence:
The mailman tried to run away from the chihuahua, but it got the opportunity to chomp on his leg, so it did.


Another word that we examined was the word:
Noodle
noun
A foolish or stupid person.

Incorrect Sentence:
I drove my noodle to school today but it wouldn’t fit in the parking spot.

Correct Sentence:
When Johnny called it “The Great Wall of Japan” we all just ignored the noodle and went on with our lesson.


Another word that we examined was the word:
Crankpin
noun
A short cylindrical pin at the outer end of a crank, held by and moving with a connecting rod or link
Incorrect Sentence:
I asked the teacher if I could borrow her crankpin at the beginning of class but she just told me to bring my own writing utensils.

Correct Sentence:
When the crankpin fell out of the crank we all had to search for it or the machine wouldn’t run.


Another word that we examined was the word: Myrtle
noun
A common evergreen, bushy shrub.
Incorrect Sentence:
The myrtle of the story was that you shouldn’t lie.

Correct Sentence:
My mother was outside clipping the myrtles as I did my homework.


Another word that we examined was the word: Pince-nez
noun
Eye-glasses clipped to the nose by a spring that grips the bridge of your nose

Incorrect Sentence:
Our teacher’s pince-nez was holding his socks up quite nicely.

Correct Sentence:
The man was completely old fashion, complete with the sport coat and the pince-nez attached to his glasses.


Another word that we examined was the word: Peewee
-adjective
Short, miniature sized or little
Incorrect Sentence:
The girl was so peewee she was the tallest girl on the court.

Correct Sentence:
John had always gotten made fun of because of how short he was, people often called him “peewee” and “shrimp.”


Another word that we examined was the word: Desoxyribonucleic Acid
noun
DNA
Incorrect Sentence:
Jimmy sneezed without covering his mouth and the girls screamed and ran away worried that his Desoxyribonucleic Acid would get all over them.

Correct Sentence:
In science class the kids learned that they got most of their Desoxyribonucleic Acid from their parents.


Another word that we examined was the word: Futtock
noun
One of the curved timbers put together to form the lower part of the compound rib of a ship.
Incorrect Sentence:
The boy didn’t like to stand; he preferred to sit on his futtocks.

Correct Sentence:
The captain of the ship got worried if they got into shallow waters that his futtock could get split in two.


Another word that we examined was the word: Gemsbok
–noun
A male goat
Incorrect Sentence:
The girl put the shiny gemsbok she found on the ground into her pocket.

Correct Sentence:
The farm family had certain chores assigned and Craig always had to milk the gemsbok.


Another word that we examined was the word: Oodles
–noun
A great quantity
Incorrect Sentence:
Jonathon spilled his oodles all over the carpet.

Correct Sentence:
Cheryl had oodles and oodles of recipes up her sleeve when it came to Italian food.


Another word that we examined was the word:
Oomph
–noun
Personal charm or magnetism, vitality
Incorrect Sentence:
No one ate the oomph at dinner because the smell was revolting.

Correct Sentence:
The basketball team added extra oomph in order to beat the opposing team.


Another word that we examined was the word:
Poppycock
noun
Empty talk or writing, rubbish.
Incorrect Sentence:
Jennifer took her poppycock on a walk through the neighborhood.

Correct Sentence:
He filled her mind with complete poppycock about getting married and then just disappeared without a word.

As you can see, our world is filled with many different styles of words that can make you giggle. Now that you know these 13 unique words, you can impress your average noodles by limiting the poppycock in your vocabulary.

By: Marissa, Jesse, and Kelsey

5 comments:

  1. Your incorrect sentences were very creative; they made me laugh!!! One question, where do kids get the rest of their DNA if they only get MOST from their parents?

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  2. I was happy to learn that I use the word "oodles" correctly. Pretty safe bet that I will never use the word "futtock" but thanks for trying to set the record straight...

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  3. Very interesting, do you guys mind if I borrow some of these words for my class? I think that my Japanese students would love to play with poppycock for a bit.

    Er... One question though, if gemsbok means a male goat, how can someone milk it?

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  4. I was suprised at this definition of noodle. Also, I didn't know deoxyribonucleic acid had an alternate spelling.

    Good Job!

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  5. Crankpin, looks like I have a new way to describe myself upon awakening.

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete