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| Blogging from A to Z Challenge |
This is my first experience as an A-Zer so I thought I'd better explain what I'm doing for this month. A whole month of wallowing in words. Can't wait! I admit I'm a Word Nerd.
Read on to see what you'll find EVERY DAY on the Focused on Story Blog, with the exception of the rest of the Sundays in April.
The Challenge
Read on to see what you'll find EVERY DAY on the Focused on Story Blog, with the exception of the rest of the Sundays in April.
The Challenge
According to the Blogging from A to Z April 2018 Challenge website, a blogger begins "April 1 with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until you finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z. It doesn't even have to be a word--it can be a proper noun, the letter used as a symbol, or the letter itself. The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day."
My Overall Theme
If you are a Word Nerd, then you'll like my theme for April because I'm going to share words that have caught my attention, words that fascinate me, words that roll off my tongue, words that make a sound (crackle), and words that have been in my vocabulary for one reason or another. Yes, I'll explain why they made the list. Many of the words are new-to-me. Hopefully, by including them in this survey of words, my vocabulary will expand and perhaps you’ll also learn more words.
I'll share words I learned by reading books both fiction and non-fiction; I'll attribute the new word to the author. I read eBooks because I love having a dictionary right inside my Kindle. When I see unfamiliar words, I can easily look up the meaning of the word, highlight it, and make a note about it. So much easier than dragging out the dictionary and then usually losing my place in the book I was reading.!!
Besides my words, I hope you'll offer words in the comments to add to my growing list of vocabulary words. I'd love to know your thoughts on this challenge.
Now, Word Nerds, we're off to a fun month filled with words. Thanks for joining me on this journey.
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| A to Z Challenge |
~ augur ~
portend a good or bad outcome, Kindle dictionary
The spelling of augur took me by surprise as I was familiar with the word auger spelled with“er."
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| The auger in action on an Iowa farm. Courtesy of Pixabay |
I grew up in a small farming community in Central Illinois known for its acres and acres of corn fields, so I was familiar with augers that are used for moving corn and other crops up into the grain bins for storage.
You can imagine my confusion. I smugly believed that one of the big publishers didn't catch this when proofreading Pat Conroy's book. I clicked on the Kindle dictionary and discovered augur is spelled correctly in his usage of the word. I smiled sheepishly when I read the definition and learned it has a completely different meaning than auger. The word augUR, gave me the chills when I discovered it means a foreshadowing of a bad outcome. Perhaps it was the way Pat Conroy used it in his memoir, The Water is Wide. “Overall, the night seemed to augur strange things.”
Can you think of words that sound the same but with different meanings? Example: lie and fair.
NOTE: Homonyms are words that sound alike but have different meanings.
Augur and auger are homophones. They're a type of homonym that sound alike and have different meanings and different spellings.
See? I bet this post convinces you I'm a Word Nerd!
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To all those who are celebrating Easter today--
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| Wishing you a joyous and blessed Easter. J.Q. Rose
Please leave a comment below. Are you familiar with augur and auger? Have you heard the term homonym before reading this blog post? Thank you.
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6 comments:
I was not familiar with either word so I learned something new. Cool. Happy A to Z.
Thanks so much, Juneta!!
Ah, a word nerd after my own heart. I love your description of "smugly" believing you caught something the publisher didn't. Even though it was correct this time, I'll bet you've spotted things that were genuine errors elsewhere. My husband reads all of George R.R. Martin's books, and there is at least one typo he finds in each book, and he's completely, unapologetically smug about it, haha. I found one in a book I was studying recently (periscope instead of the Greek pericope that was referenced over and over) and declared myself Genius for a Day.
I had heard of the word augur, JQ, but never of auger. How interesting! I loved your post as I'm a big Word Nerd, too. I've learned something new today, thank you!
I wonder if English has more homophones and homonyms than any other language? Whole and hole, bow and bough, row and roe. There must be hundreds.
Thanks for the fun post!
Hi Lynda, Welcome, fellow Word Nerd! Ooh, I bet everytime you read periscope written incorrectly you gritted your teeth. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Helena, so happy to introduce you to a new word! Don't be surprised when some words you used in Felicity at the Cross Hotel are featured in this Word Nerd event! Keep reading!! In fact Wednesday, letter D, is from your book. Not telling which one...hee hee. I can tell from your writing you are a true Word Nerd.
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