Jocelyn Rish - Exploring the magic of stories

Tweet Tales Tuesday Week 70

Jocelyn Rish — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:24:53 +0000

Like last week, we had another repeat word this week. On 5/18, according to the lineup in the Rare Words book, the #15tt word should have been apposite, but we already had that one almost a year ago. I guess when companies are picking unusual words for their products, there are only so many to go around. Here are my 15 Minute Tweet Tales for the week:

5/15 - The vet's assuasive voice works wonders on pets. Too bad it doesn't have the same effect on women. He had to soundproof the basement.

5/16 - Because of her lack of procerity, Sue ignored the cabinets' top shelves. She had no idea a creature had moved in primed to give birth.

5/17 - Cuddles hated his owner, but misoneism kept him from running away. Sweaters were bad enough - a new owner might make him wear pants!

5/18 - Her brothers' captious questions to her boyfriends always unearthed some annoying trait, so she eloped with this one. Deadly mistake.

5/19 - When Bill died, the nimiety of people saying, "he's in a better place," made her skin crawl. He deserved to burn for what he'd done.

5/20 - Rex experiences eudemonia. A chip found under the couch. And that's the 24th time he's felt it today. Dogs are much wiser than humans.

5/21 - The snail's wife-husband shrieks, "Quit nagging! You're the one who forgot to put the seat down, not me." Monoecious marriage is tough.

Play along and write tweet tales for the above words. If you’re willing to share, post them on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add them below in the comments because I’d love to read them. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tales or #15tt words?

Tweet Tales Tuesday Week 69

Jocelyn Rish — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:09:19 +0000

Last week I seemed to have doomed space journeys on my mind, and this week it's apparently terrible kings. We also had another repeat of a 15 Minute Tweet Tales word: Antaean was supposed to be the #15tt word on 5/8, but we'd already used it back in October, so I moved on to the next one. Enjoy the tales!

5/8 - At the shelter, the couple is charmed by Rex's mansuetude; but it's a clever doggie trick, since he destroys their house within hours.

5/9 - Thunder on a cloudless day was the first monition something bad was coming, but Tina held her ground until she saw his yellow eyes.

5/10 - Consuetude demanded she bow when the king passed, but she refused. Punishment was swift, but her martyrdom inspired the revolution.

5/11 - A dancing homunculus appears in her dreams. Freud would say she yearns for her own child. Actually, she nodded off watching Ally McBeal.

5/12 - He asks her out, but she tells him she must lucubrate; when he starts sniggering, she's relieved she trusted her instinct to lie.

5/13 - Everyone fears the king's piceous temper. Chef decides the 3-year-old prince will be a better ruler and serves the king a special dish.

5/14 - Em labors to make her protagonist feel real until she can no longer secern fiction from reality. Her true love lives within her novel.

Tweet Tales Tuesday Week 68

Jocelyn Rish — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:17:42 +0000

Not only did I get used to posting my 15 Minute Tweet Tales on Sunday during the A to Z challenge, but I've also been on a blog break since the challenge ended, so I almost forgot to post my tweet tales today. There are a few more than usual since I'm making the switch from Sunday back to the regularly scheduled Tuesday. Enjoy!

4/29 - "He gave me those same earrings. Said they're gold, but they're clinquant." The words from the woman at her door shatter Meg's world.

4/30 - Edith shrieks when she checks her prize-winning roses and finds sheep eating them. There's no way they made it past the haha. Sabotage!

5/1 - With the launch only minutes away, the Captain had an Apollonian air. It was an act for the crew; he knew they wouldn't make it back.

5/2 - The paludal ground stole her shoe, so she had to dig it out. It would lead the cops to her if they found the body she'd just dumped.

5/3 - The eager faces of the parviscient recruits batter his soul. Bound for the craters of Mars, he's not training them to fight but to die.

5/4 - Lost in desert. Mouth parched. Skin fried. Mirage manifests. Undulant sand dunes turn blue and sound of ocean lulls him to final sleep.

5/5 - With a few tricks Sue convinced her kids she was prescient. Now they're too scared to even think of being naughty. Being a mom is fun!

5/6 - The queen whispers in the king's ear about his louche advisors. Meanwhile, she's screwing half of them and stealing from the treasury.

5/7 - Phil wanted to think deep thoughts, so he built a phrontistery in his garden, but in truth he had all his best ideas in the bathroom.

I didn't do it on purpose, but I guess I had doomed space trips on the brain this past week, since 5/1 and 5/3 seem like they could be part of the same larger story.

Zero Zs

Jocelyn Rish — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:11:22 +0000

My theme for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge is contronyms. A contronym is a word with two or more opposite meanings, making it its own antonym. Click here to find out more about these quirky words.

We made it! We've reached the end of the A to Z Challenge! Unfortunately, I'll be finishing up not with a bang but a whimper because I could not find any contronyms for the letter Z on any of the lists I've collected. Zero. Zilch. Instead, I decided take the same approach I did with the letter K and pick a contronym with the letter Z in it somewhere. So I searched all my lists again, and it turns out there is only one contronym that contains the letter Z. Making it a slightly less pathetic pick, it actually has two Zs: puzzle.

Puzzle - to perplex, confuse, mystify (to pose a problem)

~ or ~

Puzzle - to solve by careful study or effort (to solve a problem)

My first year I was completely puzzled about why people would participate in something as time-consuming and draining as the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, but after meeting so many wonderful fellow bloggers, I have puzzled out why people come back year after year.

I hope you've had fun with the A to Z challenge. I had a blast learning about all the crazy contronyms out there. Thank you to all the people who stopped by for a visit! I've enjoyed getting to know all of you through your blogs, and I hope you'll stay in touch going forward.

Are you familiar with contronyms? Can you think of a ‘Z’ contronym the lists might have missed? How Zonked is Freya with her letter Z (just like I feel!)?

Added after some bloghopping: I was over at the very funny Kern’s blog where she talked about how many people post about zombies for Z because they are awesome. I did post about a zombie movie last year, but it got me thinking . . . could I have used them again this year? Is a zombie the ultimate contronym? I mean, they are the living dead. It’s probably more of an oxymoron than a contronym, but I thought I’d throw it out there.

Yummy Yield

Jocelyn Rish — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:03:45 +0000

There was only one option for the letter Y on my lists of contronyms, but now that we've reached the difficult end of the alphabet, I'm just grateful to have a contronym to talk about no matter what it is. And this one is pretty decent: yield. The meanings are not as obviously opposite as some of the contronyms I've presented, but it doesn't require as much stretching and twisting as some of the others I've seen.

Yield - to produce, give forth, or furnish

~ or ~

Yield - to give up, relinquish, surrender

The villagers are kind-hearted souls who tend their farms with love, which yields crops that are the envy of the kingdom.

But they are not fighters, so when the soldiers of the jealous king come calling, they must yield and allow all their food to be taken.

Are you familiar with contronyms? Can you think of another ‘Y’ contronym the lists might have missed? How Youthful is Bailey with her letter Y?

Crops images courtesy of novapages, erikdungan twice, wjs7652

Painting is Depiction of the assasination of Peter the Martyr by the Cathari, by Giovanni Bellini courtesy of The National Gallery

Temporarily Tweet Tales Sunday Week 67

Jocelyn Rish — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 14:06:11 +0000

Feeling super wiped out from the A to Z Challenge and super glad there are only two more days to go. Whoo hoo! So for one last time, here at my 15 Minute Tweet Tales temporarily transferred to Sunday.

4/22 - Bob believes a spider crawled inside his ear. Worried it'll lay eggs in his brain, he shoves an icepick in the meatus. Problem solved.

4/23 - A joke turns into a food fight turns into punches. Now the whilom friends stare daggers at each other outside the principal's office.

4/24 - It's revealed RHS student council is a kleptocracy and colleges scramble to admit them figuring they'll end up with Congressmen alumni.

4/25 - For two weeks blepharal twitching has impeded sleep. The encroaching madness makes her wonder how much it'd hurt to rip off her eyelids.

4/26 - He unearths a trunk he can pignorate to pay for a hearty meal, but when he lifts the lid, the creature inside has other dinner plans.

4/27 - When her husband accuses her of telling a boldfaced lie, Bev unleashes her sumpsimus side, shrieking,"It's bald, just like your head."

4/28 - The intern's excited about his first day working on The Hill. By quitting time, the entropy he's witnessed makes him fear for the nation.

X Marks the Spot

Jocelyn Rish — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 11:42:35 +0000

My theme for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge is contronyms, which is a word with two or more opposite meanings, making it its own antonym. Click here to find out more about these quirky words.

As I'm sure was the case for many of my fellow A to Z participants, the letter X proved to be a bit tricky. I consulted several different lists of contronyms and there was nary a X contronym to be found. I was starting to feel anxious (oh look, it's a contronym with an X in it, should I reuse it?), but then I found one more list, and lo and behold, it held the treasure I sought. And in this case, X really did mark the spot because the contronym is the letter X itself. Now I know it's technically not a word, but when that difficult-end-of-the-alphabet desperation kicks in, I'll take what I can get.

X - to indicate choice, as on a ballot or exam (select)

~ or ~

X - to cross out (deselect)

When I get my ballot, I'm so disgusted by the candidates who are such idiots they never even should have been listed that I X out their names. It only makes me feel slightly better. Then after weighing the overwhelming number of cons and very few pros of the remaining names, I pick the lesser of all the evils and X 'my choice' in this farce of an election.

Are you familiar with contronyms? Can you think of an example of a ‘X’ contronym the lists might have missed? How eXceptional is Chloe with her letter X?

Image courtesy of bredmaker

Wacky Weather

Jocelyn Rish — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:25:56 +0000

The end is so close I can taste it. And it’s a good thing because as much fun as I’ve had with these contronyms, I’m plum tuckered out. Fortunately, the W section of the contronym list had a nice array of choices. Unfortunately, it’s all downhill from here – the last three letters will be no fun at all. But for today, the contronym is weather.

Weather - To discolor, disintegrate, wear, or otherwise affect adversely by exposure; to show the effects of exposure to the elements

~ or ~

Weather - To come through (something) safely; to withstand the effects of weather

This poor creature lost his spirit and allowed the elements to weather him . . .

. . . while this fierce beast roars at wind, rain, and time as he weathers anything they throw at him.

Are you familiar with contronyms? Can you think of any other ‘W’ contronyms? How Wonderful does Molly look with her letter W?

Weathered lion image courtesy of Sailko

Clean lion image courtesy of Senapa

Very Vital

Jocelyn Rish — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:10:55 +0000

The letter V was much more accommodating than the letter U. There were four solid contronyms to choose from, and weirdly two of them (vegetative and vital) had one definition about being full of life and then another definition from the sad end of the spectrum. For the featured contronym, I’ve decided to go with vital.

Vital - Full of life; animated

~ or ~

Vital - Destructive to life; fatal

Since April is National Poetry Month, I figured that even though I lack poetry writing prowess, I should make at least one of my examples a poem.

A vital young woman

Her energy overflows

A string of lovesick men

Follow wherever she goes

But from the other women

A jealousy arose

They do their best to shame her

Their words are vital blows

Are you familiar with contronyms? Can you think of any other ‘V’ contronyms? How Vivacious is Lily with her letter V?

Vivacious woman image courtesy of juliaf

Depressed woman image courtesy of glendali

Unqualified Unbending

Jocelyn Rish — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:23:22 +0000

After having a bunch of letters in a row with lots of contronyms to choose from, I was sad to see there were only two choices for the letter U: unbending and unqualified. Even worse, I’m not excited about either one. I think they both fall into that category where you have to do some twisting and stretching to see the definitions as opposites. But unbending is the more contronym-y of the two choices, so I’m going with that one.

Unbending – not bending; rigid or inflexible

~ or ~

Unbending - to relax (the mind) or (of the mind) to become relaxed

Tiger was unbending in his views about the dangers of recreational catnip, so his buddies Socks and Smokey thought it would be hilarious to lace his food with it. Now Tiger’s unbending in the normally terrifying bathtub.

Image courtesy of SineadL

Are you familiar with contronyms? Can you think of any ‘U’ contronyms that didn’t make the list? How Upside-down is Freya with her U?