A bit of summer madness, let’s have a look
at some silly sounding words. These are perfectly good English words that are
fine to use, not rude or swear words but just sound a bit funny! They are the
kind of words that can bring a smile to your face and surely that has to be a
good thing!
Okay so what kind of words am I talking
about? Well the first one that springs to mind is canoodle, meaning to have a
bit of a kiss and cuddle. I love canoodling don’t you? The funny thing is I
just can’t say the word without smiling; it’s such a happy sounding word. The
word dates back to the mid 19th century but the origins are unknown.
There is a folk story that suggests it goes back to the time when young lovers
escaped from their chaperones by jumping on canoes and rowing away. Whether or
not this is true I have no idea, but how romantic is that?
Here’s another good one for you,
codswallop. If someone is saying something that is nonsense or rubbish you may
say “you are talking a load of codswallop!”
It is British slang for something that makes no sense at all. This is a
term that all you Harry Potter fans will be familiar with, as it is said by
Hagrid on many occasions. A very expressive word but we have to ask ourselves
where does it come from? The honest answer is the etymology is unknown. However
there is a story that dates back to the 1870’s which refers to a British soft
drink maker Hiram Codd, who patented a bottle for fizzy drinks with a marble in
the neck which kept the bottle shut by the pressure of the gas until the marble
was pressed inwards. Wallop is known to have been a slang term for beer, and it
is suggested that codswallop became used by beer drinkers as a derogatory term
for weak or gassy beers, or for soft drinks. However, there are flaws to this
argument as the word is not recorded anywhere until 1959, a long time after
Codd’s invention. Also there are no examples of the word being spelled as “coddswallop”.
Why we started using this word I have no idea, but I love that it sounds so
silly!
How about dimple? Isn’t that an odd
sounding word? A dimple is a small hollow or crease found naturally in soft tissue
on the human body, especially on the cheeks or chin. Often a little dimple may
appear in the cheeks when someone is smiling. They may be a permanent feature,
or may appear and disappear over time. The word can also be used to refer to
slight depressions or indentations on other materials, such as those found on a
golf ball. Just as an aside, think of how many great actors have dimpled chins.
I’ll give you a start with Cary Grant, Colin Firth, Kirk Douglas and Ben
Affleck, but there are many, many more.
The last on my list for today is dollop,
what a strange sounding word that is. You may have a dollop of ice-cream or a
dollop of jam on top of your pudding. It is a term that refers to a large portion
of something, usually soft and squishy. It often refers to food, but can also
be used in other circumstances such as dollops of wet mud. The idea of a dollop
is certainly not a delicate, weighed out portion, but rather a large shapeless
mass. If you put a big spoon into an ice-cream container and pulled out the
largest amount you could, that would make a good dollop! Go on give it a go –
you know you want to!
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