Consanguinity — close enough

Consanguinity is a new word for me.  I was scanning a website where it was mentioned relating to membership in a group.  This is a military veterans group and it is not only for veterans, but those with consanguinity.  The site says eligibility to the group is for veterans along with spouses of veterans or related to a veteran within two degrees of consanguinity.

The general definition of consanguinity is a family relationship through parentage or decent.  It also means a blood relative, close relationship or connection.

The first usage of consanguinity is in the 14^th century.  It comes from “com” meaning together combined with “sanguineus” which means of or pertaining to blood.

Way back when, laws in many areas used the degrees of consanguinity to prohibit sexual relations and marriages. It also was used to determine whether a person was eligible to inherit property when someone died without a will.

Cafetoriums have been around for a while

Cafetoriums have been around for years.

The work originates from a combination of two words—cafeteria and auditorium. If you read wordsbybob regularly, you will recognize this word as a portmanteau.

The cafetorium is a large room, usually in a school that serves both functions.

It seems the term cafetorium originated in somewhere between 1950 and 1955. I was in grade school at that time. Our school. Kenwood Elementary in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had a cafeteria and the gym was our auditorium.

Ducat — That’s the ticket

Ducat  (rhymes with bucket) is an old word.  Today, you hear it used to mean a ticket to an event—especially a sporting event.

The word ducat is probably from the 14^th Century. It was used to describe a variety of gold coins used in central European countries.

Derivation is Middle English, from Middle French, from Old Italian ducato coin or from duca doge, from Late Greek douk.

 

Pocket lint — what the heck is it?

Pocket lint is a term that I saw recently in a submission by someone in my writers’ critique group.

In the written submission, the writer was talking about pocket lint in the context of pet euthanasia.  This is her area of specialty, and she was relating some personal experiences.

In her story, pocket lint referred to items people bring with them when it is time to put their pet down. It may be a favorite toy, a collar and even a dog dish, etc.

This is one definition of pocket lint that I had never heard.  We all know that lint in the pocket is common in most pants.  This lint can be composed of small pieces of paper, bits of fabric and tissue scraps.

There are some other definitions of the term too.

It seems many years ago, when orphans had to resort to picking pockets, they used pocket lint. If they found no money in a pocket, they leave a small amount of lint to let people know they existed.

A more obscure meaning for pocket-lint is when it refers to marijuana or weed.

Bollards are no bull

Bollard is a word that came up at a meeting I attended recently.  A small utility building needed protection so it was not struck by cars.  The people in charge said it would  have bollards around it.

So, what is a bollard?

Originally, it was a short, thick post on the deck of a ship or on a wharf.  Ropes from the shop were tied to it.  These posts were normally made of iron or steel.

The ones I will be seeing around the building will be landlocked.  No ships or wharves involved. And, no ropes on them.    Just something very solid so if a car is out of control or skids on ice, it will stop before it makes contact with the building.

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Ghostwriting–what is it?

At a recent writers’ critique group, the subject of ghostwriting came up. One of the members has been hired to write a book for someone else.  In her online bio she mentioned that she is ghostwriting and named the person who has hired her.

I questioned this, saying that I thought a ghostwriter was anonymous.

Here is what an online search of the term ghostwriter reveals.

A ghostwriter is a writer who writes books, articles, stories, reports, speeches or other texts that are officially credited to another person.  At one point, I even did some ghostblogging for a colleague.)  This other person is assumed to be the author of the work.

The degree of involvement the ghostwriter has may vary.  It can range from editing and clean up a rough draft to doing most of the writing based on an outline provided by the credited author. At times, ghostwriters do a substantial amount of research,

The ghostwriter is paid a sum of money to write the material needed and hand it over to the payee. The person who has paid for the work will then assign his name or someone else’s name to claim the work as his own.

The ghostwriter is sometimes, but rarely, acknowledged by the author or publisher for his or her writing services.

That’s odd

Oddment is a word I don’t think I have ever seen before last week.  It was used in an essay submitted by a writer in my two writers’ critique groups.

Oddments are odds and ends.  Another definition of oddment is some that is an oddity.dds and ends.

Synonyms for oddment include remnant, bits and pieces, hodgepodge, leftovers, remains or refuse and the ever popular this and that.