Jennifer Thomas

After many of you lovely people told me how you say “garage” in a poll, I concluded that it has too many pronunciations to work in a rhyming poem.

Which meant, of course, that I had to try.

On Remembrance Day, term that’s making me reflect: hallowed ground. The English words “hallow,” “whole,” and “heal” all come from an ancient Germanic word that meant whole, safe, or healthy. To be holy or hallowed meant to be untouched by corruption or harm.

Word that’s making me smile today: otter. It shares its origin story with the word “water” (both come from the 6,000-year-old Proto-Indo-European root “wed”). Otter and water, inextricably linked.

📷: Tylwyth Eldar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Word that’s making me smile today: sun-blink. It’s an old Scottish word for a fleeting glimmer of sunshine on a cloudy or rainy day.

📷: Colin Kinnear, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Word that’s making me smile today: arume. It’s a Galician word for the leaves and pine needles on forest floors. It carries a deep sensory meaning, evoking the scent of damp pine forests and the soft crackling underfoot.

📷: Tomas Castelazo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons