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Games, activities and teaching ideas > WORD Of the DAY, WOD Number 34. 23/08/2018
WORD Of the DAY, WOD Number 34. 23/08/2018
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ldthemagicman
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WORD Of the DAY, WOD Number 34. 23/08/2018
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Dear Members, � Here we go again! � Today �s "Word Of the Day" is: � ��������� WIDDERSHINS � Now,�DON �T look up THE CORRECT DEFINITION, but�write�AN INCORRECT DEFINITION: � YOUR DAFFYNITION !!! � Atlantic, Paciific;� mundane, scientific; obscure, specific;�happy, horrific; witty, pathetic; tearful or comic ... we want to read it. � After a week or so, I will choose the daffynition of the Member that pleases me the most. � He/she then chooses the next obscure�"Word Of the Day", and so on. � Why not enter this FREE COMPETITION�and possibly bring world-wide recognition to You, to your School, and to your Country? � The BEST of LUCK ! � Les Douglas� � � �
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23 Aug 2018
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maryse pey�
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Ah ah ! Les has found the name of a strange competition of the past - I think it was in the 1st half of the 18th century - among the bored rich people.
So this expression comes from old English.
This means WIDER CHIN. The game consisted of trying to have the "widder shin �s" surface in order to put the most possible empty glasses after the candidate had emptied them ... There were so many glasses broken because they were full of rum which was a new liquor at this very epoch... |
23 Aug 2018
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MoodyMoody
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Obviously "widdershins" refers to the peculiar glow that a not-so-bereaved wife has when her elderly rich husband has passed to the great beyond, leaving her with his entire estate. The original word "widowsheen" has been corrupted through the years to "widdershins" by the more rural folk who tried to duplicate the standard pronunciation.
(P.S.: The actual definition has nearly as odd a background as my ersatz definition and touches on a similar theme.) |
23 Aug 2018
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cunliffe
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Well, I �m surprised that our illustrious uploader Les (I have created a 3 word tongue twister, try saying that three times quickly!) has forgotten to highlight that Widdershins needs a capital letter, as it is a name. Henry Widdershins was a notorious English king who went into battle against a contender for the throne, Edward Longshanks. Longshanks was so-called because he had long legs (obviously!) and Widdershins because he had really broad (Old English widde) calves. As everyone knows, your shins are at the front of your calves. It was an almighty clash between those two kings, alas, I can �t remember which one won. Here is a clipart of Widdershins for you. He was a very uxorious man, but not necessarily in a good way.  |
24 Aug 2018
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ascincoquinas
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Widdershins: A disease named after a doctor called Wid-shin, back in the 19th century, for people with deformed knees like this: |
24 Aug 2018
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cunliffe
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I made a mistake in my last daffynition. �Widdershins � is a set of behaviours and actually MoodyMoody has nearly got it,  but not quite, MM.  Widder is a dialectal variant of widow and that is backed up by Merriam Webster, who is a really sweet person. Shins is short for shenanigans, which according to our girl Merriam, is high spirited behaviour (wild partying!). So, widdershins is what a wallow of widows (that is the collective noun) get up to when they meet up in town. It involves thoroughly silly behaviour and quite a bit of drinking. Here are Elsie and Maisie as they get themselves in the mood for a good old bout of widdershinning. |
25 Aug 2018
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douglas
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As "Widder" is the German word for the astrological sign Aries, and "shins are the front part of the lower leg, "Widdershins must simply mean "goat legs". Expanding on that thought, the satyr of Greek mythology was known to have goat legs and to travel with Dionysus (the lover of wine and women). In pagan and other religions Satan is also sometimes depicted as having the legs of a goat. In conclusion, a Widdershins is that annoying person at a party that has drunk way to much wine and broken so much decorum in regards to behavior with the opposite (and sometimes same) sex as s/he �s driven him/herself into a bacchanalian fury that they appear to have grown horns and begun to sing along with the music in the loud, gutteral tone of a billy goat. |
27 Aug 2018
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