spring

earrach

Dnieper

Кыѣвъ, Киѣвъ, Кіѣвъ

весенняя пора

Києвъ

кїєва, Кїєвь

Киев, кїєво, кїєвом

києвє

Кіеве

Кїєвѣ, Києвѣ, or Киѣве

Kыѥвъ

Kyjevŭ gordŭ

Tide turn

Seasonal

весна

Borderland

Entanglements

7th February 2022: oojamaflip, n. A thing or (less commonly) person of which the speaker or writer cannot at the moment recall the name, or which he or she is unable to or does not care to specify precisely.

8th February 2022: froideur, n. Coldness of manner; indifference, disdain, reserve.

9th February 2022: chicken finger, n. Usually in plural. A narrow strip of chicken meat, esp. from the breast, coated in breadcrumbs or batter and deep-fried, and typically served with a dipping sauce.

10th February 2022: chopsy, adj. Chiefly in Welsh English. Inclined to talk a lot, especially in a rude, insolent, or belligerent way; loud-mouthed.

11th February 2022: bonze, n. A Buddhist priest or religious teacher. (OLDEST JAPANESE WORD IN OED)

12th February 2022: japchae, n. A Korean dish consisting of cellophane noodles made from sweet potato starch, stir-fried with vegetables and other ingredients, and typically seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil.

13th February 2022: rakeshame, n. A disreputable or dissolute person; a rogue.

Pass the ‘hing-mi, y’know, the oojamaflip. He was ignored, her look pure, passive, froideur. The last chicken finger remained in the bowl with the grease of departed comrades. His fourth beer bottle was almost empty and he was getting chopsy. She looked down at the televsion guide from the paper, and thought, from nowhere, of the word bonze. Such an old word, captured in the great tomes of linguistic conquest. Tomorrow she would poison the japchae. But which bowl?

Entanglements

31st January 2022: haggard, n.1 A farmyard or similar enclosure where ricks of hay, corn, etc., are stored; a rickyard.

1st February 2022: bak kwa, n. In Chinese cookery: meat, esp. pork, that has been cured with spices, sugar, salt, and soy sauce and dried, popular in Singapore and Malaysia and traditionally eaten during Chinese New Year.

2nd February 2022: crafternoon, n. An afternoon spent making objects by hand, esp. practical or decorative items for use in the home; a social gathering or event of this type.

3rd February 2022: haterade, n. A notional drink that engenders or embodies feelings of hatred, negativity, or resentment; chiefly as part of an extended metaphor, esp. in to drink (also sip, etc.) the haterade.

4th February 2022: orthogonally, adv. In an orthogonal manner; at right angles.

5th February 2022: shakebuckler, n. A person given to fighting or quarrelling; a troublemaker.

6th February 2022: antiquating, n. The action of causing something to seem older than it actually is; the creation of an appearance of age or antiquity.

The boundaries of the haggard were old and flaking planks of irregularly cut wood, in places bleached by a hundred thousand sunrises and elsewere darkened in bak kwa coloured whorls where the moisture will never leave. This was the painting. The result of a crafternoon’s work of haterade abstinence. Her thumb gestured orthogonally from the brush as she plotted the next angle of perspective. A recovering shakebuckler, addicted to the dopamine hits of sharp posts in a virtual world, now antiquating these imagined planks of wood on a once bare canvas, now so marked, now so hers.

Entanglements

24th January 2022: meet-cute, n. Chiefly with reference to films, novels, etc.: an amusing or charming first encounter between two people that leads to the development of a romantic relationship between them.

25th January 2022: ram-stam, adj. Chiefly in Scottish and Irish English (northern): impetuous, precipitate; reckless; headstrong.

26th January 2022: Jai, int. Used as an expression of praise or support, esp. in political slogans or at public events: ‘Victory!’, ‘Long live ——!’.

27th January 2022: toydom, n. The domain or world of toys.

28th January 2022: swag, n. U.S. slang (originally and chiefly in African-American usage). Bold self-assurance in style or manner; an air of great self-confidence or superiority.

29th January 2022: banteringly, adv. In a bantering manner; jokily or teasingly.

30th January 2022: drivel, n.2 Foolish or silly words; nonsense, twaddle.

This meet-cute was not of like and like – a delicate boy and ram-stam lassy. Still. Jai, jai, the mountains cry, echoed in love, so vibrant and real as to turn the world around to a mere toydom. With swag she swings his heart in a bag, lips curled up banteringly, masking pain and vulnerability with drivel and decorum.

Entanglements

17th January 2022: sitooterie, n. In Scottish English: a secluded area within a building where people can sit apart from others; an alcove, recess.

18th January 2022: cardioid, n. A curve having the general shape of a heart with a rounded end, such as is traced by a point on the circumference of a circle as it rolls around another, identical, circle.

19th January 2022: garden bean, n. Any of various types of cultivated bean grown as a garden crop; spec. (a) (the broad bean (now rare); (b) the French bean, Phaseolus vulgaris.

20th January 2022: fantysheeny, adj. Chiefly in Devon, England: showy, fancy, or ostentatious.

21st Jannuary 2022: Baje, adj. Of, belonging to, or relating to Barbados or its inhabitants.

22nd January 2022: witching, n.3 The action, process, or technique of searching for underground water, minerals, objects, etc., using a divining rod or similar technique; dowsing.

23rd January 2022: spirit-stirring, adj. That stirs or animates the spirits; spirit-rousing.

In the quiet of the sitooterie, snug in the cardiod curves of the easy-chair, she watched her coffee cool. No garden bean could be ground and brewed to such dark strength. You can keep your fantysheeny high teas – give me Baje magic every time. Itching and witching to that spirit-stirring elixir.

Entanglements

10th January 2022: inadvisably, adv. Not in an advisable manner; imprudently, foolishly, unwisely.

11th January 2022: gee-whizzery, n. Surprise, enthusiasm, or excitement (often with the implication of being excessive or naive), now esp. as a response to technological or scientific innovation.

12th January 2022: zom-com, n. A comedy film featuring zombie characters.

13th January: scrimmaging, adj. That scrimmages or moves energetically or restlessly around; bustling. Also: characterized by energetic or bustling activity; frenetic.

14th January 2022: bridle-wise, adj. Of a horse, pony, etc.: that responds readily to the rider’s use of the reins; well-trained and obedient. In extended use (of a person): obedient, biddable.

15th January 2022: ghoulishness, n. The quality or condition of being ghoulish; morbid or macabre character.

16th January 2022: summum malum, n. The greatest or supreme evil; that which is most reprehensible, harmful, or undesirable.

The committee proceeded, inadvisably as it turned out, to regard the matter as fundamentally unthreatening. Not one among them could imagine the damning gee-whizzery that would befall such an ignorant move. They shuffled out of their zom-com scene half a shade greyer than last time, while thinking themselves scrimmaging titans of industry, Steinkrauses of the bridle-wise market. But it was nothing more than a sticky veneer of bureacratic respectability that only half-hid the ghoulishness beneath – that mundane summum malum.

Entanglements

3rd January 2022: hagiologist, n. A writer of a hagiography, or an account of the life of a saint; a hagiographer.

4th January 2022: chutzpadik, adj. Esp. in Jewish usage: showing chutzpah; impudent, impertinent; audacious, very self-confident.

5th January 2022: hagfish, n. A razor shell.

6th January 2022: belongingness, n. The state or condition of belonging; an instance of this.

7th January 2022: driving box, n. The seat on which the driver of a horse-drawn carriage sits.

8th January 2022: up a daisy, int. Used to express encouragement or reassurance, typically when assisting someone (esp. a child) to overcome a physical obstacle, recover from a fall, etc., or when lifting a child into the air.

9th January 2022: ghostbuster, n. A person who investigates or deals with supposed paranormal activity or phenomena.

Hunched over the keys on a wooden desk, the hagiologist hesitates. Push through, chutzpadik hagfish, and finish the sentence. More recently, of course, most know him as a

___________.

The perfect word. Its absence is glittering white presence, the gap its belongingness. She shifts on her driving box, willing a release from stalled blockage. Just relax, breathe, up a daisy and. ghostbuster. So trite, so idiotic. And yet, perfectly accurate.

Entanglements

27th December 2021: lime, n. In Caribbean English: an informal social gathering; a get-together; a party.

28th December 2021: Ginny Gall, n. In African-American usage: (the name of) an imaginary place characterized as remote, unpleasant, or harsh; spec. an outer region of hell.

29th December 2021: hen-cackle, n. The cackling of a hen; a sound reminiscent of this.

30th December 2021: sinigang, n. In Filipino cookery: a type of soup made with meat, shrimp, or fish and flavoured with a sour ingredient such as tamarind or guava.

31st December 2021: willie-waught, n. In Scottish English: a large gulp of (esp. alcoholic) liquid; a deep or copious draught; a swig. Formed by false segmentation of the word goodwilly in the song Auld Lang Syne.

1st January 2022: caravette, n. A small caravan that is towed by a car and typically used for holidays.

2nd January 2022: limbo, v. To dance or participate in the limbo. Also in extended use: to bend backwards to pass under something.

There will be a lime in ol’ Ginny Gall soon enough. Whoops and hollers and hen-cackle screams cutting through the rise and fall of a fire’s roar, over the bubbling of the great sinigang of the boiling sea. Fill up yir cup and tak a right guid willie-waught here with all that’s left, the rusted camper and caravette, and limbo down, down, down.

Entanglements

20th December 2021: medium coeli, n. The point in the sky directly overhead; the highest point of the celestial sphere as viewed from any particular place.

21st December 2021: sunstay, n. Either of the two times in the year when the sun is furthest north or south from the equator.

22nd December 2021: supervacaneous, adj. Unnecessarily or pointlessly added over and above what is essential; superfluous, redundant.

23rd December 2021: toyi-toyi, n. In South Africa: a high-stepping dance-like movement performed either on the spot or while moving slowly forwards, typically by participants in protests and public demonstrations, and often accompanied by chanting or singing.

24th December 2021: Belsnickel, n. A person who goes about merrymaking at Christmas or New Year in disguise, often visiting the houses of neighbours, friends, and relatives to play pranks or beg for small gifts or refreshments.

25th December 2021: jough, n. In Manx English: alcoholic drink; esp. light ale. Now chiefly in jough y nollick: a warm spiced ale drunk at Christmas.

26th December 2021: Gombey, n. In Bermuda: a folk performance or procession consisting of masked and costumed dancers accompanied by drums and whistles, traditionally held on Boxing Day and other special occasions.

Shimmer down from the medium coeli, the cold white light of the sunstay. You can blot out all the traffic noise and muscle aches, the supervacaneous details in a solar system. Stand and vibrate with the toyi-toyi subatomic particles on a miracle marble in a vast black vacuum upon which life has been bestowed by some great cosmic Belsnickel hand, before it supped the jough from the moon and went on its way. Where next might it deliver its flame? Too far, too far. The atoms dance, faster now, and the deep thinkers on the rock are trapped in some Gombey march towards destruction.

Entanglements

13th December 2021: botheration, int. Expressing annoyance, frustration, or exasperation.

14th December 2021: slow drag, n. A piece of music in a slow blues rhythm; (also) this rhythm.

15th December 2021: Ballyhack, n. U.S. regional (chiefly New England). Hell.

16th December 2021: lachrymabund, adj. Weeping profusely; full of tears.

17th December 2021: fairwater, n.1 Esp. in Germany or in German-speaking contexts: a navigable channel, esp. in a river, or in or near a harbour or port.

18th December 2021: autokinesis, n. An optical illusion in which a small stationary object in a uniform background, esp. a light source in an otherwise dark field, appears to move.

19th December 2021: popskull, n. A powerful, harsh, or low quality (esp. home-made) alcoholic drink; inferior whisky.

An utter, utter botheration. The needles of annoyance played like out of tune piano notes, forming a slow drag inside his ear. A one way ticket down south to Ballyhack. And lo, behold the chorus of lachrymabund angels, whose tears pour into the fairwater upon which the boat ferries him down stream. Old Charon flickers in the light of the background flashing in autokineses – movement, stillness, combined, momentum – and the irritation in his head begins to trickle down, curlding in his stomach, like some popskull poison that disables him utterly.