THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY PARTY OF THE LONG AND SHORT REVIEWS IS IN FULL SWING!

PRIZES TO BE WON!

 

Join in the Celebrations HERE

I'm chatting at 11 am Eastern time - please join me - I don't want to be chatting to myself LOL!

Asking for votes - but not for me...

No, not for myself, for my friend Sharon, who is still in hospital after her operation.  She has a video at 'You Gotta Read, and with just two days left, your vote could make all the difference.  I know it would cheer her no end to win the poll, so since she's not able to promote it herself, I'm trying to do a bit of promo for her, and ask for your vote, if you haven't already cast it.

The video she has entered is for 'Mask Of The Betrayer', her romantic suspense novel - it  really is a  fantastic video with live actors and a great atmosphere to set the tone of  her book, full of suspense and intrigue.  Here's the link, if you'd like to vote:
http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com/

Her video is #15 and well worth a look -and a vote. Thank you in advance, it would mean so much to her to win this contest.

Weird words - Ugsome

First of all, apologies for not having a 'Monday's Word' last week.  As many of you know, my dear friend and fellow author, Sharon Donovan had surgery recently and I've been very worried about her and was so busy trying to find out her progress, and keep her many friends informed, I just didn't get round to it.  I'm glad to say she's making good progress and I'm posting updates on her blog as I get them, and have also set up a post for comments at www.sharondonovan.blogspot.com

                                                        

Back to Monday's word: Ugsome (No, I haven't taken to writing horror fiction! *Grin*)

Michael Quinion in his 'World Wide Words'* says:

'If this word reminds you of the inarticulate cry of disgust that's most often spelled "ugh!" then you're on the mark. "Ugh" comes from the much less familiar "ugsome", something loathsome or horrible. In acase of linguistic turn-and-turn-about, "ugsome" derives from theancient and long defunct word "ug", which about a millennium ago
came into English from the Old Norse "ugga", to dread. That Old Norse word is also the source of "ugly" (which meant frightful or horrible before it weakened to refer to something merely unpleasing in appearance). You could argue that "ugsome" is the opposite of "handsome".

In the centuries before Shakespeare, "ugsome" was common enough,mostly in Scotland and northern England, but then almost completelydied out except in dialect. It was resurrected in the eighteenth century by writers seeking an archaic word to help set a historicalscene. The following century, popular authors such as Sir Walter
Scott ("Like an auld dog that trails its useless ugsome carcass into some bush or bracken"), Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton ("''Tis an ugsome bit of road!' said the Corporal, looking round him") andCharles Dickens ("One very ugsome devil with goggling eyes, seems to hold up frightful claws, to bar the traveller's way") regained it some small exposure, though it was never very popular. Today, "ugsome" is unknown to most English-speaking people'

'Ugh' is still often used in every day conversation and in fiction, if our characters come up against 'something nasty in the woodshed'!


*World Wide Words is copyright (c) Michael Quinion 2010. All rights reserved. The Words Web site is at http://www.worldwidewds.
Reproduced with permission

Joyce Moore gets roasted

 Join Mary Ricksen and me at theAuthor Roast And Toast as we travel back to medieval Paris, celebrate Joyce Moore's  prize winning romantic novel, 'Jeanne Of Clairmonde'.

We miss our sister hostess Sharon, but are praying that she'll soon be on the mend and able to join us once more.  In the meantime, come and see what delicacies Oliver has cooked up for the feast.

http://authorroastandtoast.blogspot.com/2010/08/paris-in-spring.html

Prayers needed

I learned last night that my dear friend, author and co-hostess of The Author Roast and Toast Sharon Donovan underwent heart surgery yesterday.

Your prayers for her safe recovery would be greatly appreciated, and if you'd like to leave a message for her, I've set up a post on her Blog

www.sharondonovan.blogspot.com
I'm sure it will help her recovery.to know folks are thinking of her.

Monday's Word - Indecider

As a Libran I'm supposed to be indecisive. I don't think that's true, because I usually make my mind up quite quickly.  I do tend to weigh up the 'pros'and 'cons' though.]

In his *'World Wide Words' Michael Quinon says:

"If you're unable to make a decision, you are indecisive, and you suffer from indecision. But until now, there has been no good word to describe you as a person. There is now: INDECIDER. It appeared in a study by Professor Harriet Bradley, of the sociology department of the University of Bristol, published last Monday. It has been widely reported in the British press, since it concluded that the UK is a nation which is overwhelmed by too much choice and information and that modern life has created a generation of people incapable of making quick, confident decisions. I'd like to suggest what the future holds for the word, but can't make up my mind ...

Good one Michael, I think I agree!


*World Wide Words is copyright (c) Michael Quinion 2010. All rights reserved. The Words Web site is at http://www.worldwidewds.
Reproduced with permission

Monday's Word

BREAD AND BUTTER LETTER.

We've all written them at one time or another, but have you really thought about where the term comes from?  This is what michael Quinion* has to say in his 'World Wide Words', in answer to a question from a reader.:




"I was recently writing a short thank-you note to my hostess fora lovely weekend at her house, and thought of it as my "bread-and-butter" letter, as that's what my mother had called it when I grewup in Canada in the 1950s. I have the impression that it was the recognised phrase for such a letter that is one's plain duty as aguest to write. But why "bread and butter"? Because it's alwaysdone, as putting bread and butter on the dinner table would have ormay have been? I detest folk etymology and don't want to be guiltyof it myself. Was this phrase used in England?"

A. It has indeed been used in the UK; it still is to some extent.It turns up from time to time in print, as here in a humorous quizabout etiquette:

  After a weekend in the country, should you: a) Write   your hostess a charming "bread and butter" letter. b)
    Send a large basket of Fortnum & Mason cheese and hams.   c) Dash off a quick text before you've got to the end of   their drive, saying: "Thx 4 a gr8 w/e xxx".
    [Daily Telegraph, 16 Sep. 2008.] However, it's most definitely North American in its genesis and continues to be used there more than anywhere else."

Now I find that really interesting.  I well remember as a child, the first thing we had to do as soon as Christmas was over (sometimes even on Boxing Day) was write a letter to the numerous Aunts and Uncles and other doting relations who had been kind enough to send my sister and myself Christmas gifts. It was a chore to be got through with a sense of relief one the last letter was stacked on top of the little pile of envelopes waiting to be posted.  I wonder how many children send actual 'thank you' letters these days?  I know my own nephews and nieces were more likely to pick up the telephone, and certainly in recent years emails or texts are much more likely - if it's thought necessary to send a 'thank you' at all. I remember after I got married, I wrote to everyone one who had been kind enough to send a wedding gift and was a little surprised to receive a nice letter back from a distant relative saying how pleased they'd been to receive a thank you letter and had never had one for a wedding gift before! Cynics will shake their heads and remark that it's all part of today's 'have it all' culture and there's no respect or courtesy any more. .Perhaps they're right.  The way I look at it, if someone's taken the time and trouble to go out and look for a gift for you the least one can do is send a polite note of thanks. What do you think?  Are 'bread and butter' letters a thing of the past, or are they still alive and well, albeit in different formats?

*World Wide Words is copyright (c) Michael Quinion 2010. All rights reserved. The Words Web site is at http://www.worldwidewds.
Reproduced with permission

WIN A NOOK!

  I'm taking part in the Long and Short Of It's third Anniversary!


The Long and the Short of It is celebrating its third anniversary in style -- by giving away THREE Nook eBook Readers (along with a $50 BN.com gift certificate) already pre-loaded with dozens of romance and juvenile fiction eBooks.

They're  having a scavenger hunt that runs every weekday from August 2 - August 27 and culminates in a two day chat in our Yahoo groups, during which the winners will be announced.  More details to come -- check back soon!