On this date in 1851, Moby Dick was published as The Whale in London, England. It’s a safe (and somehow sad) bet more people are familiar with the fail whale than this epic tale.
A man of many, many words, I think Melville would admire the creativity and ingenuity people today use to communicate (if his head didn’t explode at the thought of being limited to 140 characters).
So as not to blow your own delicate minds, here is a small roundup of words from some of our recent Food & Drink, Style and Music blog posts:
Macaron
Delish, crunchy, chewy meringue-like French cookies with some sort of creamy filling. Apparently they are very hard to make correctly, and a little too easy to eat. Since they come in all sorts of wonderful flavours, there really is only one way to discover the one you like best – and that’s a taste test!
Momofuku
As far as I can tell (and by that I mean a 10-second google), Momofuku doesn’t mean anything. But it sure is fun to say. It’s a hot new noodle bar in town the foodies went ape-shit over. I enjoy a good ramen – who doesn’t – but with any new resto, a line-up follows. Mustn’t grumble, especially when you can make a signature dish at home, like Crack Pie. Yummyfuku.
Growler
If you’re a beer drinker, you already know (and appreciate) what this is. For the uninitiated (a.k.a ligtweights) , a growler is a big-ass bottle of beer – anywhere from 32 oz to half a gallon or 2 litres (Whatever’s more. You do the math).
Coatigan
Yep, it’s just what it sounds like. A coatigan is a coat/cardigan – or a cardigan/coat, if you prefer. It’s a portmanteau (combination of two words into a new one) but to me, it doesn’t have the right ring to it.
Pretty sure it’s a word I’m not going to use in real life, like I do with “brunch”, or “liger”.
Peplum
The word peplum appeared all of a sudden this fall (to me anyway. Jeanne Bekker probably invented it. Or at least influenced the designer who did #styleicon). It’s a fashion term, FYI and it references a flared strip of fabric around the waist. Which means you can sport one in three ways:
• peplum trench coat
Scandifile
Just as it’s hard for musicians to come up with new sounds and melodies, it’s difficult for music bloggers to differentiate the ways in which they review albums.
So when you’re stuck, make up a word – like Scandifile – which I’m guessing means someone who is into all things Scandinavian.
What other words are floating around out there that are relatively new or just plain fun to say?
Share your opinion @offthegridto with the hashtag #voxvocab