Imaginator Words

barry – adj.Scottish slang – fantastic: The strawberries dipped in chocolate were barry, barry!

B’jeekers! – interjection. Exclamation of surprise or fear: B’jeekers! Look at the size of this fish!

blabber-gab – v. jabber – blather: Gemma blabber-gabbed her thoughts as fast as they came to mind.

boggin – adj. Scottish slang – smelly – stinky: Mrs. Wilson tossed the boggin laundry into the trolley.

brillish – adj. 1) bright: The day was brillish with sunshine. 2) clever, brilliant: Jesse rallied with a brillish idea.

Bugle Calls (military):

• First Call – known as “Reveille”: to wake troops in the morning; also used in horse racing before the first race.
• Taps –  a four-note tune: a ‘signal’ by Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield (Civil War) played at the end of the day (on chimes or with bugle); lyrics: Day is done, gone the sun, From the lake, from the hills, from the sky; All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.
• Mess Call – the tune used to signal that it is time to go to eat

Chime Music (using 3 notes: G – C – E  + high G)

• Bach Snippets – opening line from Johan Sebastian Bach piece, Prelude 1 (Cmaj.)(Notes: E-G-C-E  –  G-C-E  – G-C-E  –  G-C-E)

Bunky-dinks! – interjection: exclamation meaning, Oh no!: Bunky-dinks! Why didn’t I think of that!

cacophony – n. harsh, discordant mixture of sounds: After the fire, Gemma could not bear to hear the cacophony at Mac’s burned-out apartments.

calumny – n. vile, vitriolic (nasty, cruel) gossip that destroys a person’s reputation, and marks them as a persona non grata (Latin: an unacceptable person) or a pariah (Latin:; an outcast from society):The calumny against young Jessica was nothing but nasty, cruel gossip – utterly untrue. But it left its mark on her and Windy Hill Farm all these years. 

Cambrian Explosion – proper n. period over 500 million years ago, lasting between 13 – 25 million years, when almost all the present day animal phyla began appearing on Earth and are preserved in the fossil record.

chiggle – v. chuckle + giggle: Jesse chiggled at Mr. Neilsen’s joke.

chute – a sloping slide for conveying things to a lower level; example: hotel laundry chute on every floor, to drop the dirty laundry down to the basement.

dearth – n. scarcity or lack of something: Pamela had a dearth of talent for the stage.

diggity-boo – interjection. A catchall exclamation, usually positive in nature: Diggity-boo! Gemma’s back!

dinghy – n. a small, open boat, often used for rowing with oars, or sailing with a mast and sails: Jesse circled the oars, triumphantly rowing the dinghy along the shoreline.

dizzy-daze – n. an unexpected spinning feeling often felt in the head and stomach: Seeing the kitchen turned upside-down, Jesse felt a dizzy-daze slither through his body.

donnybrook – n. a wild fight; a free-for-all: Sometimes they have a donnybrook and spill buckets of blood!

doozy – n. 1) something that is super – out-of-this-world: Jesse found the perfect hiding place – it was a real doozy!  2) a mistake – blunder: Jesse knew trying to drive the van could be a horrible doozy.

echinoderm – n. a marine invertebrate (lacking a backbone), such as a starfish, sea urchin, or sea cucumber; Latin: ‘derma’ means ‘skin’; Greek: ‘echino’ means ‘hedgehog’: A star fish is not a fish. It’s an echinoderm.

fat city – n. slang for great prosperity or good fortune: Charlie said it was fat city to fix up the Ford A Sedan

favorish – adj. best-loved, favored or treasured: “Sailing the catboat is my favorish!”

fremd – adj. German (frem-dh) strange, alien, unfamiliar: Greta looked at Jesse. “You are… fremd… different. You do have magic.”

gahslahzerous – adj. a glamorous, beautiful state of being or attitude: The cherry tree was all dressed up in its full, pink blossoms. It looked gahslahzerous!

gasper – v. – gulp, exclaim, choke: Greta gaspered in utter surprise.

giggle-snickens – n. fun laughter: They all burst into giggle-snickens at the seagull’s antics.

Golly-gee-whillakers! – interjection. An expression of surprise: Golly-gee-whillakers! How did you do that?

gut – adj. German (pronounced goot) – fine, satisfactory, excellent: “Gut,” Greta said happily. Home does feel good.

Good Golly Miss Molly! – interjection. A southern expression of surprise: Amanda hooted at Gemma, Good Golly Miss Molly! Let me see your sapphire wedding ring!

grimmel – 1) n. closed mouth, playful grin, sometimes of surprise or disbelief: Jesse’s lips grimmeled thinking of Alice in Wonderland. 2) v. to purse the lips, expressing doubt or playfulness: Jesse grimmeled, thinking, Gemma needs more imagination!

Halley’s Comet  – N.  celestial object of traveling ice and dust, visible from Earth by the naked eye, every 75–79 years. It was observed and recorded by astronomers since at least 240 BC. In 1705 the English astronomer, Edmund Halley discovered it was the same comet, with a steady orbit. It will next appear in the year 2061.

hunky-dory – adj. fine, going well; from Dutch sailors in China, where the street named ‘Hunki-Dori’ was the safest place to be; also Dutch: ‘honk’, meaning ‘home’: Gemma, don’t you just love when everything is hunky-dory!

Imaginator – N. out-of-the-box thinker: A true Imaginator, he created everything in his magical shoppe.

jot-and-tittle – n. old time expression: every little thing; jot = iota = the letter ‘i’ in the Greek alphabet; tittle = old typing symbol = the tiny dot atop the letter ‘i’: Jesse counted every jot-and-tittle on the list.

kafluffle – v. act in a quick, sometimes disheveled manner: Jesse kafluffled into his clothes and ran out the door.

kangaroo word – n. a word with a synonym inside: Jesse smiled, “Do you know? The word inside the Kangaroo word is called a “joey”? Just like the baby kangaroo that rides in its mother’s pouch!” (example: feast > eat inside as the joey word)

Kitsune – N. Japanese mythological fox; magical, shape-shifting; as it learns its magic it grows up to nine tails; there are two Kitsune: good ‘zenko’ and bad ‘yako’.

largesse – n. money or gifts given generously: Gemma had a grand largesse of $1000!

Light – N. the energy of the Universe – Source – God; everyone is born with their Light: inner Light, heart-Light, Soul, Holy Spirit, Chi, Qi, Tao; Jesse was taught to know his Light and shine it out all over.

loon – 1) n. large, diving water bird; black with white ‘bar’ markings: Jesse heard the haunting call of the loon, calling her family of chicks. 2) n. Scottish slang – boy: “Y’ar a bonnie young loon, y’ar!”

malapropism – n. the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect: Jesse asked, “Can you dance a flamingo, Gemma?” (Instead of flamenco.)

mangler – n. mechanical laundry machine consisting of two rollers in a sturdy frame, powered by electricity; used to press sheets, tablecloths, kitchen towels, or clothing: Mrs. Wilson rolled the sheet through the mangler, and it came out freshly pressed.

morto – adj. Irish slang – irreconcilable, unforgiveable, deathly – embarrassed: We are morto-embarassed not to have told you the truth.

murmel – v. murmur, sometimes confusedly: She murmeled a long sigh and rolled over.

nifty – 1950s slang: great or cool: “This is a nifty little tool!” Jesse exclaimed, holding the potato peeler.

Oldy-the-hill – adj. old as the hills: She was so oldy-the-hill, with a face that was a web of wrinkles.

Pangaea – N. supercontinent comprising all the earth’s crust, in late Paleozoic and Mesozoic times (500 to 250 million years ago), before it broke into separate continents.

pariah – n.  an outcast: Gemma was treated as a social pariah.

persona non grata – n. Latin: an unacceptable or unwelcome person: Gemma was not welcome and she knew she was now a persona non grata. (Latin: from persona ‘person’+ non ‘not’ + grata, ‘pleasing’)

phyla – n. plural of phylum; a major division of the animal or plant kingdom, having the same general form.

Quatchkopf – n. German (kwach – kopf) – a silly person: Jesse clowned about acting like a Quatchkopf!

quahog – n.  large, rounded edible clam of the Atlantic coast of North America: Matts pulled his rake out of the water with a granddaddy of a quahog clam.

quizzle – v. 1) to ask curiously: “What does that mean?” Jesse quizzeled. 2) to discover curious events, people or objects: Jesse’s eyebrows knit together as he quizzeled the boy.

respite – n. short rest or relief from something unpleasant: Gemma did have a respite, but it was at the Bay Traveler Hotel, not when she returned to Windy Hill.

shiveral – 1) n. chills – frights – fun thrills: Gemma’s shoulders twitched with a shiveral down her back.  2) v. to get goosebumps or shudder at an amazing or fearful thought: Jesse shiveraled thinking of falling from the high porch.

smirf – v. to grin playfully: Gemma smirfed at the ridiculous sea gull.

smicker – v. smirk – smile smugly (old Scottish): The boy smickered knowingly at Jesse’s clever story.

Spoonerisms – N. first two letters in a phrase are switched – often to comic effect: Jesse waited for his fish to swim away, but it only lay still in the water. “My dish is fed!” he exclaimed. [Note: In his play, Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare called them “Dogsberryisms”, after a character who often spoke this way.]

thrill-digging – adj. enthusiastic – reveling – exciting; He leapt up with a thrill-digging whoop!

Tongue twister – n. a sequence of words that are difficult to pronounce quickly and correctly: Jesse had everyone laughing with his tongue twister: Irish Wrist Watch!

travails – n. ordeal, trouble: Gemma spoke of the terrible troubles and travails she witnessed during the dark days of the Great Depression.

twirly-purr – v. winding oneself about, resonating contentedly: Ellie-cat twirly-purred around Jesse’s legs.

unflappable – adj. cool, calm, collected: Tilly knows how to speak her mind and stand her ground. She is unflappable.

vitriol – n. savagely hostile comments or criticism: Gemma knew she could not face the vitriol from people who had ruined her reputation.

wampum – n. small cylindrical beads traditionally made by some North American Indian peoples from shells, strung together as decoration or used as money: Bethesda showed Jesse the purple markings inside the quahog shell that the Indians made into wampum.

whister – v. to speak hoarsely, or just above a whisper: In the dark, Jesse whistered to Gemma.

wonderlush – adj. feeling of wonder or delight: Everything about life at Windy Hill was wonderlush.

zhreeming – v. moving faster than expected: Jesse’s fishing line was zhreeming out with a monster fish on the hook!

zippity-pip – adv. Very fast: Jesse ran– zippity-pi – all the way up the stairs.

Anning, Mary – (1799 – 1847) born and lived in Lyme Regis, on the coast of Dorset in southwest England. Fossil collector, dealer, paleontologist; discovered Jurassic marine fossil beds; correctly identified ichthyosaur skeleton when she was 12 years old; changed scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the earth; though an expert in the field, she was not generally allowed into bona fide scientific circles of the time.

Bach, Johan Sebastian – (1685 – 1750) prolific German composer and musician (Baroque Period of classical music); his Cello Suite 1 in G major is one of the most famous for solo cello; Minuet in G is a familiar, happy and light dance; Prelude in C Major is the basis for Gounod’s lovely “Ave Marie”; the Cantata is world renowned as “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”; and the Air on a G String is an ethereal piece often played by solo cello.

Beethoven, Ludwig van – (1770 – 1827) German composer, conductor and pianist; his works rank among the most performed of any Classical music; 1811, he was the solo pianist for the premier of his last piano concerto, No. 5 The Emperor; by 1814 he was completely deaf and stopped performing; yet he continued to compose symphonies, chamber music, a Mass (Misa Solemnis) and his only opera: Fidelio.

Boccherini, Ridolfo Luigi – (1743 – 1805) Italian, later Spanish, composer and cellist of the Classical era, whose music retained a courtly and galante style typical of dance Minuets.

Brown, Barnum – (1873 – 1963) “Mr. Bones”, American paleontologist representing the American Museum of Natural History, discovered the first documented remains of Tyrannosaurus rex in Montana. (Interesting to note: He was named for the circus showman, P.T. Barnum.)

Burnett, Frances Hodgson – (1849 –1924) British-born, US novelist; remembered for her novels for children, including Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), A Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911).

Butterfield, Daniel – (1831–1901) Brigadier General, Union Army, composer of Taps – a four-note tune written during the Civil War; a ‘signal’ tune played at the end of the day (on chimes or with bugle); Taps, also known as ‘Butterfield’s Lullaby’; lyrics: Day is done, gone the sun, From the lake, from the hills, from the sky; All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Cole, Nat “King” – (1919 –1965) American singer and pianist, born Nathaniel Adams Coles; one of his most enduring hit songs was: “Nature Boy”: written (1947) by eden ahbez (formerly George McGrew); recorded (1948) by Nat King Cole; song’s introductory melody parallels Antonin Dvorak’s Piano Quintet No.2 in A, Op 81 (1887)

Crockett, Davy – (1786 –1836) David Crockett, American frontiersman, soldier, politician; a member of the House of Representatives (1827 –1835, Tennessee); fostered the image of a rough backwoods legislator; after politics, he returned to the frontier, where he fought for the cause of Texas independence, and was killed at the siege of the Alamo. “The Ballad of Davy Crocket” was a hit song, first seen on “Disneyland” TV, Oct. 27, 1954; actor Fess Parker played Davy Crockett and sang the song; in Dec. 1954, it became a Disney TV series and became a craze, with his coonskin cap wildly popular.

Delibes, Léo – (1836 – 1891) French romantic composer, best known for his ballet, ‘Coppelia’, and his opera, ‘Lakme,’ which features the famous aria, ‘Flower Duet’.

Dvořák, Antonin – (1841 – 1904) world-famous Czech composer, often inspired by folk music of Bohemia; a best known and beloved piece is The New World Symphony (9th Symphony), written while he lived in New York City. He is also remembered for his opera, Rusalka, which was based on The Little Mermaid, by Hans Christian Andersen; later became the basis for Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

Eisley, Loren – (1907 – 1977) American anthropologist, educator, philosopher, and natural science writer; spoke and wrote like a poet, with imagination, grace, wonder and reverence; President of the American Institute of Paleontology; Head of Anthropology Department, University of Pennsylvania (Curator of the Early Man Section).

Gounod, George – (1818 – 1893) French composer of 12 operas: “Faust” and “Romeo & Juliet” are the most famous; also a short religious piece: “Ave Marie”, based on Bach’s Prelude. His legacy centered on romantic sentiment, classical restraint, and elegance that influenced future musicians: Fauré, Massenet and Debussy.

Herreshoff, Nathanael Greene – (1848 – 1938) Naval architect, Bristol, RI; designed the first torpedo boat for the US Navy (Newport, RI); also designed motor and sailing yachts, especially the successful America’s Cup defenders between 1893-1920; he and his brother, sons, and nephew operated the still active Herreshoff Boat Yard in Bristol, RI.

Jeremiah – (b 650 B.C. – d 600 B.C) young Biblical prophet of God, called to bring warnings to the crumbling kingdom of Judah (caught between the warring Egypt and Assyria), and to turn the people back to God. Jeremiah is often called “the weeping prophet” because he shed tears over the sins of his people and their open rejection of God. His was a life of ministry, sacrifice, and faithfulness.

Little Richard – (1932 – 2020) born Richard Wayne Penniman, was an American singer, song writer and pianist. Dubbed the “Architect of Rock-and-Roll”, his work hit the top song charts in the mid-1950s, for his up-tempo, pounding rhythms, driving piano and dynamic voice. He influenced the popular music then and for generations to come.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth – (1807 – 1882) American poet, known for “The Village Blacksmith” (1841) and for narrative poems such as “The Song of Hiawatha (1855), and Paul Revere’s Ride (1861). He often wrote poetry for his six children, including “The Children’s Hour”.

MacDonald, George – (1824 – 1905) Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregationalist minister; founding father of modern fantasy literature; author of The Princess & the Goblin, The Princess & Curdie, The Back of The North Wind; acclaimed for fantasy literature, MacDonald was a mentor to Lewis Carroll; and a major influence on future authors: J.M. Barrie (Peter Pan), L. Frank Baum (Wizard of Oz), C.S.Lewis (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), Madeleine L’Engle (A Wrinkle in Time), and was a great friend of Mark Twain.

Puccini, Giacomo – (1858 – 1924) opera composer: La Boheme (1896): “Musetta’s Waltz” also known as “Quando me’n vo” is a soprano aria, a waltz, in Act 2; sung by the lovely young Musetta, in the presence of her Bohemian friends, hoping to reclaim the attentions of her boyfriend, Marcello.

Queen of Sheba – N. Old Testament Bible figure of great wealth and power, who brings gifts of grand value to King Solomon of Israel.

Sargent, John Singer – (1856 – 1925) world traveler and American artist, the leading portrait painter of his generation. His 1886 work, “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose,” depicts two small girls dressed in white, who are lighting paper lanterns at twilight. The title comes from a popular song “Ye Shepherds Tell Me” by Joseph Mazzinghi, a pastoral ‘glee’ for male trio, singing of Flora wearing a head-wreath of “carnation, lily, lily rose.”

Scott, Robert Falcon – (1868 – 1912) British Royal Navy explorer who led two expeditions to Antarctica: 1901-04, discovered the Antarctic Plateau and the location of the South Pole; 1910-13, reached the South Pole (after Norwegian Roald Amundsen had already arrived); Scott discovered the first Antarctic fossils, proving that Antarctic was once tropical and joined to other continents. He died attempting to return to base camp.

Shakespeare, William – (1564 – 1616) English playwright, poet and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist. His use of language helped shape modern English, and he invented or recorded almost 2,000 new words, such as lonely, alligator, eyeball, gossip, and hurry. Also, in his play, Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare created Spoonerisms, but called them “Dogsberryisms”, after a character who often spoke this way.

Wegener, Alfred – (1880 – 1930) Originator of the scientific theory of Continental Drift (1912): that all the continents were at one time, a single supercontinent, called “Pangaea”; the name is derived from Ancient Greek: pan (meaning “all, entire, whole”) and Gaea (‘Mother Earth’) .

White, E.B. – Elwyn Brooks White (1899 – 1985) American writer of highly popular children’s books, including, Stuart Little (1945), Charlotte’s Web (1952), and The Trumpet of the Swan (1970); co-author of the English Language Style Guide, The Elements of Style. White never liked his first name, Elwyn, and preferred to be called, ‘Andy’.

White, Joel – (1930 – 1997) American Naval Architect, founder/owner of Brooklin Boat Yard, Brooklin, Maine; known for simple, classic, mostly wooden craft: from the best stable dinghies to double-enders, to W-Class racing yachts (W for White). The son of author, E.B. White, Joel designed his father’s last yacht, a double-ender, christened “Fern”, for the character in “Charlotte’s Web”, and bearing a carving of a spider’s web with one silken thread, and a dangling spider on its dropboard.