Bungeroosh

My friend Moyra introduced me to this word today on her Facebook page. I think it will fast become one of my favourite words for saying aloud - alongside rhubarb and bunting!

But what on earth can it mean I hear you ask. Did Moyra make it up, or in fact is it ...

a) An Australian 'delicacy' of the type favoured by men of the bush like Crocodile Dundee? Bungaroosh is a simple dish made with the root of the Bunga bush and ground, dried witchetty grub. Delicious... (if you've got no taste buds!).

b) A form of bribe. Bungaroosh is the poorer cousin to Baksheesh. It's a bribe made by offering a promise rather than hard cash or goods. It can be found in the original Aladdin story within 1,001 Nights when Aladdin offers bungaroosh to the sly shopkeeper in return for his freedom.

c) A building material used only in houses in Brighton. Bungeroosh is a mixture of bricks, cobblestone, pebbles and other hardcore which is set  in lime and used in construction. It is liable to erosion from water and never really caught on outside of the Brighton area.

Answers on a postcard to the usual address...

Word nonsense

What's this thing with having a word of the year? I mean, 2013 will be 365 days long. Why only one word when language is bursting with adjectives and adverbs, verbs and verbosity? 

True, the last couple of years I have joined the flock and chosen a few letters to set the tone for the coming 12 months, but it was all rather restrictive and, frankly I should have chosen 'forgetful' as it turned out to be far more appropriate. I had to hunt back to discover that my word for 2012 was supposed to be 'complete'. 

Pants to that. I am instead going to break with tradition while still joining in. My word for 2013 will therefore be...

Chosen initially for the delightful way it rolls off the tongue but also for its nonsense connotations and links to slapstick comedy involving Eric Sykes.

I have a whole heap of other words scribbled in notebooks outlining my ambitions for the coming months. I'm being very efficient with SMART goals and enough mind-mapping to plot a course to a parallel universe - speaking of which... Will I ever start that book?

Bunting

Do you like my new background? I should perhaps mention that I chose it for several reasons.

Firstly, because it makes me think of beach huts and let's face it, who wouldn't want one of those? I imagine myself creating a mini art studio by the sea, painting all day while watched by nosy seagulls, then selling my works to wealthy tourists who flock to my beach just for my art! (Don't knock it... this is MY daydream!).

Secondly, it has bunting. Bunting is one of my all time favourite words. There's just something about it that conjures up Britain and parties in village halls and school fetes and second-hand car lots as it rolls off the tongue. I also like the word rhubarb. Go on, say it ... slowly mind ... let your tongue savour the tang of each syllable. Delicious eh?

My favourite place name is Ouagadougou (that's the capital of Burkina Faso). I seriously love exercising my cheek muscles over that one.

What are your favourite words?