Talking Americanese
What links shrinkflation , adorkable , subvariant and pumpkin spice ? They are all amongst the 370 words and phrases which US Merriam-Webster added to its dictionary last month .
Another newcomer is “ Yeet ” which is defined as “ used to express surprise , approval , or excited enthusiasm ” or as a verb to mean “ to throw especially with force and without regard for the thing being thrown .” And then there ’ s the verb “ MacGyver ” which apparently means to make or repair anything , and is named after a character from a US TV series . New slang words include “ janky ” ( of very poor quality ), “ sus ” ( suspicious or suspect ) and “ lewk ” ( a fashion look that is distinctive to the wearer and that is noticeable and memorable to others .)
Whoever said the UK and America were two nations separated by a common language was not too far from the truth .
Any finally …
Duane Hansen has set a new Guinness World Record for riding 38 miles ( 61km ) in a giant pumpkin . He grew the 846lb ( 384kg ) pumpkin in his
Jottings
garden with the aim to beat the 25.5 mile record , set in 2018 . Duane travelled down Missouri River and broke the record on his 60th birthday on August 27 .
We just thought you ought to know .
Quotes
“ The ultimate icon in every way and the epitome of elegance .” – Victoria Beckham on Queen Elizabeth II .
“ She reminded me very much of my grandmother which surprised me .” – Former US President Barak Obama on meeting Queen Elizabeth II in 2009 .
“ To you , she was your Queen . To us , she was the Queen .” – French president Emmanuel Macron .
“ She was one of my favourite people in the world .”
– Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau ,
“ For later !” – Note attached to a plastic bag containing a marmalade sandwich left by a member of the public amongst floral tributes to Queen Elizabeth .
“ Just in case .” – A member of the public who handed King Charles a pen after the monarch had a number of ink mishaps while signing his name .
“ A huge oak has fallen in the Great British forest .” – Norwegian band a-ha paying tribute on their website .
“ Grief is the price we pay for love .” – Queen Elizabeth speaking after the 9 / 11 attacks in 2001 , quoted last month by US President Joe Biden .
Grateful acknowledgement to the following papers from which some of this material is extracted : Daily Mail , Daily Mirror , Daily Express , Independent on Sunday , Mail on Sunday , The Sun , The Sunday Times , The Times and The Telegraph . Seen something funny , bizarre or just plain weird ? Contributions for Jottings are welcome by email to : sarah @ soltalk . com .
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