Weekend things...

This weekend there was strong, milky tea drunk in cups that came from Retro Vertigo (possibly the best Etsy seller I've come across, amazing customer service!) and there was scrambled eggs on buttery toast with bacon (yum!).  Plus there was the crossword, which we conquered, eventually.

We watched hundreds of pearlescent ballons floating through the blue sky; we played scrabble (and I won two games in a row which is unheard of! Go me!); and we immersed ourselves in the glorious colour of Pedro Almodovar and the hilarity of 30 Rock.  We walked the dogs around the 'hood, but mostly, we stayed at home.

Oh! And I started work on a whole new style of handmade photo notecards, the first step in a complete overhaul of my Jorpins Cards Etsy shop, hurrah!

How was your weekend?

Happify!

One of several books on my bedside table at the moment is 'Made in America: An informal history of the English language in the United States'.  It's by the ridiculously readable Bill Bryson and is full of intriguing facts and all-round amusement.

In one part he talks about the veritable flood of words and phrases that were coined by Americans in the nineteenth century - gems like 'to go the whole hog'; 'to talk turkey'; 'highfalutin' and 'hornswoggle' (I have no idea what that last one means but it makes me laugh, and that's good).

Sadly, many of the Americanisms that appeared at this time are no longer in use, namely the simply brilliant happify (which is that act of making someone happy, clearly).

Happify!  It's a wonderful, smile-making word don't you think?  Well, I do think, so I am starting a campaign to bring it back into general usage.  Expect to see it scattered about my blog posts and twitter up dates willy-nilly from here on.

Perhaps you might join me?  You could slip it casually into your next conversation?  Or maybe write it the next time you're stuck for something to say on a birthday card?

Together we can happify the English language, just a little!