Warrior Words
of the Week
Come each Monday to learn a new
​word or phrase to add to your army.
​word or phrase to add to your army.
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Shenanigans (Shi-nan-i-gens) refers to mischief. They can be funny pranks, or even rotten, cruel tricks, but generally the word is used to describe the silly, ridiculous stunts. Putting shaving cream on your sisters hand while she's asleep and then tickling her nose would definitely be a shenanigan that might land you in a lot of trouble. My mother often asks me, "Becky Lyn, what kind of shenanigans are you up to now?" Somehow, she always knows. April Fools' Day is kind of a global holiday celebrating shenanigans. Don't try this at home! This is a shenanigan too far!  If you were ever flabbergasted (flab-er-gas-tid), it means you were greatly surprised, astonished, or amazed. One day, I got home from work and found my husband dressed in my clothes. Let me tell you, I was completely, utterly flabbergasted! When I went further into the house, my children were all dressed as the opposite gender, also. I was even more completely, utterly flabbergasted! It was when I saw the birds dressed as cats and the cats dressed like dogs that I was flabbergasted beyond belief. What a crazy family I have!  Lexicon (lex-ih-kon) is an appropriate word for this site, because it deals with vocabularies. A lexicon is a set of words, or vocabulary, of a specific nature, belonging to a group, a language, or a branch of knowledge. That sounds complicated, but it really isn't. Breaking it down, a group, such as a street gang, would have a lexicon that they alone would understand. Babies have their own lexicon, consisting of fun-sounding syllables. Languages also have their own lexicon. The Hebrew lexicon is used to translate Bible passages. Hieroglyphics has their own special lexicon using symbols. Branches of knowledge also have lexicons. Science has a scientific lexicon. History uses a specific vocabulary. Medicine has a crazy lexicon with very hard-to-pronounce-and-understand words. If you have a secret club, you can make up your own lexicon, filled with words only your club members can understand.  J. K. Rowling has created a lexicon in the Harry Potter series.
She invented words like muggle that exist nowhere else.  Antagonistic (an-tag-un-iss-tick) means "going against." Most good stories have a protagonist and an antagonist.
The protagonist is usually the good guy, the hero, or the main character. The antagonist is generally the bad guy, the villain, or the enemy of the protagonist. It makes sense, then, that anyone who is going against you is an antagonist or is being antagonistic. Your mother might say to you, "Stop being so antagonistic to your sister." Your teacher might say, "You shouldn't be so antagonistic about doing your homework." What they are saying is that you shouldn't be so hostile, angry, or mean. We should all try to be protagonists in our own lives and stories. |
AuthorI am Becky Lyn Rickman. I am a writer because I love words almost as much as I love the people in my life. I want to fill the world with magnificent words and then jump in and splash around in them. I live with Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, my cats, but the only words they really love are "meat" and "gravy." Archives
March 2018
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