The School of Word Play

Does this title crack you up! I laughed – when I wrote it. Then I remembered I’m in the business of playing with words. That’s how I tell stories – by putting together characters and plots – with words.

It’s important to know words and use them when you read and write. I was surprised to start getting emails from this link: Home | School Of Word Play. Then I started having fun with it!
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Part 1 - GELID
Now I look at the emails to see if I know the word. This is the first one I didn’t. In my head I thought it started with a hard g as in gate, short e as in ed, and the word lid. WRONG!
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​​              Below is a screenshot of the top of the page for this link:  Gelid (schoolofwordplay.com)
​First up is the pronunciation, written the same way you’d see it in the dictionary.       [jel – id]
Click on this link, and you can hear it read in a poem.  Gelid | Pronunciation of Gelid in English (youglish.com)

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If the gesture, from the poem, was gelid, what was it like –
Kind and caring    or     Distant and not friendly
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If you guessed the 2nd one, you’re right. If someone talks to you in a gelid way,
​they are definitely not your friend. 

Now that you know the definition, which picture is gelid, the 1st or the 2nd? ​

    If you said the 1st, you’re right! It’s from the winter. The 2nd is summer. It’s the opposite of gelid!

​But there’s more to the School of Word Play. I love getting their email every day. The next screenshot is below.  Did you find the Origin of Gelid? It’s a word from the 1600’s that’s rooted in Latin. Its Etymology – it originated from ‘gelidus,’ which came from ‘gelu,’ and it meant frost or intense cold.

Latin is a dead language, but it was the language of the Roman Empire and of the Catholic Church. Mass used to be said only in Latin. Now it’s mostly used in science to name things, by lawyers, and in high school Latin classes. I took French!

Go down to the Usage graph, and let’s apply it. Which president might have used Gelid? Was it George Washington, Abe Lincoln, or Teddy Roosevelt?

If you guessed George Washington, you’re right. He became President in 1789. The one least likely to use it was Teddy Roosevelt. He became President in 1901. Abe Lincoln was in the middle, 1861.

​Synonyms and Antonyms are easy! I taught them in 2nd grade, but can you use gelid in a sentence of your own? Here’s the last screenshot:

My example: My new story felt ‘gelid.’  I know – YIKES!

I like looking at new words. I can guess what surly is. Sometimes when my writing isn’t going well, I feel surly. It’s definitely tortuous and hard to navigate when your words are twisting and turning. But puissant?  I had to look it up. It means all powerful. I definitely DON’T feel that way with new writing.

Click on this link, and you can figure out how to pronounce it: how do you pronounce puissant - Bing
           
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​Part 2 – TYRO
Here’s the screenshot for tyro:   Tyro (schoolofwordplay.com ] 

Its pronunciation  [ tahy – roh ].  I didn’t get this one right either. I thought it was tay-ro, like say plus row. I was close. It’s tie-ro, like how you tie your shoes.  Click the link to hear it said correctly. 
              How to pronounce TYRO in English (cambridge.org)

Tyro is a noun. It’s a beginner, someone who’s learning something new. Which person would be a tyro? Someone who plays t-ball, or someone who plays major league baseball?

T-ball of course! That’s the first kind of ball a kid learns to play, usually in Kindergarten. The little girl in the picture is the tyro because she looks like she’s learning how to play the piano. ​​

Can you guess who’s the tyro now?

​Yes, the little skiers! You don’t want your doctor to be a beginner!

Where did tyro originate? From the Late Middle English period. That’s the 14 and 1500’s. Someone crossed the ocean blue in 1492. Christopher Columbus, of course!

Tyro came from Latin, from the word ‘tiro.’ In the Middle Ages it was spelled ‘tyro’ and meant recruit.

George Washington and Abe Lincoln probably used tyro, but Teddy Roosevelt, probably not. 

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​Synonyms and antonyms are easy so let’s skip them.

The example sentence describes the piano picture perfectly. Mine – I’m not a tyro at writing, but I am at getting my stories published.

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​​Here are 3 new words. I know them all. The house is definitely dilapidated, in need of BIG repair.

The middle fruit it juxtaposed between the other two. That means it’s placed to show similarities or differences, to compare or contrast.

The last picture confused me. That’s because a zealot is a person, not a place. Zealots believe they’re always right, and they won’t change their mind. Ever. Many politicians are zealots.
 
                                                         

Part 3 – Aubade
​ Here’s the screenshot for aubade: Aubade (schoolofwordplay.com)
                   Its pronunciation  [ oh-bad  or  oh-bahd. 

I’m glad I had the pronunciation guide, or I would have guessed aw-bade. Not even close! If  you look at the guide, then think oh and bad, you’ve got it! Here’s the link to prove it! 
                  How to pronounce aubade | HowToPronounce.com

​Where did Aubade originate? Not from Latin! It came out of France and Spain in the late 1600’s, when America was being colonized. It came from the Spanish words albada and alba. It means dawn.

​                                                 If Aubade is a morning song, which picture illustrates it?

It’s the second one, with sunrise. I couldn’t believe when I googled a morning song, that this is the only thing that came up. There are albums of songs to help our littles wake up, but no category of songs, just for morning.
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For the evening – there’s a bunch – nocturnes, lullabies, moonlight serenades. I wonder – is it easier to write later in the day? That inspired my aubade sentence – I can’t write an aubade because I never wake up in time. No LOL!

​Did you notice The School of Word Play had 2 synonyms – song and poem? Power thesaurus had 31synonyms. The top 10 were morning words, but not a single one is a morning song. ​

The School of Word Play had 1 antonym – nocturne.  Power thesaurus had antonyms, but they’re only night words, and I’m surprised they didn’t think of nocturne.

​Here’s the photo from my screenshot of aubade. It looks like a lovely moonlight serenade. I just wish I could hear it.

​Aubade’s usage has grown since 1850. George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt probably didn’t use this word, unless they knew French or Spanish.

The world has grown closer and more diverse thanks to technology. I wonder if that’s why aubade was used so much more in 2019.
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I’ve never read or heard this word. Have you? Please message me if you have. I’ll share the results with my readers.