Dahlesque and Other Author Words to Use

As you may have heard, we have a new word added to the English dictionary: Dahlesque

Here is the Oxford English Dictionary's definition:

Dahlesque:

Resembling or characteristic of the works of Roald Dahl - Dahl's writing, particularly his children's fiction, is typically characterized by eccentric plots, villainous or loathsome adult characters, and gruesome or black humor.

The word had been around since 1983, but been recognized as an official word just the past several years.


So your homework is to use the word today.  Just drop in conversation like it is a word that you always use.

Can't get enough Roald Dahl?  There were other chapters that never made it to print along with children who never made it into the final bookTry this chapter that was removed from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  It is from an earlier draft where there were at least ten, maybe fifteen children taking the tour through the factory: The Warming Candy Room.  Plus, if you just want more odd tid bits, like the name of the third Charlie book

Of course, Dahl isn't the only author who has a word named after him:

Orwellian - named after George Orwell to describe over bearing government censorship and surveillance as in 1984.

Kafkaesque - named after Franz Kafka to mean something that is nightmarish

Dickensian - named after Charles Dickens to describe poverty like those featured in any of his novels.

Byronic - named after George Gordon, Lord Byron and is used to describe a hero that is brooding, lonely, and romantic.

Did I miss any?  I must have!  Let me know in the comments section.

EXTRA CREDIT! O.K., teachers love this as much as students so extra credit goes to whomever can tell me what is the title of the third Charlie book that Dahl never completed?  Just put it in the replies below!

Toughest Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters are fun for using as grammar practice sentences or for teaching literary terms like alliteration, consonance, and assonance.  I found a two contenders for the title of toughest tongue twister in the English language.  

Researchers at MIT created this to be the hardest:

Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.

The Guinness Book of World Records says that last one is the hardest.  

The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick.

The official Extreme English Teacher position is that the 'Sheik' one is far tougher than the MIT one.

Got a favorite to share or want to weigh in on these?  Leave a comment!

Things Women in Literature Have Died From

 You may have seen this around on the Internet:

I've been searching to find where these are from.  I have found the following based on what I have read and what I have found other people's attempts to answer it:

cold hands - La Boheme

beautiful face - I saw some say "The Lady of Shallot", but I think "The Birth-Mark" might be more accurate

missing slippers - ???

wrist fevers - Beth from Little Women tends to be the go to for several of these.  I have not read it, so I am not sure.

night brain - Anna Karenina

going outside at night in Italy - Daisy Miller

shawl insufficiency - Beth from Little Women again

too many pillows - Desdemona from Othello??

garden troubles - "Rapaccini's Daughter"

someone said "No" very loudly while they were in the room - ???

letter reading fits - ???

drawing room anguish - ???

not enough pillows - Wuthering Heights??

haven't seen the sea in a long time - Lord of the Rings (Boromir's mother) and "The Awakening"

too many novels - Madam Bovery

pony exhaustion - Gone with the Wind

strolling congestion - ???

sherry served too cold - ???

ship infidelity - Far Side of the World

spent more than a month in London after growing up in Yorkshire - ???

clergyman's dropsy - ???

flirting headaches - ???

river unhappiness - Hamlet

general bummers - Tess of the Dubervilles ???

knitting needles too heavy - Beth from Little Women again

mmmf - didn't know what this meant until I started looking for answers to this

beautiful chestnut hair - "The Adventures of the Crooked Man" (Sherlock Holmes story)

spinal degeneration as a result of pride - ???

parents too happy - ???

the unpleasantness - ???

So now, I need your help - what are the rest of them?  Any thoughts?  I am also trying to track down the origin of the image.  If I can, I may be able to get the originator's thoughts on it.

The Zipf Mystery

 It's summer and here is an interesting (if you are an English teacher, that is) video on the frequency of words.  The video is long, but the first few minutes is what will grab your attention the most.

Add Some Old Scottish Words to Your Vocabulary!

 This is one of those images I found on the phone and sent to my email so I wouldn't forget it and have, of course, forgotten the source!  But it is too good to go to waste, so here are some Scottish words to add in your class for all of you who are British literature teachers!

Now, I've heard and used eejit before (not in my class, of course - well, not out loud, at least) and I am certainly going to have to add Wheesht! into my repertoire.  

It's Spring Break for me, so see you next week!

Turdsworth

 

So I ran across this in an article by Olivia Rutigliano on Literary Hub.  It was just too funny not to pass on to you guys to check out!  So if you want to read the article and find out what Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him, please do over at: https://lithub.com/lord-byron-used-to-call-william-wordsworth-turdsworth-and-yes-this-is-a-real-historical-fact/