I'll Be Sheep Dipped - 13 October 2014

<p>What a difference pronunciation makes! The United States has a Department of Defense, and an individual might take classes in self-defense. So why do football and basketball coaches say they're proud of their . . . "DEE-fence?" Linguists have a theory about why. Also, some funny limericks to help you learn obscure words, and what you will and won't find on a desert island. Plus, kennings, cobwebs, crestfallen, catillate, cataglossism, and more.<br /><br />FULL DETAILS<br /><br />Do you think dictionaries of obsolete words with definitions in limerick form are cool? If you're annuent—meaning “nodding”—we'll take that as a "yes." You'll find lots of them at The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form, also known as OEDILF.<br /><br />Sheep-dipping is a business term for when employees are made to drink the Kool-Aid, often at tedious briefings or sales seminars they're forced to attend. <br /><br />As the OEDILF notes, exspuition's an old word for spitting, which you can do either standing or sitting. <br /><br />We have a Department of Defense, and football teams have a defense, and chances are you don't pronounce those terms the same way. It likely has to do with sportscasters emphasizing of- and de- to differentiate the offensive and defensive sides of teams, and that's how the emphases took hold. <br /><br />Put a plate of milk in front of a cat, and you know that cat will catillate. <br /><br />Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game that changes Venn diagrams to zen diagrams. <br /><br />Bespoke, as in bespoke tailored clothing, comes from an old word meaning <br />"spoken for"—to bespeak means to request or order a good or service. <br /><br />What could sound more romantic than French kissing? Perhaps its archaic synonym, cataglossism. Here's a limerick to help you remember this word. <br /><br />Most high schoolers hear the bell ring, and they know it's time for next period. But some students simply refer to each class as first bell, second bell, and so on. What did you call each class period?<br /><br