Tennessee Top Hat - 19 October 2015

<p>It's hard enough to get a new word into the dictionary. But what happens when lawmakers get involved? New Jersey legislators passed a resolution as part of an anti-bullying campaign urging dictionary companies to adopt the word "upstander." It means "the opposite of bystander." But will it stick? And: 17th-century abolitionist Sojourner Truth was born in New York State, but for most of her childhood, she spoke only Dutch. There's a good reason for that. Plus, practical tips for learning to converse in any foreign language: Think of it like an exercise program, and work out with a buddy. Also, rhyming slang, kick the bucket, behind God's back, world-beaters, Twitter canoes, a slew of slang terms for that yep-nope hairstyle, the mullet.<br /><br />FULL DETAILS<br /><br />Plenty of people write to dictionary editors asking for words to be added. It almost never works. But what if politicians make a special request? To urge adoption of the term upstander, as in "the opposite of bystander," to honor those who stand up to bullies, the New Jersey State Senate passed a resolution urging two dictionary publishers to add it. Unfortunately, dictionaries don't work that way. Even so, whether a word is or isn't in the dictionary doesn't determine whether a word is real. <br /><br />If you're having difficulty parsing the meaning of the word defugalty, or difugalty, the joke's on you. It's just a goofy play on difficulty, one that's popular with grandparents.<br /><br />To summer and winter about a matter is an old expression that means "to carry on at great length" about it. <br /><br />A television journalist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wants a generic term for "house of worship" to use in place of the word church in news reports. Synagogue, temple, sanctuary, and mosque are all too specific. What's a fitting alternative?<br /> <br />Here's a riddle: What flies when it's born, lies when it's alive, and runs when it's dead? <br /><br />Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a game based on rhyming words with the word and in the middle. F