WORDS

[tamada]

Smithereens
noun

Despite its American sound and its common use by the fiery animated cartoon character Yosemite Sam, smithereens did not originate in American slang. Although no one is entirely positive about its precise origins, scholars think that smithereens likely developed from the Irish word smidiríní, which means "little bits." That Irish word is the diminutive of smiodar, meaning "fragment." According to print evidence, the plural form smithereens first appears in English in the late 18th century

[Doodoo]

meze
noun

1.
(in Turkish, Greek, and Middle Eastern cooking) a selection of hot and cold dishes, typically served as an hors d'oeuvre:
"sit down to a Cyprus meze and a glass of wine"

[Doodoo]

Im·pi·e·ty
noun

1.
lack of piety or reverence, especially for a god:
"he blamed the fall of the city on the impiety of the people"

[Doodoo]

Snug
adjective

1.
comfortable, warm, and cozy; well protected from the weather or cold:
"she was safe and snug in Ruth's arms"
Similar
cozy comfortable warm cheerful
Opposite
bleak unwelcoming
2.
(especially of clothing) very tight or close-fitting:
"a well-shaped hood for a snug fit"

[Laan Yaa Mo]

A helicophile is something that loves spirals — and few creatures qualify for the label more strongly than Osmia bicolor, also known as the snail shell nesting bee. Once a female has mated she sets out in search of the perfect, empty shell. This she positions so that rain cannot get in, before laying up to five eggs inside, each in a separate chamber stocked with pollen and nectar and sealed with a paste made of chewed-up leaves and soil. Then she seals the opening before laboriously camouflaging the entire shell with bits of grass, a process she will repeat five or six times. The eggs hatch and pupate inside the shell, and a new generation of bees emerge in early spring.

Melissa Harrison

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Witches’ butter is the common name given to several types of fungus that grow on dead wood. The bright yellow and most butter-like form — at a stretch — Tremella mesenterica is also known as yellow brain fungus. It creates intricate, jelly-like folds on the downed, rotting branches of trees and sometimes on standing deadwood; these eventually dry to a dark brown frill. Instead of feeding directly on the dead wood, it’s actually a parasite of other fungi, specifically the crust-forming species from the Peniophora genus. Tremella aurantia can appear very similar but parasitises a different host, the hairy crust fungus. In eastern European folklore the appearance of witches’ butter on your house or fence meant a witch had cursed you.

Melissa Harrison

[Doodoo]

chatoyant
adjective

1.
(of a gem, especially when cut en cabochon) showing a band of bright lustre caused by reflection from inclusions in the stone.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Plants often have colourful social histories. Butterbur, whose stout, pink flower spikes are currently rising from moist ground, was once used widely to boost honey production. The hives or skeps were placed in butterbur beds over the winter so that when the bees emerged in March there was plenty of nectar available from these early blooming plants. Another role of butterbur was in food storage. Their foliage was used to keep butter clean and cool, hence the plant’s common name. At a metre wide, the plant’s huge leaves are big enough to wrap round the largest pat of butter. Butterbur had a less wholesome role. Also known as plaguewort, it was used as a remedy against the plague.

Jonathan Tulloch

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Some of the most beautiful words in English describe groups of trees. Who can hear the word orchard without catching a scent of apple blossom or a taste of juicy pear? Likewise, a grove conjures up graceful boughs, gentle shade and birdsong. A lesser-known phrase for an assemblage of trees is a filbert walk. Filbert is a name for a cultivated hazel, which were often grown in avenues. Filbert Street, the former ground of Leicester City FC, was probably built on an old hazel avenue. Then there is a willow garth, a place where different willow species were grown together to provide raw materials for wicker products. One of the finest remaining UK willow garths is in Thirsk. Jonathan Tulloch

Jonathan Tulloch

[Doodoo]

1) serotonin
noun

: a phenolic amine neurotransmitter C10H12N2O that is a powerful vasoconstrictor and is found especially in the brain, blood serum, and gastric mucous membrane of mammals

2) vasoconstriction
noun

: narrowing of the lumen of blood vessels

3) lumen
noun

plurallumens also lumina ˈlü-mə-nə
1
: the cavity of a tubular organ or part
the lumen of a blood vessel
2
: the bore of a tube (as of a hollow needle or catheter)
3
: a unit of luminous flux equal to the light emitted in a unit solid angle by a uniform point source of one candle intens

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Liverworts often hitch a lift to your garden via plants bought at your local nursery: they are the green crust growing on the surface of the compost in containers, especially when the soil is acidic, compacted or does not drain well. They will also grow on paths and paving, especially in shady areas, and are more noticeable in winter or during wet spells. The most common liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha, covers its flat scales in tiny cupules, each one of which is full of gemmae: tiny clones of the adult plant. In wet weather, raindrops splash them out from their cupules, leading to the establishment of a new plant. Liverworts become dormant in dry weather; one was revived after being desiccated for 25 years.

Melissa Harrison

[Laan Yaa Mo]

In the water, goosanders look long and streamlined, like a surfacing submarine. Ducks, rather than geese, they have slim, serrated bills to hold on to slippery fish. Although they have long come to the UK’s lakes and rivers to overwinter, they have bred here only since the late 19th century, first in Scotland, then in northern England and Wales, and now in the West Country. Their nesting practices are slightly surprising: they favour holes in trees along riverbanks. Soon after hatching, their large broods of fluffy, spotty and flightless chicks will tumble to the ground to be shepherded to the water by their anxious mother, the father usually having left by then to moult.

Melissa Harrison

[Doodoo]

Be·he·moth
noun

1.
a huge or monstrous creature:
"behemoths like the brontosaurus"

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Astrange music rang out over the Howardian Hills. Sounding like the tooting of bugles, it was the cries of a flock of whooper swans starting their long migration home. After a winter spent feeding in the British stubble and wheatfields, they were on their way back to their breeding grounds in Iceland. Virtually the entire population of Icelandic whooper swans overwinter in Britain and Ireland. The flock was no more than 20 strong, and consisted of an extended family. Very little is known about the whooper swan’s migratory journey. It used to be thought that they flew at exceptionally high altitudes, but now experts think that they travel at very low heights, and often land on the sea for a rest.

Jonathan Tulloch

[Doodoo]

Tang

noun

1.
a strong taste, flavor, or smell:
"the clean salty tang of the sea"
Similar
flavortastesavorsharpness
2.
the projection on the blade of a tool such as a knife, by which the blade is held firmly in the handle:
"a full tang is used for strength" Used in a Samurai sword

[Laan Yaa Mo]

On every public space, every cemetery plot and village green, the daffodils are in bloom. These flowers are cultivars but in a handful of places, the rare wild daffodils can still be seen growing in plenty. The wild plant, Narcissus pseudonarcissus, is smaller than most cultivated types. Two-toned, it has clotted cream-coloured petals and a deeper yellow trumpet. Unlike the carefully planted bulbs, wild daffodils grow in gloriously unruly masses. Farndale in the heart of the North York Moors is one of the best places to enjoy this wild spectacle, where seven miles of flowers follow the winding course of the River Dove. As you walk alongside them, you are likely to hear the cry of the curlew.

Jonathan Tulloch

[Doodoo]

Di·shev·eled
adjective

1.
(of a person's hair, clothes, or appearance) untidy; disordered:
"a man with long disheveled hair"

[Doodoo]

A·nath·e·ma
noun

1.
something or someone that one vehemently dislikes:
"racial hatred was anathema to her"

2.
a formal curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine:
"the Pope laid special emphasis on the second of these anathemas"

[Udon Map]

Glatt

Food that conforms stringently to the Jewish kosher laws

Specifically, glatt (גלאַט) translates from Hebrew to English as "smooth". Glatt kosher refers to animals that have completely smooth lungs, with no irregularities or adhesions. Certified glatt kosher meat brings a higher premium among ultra-Orthodox Jews.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

You might call it the resurrection tree. The little rowan on the bridleway was planted in the winter of 2019, and grew well for the first two years. Then came summer 2022 when even the north of England sweltered in heatwaves approaching 40C. The sapling was watered regularly, but succumbed to the relentless sun. When autumn brought a little relief from the weather, the sapling appeared dead. It spent the following winter as a mere stick in the ground, but then, the next year grew a handful of leaves. As the season progressed, it seemed to be recovering. Its renaissance has continued. Already this spring, buds of many flowers are visible, their gorgeous white tipped with a beautiful peach colour.

Jonathan Tulloch