Beautiful rainy morning out. Today, I will stick a blazing arrow in my brain and finish this book.
Also, as a side note, I subscribe to A.Word.A.Day, which sends out an email every morning with odd little examples of the English language. Today, in my mail box, was the phrase/word: hey rube
PRONUNCIATION: (hay roob)
MEANING: noun: 1. A fight between members of a circus and the general public. 2. A call to rally circus members in a fight.
ETYMOLOGY: The term originated in the 19th century when circuses were rowdy affairs and Hey Rube was the rallying cry to call all circus people to help in a fight with townspeople. It’s not clear whether Rube in this term was someone specific or simply a use of the informal term rube (shortened form of Reuben) for an unsophisticated person from a rural area.
This is why words are cool. You’ve got a specific event/act/piece of history merging with language to make a phrase that has real meaning for a particular population of professionals. This is why language is so important when you’re writing—whether it’s science-fiction, fantasy, a contemporary—whatever. Building your world, even a world of this modern 21st century, requires a second look at your choice of words (and I’m not talking about ‘and’, ‘but’ or ‘ly’, either). Language is crucial—and can give you and your reader an intimate, deeper look at relationships and history, especially the quirky side of things that become embedded in a culture’s consciousness.