We are deep into the gift-giving season and the celebrations. Are you preparing the happy face you will display as you open your gift? English has lots of words to guide you in your quest to behave as suits the season with a fulsome attitude. Or not.
Fulsome, like so many words in English, wavers with connotation. As you utter thanks for that gift you wish you had never seen, you will likely be insincerely earnest or overly flattering (fulsome). The excessiveness associated with this word led people to think of fulsome as “disgusting” or “offensive”. So, you might want to avoid this word after all.
For better words to use as your guide, you could consider the rich list of “-ful” words: cheerful, gleeful, joyful, blissful. All these attitudes will please your gift giver, assuming the emotions are real and not faked. Duh, rather obvious, huh?
Other “-ful” words might not be your friends. Mirthful, for example, is a good word for a party spirit. Yet, it might be resented if you react to your gift with mirth. Of course, there are exceptions – joke gifts should elicit mirth.
Sprightful and playful also work well at a party, but they can also be annoying if overdone. Blithesome is probably a safer pattern to follow if you want to play it safe. Other “-some” words which might be useful to you are gladsome, lightsome, and winsome.
Ah, winsome. You might think the word is a compound of “win” and “some.” Makes sense, doesn’t it? You win triumphantly and you are joyous. But the root for the “win” in winsome comes from a different Germanic source than the victorious “win”. This happy “win” comes from a root meaning joy, childlike joy. So, by all means, do be winsome and you will win the approval of your gift giver.
Finally, my wish is that your hopefulness is fulfilled and that you greet the New Year with a smile.
#EnglishLanguage #Humor
HOLY NIGHT
As quietness steals across the world
Of awaiting arms.
Joyous songs ring out
Welcoming a holy night.
Peaceful happiness shall rain tomorrow.
Coming together we celebrate
With a day of remembrance—
The Prince of Peace forever.
#Christmas #ChristmasMeaning
Author’s Notes
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“CHRISTMAS AWAKENING” refers to the poet’s childhood. The stairs she mentions are likely those of her home in Wheeling, West Virginia, where her bedroom was on the second floor.
REFRACTIONS
“HOLY NIGHT” by Robert Roxby appeared in his self-published collection, Reflections on a Lifetime.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—works by Kathleen Roxby
“THE HAPPY BROWN HOURS” is one of the series the author wrote for her collection entitled, “A Singular Prism” which focuses on colors.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
Splinters for December 2020
For December, consider one of the following to spur your writing.
THE HAPPY BROWN HOURS
Air sweet with molasses
Or maple syrup
Sunday mornings
Warm and smooth to the touch
As pancakes
Spiced, bright with the chirp
Of bacon crisp and crunchy
Cool bedded dreaming
Bright with sparks
Of tree bark tickles
Hugs sun-warmed in fur
Wet with dog tongues
Snickers of hippos’
Twittering ears,
Elephants rolling
In the laughter of dust
The happy hours of brown
Warm and spicy
Bright and sparkling
The slippery muds of memory
Caked in giggles
Forever over-crusted fresh.
#BrownColor #ColorandPoetry
DO YOU HEAR?
“Do you hear? Oh, can’t you hear!”
She whispered in her little sister’s ear.
“There! Clip, clop…up on the roof!”
The drowzled child beside her
Pulled and pushed herself up
And out of her warm lullaby dream
To hear for real and always
The child magic sounds
Of Christmas Eve night.
They sat with prayerful, eager faces,
Eyes flashing with imagined secret sights.
Could anyone be as lucky as they?
Had any other child been blessed
With such a chance?
“Let’s go see!”
Tiny fingers pushed aside the heavy covers.
“No, you mustn’t!
You’re not supposed to watch him.
He wouldn’t like it.”
Back, back lay the sleepy heads
And soon the quickened heartbeats
Slowed to the hushed pit-pat
Of reindeer hooves waiting,
Patiently waiting for the dawn.
#SantaClausMemory #Christmas #ChildhoodPoetry
CHRISTMAS GREETING
Good friends
and family
Warm thoughts
and loving hearts
Make Christmas dreams
. come true
CHORTLING WITH FULSOMENESS
We are deep into the gift-giving season and the celebrations. Are you preparing the happy face you will display as you open your gift? English has lots of words to guide you in your quest to behave as suits the season with a fulsome attitude. Or not.
Fulsome, like so many words in English, wavers with connotation. As you utter thanks for that gift you wish you had never seen, you will likely be insincerely earnest or overly flattering (fulsome). The excessiveness associated with this word led people to think of fulsome as “disgusting” or “offensive”. So, you might want to avoid this word after all.
For better words to use as your guide, you could consider the rich list of “-ful” words: cheerful, gleeful, joyful, blissful. All these attitudes will please your gift giver, assuming the emotions are real and not faked. Duh, rather obvious, huh?
Other “-ful” words might not be your friends. Mirthful, for example, is a good word for a party spirit. Yet, it might be resented if you react to your gift with mirth. Of course, there are exceptions – joke gifts should elicit mirth.
Sprightful and playful also work well at a party, but they can also be annoying if overdone. Blithesome is probably a safer pattern to follow if you want to play it safe. Other “-some” words which might be useful to you are gladsome, lightsome, and winsome.
Ah, winsome. You might think the word is a compound of “win” and “some.” Makes sense, doesn’t it? You win triumphantly and you are joyous. But the root for the “win” in winsome comes from a different Germanic source than the victorious “win”. This happy “win” comes from a root meaning joy, childlike joy. So, by all means, do be winsome and you will win the approval of your gift giver.
Finally, my wish is that your hopefulness is fulfilled and that you greet the New Year with a smile.
#EnglishLanguage #Humor
Author’s Notes
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“CHRISTMAS GREETING” was written by Margaret after taking a class which taught her how to make her own greeting cards. She used the techniques and tools she acquired to make cards for friends and family.
KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby
“CHORTLING WITH FULSOMENESS”. For her primary references, the author used www.etymonline.com and www.merriam-webster.com.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—works by Kathleen Roxby
“DO YOU HEAR?” This poem describes a memory from when Kathleen’s older cousin was living with them for a little over a year. They shared a bedroom which opened to the living room where the fireplace and the Christmas tree were located.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission: