My blue agapanthus, scattered throughout my garden since I split a clump 2 years ago, are thriving. Tall, dramatic, long-lasting, and pretty seed-heads for winter. The other day I caught this butterfly enjoying them (to my surprise as the blooms aren't native). #butterfly #bloomscrolling

“I’m not sure about working to order, or working for my sister for that matter, but you know Kitty. She doesn’t take No for an answer. Of course she wants a man with his shirt off on the front, it’s not exactly challenging," said Beth. #1linewed "The Librarian's Secret Diary

Person Holding Old Dusty Book

ALT: Person Holding Old Dusty Book

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This week in the #library Nina is impressed by the strength of powerful women, including the abilities of women in their autumn years. Subscribe to read this and hundreds more episodes at channillo.com/series/the-l... #serial #irishfiction

The Librarian's Secret Diary

<p>Nina is the new librarian on the block. She’s learning the shelves with her buzzword-spouting boss and the senior librarian who hates reading and can’t wait to retire. She records the crazy reader ...

channillo.com

Happy #ReadaNewBook Month! As somebody who reads books every month, this one makes me laugh. But yes, September is a fine month to read. Everybody loves words, pirates, vikings, and Christmas folklore, right? All details at wordfoolery.wordpress.com/my-books/ #amreading #booksky

HEDGELEY IS BACK. And he's brought with him the dance craze that is going to sweep the nation.

Happy Book Birthday to "Words the Sea Gave Us" which launched in 2020. It was a delight to explore the wordy side of all things nautical from ark to skyscrapers. I'm proud to have helped readers to talk like #pirates. Aaarrr! Details of all my books - wordfoolery.wordpress.com/my-books/ #etymology

This week on Wordfoolery, come to Mexico and explore the convoluted word history of the avocado, or is that an alligator? or a lawyer? wordfoolery.wordpress.com/2026/08/31/t... #etymology #foodhistory

The Convoluted Word History of the Avocado

Hello, Which word can link alligators, lawyers, 1970s bathroom suites, and male anatomy? Answer – the avocado. The avocado is a popular ingredient in my salads. It’s an edible fruit fro…

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This week's dusty gem from the Wordfoolery Archive is quagmire, a word I wrote about back in 2017. Enjoy! wordfoolery.wordpress.com/2017/04/25/b... #etymology

Beware the Quaking Quagmire

Hello, I include words here for various reasons. This week’s word, quagmire, is a favourite of mine because it’s fun to say. It even sounds squelchy. Quagmire has two meanings, one prac…

wordfoolery.wordpress.com

The latest episode of my cosy #library #serial is now live on Channillo - a bit late due to tech issues on their side. This week Nina the librarian has to forgive somebody, after advice from her crazy senior librarian. channillo.com/series/the-l... #irishfiction

The Librarian's Secret Diary

<p>Nina is the new librarian on the block. She’s learning the shelves with her buzzword-spouting boss and the senior librarian who hates reading and can’t wait to retire. She records the crazy reader ...

channillo.com

Jeff Stanford

#OnThisDay 79 AD, eruption of Vesuvius in southern Italy which destroyed the cities of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum - which reminds me of the etymology of volcano. Volcanos are named for Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking.

Dramatic Volcano Eruption

ALT: Dramatic Volcano Eruption

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This week on Wordfoolery I look at brand names that became words in the dictionary, especially the #escalator. The tale of how the Otis lift company lost control of a word. wordfoolery.wordpress.com/2026/08/24/e... #etymology

酉年 お正月 あけましておめでとう

ALT: 酉年 お正月 あけましておめでとう

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This week's words pulled from the Wordfoolery Archive relate to sleep and those precious moments as you awake - wordfoolery.wordpress.com/2017/02/06/s... #etymology #sleep

Slumber words – uhtceare and dormiveglia

Hello, Living in the northern hemisphere, it is tempting during the winter to imitate other mammals and hibernate. Both my children attempted that ploy this morning to avoid education. It put me in…

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It's Wordfoolery Friday - I'll be chatting with Gerry on LMFM (Louth Meath radio) at 2 o'clock about the stories behind eclipse, bodger, mob, and dismal. Our mystery word is dimpsy. Listen on your radio, online at lmfm.ie, and I'll post the podlink afterwards. #etymology #radio

#OnThisDay 1786, birth of Davy Crockett. I included his hat in my book "How to Get Your Name in the Dictionary" (there's an entire chapter about eponymous hats in fact). #etymology #eponym 🧵

This week I took time to look (without a colander!) at the history of the word #eclipse and it led me back to the Greeks. Read all about it on the Wordfoolery Blog wordfoolery.wordpress.com/2026/08/17/t... #etymology #WordsTheGreeksGaveUs

The Obscure Word History of Eclipse

Hello, In the wake of last week’s partial solar eclipse here in Ireland I’m taking a look at the history of the word itself. Thankfully for this particular “look” I don&#821…

wordfoolery.wordpress.com

A brief history of flabbergasts this week from the Wordfoolery Archive (2017 this time). Hope you enjoy! wordfoolery.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/w... #etymology

Seth Rogen as Dale Denton: I'm Flabbergasted

ALT: Seth Rogen as Dale Denton: I'm Flabbergasted

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The first ever figs have formed on my tiny fig-tree-in-a-pot...very exciting, even though it will be next year before I can eat them. The "tree" is two years old, variety is Brown Turkey (self fertile). #GIY #growityourself #bloomscrolling

#OnThisDay 1860, birth of Annie Oakley. #etymology #history 🧵 Phoebe Ann Oakley Mosey Butler (1860-1926) was the star rifle-shooter in Buffalo Bill’s “Wild West Show”. Her most-renowned trick was to toss a five of hearts playing card into the air and then shoot a hole through each pip on the card.

Woman Makes Pew Pew Finger Guns

ALT: Woman Makes Pew Pew Finger Guns

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Mine went to the beach! I didn't get any good photos though as I struggled to get it at the right angle. But at least it had an evening out.

Toby Earle 🇺🇦@tobyontv.bsky.social · 3w ago

colanders across the country are sharing incredible tales of parks and streets and high-rise locations with baking trays, pans, and dishes, all gathered round in a circle in their cupboard

Whoever mentioned dappled shade here, thank you. Best view in my garden of the partial #eclipse #Ireland last night was under our apple tree. Colander trick worked too, but with my eyesight bigger is better 😀

“Where should I put the costumes?” I asked Linda in a panic. She shrugged. “The shed?” “That place is infested with spiders. I know it’s for Halloween but if we give out costumes festooned with real spiders the parents will be howling for our blood, and not in a fun spooky way.” #1linewed 🕷️🎃

This week in Castle Bailey library Nina helps to run a costume-swap-day and acquires a top hat. It's exactly as chaotic as you'd expect and her senior librarian hides from work, again. Subscribe to read this and hundreds more episodes at channillo.com/series/the-l... #librarylife #irishfiction 📚

The Librarian's Secret Diary

<p>Nina is the new librarian on the block. She’s learning the shelves with her buzzword-spouting boss and the senior librarian who hates reading and can’t wait to retire. She records the crazy reader ...

channillo.com

Wordfoolery Whispers is out on Fri 14th August. Read about Book Juggling, Sniffing Tudors, Finding Figs, Blog Highlights, Good Books and histories for enigma, fopdoodle, bodger, shoogly, and bumbaleerie. Subscribe at wordfoolerywhispers.subscribepage.io & confirm your email. #etymology #newsletter

Happy #NationalLazyDay to all who celebrate (if they can be bothered). I'm celebrating by putting together a Terry Pratchett jigsaw. 🧩 😀

Always loved these skeletons but didn't know the animator's name. Now I understand why the fancy restaurant in "Monster's Inc" was called Harryhausen's ❤️

Animation Obsessive@ani-obsessive.bsky.social · last mo.

Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts are amazing even now. He animated the sequence by himself for more than four months -- without computers or even an easy way to check his work. We're looking into how he did it: animationobsessive.substack.com/p/how-ray-ha...

Ever botch something or make a bodge job of it? Join me to explore the crafty word history of bodger - a word the Tudors gave us - this week on Wordfoolery. 🪡🪵 wordfoolery.wordpress.com/2026/08/10/t... #etymology #Tudor #crafting

The Crafty Word History of Bodger

Hello, Regular readers of Wordfoolery will know that I never met a craft I didn’t like (except for felting…definitely not for me) so when I came across the word bodger recently I couldn…

wordfoolery.wordpress.com

Today is #NationalBookLoversDay. I'm celebrating by meeting writing friends for a feedback session, and reading an Asterix book (Asterix Chez Rahazade). What are you reading today? If the answer is "nothing" consider re-reading one you love. It's way more fun than doom-scrolling. #booksky #reading

Verbena bonariensis in my back garden. Love this plant, blooms for ages, self-seeds slowly, adds elegant height. Mine are paired with butter-coloured evening primrose. Grown from seed years ago. #bloomscrolling

Absolutely brilliant stop motion animation ❤️

David K. Barnes@davidkbarnes.com · last mo.

Here’s the latest stop motion animation from my Tiny Angry Witch team. (I’m the writer, I can’t take credit for the animating!) It’s one of our longest, and it nearly drove us all mad, but we’re really proud of getting it made! 1 x Tiny Angry Witch 1 x broom No AI