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The ordinary-sized words are for everyone, but the big ones are especially for children.



Monday 10 October 2011

Spot the frippet: beard.


The Word Den has talked about the action of bearding someone, but not about beards themselves.

You never know what you might find in a beard: this is their essential fascination and mystery, as Edward Lear has explained in words and pictures.

There was an Old Man with a beard
Who said, 'It is just as I feared! -
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren
Have all built their nests in my beard.



You can never be sure who is behind all the fuzz, either: sometimes it might even be a dragon.



Or a vulture.


And although you might think you know where beards are to be found, this is a bearded tit.



Bet you've never dreamed of such a thing!

Spot the frippet: beard. This word has been exactly the same ever since Old English times - that's before 1150. It comes from the Latin word barba.

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