Oh, this is a lovely word: fluffy and magical and sounding just like its meaning.
So...
...well, what do you think it means?
I suppose it could mean someone who fur-fur-fumbles with their words.
But it's not that.
It could be, but isn't, something furry and adorable like a chinchilla; or something furry and not adorable like a dust bunny.
I'll give you a clue: the blizzard here yesterday brought the word to mind.
Yep. That's right. Furfuraceous means resembling dandruff.
Hm. Come to think of it, that's a resemblance our greatest poets, oddly, seem to have missed...
The word furfur means dandruff or any scaly bit of skin.
And how on earth have we lived without it?
Word To Use Today: furfuraceous. This word comes from the Latin furfur, which means bran or scurf.
That's a lovely word...but I don't like the idea of snow being like dandruff. Though I suppose in a way it is. How complicated the world is, to be sure. I will always think about this now, when I see snow. Or indeed, dandruff!
ReplyDeleteIs there no religion that has a great scurfy god who scratches his head in cold weather?
ReplyDeleteBecause if there isn't I think I'll have to make one up.