Friday, 25 October 2013

Word To Use Today: hubbub.

England isn't really a place for hubbub. It seems that the people of many other places like to bellow and shout when exciting things happen, but English people tend to rely on a twitch of a single eyebrow to register emotion.

Well, it does save a lot of energy.

Some people have even managed to make a career out of the eyebrow thing.

 
Roger Moore in 1973. Mind you, the tie is emoting like mad.

Still, even in England you might come across a hubbub in a school corridor, or...

...er...no, that's about it.

Though, come to think about it, seagulls and crows can make a lot of noise. And so can sheep. Yes, the sheep near us can get very  noisy (yes, yes, all right, they're vocal local sheep) if you walk past their field wearing a green jacket. Presumably this is because they usually get fed by someone in a green jacket. Or perhaps it's a fashion comment. I don't know.

Anyway, hubbub is far too entertaining a word not to use today, even if you have to start one yourself.

Raising a simple chant of I love cheese should do the trick, I think.

Word To Use Today: hubbub. Why should teachers have all the best words? Hubbub comes from the wonderful Irish word hooboobbes. No, really, it does. There's a Scots Gaelic word ubub! too, which is an exclamation of contempt.

2 comments:

  1. Oh gosh, the Irish word has me in stitches!
    Hooboobbes! Ha!
    There's no doubt I am pronouncing it wrong, but what a fun word!
    Snort, snort!
    Ok, I'll quit making such a hooboobbes now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The pronunciation of Irish words is a continuing mystery to me and makes book signings in the Republic fraught. Maebh, anyone?

      Delete

All comments are very welcome, but please make them suitable for The Word Den's family audience.