Sunday Rest: tweeny. Word Not To Use Today.

Tweeny is a horrible whiny sort of a label to stick on someone. It has echoes of twee, for one thing, but worse still this dreadful word suggests that a tweeny is a between-person: not smart enough to be a parlour maid, and not quite clever enough to be a cook; not quite cute enough to be teeny, and not quite independent enough to be a teenager. 

But tweenies are hugely, vitally important. Who is to relay messages between the cook and the butler when they are not on speaking terms, if not the tweeny?

Who is to serve meals in the servants' hall?

And, most importantly of all, who is to read the most magnificent children's books in the world?

Are people ever more interesting than when they're aged eight to twelve?

Not as far as I've noticed. What about you?

Word Not To Use Today: tweeny. This word is now mostly used by people trying to sell things to young people, but it was first made up by JRR Tolkien in the late 1930s to describe irresponsible hobbits between the ages of twenty and thirty three.