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Dec 14, 2025 This week’s theme Illustrated words This week’s words zugunruhe imbroglio vaticinate janiform opsomaniac How popular are they? Relative usage over time AWADmail archives Index Next week’s theme Fossil words Send a gift that keeps on giving, all year long: A gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day or the gift of books AWADmail Issue 1224 A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and Language Sponsor’s Message: ONEUPMANSHIP 3.0 is “a rollicking excuse for mad, mutually-abusive annihilation.” One Up! -- guaranteed to turn your whole family into “greedy, self-serving punks.” Wise Up! will “ruin Christmas and friendships” or your money back. All our fun and games are BOGO today only. Shop now. From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) Subject: Interesting stories from the Net At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke The New York Times Permalink A Very Big Fight Over a Very Small Language The New Yorker Permalink From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) Subject: Artists Readers loved Leah Palmer Preiss’s delightful, heartwarming art this week. Artists work in many materials: pigment and clay, glass and stone, pixels and type. What unites them is not the medium, but the urge. This week readers shared what happens when that urge finds an outlet, and what it feels like when it does not. Here’s a selection. Just wanted to say how much I enjoy every word you illustrate for us, but I do look forward to those with Leah Palmer Preiss’s original artwork. Always a bit inspirational I find. I sometimes thought of myself as a bit of an artist as I spent about 30 years working primarily as a landscape designer. In fact, after taking my horticultural training, a classmate of mine named her design company Living Art -- wish I had thought of that one! -Janice Ife, Merrickville, Canada (ife magma.ca) I studied art history as a minor at Cornell. I know a prominent artist from Sag Harbor, New York, and I asked him when can you call yourself an artist. He replied, when six people like your work. I entered a members’ exhibit at Guild Hall before the pandemic, which is the cultural center in East Hampton, New York. There were 400 works exhibited and only 19 sold. My work was one of the 19! I’m an artist. I use a program called Procreate and I describe my craft as Digital Abstract Expressionism. -Steven A. Ludsin, East Hampton, New York (ludsin gmail.com) Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy the wicked smartest games in the world. Your A.Word.A.Day has intrigued me daily for years. Today it came right to my soul in your introduction because I am an artist, more specifically a portrait artist, although I paint, draw, and create all types of art. Two decades ago I created a portrait of my father using an unusual medium, recycled address labels of mine. Dad used them in lieu of writing my address on letters to me because he had arthritis. Yet he faithfully typed a letter to me weekly. When he died I memorialized him in a portrait. Since that first portrait in 2005, I have created portraits of my four brothers and sister, and just finished my own self-portrait this week. My father was a self-employed carpenter who raised us alone. All six of my siblings and I completed higher education, two received PhDs. I studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art, and later at Bemidji State University in Minnesota for my masters in art education. -Therese Masters Jacobson, Alvarado, Minnesota (tmjacobson16 gmail.com) For me, art is an inherited addiction. My mother was a wonderful oil painter. My preferred media are pen and pencil. Lately, I’ve gone full cavewoman with my new artistic pursuit -- drawing on smooth rocks found in the garden. I give my illustrations away to friends in the neighborhood, which has earned me the nickname “rock star.” -Audie Upton, Palm Desert, California (audieup yahoo.com) I am a collage artist amongst other mediums but lately these collages have consumed me. In the evenings over wine, I go through magazines (everything from National Geographic to cooking magazines) looking for interesting words and photos to cut up. I then use these cuttings to create paintings! This one is titled Amazing Beauty. -Penny Thompson, Savannah, Georgia (prettypenny52 gmail.com) I just started painting two months ago. Here’s my latest painting. -Julie Dasher, Scottsdale, Arizona (jdasher31 gmail.com) I am an artist, sort of. This is my graphic memoir, always in progress. -Elizabeth Margoshes, PhD, New York, New York (drmargoshes gmail.com) Some of my art has appeared in movies and TV shows -- most recently in the TV series, The Handmaid’s Tale. I also have a line of jewelry designs here. But I am best known for my many sculptures of figurines and altar statues. The most famous by far is my image of Mother Earth as The Millennial Gaia. She is distributed by Pacific Trading Co. and may be found along with many other of my works in metaphysical stores around the country. -Oberon Zell, Asheville, North Carolina (oberon mcn.org) I come from a long line of artists, most of whom were less fortunate than me and were forced to do some other work to support their art “habits”. I work in stained glass and have supported myself for the past 21 years by creating things out of glass! I feel very fortunate to be able to live this life, creating beauty that will live on when I’m gone. Hearing from customers about how much joy my art brings them in their homes often helps me get through days of bookkeeping, website updates, and the uncertainty of making enough $ to keep going. -Terry Zigmund, Burlington, Vermont (terry burlingtonglass.net) I was an art major when I took an archeology class where we were learning how art conservators were called in to save an ancient mosaic in a cave. I was sold! I self-tailored my major of studio arts into art conservation. I had to log 400 hours of accredited experience (mostly unpaid) before I could apply to grad school. During this time period I found a job restoring stained glass windows, namely Louis Comfort Tiffany windows. I was sold again! I am happy to say at 50 I have spent my entire career restoring and designing architectural stained glass windows. -Sarah Monte, Fort Lee, New Jersey (caserdy gmail.com) This is a painting by my husband, John Borden Evans. He is deeply rooted in the piece of land we live on, in the middle of Virginia. Yet his paintings take us away from where we are into a deep sense of connectedness with the rest of the world. Woody is our dog. -Beth Neville Evans, North Garden, Virginia (bethneville gmail.com) I make watercolors. Here’s Sparks, watercolor, 30x22”. -Ellen Hopkins Fountain, Hastings On Hudson, New York (hopkinsfountain gmail.com) I do art on eggs. Using wax and a batik method with progressive dye baths, I started with Ukrainian pysanky. -Susan Jones, Stamford, Connecticut (susandjones27 me.com) I’ve been lucky enough to have received positive feedback on multiple creative pursuits: music, photography, fiction, and type design. Of these four, rather inexplicably, type design has ended up touching the most lives. My niche is historical penmanship -- fonts that replicate the cursive handwriting of bygone days, mostly as penned by a number of famous souls (e.g., Abigail Adams, Timothy Matlack, Sam Houston, Frederick Douglass, John Paul Jones). The funnest part has been seeing my work in movie and TV props. -Brian Willson, Rockport, Maine (willson 3ip.com) I was a working illustrator for over 40 years, with 7 years of art school under my belt prior (HS of Art & Design, NYC, and Parsons School of Design). -Claudia Karabaic Sargent, Flushing, New York (cksargent rcn.com) I work in resin. I add acrylic paint to resin and create abstract art with the resulting colored resin. I’m inspired by the difficulty of “painting” with a liquid and by the natural world. -Patricia Julie Finley, Denver, Colorado (pat patriciajfinley.com) My craft is upcycling: preserving mechanical engine history and re-using WWII, classic motorcycle and automotive engines into art and coffee tables. I do this in a style I coined resto-respect (restoration respect). That is, I ensure that whatever furniture I make, the engine is not damaged and could be re-used in the mechanical application it was made for. This keeps the purists quiet and pleases my own sense of mechanical preservation as a gear head and former tool and die maker. -Stéphane D’Aoust, Luskville, Canada (sybarite.stephane gmail.com) Before the advent of personal computers, I began painting and the label Abstract Expressionism could apply. Subsequently, I became fascinated by fractal technology, which I began to apply to digital photography. -Antony Cecil-Wrig, Southampton, UK (antony.cw gmail.com) I grew up in Urbana, Illinois, and played saxophone in the school band. I really loved it and decided I would become a saxophonist. I was happily doing my studies when I went to the World Saxophone Congress and Waouh! -- someone was playing the saxophone like I dreamed. I went up to him afterwards and he said (in broken English) that he lived in France and gave me his card. I came here and was so happy! I was best man at his marriage and there I met Barbara, who is now Mrs. Bray. I put her through med school. We all have dreams and she very rightfully has hers. It is so good to share our dreams. I quit teaching to compose and we had three children. One day I got a bump on my head which saved my life. A left prefrontal brain tumor was discovered in the examination. In 2002 I took up poetry and I am very happily a poet. -Richard Bray, Pontoise, France (rdbray wanadoo.fr) I paint watercolor portraits of special animals, mostly dogs and cats, although subjects have also included goats, horses, cows, songbirds, and a rooster. Here’s a recent portrait of Squirt, a four year old boxer/terrier mix. -Dean Harring, State College, Pennsylvania (dean.harring harringwatercolors.com) I now primarily work with collage though my initial medium was oil pastel done plein air. Pictura ut poesi -- as in poetry so in art -- I am a poet also who loves to write odes. -Theron David Cook, Brooklyn, New York (theron111 gmail.com) I am a photographer and retired educator. A decades-long project I completed recently in our national parks and monuments concerns preservation versus use within our National Park Service landscapes. Park Place Out West, a book of my black and white photographs, was recently published. -David Heberlein, St. Paul, Minnesota (davidheberlein gmail.com) I draw, photograph, write, and perform. I’m a Guggenheim Fellow, also, a Mainstage Storyteller for The Moth and creator of FlashThink Cartoons. -Flash Rosenberg, New York, New York (flashberg gmail.com) Here’s a piece of mine. Call Me in April is a mental still life and playful reflection on the bittersweet chaos of sorting through someone’s estate. We see a rotary telephone, an empty calendar, an umbrella, unopened mail, a dresser, what else can you find? -Madeleine Murray, Burlington, Vermont I’m a tatter and enjoy creating my cards with my tatted flowers on images using watercolor paints and ink pens. Tatting is an old art form of making hand lace using a shuttle and threads in varying thicknesses. It seems to have originated in Italy and France and was used mostly by royal women to adorn their elaborate finery. Pieces of intricate tatting were passed down in families and were sometimes used as dowry. -Jean Bayer, Fairport, New York (jeanbayer aol.com) I make functional pottery as a handbuilder, a specific discipline within the broader realm of ceramics. The clay starts as a flat slab, and I impress the textures and patterns while the clay is still flat. I have pioneered techniques in this realm which are now widely used by others. -Annie Chrietzberg, Bend, Oregon (earthlyannie earthtoannie.com) I have been doing outdoor mosaics for about twenty years, and ceramics for around ten. And gardening pretty much all my life. Although I understand that functional pieces are important, and usually even useful, I don’t need any more breakable dishware or embellished side tables. Hence, I focus on work that belongs outside. -Michael Reardon, Oakland, California (jelawrence sonic.net) My wife and I have been potters here at Fox Pass Pottery for 52 years now, my son for 23 years. For the first 10 or 12 years it seemed mostly about the how. After that it became more about the why. -Jim Larkin, Hot Springs, Arkansas (foxpass aristotle.net) I make stuff with wood, mostly from storm-damaged trees. A lot of bowls, but I also make picture frames, utensils, phone stands, cutting boards, and coasters. -Bob Gronko, Madison, Florida (bobgronko yahoo.com) I am a retired medical laboratory scientist who is once again exploring the world of making art after a 42 year hiatus as a laboratorian. Since retirement I have been drawing and painting again. I share some of my work with friends and family but most sketchbooks and piles of paintings are tucked away. What will finally happen to them? I don’t know and it doesn’t matter. The joy is in the process of making the art and learning techniques to improve future work. If it goes into a dumpster after my time on earth is done, that’s OK with me; but I hope that my family will discover a few pieces to save as a remembrance of the joy I now feel with a pen or brush in hand. -Nancy Konopka, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (nancy.konopka gmail.com) My hobby is woodturning. I love wood almost as much as I love words. Every piece of wood is as different as every word. But woods like words often have similarities that relate to one another. The more woods I work with the more I find that are similar. My hobby is creating something beautiful from a piece of wood to honor the tree from which it came. my love of words and woodturning came together when I started writing for woodturning magazines. -Mike Stafford, Rocky Mount, North Carolina (mgstaff suddenlink.net) Throughout the years (I’m 78), I’ve used various media to create art (watercolor, acrylics, photography) because I’ve been drawn to art because, as someone once told me, I have an artist’s eye. In the past few years, though, I have discovered that digital art made on my computer incorporates all of the media I’ve used before. -Harry Yeatts, Staunton, Virginia (hyeatts gmail.com) Once a painter, always a painter, even if one no longer paints. During my high school years I painted daily. Since then I have done only about a half dozen paintings, the most recent ones in the 1960s. Nevertheless, the painting that I did in my youth, plus some art history courses in college have had a profound, positive effect ever since on how I look at and appreciate the world around me. Do I regret not having continued to paint in the many intervening years? Of course. But I remain grateful for my early exposure to painting and art in general. -Jonathan Rickert, Bainbridge Island, Washington (therickerts hotmail.com) Not sure I’d recommend being an artist as a lifestyle for the faint of heart -- two of the statues were stolen and like Leonard Cohen said, “The judgements can be severe.” -Joseph T. Stevens, Oaxaca, Mexico (stoneartistevens gmail.com) After years of teaching anthropology in California, I live near Portland, Oregon, where I enjoy combining words and art. My website has a category “Daily Quote” that combines my art with a loosely-associated quote (I love the way art and words bounce off each other, reflecting aspects of their light). -Sue Parman, Portland, Oregon (sparman fullerton.edu) It took me a long time to declare that I am an artist. I thought to be an artist required public acceptance of your creations. That is what non-artists imagine. In truth, being an artist is a series of lifestyle choices. It is a mindset. I learned being an artist is seeing what everyone else sees but seeing it differently. You are motivated by curiosity, not acclaim or fortune. Those that choose to partner with us are the ones that deserve the praise. -Betty Barkman, Crested Butte, Colorado (bjbarkman yahoo.com) I have a penchant for doing faces. I’ve sketched many famous people like Virginia Woolf, Michael Jackson, and my father among others. Once the owner of an art gallery accepted two of my sketches. He put a price tag of $200 on them and told me they received many compliments but after a year no sale. I was glad I have other talents though fixing leaky faucets isn’t one of them. -Janice Power Cleveland, Ohio (powerjanice782 gmail.com) I’ve been a writer -- of TV comedy for many years, and lately of books. I just liked to write from early on. It’s a passion I’d follow for free, but in professional TV they pay you! That’s my art. -Robert Illes, Santa Monica, California (Bobbygoode gmail.com) I rate artists highly -- I’m the mother of two, apart from anything else - but you have generalised too much about plumbing jobs : 30+ years ago we had a sudden blocked drain outside our house on a Sun afternoon; we phoned the local plumber and he came out at once, fixed the problem and charged us £20, i.e. very little. I have never forgotten this and probably never will! He died some years ago but his memory lives on. Here’s to appreciating good work in any field! (And thank you for yours...) -Denise Thorn, Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland (denisethorn gmail.com) From: Paula Walborsky (gloriosagloriosagloriosa gmail.com) Subject: zugunruhe I was a migratory kid. My dad was a navy pilot and we never lived anywhere longer than two years. I noticed as an adult that if I lived somewhere for a couple of years I got restless, anxious for no real reason. I realized that I was anticipating the next move, although I no longer lived with my parents. I wonder if other army brats or navy juniors felt this? Paula Walborsky, Tallahassee, Florida From: Leslie Fiske Larson (bungule gmail.com) Subject: zugunruhe Cattle ranchers in the American West would instantly understand the word zugunruhe. Some still practice the herding of cattle up into leased US Forest Service lands where the animals are free to roam in the summer. The ranchers know that by early fall the cows will experience zugunruhe, gathering and pushing against fences and each other, eager to return to the lowland fields where they were released, often many miles away. Leslie Fiske Larson, Cupertino, California From: Christoph Dietzfelbinger (info bearmountaineering.ca) Subject: Zugunruhe As a native German speaker, I confess that I have never come across Zugunruhe before. I’m sure it is a valid word (and it makes sense), but not known much outside ornithological circles. So thank you for showing me a new word in my first language! I also appreciate that you do a correct phonetic transcription. Z is invariably a voiceless sibilant in German, and a frequent mispronunciation by English speakers. Christoph Dietzfelbinger, Smithers, Canada From: Ben Partee (parteeba hotmail.com) Subject: zugunruhe How about students five min before the end of the lesson? They start packing their bags and go stand by the door as if that will make the bell ring faster? Ben Partee, Kyiv, Ukraine (originally from Kettering, Ohio) From: Christine Whittlesey (christine.whittlesey aon.at) Subject: Zug The German word Zug means about a thousand other things as well. First of all a train (as in choochoo). Or a cord you have to pull to make something work or ring a bell. Or a draft that makes you close the window. Or an event or action that results from something else. The list goes on and on. Christine Whittlesey, Gleisdorf, Austria (but originally NYC) From: Dan Tadmor (dantadmor gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--zugunruhe A word rather similar to Zugunruhe in meaning and emotion, and way older, is Reisefieber (nervous excitement about a journey). I remember it used in the late forties when a scheduled long trip (e.g. overseas) is drawing near. It was used mainly for people (and domestic pets), entire families, etc. Dan Tadmor, Tel Aviv, Israel From: George Hawkins (hawkinsgeorge3 gmail.com) Subject: Zugunruhe In Texas anyway, we have a (possibly hyphenated) term for this word: trip-proud. When you’ve packed the car and assembled all the brochures, and the only thing left to do is get up in the morning and go, but you can’t go to sleep, you’re trip-proud. George Hawkins, Houston, Texas From: Sanjay Gupta (thinksanjay gmail.com) Subject: zugunruhe Wow, what a lovely word (Zugunruhe) matched by such a great illustration! But the reason I really migrated here and what I couldn’t help notice was the pronunciation, TSOOK-oon-roo-uh, and the meaning of today’s word (migratory restlessness). I found it curious that the two parts of the pronunciation offer “solace” to that restlessness of “spirit” in a way -- sookoon and rooh (via Arabic). Sanjay Gupta, New Delhi, India From: Henry M. Willis (hmw ssdslaw.com) Subject: Vaticinate You imagined Sibyl, sitting on her tripod at Delphi, inhaling vapors, and speaking in riddles. That image summons up, for me at least, the Three Witches from Macbeth, meeting on the heath of Scotland amid thunder and lightning and issuing their own weather report: Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air. (Act 1, Scene 1, lines 12-13) And when they meet Macbeth they give him a more specific prophecy (“All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”) that he interprets correctly, but without grasping all that it means. (Act 1, Scene 3, lines 52-53) A cautionary lesson to all of us who think we have the power to control nature or events or people. Henry Willis, Los Angeles, California From: Hans Nollert (hnollert uco.edu) Subject: Vaticinate and singing You wrote: Given the roots (prophet + sing), I’m imagining the weather forecast delivered as an opera. Oh my, if operatic weather predictions are your thing, then nothing tops the Mister Rogers bubble opera Windstorm in Bubbleland. (28 min.) 1970s’ disaster flick meets An Enemy of the People by way of the South Sea Bubble. Nope, there’s never any trouble in Bubbleland! Hans Nollert, Oklahoma From: Matthew Griffin (matthew.griffin gmail.com) Subject: Re: vaticinate, and your imagined sung weather forecast Have you come across the Shipping Forecast, sung to Anglican Chant? video (3 min.) Matthew Griffin, St. Catharines, Canada From: Bob Richmond (rsrichmond gmail.com) Subject: janiform A much more common janus word is janitor, originally a servant or slave who guards a doorway, looking both ways. Bob Richmond, Maryville, Tennessee From: Shyam Prasad (prashyam3 gmail.com) Subject: janiform JAK inhibitors or Janus Kinase inhibitors are the happening molecules in dermatologic therapy nowadays. Why Janus Kinase? These enzymes possess two domains which act in opposite ways. The term has enabled me to educate my students in Bengaluru, India, about one Roman god at least! Shyam Prasad, Bengaluru, India From: Allen Roberts (aroberts arts.ucla.edu) Subject: Janiform African material religions often offer janiform sculptures and accompanying performance arts to foster embodiment of the threshold between past and future events and possibilities. For example, Yoruba peoples of southwestern Nigeria understand the trickster deity Legba (also called Eshu) to dwell at crossroads, neither here nor there rather like the curved line defining the dialectic of yin and yang in Eastern philosophies. Allen Roberts, Cloverdale, California From: Brian P. O’Sullivan (Brian.P.O’Sullivan hitchcock.org) Subject: opsomaniac As a physician I was intrigued by your word today. In medicine, an opsonin is a protein (like antibodies or complement proteins) that coats pathogens or debris, marking them for destruction (phagocytosis) by immune cells, essentially making them “tastier” for engulfment. I had no idea it came from the Greek root for delicacy. Makes sense. Language is cool! Brian P. O’Sullivan, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine, Director, NH Cystic Fibrosis Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Manchester, New Hampshire From: Alex McCrae (ajmccrae277 gmail.com) Subject: janiform and opsomaniac One literary classic that captures the essence of the janiform personality has to be Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. Through ingesting a self-concocted elixir, the usually mild-mannered Dr Jekyll is transformed into the personification of evil, the malevolent, murderous Mr Hyde. The Jekyll & Hyde personality type eventually entered the psychological lexicon, describing an individual who may project a righteous, placid manner, but who has an underlying volatile, evil nature. It gives a whole new meaning to the expression, “Don’t get on someone’s bad side.” Ha! Us boomers may likely recall the soda fountain era and the soda jerk, who offered up several ice cream-based treats, including root beer floats, chocolate fudge sundaes, ice cream sodas, plus the coup de crème glacée... banana splits. It consisted of a peeled, cut-lengthwise banana, the halves straddling scoops of ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce, topped with a layer of whipped cream and cherries. We can thank a circa-1904 twenty-three-year-old pharmacy student-cum-soda jerk, David “Doc” Strickler, for inventing the banana split. Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California Anagrams Illustrated words Zugunruhe Imbroglio Vaticinate Janiform Opsomaniac = Volucrine world’s agitations Turmoil, jam Augur Bifrons Chap on maize diet -Robert Jordan, Lampang, Thailand (alfiesdad ymail.com) This week’s theme: Illustrated words Zugunruhe Imbroglio Vaticinate Janiform Opsomaniac = Migration angst Brouhaha Predict, use entire vision Two-faced Mum will joke: “Mr. Sushi Zealot!” -Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2 gmail.com) = A nervous job start A wild high snafu, moil Predict miles out i.e. two-mien A gourmet knish craze = The compulsion to trek Jumble, Haiti Warn him Realize it is two visages/faces Round gourmand -Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com) -Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz) Make your own anagrams and animations. Limericks zugunruhe Somehow all the birds seem to know The time has arrived now to go. Zugunruhe is why They’re itchin’ to fly And leave me behind in the snow. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “We must find inner peace,” said the Buddha, “And we can’t when we feel zugunruhe. There is only one way From the path not to stray: You must cancel your trip to Bermuda.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) imbroglio The doings of Donald astound. Apparent imbroglios abound. He explains them away: “A hoax,” he will say, Whenever a scandal is found. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) FDR, though afflicted with polio, Led us through a great worldwide imbroglio. And how did he cope? Well, he wasn’t the Pope; “Lucy Mercer,” he said, “I’m your Romeo.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) vaticinate She would study the tea leaves, she said, To vaticinate what lies ahead. But I kicked her right out -- Such methods I doubt! -- And my horoscope looked at instead. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) Cassandra, a prophet of old, Was cursed by her gift, truth be told. So one must commiserate, When she did vaticinate Predictions that left people cold. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “Though I’m accurate when I vaticinate, When I talk, all the crowds seem to dissipate,” Said Cassandra. “But why? Would they swallow a lie? Politicians perhaps I should imitate.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) janiform “A janiform coin let’s create; My head on both sides would be great!” There can’t be a question Who made this suggestion: The huckster who’s our head of state! -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) The boy found a two-headed snake. He called the heads Jacob and Jake. This janiform creature, With this unique feature, They say is just nature’s mistake. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “We really prefer manna warm; This is cold, Lord, you’re quite janiform,” Complained Moses. “We’re free, For you helped us to flee; Yet you’re angry far more than the norm.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) opsomaniac Opsomaniacs have but one wish: They just want a particular dish. They might feel an urgin’ For whitefish or sturgeon; Such seafood some folks find delish. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) Don’t you just adore artichokes, honey? You can get quite a few for your money! Opsomaniacs like me Can consume two or three; Can’t imagine why some think that’s funny! -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) She ate tofu all day and all night. Her friends thought this fad wasn’t right. It won’t take a brainiac, That this opsomaniac, Was never once asked for a bite. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “As you’re such a confirmed opsomaniac, To climb up that hill would be zany, Jack. There’s just water up there!” Jill explained. “It’s not where You will find chanterelles. You’re no brainiac!” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Puns “Wa-zugunruhe-ly today?” asked the cave boy’s mom picking him up from daycare. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “You’re a pretty d-imbroglio,” the lion cub taunted his sibling after scoring higher on an IQ test. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “While the president himself ultimately escaped prosecution, he couldn’t protect the next generation. It wasn’t long before his pro-janiformed the flashpoint of a nationwide crackdown on unrestrained grift,” wrote the historian. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Johnny loved The Brady Bunch, especially Janiformed a fan club just for her. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “The beer I create here in my vaticinate-ly pleasing,” the brewer tempted Justice Kavanaugh. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) She adored her little dogs. Her friends thought she was a Lhasa opsomaniac. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “They conducted the opsomaniac-ally as to fire a second missile at survivors clinging to the wreckage of their boat,” the source revealed. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism: The right to criticize; The right to hold unpopular beliefs; The right to protest; The right of independent thought. -Margaret Chase Smith, US senator (14 Dec 1897-1995)

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