Have you heard of the term metalanguage? Simply put, metalanguage is the language used to talk about language. And today, I wanted to bring you wordy words – that is, words about or to do with words! So these words are in a way, part of the metalanguage. Given that January 9 is Word Nerd Day, it is apt as well, or rather, I thought of this idea because I noted it is word nerd day!

So here we go now on

A Word Nerd Wordy Words Journey

1. Litotes

Why say “amazing” when you can say “not bad”? Litotes thrive on understatement, on subtlety, often with a wink of irony.

• Common examples:
  • “He’s no fool” (He’s clever).
  • “That’s not the worst idea” (It’s actually a good one).
• Why it’s fun: It allows speakers to be clever and ironic without going over the top. You can almost hear the dry humor in these phrases.

2. Spoonerism

This delightful wordplay flips sounds, turning “belly dancer” into “dally bancer.” Named after Reverend William Spooner, who famously said, “It is kisstomary to cuss the bride.” Spoonerisms add humor to everyday language chaos.

Why it’s fun: It’s wordplay at its finest! Everyone’s been there, mis-saying something and causing an accidental laugh. They are sunny flips of the tongue, oops, I mean funny slips!

Imagine saying “You have tasted the whole worm” instead of “You have wasted the whole term.” Spoonerisms seem to turn everyday conversations into an impromptu comedy show, and we’re all both players and audience.

3. Antagonym

An antogonym (or contranym) is the ultimate paradox in word form! One word, two opposing meanings—mind… blown!! Literally lets you talk about having it both ways!

What it is: A word that has contradictory meanings. Think of it as the linguistic equivalent of a riddle.
Why it’s fun: It makes you pause and think twice when reading, as you wonder which meaning applies in context.
Example: Cleave—It can mean both “to split apart” and “to stick together.”

4. Pseudoantonym

From one word being a paradox in itself to another tricky one: two words that look like opposites but aren’t.

Take flammable and inflammable—they both mean the same thing! It’s one of those little language quirks that makes you question everything you thought you knew about words. These pseudoantonyms don’t just play with fire(pun intended), they make you wonder if English even follows its own rules sometimes.

5. Capitonym

A capitonym is a word that changes meaning just by capitalizing a letter. It’s like a magical wardrobe where, with one small change, a word transforms completely.

Consider March (the month) vs. march (to walk with purpose). It’s all in the capital letter, and it’s the perfect reminder of how tiny details can have big effects. Also, Polish (from Poland) vs. polish (to shine).

The coolness factor:
It’s like a secret code in the language—just add a capital letter, and you’ve got a whole new word with a new life. Kind of makes me feel like capitonyms are like the sneaky shape-shifters of the word world.:

6. Mondegreen

We have all been there, experienced the mondegreen!

What is it?
Mondegreens happen when you mishear something, usually a song lyric, and turn it into something completely different (and often hilarious).

Why is it cool?
For me, it is like language’s version of a blooper reel. Mishearing words is something we’ve all done, but when it leads to new, funny meanings, it’s a win for everyone.

I recall my brother belting out the theme song of the Spiderman (animated series) show with nonsense words, Hindi, Tanglish (Tamil and English mixed up) along with the original English lyrics (granted, the show came on the national Indian TV station Doordarshan in the ’80s so he must have been not even 10!) but I recall the “words” clearly even today for some reason.

Origin: Sylvia Wright coined the term after mishearing a Scottish ballad: “And Lady Mondegreen” instead of “And laid him on the green.”

Example: “Hold me closer, Tony Danza” instead of “Hold me closer, Tiny Dancer”

7. Ideophone

Ideophones are like sensory explosions—they evoke sounds, actions, or even feelings, without needing anything else. They differ from onomatopoeia in that onomatopoeia is used only for words imitating sounds. However, the English language mostly has the onomatopoeic type of ideophones. Glimmer is an example of non-sound English ideophone.

My mother tongue Tamil is rich in ideophones, and we use them often and without thinking twice about it (and almost all Tamil ideophones are a word repeated twice over!!)

Example:
Words like buzz, crash, or sizzle bring the sounds they describe straight to your brain. Try saying them out loud—don’t they just sound right?

8. Calque

A calque is like a linguistic mirror, literally. It happens when one language borrows a phrase from another but translates it literally.

Why is it cool?
It’s a way for languages to steal from each other and make something new, while still keeping their own unique flavor.

Example:
The phrase “flea market” is a calque of the French marché aux puces, which literally means “market of fleas.”

Other calques include “long time no see” (from Chinese) and “worldview” (from German Weltanschauung).

9. Sesquipedalian

Sesquipedalian—a fancy way to describe long words. It’s a bit like the word itself, isn’t it? A little self-aware and a word that wears its length proudly (literally!)

It’s the kind of word you use when you want to show off your vocabulary (and why not? It’s a celebration of words within words).

10. Etymophile

An etymophile is someone who loves the history of words—where they come from, how they’ve evolved, and the stories they carry with them. I think I am a bit of an etymophile, as I find myself looking up word origins and histories so very often.

Why is it cool?
It’s like being a detective, or like a linguistic archeologist, tracing words back through time to see where they’ve been. Every word has a backstory, and etymophiles are there to uncover it.

Example:
Etymophile comes from the Greek etymon (true meaning) and philos (loving). The love of the true meaning! Another example: “pandemic,” from Greek pan (all) + demos (people)—a reflection of shared global experiences.

11. Catachresis

Catachresis happens when a word is used in a way that’s technically incorrect but still creates a striking or poetic effect.

Why is it cool?
It’s like bending the rules of language to create something fresh, beautiful, or unexpected. It’s artistic and bold, making language do things it doesn’t normally do.

Like someone says, “The voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses”? That’s a catachresis, a deliberately jarring metaphor. It’s like giving language a dramatic flourish, bending rules to create something striking.

Shakespeare loved catachresis, as seen in Hamlet: “To take arms against a sea of troubles.”

12. Logophile

Who are we, if not logophiles? Lovers of words, all the someones who appreciate the nuances, sounds, and meanings that words carry.

If you’ve ever paused to admire the intricacies of “petrichor” (the smell of earth after rain) or chuckled at a clever pun, you’re part of this tribe. I know I am! Whether you’re savoring a beautiful phrase or getting lost in the pages of a book, being a logophile means you understand that words are more than just tools—they’re magic (like I always say!)

13. Epeolatry

Imagine loving words so much that they almost become sacred. That’s epeolatry for you! It’s the kind of devotion that has logophiles poring over dictionaries for fun, savoring the taste of obscure words.

It’s pure word worship, and it’s something every logophile secretly (or not so secretly) enjoys. Like when I mentioned in my recent post, about simply reading the words in Orbital over and over again, to reven in the sheer beauty of it, that is epeolatry! If you’ve ever paused to appreciate the way a word feels in your mouth or marveled at its rhythm, you’re practicing epeolatry. It’s all about the magic of words.

Then the Blast from the Past: Not too Many Wordy Words Here

This list of 13 below was a Thursday Thirteen from a January in 2017. For some reason, it did not really make any waves (guessing I never linked up or shared it anywhere after hitting publish here!).

On looking at older posts (which I do every so often to see if anything can be brought back to life), I thought that this one, while having some dated stuff, still has relevance. Also, it is interesting to take a look back, kind of a internal “this day in history” (to be exact, this was January 13, 2017)

Reposting it also invited me to add notes (2025 note sprinkled throughout below) for some of them today based on what I noticed about that list item.

Here is my thirteen for Thursday Thirteen as I continue my UBC journey this month. (2025 note: was already doing the UBC 8 years ago!)

So Much Room in a Mushroom!

You could literally live within mushroom walls – not scifi but reality. A visit to the Tech Museum with my daughter’s class meant lots of fun with lots to learn, and the most interesting thing I discovered was mushroom bricks – the kids spent time in the BioTinkering Lab at the Tech on a worktable (made of the same material!) using molds to make bricks out of – yes, mushrooms, making them a clean, green alternative. The bricks they make are dried out for a week and then baked – they are then ready for use.

Quotable Quotes

A quote that caught my eye today – “The world is only the size of each man’s head.”

2025 note: A parallel quote that caught my eye today as I revamped the 2017 post, and this is one of those really weird coincidences that I tend to notice and pause to think – hmmm, why, how? :  “The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” – Ludwid Wittgenstein

How Time Flies

While I was thinking about what to add for the next 11 points, 13 minutes had passed by!

(2025 note: this still happens to me! And time does fly. This 2017 post seems both so long ago and just yesterday)

The Wolf Moons: Then and Now

Today’s full moon sighting is called the Wolf Moon! Per the Farmer’s Almanac – ‘Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. ‘

Here is a picture I took minutes (2025 note: almost 8 years and minutes) ago – a cloudy sky and the moon high up above me made for an interesting photo

(2025 note: No full moon today in the sky but when I checked online, it says that January 13, 2025 is going to be the next Wolf Moon, same date as in 2017!)

News: California

News – not the down in the d(tr)umps kind – More than 40% of California out of drought now

(2025 note: California’s drought situation improved right up to last year where according to this SFGate artice, it was 96% out of drought. But now, the situation is back to that 2017 number, where 59.1% of the state is again impacted by drought conditions. So right back to where we were:( Which is one of the reasons for the fires ravaging the LA area now.)

‘Tis the Season

It is festival season across India – Bhogi/Lohri/Makar Sankranti are various festivals celebrated  in different regions.

2025 notes:

• The phrase ’tis the season is attributed to the Christmas carol, “Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly.” While we now use it’s in speech, the contraction ‘tis for “it is” is now mostly used for the festive season phrase  ’tis the season (source)
• And festival season begins soon in India with Pongal and Makar Sankranti coming next Tuesday (changes each year). However before that, many Tamil households celebrate Thiruvathirai (January 13, 2025 this year).

What to Watch

My list of TED Talks to watch and articles to read is growing as long as my TBR list and between all the watching and reading I have to do, I hope I can write as well. (And this does not include all I watch at 10 past Netflix time!). I will put them on my blog as lists along with my reading challenges list and list of memes I love.

2025 note: this list has continued to grow

The Baker’s Dozen

Love the Baker’s Dozen! A random thought for my Thursday 13!

2025 note: I have used the baker’s dozen many a time since the original date of this 2017 post

My Poor TBR

One book I am adding to my TBR is from a list on TED – Required reading around the world – this book is the one from Albania – “Kronikë në gur (1971) by Ismail Kadare – ‘Chronicle in Stone’ in English, this book describes events around World War II in a small Albanian city, and told through the eyes of a child.

2025 note: confession, I am yet to read this book.

Idea Journal

Coming up with ideas for a Thirteen post seems easy but when I get down to it, not really! So am going to start working on my idea journal more often. I carry it with me already everywhere so why not actually use it.

2025 note: my ideas are all over the place, i write them down willy-nilly ….

Taking Steps: to Health (Literally)

Today was the day I have walked the most steps in this new year, and it is not yet close to my goal of 10000 steps every day (but I am getting there!)

2025 note: some days I walk a zillion steps in a day, and other times, I get to that count in a zillion days!

Orbital

Got to be an astronaut (not really!) but that is me peeking out of the suit, thanks to technology, a suit hanging up on the ceiling and the Tech Museum!

2025 note: another weird coincidence – I am reading Samantha Harvey’s Orbital currently! Note that I added subheadings today for this list (there were no subheadings in the 2017 post, and orbital fit so well!

That’s a Wrap!

Oh well, I made it to a dozen and that makes me happy

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, if you got to this part of the post, just wanted to say – a sincere huge THANK YOU!! Thank you!!