Good morning, digital neighbors! Happy Friday! Another week in the rearview mirror and on to the weekend! How about a visit to The Little Book of Lost Words: Collywobbles, Snollygosters, and 86 Other Surprisingly Useful Terms Worth Resurrecting by Joe Gillard? It was a fun read when I first encountered the book in 2019, and it's still a fun read now.

My trip down these word trails is thanks to Ralph Biddy, who typically attended daily Mass at IHM with his wife Cindy. Cindy passed away in 2025. Ralph was so devoted to her during her declining mental state. I think of them often and pray for Ralph’s good health and for Cindy’s trip home to God. A few years back, Ralph—a retired psychiatrist—made a comment one day about me doffing my hat to Cindy. It sparked a wonderful conversation about obscure words and led to me purchasing a number of books on words, phrases, and obscure sayings. I can’t imagine ever using many of these phrases, but ya never know. Something obscure can become the new normal within your circle of friends and acquaintances. Language is fun—and often frustrating for me.

I have a love-hate relationship with language: I love words, but I hate grammar. I enjoy speaking and writing, yet I hate the verbal blunders I commit and the typos and errors that contaminate my writing. More than likely, it's a self-inflicted problem because of my desire to finish too many things in haste. I suspect if I slowed down, there would be fewer errors—but not zero. My proofreading contains too much "I know what I meant, don't you?" editorializing in my mind. Oh well, a boo & a hoo—let the fudgelling begin! Have a great Friday and weekend, digital neighbors!
FUDGEL — Eighteenth century. English. Regional dialect. To pretend to work without actually doing anything.

Try not to spend the day fudgelling, my friends—unless you are among the Retired and Content, in which case fudgel all day long!

Winter snowdrift - Harrydona - Pixabay