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  • The World of Weird Words0

    Over the last month or two, Webb’s Weird Words has taken a largely thematic approach, with columns on animals, etymology, alcohol and a little-known linguistic item called a doublet. So now, let’s get back to our eccentric English exploration: plain old-fashioned oddball words. Here are 12, with another dozen forthcoming next week: Assegai (noun, ASS-uh-guy)

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  • The Addition. 96.75% Done.0

    I have mentioned before that my father and I are building an addition. It has been several months since my last update. No. I am not slacking. We are still making progress. 96.75% done. I am still doing my best to chronicle the entire experience. Oh my, folks. There is never a dull moment. My

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  • How to Master Shopping Early for the Holidays0

    “The early bird gets the worm” is a well-known English proverb that historians trace all the way back to the 1600s. Though the words might first have been popularized hundreds of years ago, they remain as true today as they were then, particularly in regard to holiday shopping. Savvy shoppers have long touted the importance

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  • Amplify Autumn Curb Appeal: Five Home Renovation Projects to Tackle this Fall0

    With lower temperatures and milder conditions, fall provides a perfect opportunity to tackle that home renovation to-do list. Whether you plan on making minor improvements or wholesale changes are on the horizon, taking on a few DIY projects can help you boost your home’s curb appeal (and its value) while also prepping for colder weather

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  • County Hall Corner: As the World Turns…0

    My plan for this column was that throughout October, there would be only columns dealing with Lycoming County candidates in the November election. I purposely planned it that way so that voters would be informed about the candidates on the ballot. But, I want to make an interruption in this plan because the state of

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  • Guppies, Newts, and Hippos: More Weird Animal-Word Origins0

    As Webb Weekly’s “World of Weird Words” nears its 20th installment, we’ve been on an etymology bender — examining odd and unusual word origins. When I first gathered up my favorite etymologies for these columns, I couldn’t help noticing how many were related to animals. We looked at some of those beastly beauties last week.

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  • Little Thieves and Hairy Cats: Weird Animal-Word Origins0

    One of the many favorites on my weird-word list is the now-archaic term camelopard. Pronounced “kuh-MEL-uh-pard,” it blends “camel” and “leopard.” The word is a long-ago British attempt to name a then-newly-discovered beast shaped liked the former and colored like the latter. Go ahead — try a guess. (Answer provided later.) In the meantime, after

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  • The “Unabridged” Weird Words: How Many Words Do You Actually Know?0

    As Webb’s “Weird Words” hits its 15th installment, here’s a personal question for vocab-loving readers: Just how many words do you think you know? For that matter, how many words does the English language actually have? Wanna take a guess before I tell you? Well, various online sources indicate the average American is familiar with

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  • Coming Home0

    Williamsport’s Treyson Potts has attended many PSU games. He was a huge fan as a kid. Yes. Potts has many ties to State College. Several in his family went to State. He always wanted to play for the Nittany Lions. The dynamic running back was on their radar. But a few knee injuries during his

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  • The World of Weird Words0

    We are at No. 14 in these ongoing columns about oddball vocabulary; so here are 14 more weird words for your week. These are, incidentally, all nouns unless otherwise noted; and since most have fairly instinctive pronunciation, I left that out too, except where needed. Arsole – While it sounds indecent and is not listed

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  • The World of Weird Words0

    By Joseph W. Smith III Last week’s “Weird Words” marked installment No. 12; so I took those two digits as a theme and picked out several goodies from pages 1 and 2 of my ever-growing oddball vocabulary list. But I got only halfway through that selection before running out of space. Here is the other

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  • The World of Weird Words

    The World of Weird Words0

    For me it was a glorious day in May when I emailed Steph Nordstrom — my estimable editor at Webb — with what I considered a long-shot: I was pitching a weekly column on oddball vocab words. To my everlasting joy, Steph okayed the idea without hesitation — telling me she’d read the dictionary just

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  • The World of Weird Words0

    Last week, Webb’s Weird Words paid homage to the current bestseller Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese. When all was said and done, I wound up adding nearly 40 new words from Verghese’s novel to the ongoing list of oddball vocab I use for these columns. Most were Indian or medical words, since the novel

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  • The World of Weird Words0

    As promised in last week’s Weird Words round-up, here comes another baker’s dozen from the sprawling list of oddball vocab I keep for these columns. Our theme for this pair of articles has been hyphenated terms — or shall I say “two-tiered”? Or maybe “double-barreled” — if that doesn’t seem too heavy-handed … or hoity-toity.

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  • County Hall Corner: April Anniversaries0

    April is a special month for me as a writer for Webb Weekly. It was in April of 2014 that I wrote my first article, a LION (Leader in our Neighborhood), on Kathy Fenstamaker, a mother who hosted headbanger bands for young people. For the next two years, I wrote over 80 columns on all

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  • Home Show

    Home Show0

    This week’s write-up has very little to do with sports. I only wanted to give my boys a quick shout. My full-time gig is with Susquehanna Marble and Granite. Yes. There is never a dull moment. I just celebrated my fifth anniversary. We are quite busy. My fellow work chums say that I am a

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