For my 2016
A to Z Challenge, I’m sharing three facts for each letter. The genres I
write and love to read are mostly science fiction and high or epic fantasy. In
fantasy, there is often magic associated with crystals or metals. They also
used herbs both for medicine and for magical spells. Each day I will post a short
description of an herb or a mineral you might find in medieval or fantasy
writings. For the record, most of the herbal remedies I’ve investigated are not
recommended by the FDA. Many are actually poisonous and dangerous. As tribute
to my second love, I will post a scientific fact that may deal with physics,
biology or health science. And because another name for a writer is wordsmith, each
day I’ll share a strange word that I would probably never use in my writing,
but that amuse me in some way. So enjoy my trio of quick facts. And don’t
forget to visit the IWSG
site where we’ll share a writer’s resource for every day of the challenge.
Mome: Stupid, doltish person, a blockhead, a fool.
Madder is an herb used to make red dye for cloth.
Mohs Scale is a scientific scale to rank mineral hardness. It goes from the hardest of 10, diamond, to 1, talc, the softest. Human fingernails have a hardness of 2.5 and window glass is 6.5.
What ranking of hardness do you think a mome's head is? Have you heard of madder being used as a natural dye? Have you ever tested a diamond on glass?
"A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer." Bruce Lee
Mome: Stupid, doltish person, a blockhead, a fool.
Madder is an herb used to make red dye for cloth.
Mohs Scale is a scientific scale to rank mineral hardness. It goes from the hardest of 10, diamond, to 1, talc, the softest. Human fingernails have a hardness of 2.5 and window glass is 6.5.
What ranking of hardness do you think a mome's head is? Have you heard of madder being used as a natural dye? Have you ever tested a diamond on glass?
"A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer." Bruce Lee
22 comments:
I have never heard of these two words before, but I have been called a fool many times.
Good "M" post.
Yvonne.
LOL - I've never heard the term mome or madder before. I've never had a diamond of the right kind to test on glass - the only ones I have are in my engagement ring and the setting is not made for breaking and entering :).
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
I have not heard of mome or madder. I would be reluctant to use them. I don't know that the reader would know them. People just don't seem to have much patience anymore. My dad would have loved it. He loved learning what words meant.
Talc is so soft that it doesn't seem like a mineral.
When I saw the word "madder" it made me think of Stephen King's novel, Rose Madder.
I think 'mome' will be my new favorite word. And 'madder' also made me think of Rose Madder.
These are all new words for me. I'm thinking a mome on the Mohs scale would be a rather low number; or perhaps now that I think of it a higher number, more dense maybe?
betty
I'm not certain if I've ever heard of madder. New word! I have heard of the Mohs Scale, though. Never tried that with a diamond.
I agree with Madeline, I thought of Stephen Kingn's book Rose Madder, which was an excellent novel. As for mome, I've never come across that word. Thanks for adding to my vocabulary.
I think we all have our mome moments. Is that pronounced mo-may or mome with a long o and silent e? Nothing worse than mispronouncing a word when you're trying to show how smart you are;) Really just a mome thing to do...
I know some momes...
I'd have to have a diamond to test first lol know many Mome's though.
Oh, I like the word "mome". I'm going to have to find a way to use that.
#AtoZchallenge
Meet My Imaginary Friends
I have never in my stupid life heard the work mome. And I used to search out words like that to call my sister.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
I learned something else today. I always thought madder was what I got when I wrote terrible prose.
Hi Susan - I've heard of Madder and knew it was a dye ... and too the Mohs scale ... a Mome would have a Mohs Scale hardness of doltish and whatever the thickness of two short planks is ..
Cheers Hilary
Years ago my husband was a diamond driller, meaning he cut through rock with a diamond when constructing tunnels. The other two I've never heard of. Love Hilary's reply. And Lee is such a hoot. I agree with the rest, love new words.
Ooh! I'm going to have to remember mome! It's a good one.
LOL I guess a mome's head would be pretty high on the Mohs scale...
Rose Madder is a water color and a book by Stephen King.
I was familiar with both of those but not mome.
Never heard of the herb called madder. Now i wonder what Lewis Carol was thinking when his poem Jabberwocky included mome raths. Was he calling the raths blockheads, or had he heard of that word?
Post a Comment