Sunday, August 24, 2008

Cool Stuff, at least to me

Language sure is fun. Just in the last couple of days I’ve heard new words, new to me at least, which seemed obvious after I heard them.

Velvis: A term for a velvet Elvis. I thought to myself, how stupid not to have thought of that. How perfect.

Fourgy: A term for an orgy between four people, particularly two couples.

Probably many of you have heard these terms but they were new to me. Sometimes I’m amazed at how much creativity is left in language.

Another thing, cool to me at least, is the publication of Bits of the Dead, a collection of flash fiction zombie stories from Coscom Entertainment. My story “Once Upon a Time with the Dead” appears therein. It begins: “Alkali dust under the white blaze of the Mexican sun. Riders are coming. To a village standing idle on a ghostly quiet day.”

Some of the more famous authors in the book include Piers Anthony and Nancy Kilpatrick. It's available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon, of course.

Last night, Lana and I watched The Spiderwick Chronicles and we both thought it was good. I think I liked it better than she did. At first I didn’t really care for the primary kid character, and I never did really come to like him, but the story itself was fairly compelling and the special effects were great. There was a lot of action for what is essentially a kid’s movie.

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35 comments:

Heff said...

I'd heard the term Velvis, but not Fourgy.

ivan said...

Fourgy reminds me of "daily chain" out ot the eighties, but I think a daisy chain is more involved; certainly involves more people.
Ah, how people lose their brains!

Greg said...

Charles, congrats on the book coming out! It looks cool and I'll definitely pick up a copy.

Just got an old copy of Kyrik in the mail... looking forward to starting in on it!

Greg said...

forgot to finish my comment... I've never heard either of those words before either, but they both seem pretty common-sense. Wonder why it took so long for someone to invent them.

Charles Gramlich said...

Heff, Velvis is great. When we were in Orlando one time we saw a bunch of Elvis impersonators getting out of a limo and Lana coined, "A limo of Elvi" for a group of Elvises, on the spot. Pretty funny.

Ivan, brains are a terrible thing to waste. Or something like that.

Greg, I envy you Kyrik. I wouldn't mind reading it for the first time. Hope you enjoy. And thanks.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Velvis, LOL!

The Trailer Of Love

Travis Erwin said...

Thanks. Always good to add new words to the ol' vocabulary.

Lisa said...

Ha! Good point. "Velvis" and "fourgy" both seem like words that always existed. They just needed someone to point them out.

laughingwolf said...

new to me too, charles...

grats on the pub

will have to check out the flick, but i'll likely not like the kid either....

Britta Coleman said...

Velvis--too perfect. Fourgy sounds like something furry with a fungus. Which, given the participants, could be totally accurate.

Congrats on the publication. I enjoyed your opening lines.

Charles Gramlich said...

Wil, agreed. Damn near perfect.

Travis Erwin, but where will you find to use them?

Lisa, yes, amazing.

Laughingwolf, thanks. I'm guessing only kids will like that kid.

Britta Coleman, ain't it though. Lol.

Steve Malley said...

I slammed my velvis in a car door once and tore it...

Just doesn't sound right, does it?!

writtenwyrdd said...

English is a fascinating language. Constantly evolving, it surprises even those of us who are in the business (or at least avocation) of wordsmithing. I learned a couple of new ones today, too by reading wikipedia articles.

writtenwyrdd said...

Ijust read what Lana said. We could have fun with groups of things.

I don't know if she coined it, but Laurel K. Hamilton uses a kiss of vampires. And I've heard the term a murder of crows. Those at least make a certain sense. But a pod of whales? And what would we call a group of Martian colonists? A podkayne? (Showing my age there.) And how about a gathering of Hollywood's elite? A galaxy? (I rather like that one. Probably been used before, though.)

X. Dell said...

I can honestly say I've never heard of Velvis or a fourgy. Sounds like one of those would be a fun thing to have.

Lana Gramlich said...

You so rock, baby. Congrats on the story!

Tom Evans said...

I'll add my congratulations to the list! Well done!

Now I'm going to return to my own wriativity.

Scott Oden said...

A bunch of writers should be a "nib". A nib of writers . . . :)

Congrats on the story, Charles!

Charles Gramlich said...

Steve Malley, I carry my Velvis with me every where I go.

Writtenwyrd, a "Podkayne" of Martians is a great one. I have a book that lists such group terms, like a "parliment of Owls."

X-dell, one of them yeah.

Lana, that's you who rock.

Tom Evans, good try. Not sure that one's as catchy as Velvis, though. Lol.

Scott Oden, I thought a group of writers might be more like a "whine of writer." Or a "Pen of writers."

Chris Benjamin said...

Fun how language evolves over time. Are these in the dictionary yet? Somebody check! (Impatiently sips coffee, taps foot, regards watch...

Bernita said...

Congratulations, Charles!

Aine said...

Thanks for the reminder!-- I've been wanting to see The Spiderwick Chronicles for some time now.

Maybe Jason and I will have to have a dinner/movie night with our girls tonight (we eat picnic-style in the family room while watching a movie)...
:)

Paul R. McNamee said...

Congratulations on the story in the anthology!

Shauna Roberts said...

Great new words. Can't wait for an opportunity to use them. Congrats on the book, too!

Here's my suggested new term: a babble of bloggers.

Charles Gramlich said...

Benjibopper, I don't believe they are. Velvis should be for sure.

Bernita, thankee.

Aine, I thought it was definitely worthwhile. Thanks for stopping by.

Paul, thanks. I appreciate that.

Shauna, thanks. a Babble of bloggers sounds perfect. Excellent idea. ;)

Anonymous said...

Velvis...I kind of like that.

Maybe I'll find a gas station well stocked with various pieces of Velvis. I'll be sure to pack a twenty.

BernardL said...

Very good news to hear about your story. :)

Sarah Hina said...

Congrats on your pub credit, Charles! It sounds like you're in very good company. :)

And thanks for the new terms. I will try to work velvis and fourgy into the same vignette sometime. Or better yet, a poem! Shouldn't be too hard. ;)

Charles Gramlich said...

Jason, you know I've never owned a Velvis. My brother in law had a velvet bullfighter once, though and I kind of liked that.

Bernardl, yes it's kind of a nice little collection.

Sarah Hina, thanks. I'd like to see that, working the two terms into a poem or flash piece. LOL.

Anndi said...

Chicklet has started reading the Chronicles... which reminds me, I have to go and get her the next book.

Velvis... hehehe!

Charles Gramlich said...

Anndi, they look interesting. I may have to try a few of them.

SQT said...

Congrats on the book! I haven't seen Spiderwick yet (shame on me) but my kids like it.

Charles Gramlich said...

SQT, I'll forgive you.

Cath said...

I have never heard these terms. Love "Velvis".

Congrats on the book publishing.

Shauna Roberts (commenter) - sorry but have a look here. I wrote about a collective term for bloggers in Feb this year and settled on... "babble"! lol
Or maybe we should be a boggle of blabbers... ;0)