quite a little about not a lot

I have an affinity for words, have all my life, I loved spelling tests and spelling bees--yes, call me a dork! I also love to look at maps, but that's another story! I would be perfectly happy to sit down with a dictionary and an atlas and nothing else to do.

I like to find word conundrums, like this recent example I found on another blog. Some great examples of the idiosyncrasies of our language. And yes, that is how idiosyncrasies is spelled because spellchecker told me so. I wonder if other languages have such puzzles over words and meanings and pronunciations? I was fluent in Swedish at one point in my life, but I do not recall any similar word puzzles in that language.

I like rhymes, but I have never written a poem. I have incorporated rhyming into my business name, Emmaline Design, and pattern titles (Hocus Pocus, Aisle Style, Going Sewing, Flour Power, etc.). Sometimes I just run words through my head trying to think up the next great title! I do make use of a little online rhyming help sometimes to get the ball rolling. Also palindromes are good for pondering. You know--bob, noon, dad, did, gig, racecar, and my favorite, kayak.

One confusing pair of phrases that always amuses me is "quite a little" and "quite a lot". They basically can be used to describe the same thing in a vague measuring sort of way, but the word 'little' does not have the same meaning as 'lot' when used alone. And when you put 'quite' on the front of it, it seems like the whole idea changes. What's up with that?

I know there are lots of word games out there to be played on my computer, but I am not a computer-game-playing-person (yet). But I did find a fun thing called Wordle that I am experimenting with, thinking of ways to blend it into my other interests. Stand by for more on that one!