Monday, June 23, 2008

A Logophile’s Faux Pas

It has happened to me so many times now. Many of you who know me well enough also know that I read a book, a magazine, or even a pamphlet with a dictionary besides me. Unknown words get me restless, jumpy, and nervy, they keep ringing in my head in various tones and voices till I go check their meanings. This has made me by far one of the slowest readers, barring the time when I have tried to master the Ainu language from northern Japan. The Ainu part of the last sentence was a joke by the way.

So I read this word CANOODLE somewhere when I wasn’t close to a dictionary, or a computer with an internet connection. The word kept ringing in my head, and I remembered it at weird hours, when I was definitely not close to a dictionary or a computer. I finally tried breaking it up etymologically, telling myself that it is probably a kind of noodles. Further, it is possible that the noodle was either sold in cans, or was made the Cantonese style. So I convinced myself that canoodle was a variety of noodles made the Cantonese way and sold in cans………
Till I actually looked up the dictionary.

sunshine

6 comments:

Sayesha said...

Hahahahaha! I first came across 'canoodle' in Sex and the city, when Samantha accuses Richard of 'canoodling' with someone else!

"Cantonese noodles" was the best! :D

Urv said...

He he :D There was a time I used to sit with a dictionary while reading novels but then used to loose the flow so stopped doing it..

The first time I heard the word was in F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

cm chap said...

Hmm. Must be funny to see u restless....

Mizohican said...

Hehe.. good etymological break down. Now what would a "caboodle" be in this case? :-)

antithesis said...

hey reading ur blog for smetime nw...njoi reading the posts...i had read canoodle in sme novel so knew the meaning....but cantonese noodles was really gud!!..:)

Lady Godiva said...

I never looked up the dicionary for this word untill I read you post... all the while I thought that it was some kind of poodle dog :-)