Wednesday, March 8, 2023

SOL 8/31: A Glorious Gallimaufry

Someone (you know who you are) blogged about words yesterday and mentioned the word gallimaufry. As soon as I commented on the slice I was off to learn more about this completely new-to-me word. I wanted to know how to pronounce it, but I found so much more. Here's what I learned:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gallimaufry 

When I originally googled the word, a book with the title Gallimaufry popped up. A search on Amazon revealed ten pages of books with a mishmash of them having the word gallimaufry in the title (not sure how some of them ended up as results from the search). 

Some of them sounded interesting, so I googled gallimaufry at our local library site. Only one title popped up:: a Grand Extravaganza, Including a Performance by the Entire Cast of the Gallimaufry-Theatricus. This book by Alexander Lloyd, an author my kids loved, won the National Book Award in 1971. Our library system has only one copy. I requested it, of course.  

But I digress. Here's a podcast when gallimaufry was a featured Word of the Day.

Finally, here are some of my favorite synonyms for this rich, robust word:  hodgepodge, jumble, assortment, collage, melange, mishmash, salmagundi, jambalaya, pastiche, potpourri, menagerie, olla podrida, mishmash, olio, omnium-gatherum, and ragbag.

Isn't it fun to learn a new word? Thank you, fellow slicer!

This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March.  Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.

3 comments:

  1. I enjoy learning new words and today I learned a new one. Thank you. Great list of synonyms.

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  2. Oh what fun you had with this word. It is a new word to me as well. I also like mishmash and use it when I can!

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  3. Oh my gosh, what a wonderful post! I saw it listed in your contents when I visited your blog for the 12th day of SOLSC, and immediately had to jump over here to find out all about gallimaufry. It's a wonderful word, and so is your magnificent list of synonyms!

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