NAMEGRAB v. [Fr. name + take for one’s own]: To stake a claim on a name. This is something generally done by your least favorite friend before she is even pregnant. She will tell you the name she’s planning to bestow upon her yet-to-be-conceived daughter (and for some reason, it is usually a girl that she’s decided she’s having) because she wants to make sure you don’t take the name first. If you want to burst her bubble a bit, tell her that the name she’s planning to use means something nasty in a foreign language she doesn’t speak.   NOTE: I’m recycling some old material for the next couple of days. I’m getting over some virus that involved throwing up and feeling shitty. I hope that’s okay to share. And I hope it’s okay to recycle. I know that you pay a lot to subscribe to my blog so I hate not providing you with new…. Wait! I forgot to set up that payment system when I launched the blog! I knew I forgot something! 

NAMEGRAB v. [Fr. name + take for one’s own]: To stake a claim on a name. This is something generally done by your least favorite friend before she is even pregnant. She will tell you the name she’s planning to bestow upon her yet-to-be-conceived daughter (and for some reason, it is usually a girl that she’s decided she’s having) because she wants to make sure you don’t take the name first. If you want to burst her bubble a bit, tell her that the name she’s planning to use means something nasty in a foreign language she doesn’t speak.  

NOTE: I’m recycling some old material for the next couple of days. I’m getting over some virus that involved throwing up and feeling shitty. I hope that’s okay to share. And I hope it’s okay to recycle. I know that you pay a lot to subscribe to my blog so I hate not providing you with new…. Wait! I forgot to set up that payment system when I launched the blog! I knew I forgot something! 

SANTA BELLY n. [Fr. jolly, old St. Nick + tummy]: Small, round pillow with Velcro straps that can be found in maternity boutiques to help women in the early stages of their pregnancies imagine what they will look like in their last trimesters. It’s fun to wear the Santa belly! Look, it’s you but it’s you… pregnant! You look super cute! You are going to look great in the maternity clothes you’re thinking of buying! The only other thing you need to really look pregnant is another Santa belly to strap around your ass. Two more for your boobs. And something to make your waist disappear. (But, there’s good news too, your nails are going to get really strong! Three cheers for strong nails!) (This word previously appeared on Mammalingo about 2 years ago. Yes. That’s right. I’m lazy. Get over it.) 

SANTA BELLY n. [Fr. jolly, old St. Nick + tummy]: Small, round pillow with Velcro straps that can be found in maternity boutiques to help women in the early stages of their pregnancies imagine what they will look like in their last trimesters. It’s fun to wear the Santa belly! Look, it’s you but it’s you… pregnant! You look super cute! You are going to look great in the maternity clothes you’re thinking of buying! The only other thing you need to really look pregnant is another Santa belly to strap around your ass. Two more for your boobs. And something to make your waist disappear. (But, there’s good news too, your nails are going to get really strong! Three cheers for strong nails!)

(This word previously appeared on Mammalingo about 2 years ago. Yes. That’s right. I’m lazy. Get over it.) 

What a coincidence! Joanie, who was the key figure in the essay I posted earlier today, sent in this word about two years ago. It’s one of my favorites of all time. And, it’s SO APPROPRIATE for today. It has to do with a small child doing something “all by myself.” Thank you again, dear Joanie! INDEPENDASTROPHE n. [Fr. independent + catastrophe]: The resulting disarray, chaos, or carnage left in the wake of a toddler trying to do something “all by myself,” such as pouring juice, plunging toilets and cutting hair. Submitted by Joanie Shook of Scio, Oregon. What about you? What independastrophes have you experienced?

What a coincidence! Joanie, who was the key figure in the essay I posted earlier today, sent in this word about two years ago. It’s one of my favorites of all time. And, it’s SO APPROPRIATE for today. It has to do with a small child doing something “all by myself.” Thank you again, dear Joanie!

INDEPENDASTROPHE n. [Fr. independent + catastrophe]: The resulting disarray, chaos, or carnage left in the wake of a toddler trying to do something “all by myself,” such as pouring juice, plunging toilets and cutting hair. Submitted by Joanie Shook of Scio, Oregon.

What about you? What independastrophes have you experienced?

You know how most reality shows have a season where they feature “All Stars”? It’s the best against the best? Well, if we had a Mammalingo All-Star Team, this woman would be one of the team captains. Yes, sir. Here’s a submission from Jill Kravetz of Boston, MA.  STRAPPLE v. [Fr. strap + grapple] Highchairs, car seats, strollers. Why is it that every piece of equipment that harnesses babies and children must have straps that are insanely difficult to get straight… so that the clips actually go into the right holes without completely strangling your child or cutting off an arm? Not to mention the effect that spit + old Cheerios + ground-up goldfish + meatsauce has on the flexibility of these straps. Even the fancy, new age-y high chair I bought for my 3rd child (think Jetsons) still has the crappy straps!

You know how most reality shows have a season where they feature “All Stars”? It’s the best against the best? Well, if we had a Mammalingo All-Star Team, this woman would be one of the team captains. Yes, sir. Here’s a submission from Jill Kravetz of Boston, MA. 

STRAPPLE v. [Fr. strap + grapple] Highchairs, car seats, strollers. Why is it that every piece of equipment that harnesses babies and children must have straps that are insanely difficult to get straight… so that the clips actually go into the right holes without completely strangling your child or cutting off an arm? Not to mention the effect that spit + old Cheerios + ground-up goldfish + meatsauce has on the flexibility of these straps. Even the fancy, new age-y high chair I bought for my 3rd child (think Jetsons) still has the crappy straps!

MESTING v. [Fr. MESS + NESTING] An uncontrollable urge to clean one’s house brought on by the desire to prepare a nest for the new baby. Or in my case: an uncontrollable urge to clean one’s house brought on by utter shame and the realization that my mom AND mother-in-law are coming. (Submitted by Molly from the blog, Life After.) Note: You should check out Molly’s blog because 1) it’s a funny read and 2) she has picture on the upper right corner of her homepage that will probably make you laugh out loud. If you didn’t realize it from the word she submitted, Molly is pregnant with her second child and is due in the not-too-distant future. Hence, her urge to mest.  Congrats, Molly.

MESTING v. [Fr. MESS + NESTING] An uncontrollable urge to clean one’s house brought on by the desire to prepare a nest for the new baby. Or in my case: an uncontrollable urge to clean one’s house brought on by utter shame and the realization that my mom AND mother-in-law are coming. (Submitted by Molly from the blog, Life After.)

Note: You should check out Molly’s blog because 1) it’s a funny read and 2) she has picture on the upper right corner of her homepage that will probably make you laugh out loud. If you didn’t realize it from the word she submitted, Molly is pregnant with her second child and is due in the not-too-distant future. Hence, her urge to mest. 

Congrats, Molly.

CRYLE n. [cry + smile] Ah, the cryle. It’s the one that’s part smile and part cry. Or is that part cry and part smile? Sometimes, it starts as one and morphs into the other. Thank you to new father and blogger Noah Dunavan from Turlock, CA for coining the word. Now that I know it, I can describe what my baby is doing right now, sitting next to me, and trying to get my attention while I type… Oops. Gotta go!  

CRYLE n. [cry + smile] Ah, the cryle. It’s the one that’s part smile and part cry. Or is that part cry and part smile? Sometimes, it starts as one and morphs into the other. Thank you to new father and blogger Noah Dunavan from Turlock, CA for coining the word.

Now that I know it, I can describe what my baby is doing right now, sitting next to me, and trying to get my attention while I type… Oops. Gotta go!  

I’m a bit stunned. Tonight, I was listening to the Canadian radio show “Q” on my local NPR affiliate. (Clearly, there weren’t children with me.) While I missed half the interview, it was with a lexicographer from the Oxford English Dictionary. I’m about to tell you something I learned from the program. Are you ready? Seriously, you might want to sit down for this news on your bootylicious derriere. Did you notice how I just slipped in the word “bootylicious”? Well, evidently, “bootylicious” is in the dictionary. Not only that, but it’s been in the dictionary for more than five years. Do any of you want to guess the origin of the word? Wrong! “Bootylicious” was not coined by Beyonce. It originated with Snoop Doggy Dogg in 1992: “Your bark was loud but your bite wasn’t vicious. And them rhymes you were kickin’ were quite bootylicious.” I am not sure how I feel about “bootylicious” appearing in the dictionary. On one hand, I’m sad for Western civilization. But, on the other hand, I’m pretty excited. If “bootylicious” made it in, I think some of the fantastic words that you guys have submitted to Mammalingo in the past year stand a chance. Success means not being satisfied until we get a made-up word into the Oxford English Dictionary. So, keep the words coming! P.S. Clearly, the Tumblr spellcheck team needs to invest in a newer copy of the dictionary. Tumblr spellcheck doesn’t recognize “bootylicious.” Fools!

I’m a bit stunned. Tonight, I was listening to the Canadian radio show “Q” on my local NPR affiliate. (Clearly, there weren’t children with me.) While I missed half the interview, it was with a lexicographer from the Oxford English Dictionary. I’m about to tell you something I learned from the program. Are you ready? Seriously, you might want to sit down for this news on your bootylicious derriere.

Did you notice how I just slipped in the word “bootylicious”? Well, evidently, “bootylicious” is in the dictionary. Not only that, but it’s been in the dictionary for more than five years. Do any of you want to guess the origin of the word? Wrong! “Bootylicious” was not coined by Beyonce. It originated with Snoop Doggy Dogg in 1992: “Your bark was loud but your bite wasn’t vicious. And them rhymes you were kickin’ were quite bootylicious.”

I am not sure how I feel about “bootylicious” appearing in the dictionary. On one hand, I’m sad for Western civilization. But, on the other hand, I’m pretty excited. If “bootylicious” made it in, I think some of the fantastic words that you guys have submitted to Mammalingo in the past year stand a chance. Success means not being satisfied until we get a made-up word into the Oxford English Dictionary. So, keep the words coming!

P.S. Clearly, the Tumblr spellcheck team needs to invest in a newer copy of the dictionary. Tumblr spellcheck doesn’t recognize “bootylicious.” Fools!