Ye Gads! Blench thy shambolic abode!

Just finished reading Language Visible, by David Sacks, which I found a more in-depth read than the more highly touted Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.

From Language Visible; I learned that the word 'Ye' as in "Ye Olde Anything" comes from the archaic use of the letter 'Y' pronounced as "th"; and simply means 'the'.

From Eats, Shoots & Leaves; I am afraid the above sentence is badly punctuated. On the other hand, it is a highly amusing book, and us poor Canadians caught between British and American usage can probably get away with grammatical murder if we put a full stop on the wrong side of the quotation marks.

Of course, my overful Inbox always includes a Word A Day and variations on that theme. Of course, I never read them daily, but catch up when life is slower. I found these two beauties today from GopherCentral's Word A Day:

OBSCURE AND UNUSUAL WORDS
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1) blench blench (noun)
: to move back or away in fear

Old English blencan "to deceive, cheat," of unknown
origin. The modern meaning probably developed via "to
evade, dodge" and "to move suddenly."

2) shambolic sham bollik (adjective)
: poorly organized and in a messy or chaotic state

Late 20th century. Formed from shambles, perhaps on the
model of "symbolic."

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My God! While I was reading (or blogging) the house got into a huge mess, with naught been visibly accomplished.