I've wondered about preying-praying mantis. They do prey on other insects, and they do look like they are praying.

In a letter welcoming us back to school, the writer extended a "hardy" welcome. I thought it should have been "hearty."

Good topic, yoyobon.

Socks........this is what is fascinating and amusing about these words.
There is an ever-so-slightly different meaning depending on which you choose !!

A holy mantis or a deadly foe !?

A hearty ( well meaning and loving ??) or a hardy ( sturdy ) welcome ?!?

A notice about an outing arranged by our Senior Centre mentions that we will have time to "wonder" about the gardens. Perhaps, but I should also like to "wander" if permitted!
This wording occurs so regularly in the trip offers in the newsletters that I wonder if I should query it as a mistake or let well alone.

Hmmm.....

Is it "Alice in Wonderland" ....or....." Alice in Wanderland " ?
She did both !

In a similar vein/vane ( teehee).......

wouldn't these words make more sense?

Lapkin

Loveabye

Rainbrella

Yoyobon, I like the word rainbrella, that makes perfect sense to me.

My DH's cousin uses words like this all the time. Two of my favorites:

Relaxful = relaxing + restful

Gription = grip + traction

When my daughter was very young she used to say " this day" instead of "today" and "last day" instead of " yesterday".

That made such sense to me.

My daughter said bednight instead of midnight and but 'cept instead of except. I love the words kids invent.

Carolyn.....
So true.
Those things are so precious.
My grandson started calling TicTacs " bombeans" when he was two.
No one knows why or where it came from.......just his word.
We still use that word for Altoids or TicTacs and I hope always will !

When she was little my second child she invented the word amn't as a contraction for am not. Having long thought that this was a serious lack in the English language, I could not bring myself to correct her for several years. Alas, when the time approached for her to begin kindergarten, I gently guided her to the standard English usage. I still thought her word was superior to aren't as in aren't I?, which is what people actually say, and which is incorrect. Nobody I know ever says am I not? because it sounds so stilted, at least to American ears. Possibly people do say this in the UK and it may sound more natural there.

Rosefolly

Amn't sounds familiar to me when spoken. I am sure it was in reasonably common use in Glasgow, Scotland where I grew up, though it looks totally out of place when put down on paper. Even though I keep a daily journal I am certain I have never written it in that form. I tend to contract the phrase to I'm not

The only time I would use it in full would be to emphasis the not as in I am not going to say amn't.

Bill

A word that I have noticed creeping into speech and writing in both the UK and Australia is "guess" as in "I guess...." where one normally would expect "I think" or "I believe".
It is used in a positive sense too so guessing doesn't seem to be involved.
We are also hearing "Gotten" in the place of "got". I think that was in use in old English and got contracted!

I've never heard anyone say "am I not" except in the most formal speech (perhaps by a lawyer or member of the House of Lords). Certainly people in rural areas use words such as am 'e for 'is he' or be 'e for 'is he'.
Talking to a neighbour the other day, a woman who has lived in this area all her life, and asking if her husband was in she told me "He's upstairs and will be down in a minute." Shortly after a friend of theirs arrived and asked the same question to which she replied "Him's upstairs" . . . she spoke in standard English to me but local dialect to the friend!
Annpan as you know we in the UK think expressions such as "I guess" or "gotten" to be introductions from the US. If they aren't here already it wont be long before they catch on. ;-(

yoyo, I read an article on 'tripadvisor' . . not a place to go for good grammar or fancy use of language but noticed someone had described the service in a hotel as tentative when the word should have been attentive. Easy mistake but quite a different meaning.

The banning of Dahl's "Revolting Rhymes" by supermarket Aldi because of a complaint by one person about the word "slut" has caused a big outcry. We don't have an Aldi in this State so I can't picket it, a good thing as the weather is atrocious at present!
The many emails to Aldi have pointed out that the use of the word is correct as referring to an untidy person and has an entry in the Macquarie Dictionary (THE Australian English reference book )for proof.

Intrigued by my memories of the word amn't, I checked the Oxford dictionary and was rewarded by finding it verified, listed as a contraction of am not with a note saying it is chiefly Scottish or Irish.

Bill