Thanks fostermum - this seems to come up fairly often, and I have gone over it before but ... a dyke was a levee before it was a lesbian. Dike with an "i" was actually chiefly British and was not a levee but a sod wall. When North Americans coined "dyke" to be a slang for lesbian, they adopted "dike" for levee, which is not its original usage. It says a lot about North American obsession with sexuality (and possibly its disinterest in etymology) that DYKE is known pretty well only as sexual terminology.
As for PESTY, that's a word of my own. I realize it's not an actual word. Pesky generally refers to a small annoyance. Dexter is not small, nor is his annoyance factor small - I think pesty describes him a lot more accurately. I will also from time to time use words like "GINORMOUS" and "FANTABULOUS" neither of which are 'real' words but amalgamations of two or more other adjectives. These are things I do with the wonderful English language.
Here's my penny's worth...I think PESTY is one of those words that SHOULD be a 'real word'. I know it applied to my younger siblings!!! and to my son when he was a whiny toddler!!! so, keep using 'pesty' - it's clear what it means, and that is the point of communication.
That's hilarious.
ReplyDeletelol camouflage fail!
ReplyDeleteGosh. Poor Dex....what'd he do to deserve THIS fate?
ReplyDeleteCan I has it?!
ReplyDeleteAnd his ears stayed up!
ReplyDeleteIt does look bad, doesn't it! I sure hope he's crouching, because if he's sitting up and the grass is that deep - you've got a problem!
ReplyDeleteyour horrible.... ;P
ReplyDeleteMaybe...
ReplyDeleteThanks fostermum - this seems to come up fairly often, and I have gone over it before but ... a dyke was a levee before it was a lesbian. Dike with an "i" was actually chiefly British and was not a levee but a sod wall. When North Americans coined "dyke" to be a slang for lesbian, they adopted "dike" for levee, which is not its original usage. It says a lot about North American obsession with sexuality (and possibly its disinterest in etymology) that DYKE is known pretty well only as sexual
ReplyDeleteterminology.
As for PESTY, that's a word of my own. I realize it's not an actual word. Pesky generally refers to a small annoyance. Dexter is not small, nor is his annoyance factor small - I think pesty describes him a lot more accurately. I will also from time to time use words like "GINORMOUS" and "FANTABULOUS" neither of which are 'real' words but amalgamations of two or more other adjectives. These are things I do with the wonderful English language.
Respectfully,
English Literature major in University ;-)
Here's my penny's worth...I think PESTY is one of those words that SHOULD be a 'real word'. I know it applied to my younger siblings!!! and to my son when he was a whiny toddler!!!
ReplyDeleteso, keep using 'pesty' - it's clear what it means, and that is the point of communication.
I'm on the 'pesty' bandwagon - even if your spell checker doesn't like it. I know what a 'pest' is - I don't know what a 'pesk' is.
ReplyDelete