My uncle Dec told me about TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) over Christmas, I had a bit of a browse when i got back, subscribed to the RSS feed but didn’t really check it avidly.
Luckily for me a few blogs I do read do check it avidly and thanks to them I saw this.
An article from Psychology Today – apparently how we grow old is up to us:
A 2002 Yale University study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that people who have a positive perception of aging tend to live seven and a half years longer than those who don’t. The difference may be the result of a better response to stress or even just the will to live, according to the study.
Between the ages of 30 and 90, the brain loses about 10 percent of its volume. Forgetfulness isn’t an automatic result, however. Scientists have found that loss of brain cells due to aging isn’t as steep as once thought. In fact, they now believe memory problems aren’t a natural part of growing older. Studies have shown that people with bad memories as older adults probably had the same deficiency when they were younger. But later in life, we may attribute it to aging.
Crossword puzzles, practicing the piano and playing chess exercise the brain, counteracting these natural changes. Exercise helps cognitive function too, studies show.
The Harry Potters reimagined as Penguin covers.
Hornswoggle hasn’t appeared on my Word Calendar (yet) but I came across this word today and decided it’s time we brought more fancified words from the American West back into fashion.
We do not know the origin of hornswoggle. We do know that it belongs to a group of “fancified” words that were particularly popular in the American West in the 19th century. Hornswoggle is one of the earliest, first appearing around 1829. It is possible that these words were invented to poke fun at the more “sophisticated” East. Some other words of this ilk are absquatulate, also first appearing in the 1820s, skedaddle, first attested in 1861 in Missouri, and discombobulate, first recorded in 1916.
I still use skedaddle but have never even heard of absquatulate.
Also as it’s Friday the thirteenth I should probably mention friggatriskaidekaphobia – unfortunately for any friggatriskaidekaphobics we’ve still got two more to come this year.