Wednesday, November 21st, 2007...12:24 am
Learn-A-Word Wednesday: woolgathering \WOOL-gath-(uh)-ring\
noun:
Indulgence in idle daydreaming.
It would be easy to slip off into woolgathering and miss a deadline.
– Jeraldine Saunders, Washington Post, March 4, 2004Woolgathering derives from the literal sense, “gathering fragments of wool.”
Good word, eh? I imagine someone leisurely wandering green hillsides. A breeze blows as they casually stoop over every now and then to collect small clusters of beige wool.
Maybe there’s something special about wool. Studies have shown that knitting slows and alters your brain waves, similar to meditation.
Here’s hoping we all get time for woolgathering in the midst of holiday season chaos.
And, NO, picking up clumps of fur in your living room does NOT count. That’s “housekeeping,” not “woolgathering” — even if you have a sheep for a pet (in my opinion).
Repeat after me, “Baaaaaaaaaaa.”
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2 Comments
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:16 pm
I like “woolgathering.” It’s needlessly fallen out of fashion. I once used it a year or so ago in the company of several people under 35, and they all looked at me as if to say: “What the HELL????”
November 25th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Around here, with all these farms, people will take you literally!
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