Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Words that begin with DW

Is it true that only three words in the English language begin with DW?  I asked about words beginning with DW at dinner last week, and Sandy (sitting next to me) quickly came up with one.  Before I tell you what I've learned, I'm curious if any of you can name a DW word.

Don't scroll down
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until
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you
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think of
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at least one
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word that
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with DW.
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Ready?
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I looked for DW words in my 1991 Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary and found the first three words here (with their variations).
Dwarf ~ the word my friend Sandy came up with.
Dwell ~ cliff dwellings (don't dwell on it too long).
Dwindle ~ the days dwindle down to a precious few.
Dweeb ~ how is this different from a dork or geek or nerd?
According to Wiktionary, "dweeb" is college slang from 1968.  Dork and dweeb are both missing from my 1991 dictionary, while "geek" comes from geck (fool) and is...
"a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake."
What?!?!?  My, how that word has changed since 1991.  What got me thinking about DW words in the first place?  I was having lunch at our Circle@Crown Café with a new friend whose name starts with DW, and she mentioned the scarcity of words beginning with DW.  I thought of a man's name that qualified.  Remember Ike?  He was otherwise known as Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States.

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