Stir

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Perry Lassiter
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Stir

Postby Perry Lassiter » Wed Feb 25, 2015 1:05 pm

Here's a surprise! Yesterday I posted hunker, since we are all hunkered down with icy roads. Today the slang "stir crazy" popped into my mind, since hunkering down without going outside for a long time can drive one stir crazy. So I went to the collection on the AlphaDictionary page and found all sorts of stuff:

Quick definitions from WordNet (stir)

▸ noun: emotional agitation and excitement
▸ noun: a disorderly outburst or tumult
▸ noun: a rapid bustling commotion
▸ verb: mix or add by stirring ("Stir nuts into the dough")
▸ verb: move very slightly
▸ verb: move an implement through with a circular motion ("Stir the soup")
▸ verb: affect emotionally ("A stirring movie")
▸ verb: to begin moving, "As the thunder started the sleeping children began to stir"
▸ verb: stir feelings in ("Stir emotions")
▸ verb: stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of
▸ verb: evoke or call forth, with or as if by magic ("Stir a disturbance")
▸ Word origin

I then checked out a couple more and discovered the common sense behind most of the meanings is a winding, twisting motion. But then I was brought up short by the noun meaning prison. The dictionary authors believe it comes from a different root meaning to capture or take prisoner. Check out a few dictionaries on this one. It's one of those simple words that has a lot packed in it - like a clown car.
pl

eberntson
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Re: Stir

Postby eberntson » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:20 am

Although "stir crazy" is quite correct for what most of us are experiencing under 6ft of snow, it can quickly develop into "cabin fever" which is just over the edge of sanity. I remember a little film with Charlie Chaplin about the subject if cabin fever when he eats shoe leather, and sees his companion as a meal. I often think of "stir" as prison slang for solitary confinement.
EBERNTSON
Fear less, hope more;
eat less, chew more;
whine less, breathe more;
talk less, say more,
and all good things will be yours.
--R. Burns


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