'precautious'

My life is a bit chaotic all because they updated the operating system that my work is using.  I have no fear when it comes to computers so that isn't the problem.  I do fear the boss.  I am under such a backlog that drives me insane.  So to keep my tiny nose just above the rushing water all around me, I keep my precious nose pointed towards anything that buoy's my sorry backside.  Last Wednesday it was the beautiful dusky sunset that my Heavenly Father gave me after the computer and the rainy dash to the stores.  This Wednesday morning it came in the form of the love or silliness of words.

I have started to catch up on news and such from DownUnder because the RadioAlarm App on my iPod has made it easy to stay tuned in to my friend's world.  I happened upon this little show called Adventures in English with Sue Belinda Meehan.  If I can't listen to it because it is early morning for me, I will catch it later online.  I get a kick out how fun it makes English and it helps that I am a bit partial.

Do you know what 'to poodle' means?  It is two words put together - putter and tootle.

put•ter (Brit. pot•ter) verb
occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant manner, doing a number of small tasks or not concentrating on anything particular : late nights is the best time of the day to putter around the craft room.
• [with adverbial of direction] move or go in a casual, unhurried way : the duck putters on the surface of the pond.


too•tle verb  (I thought Sue Belinda said this word came from England too)
[intrans.] informal go or travel in a leisurely way : they were tootling along the coast.


Sue Belinda said 'to poodle' has origins from England.  I think her mother would use the term a lot.  This is the first time I have heard it used this way.  I think it is quite enjoyable!  I now have three fun words that are related and I shall have a ball using them.

One of the questions posed to Sue Belinda had a running theme through out the hour.  Of course us bad yanks just messed up the language.  ARgh!  So is precautious a word?  The answer was no!  It is doubling up on a word.  If you are already cautious, how can you be cautious beforehand?  Ok, understood.  If you write the word, spell check says it isn't a word but it is in the American Dictionaries especially the older ones.  The newer dictionaries are moving away from them.  I did get out of my nice comfy bed to see if my dictionary had it.  It sure did.  I kept thinking about the word.  It is a bit weird on the tongue but I think I have heard it used in everyday language.  I know I have heard precaution and precautionary before and a lot.  I fired off a tweet but they didn't respond.  It was a hoot.  I think I will try to pay more attention to those silly words.

The other intriguing conversation was this blind man who was teaching young blind children a computer language program.  He was using a program from America and the kids were having a hard time spelling words because of the American accent.  My ears perked and my eyes rolled as a Yank hearing Aussies yack on about how they use 'r' and 'shaw' sounds as extras where in America we just pronounce the words with no extra sounds.  I am thinking how hard spelling must be in Australia with all those extra sounds that are not in the word.  They were making it sound that their extra sounds was the best and there should be no problems with spelling.  Did you know that Aussies pronounce calf with a 'r' in it?

Anyways I latched on what a delight it was to learn about English and the nuances that come from England, Australia, and America.  I love words.  I love learning.  This was a treat and a thanksgiving to carry with me though the stressful days I have been having.

One last interesting tidbit:
English is the most spoken second language.