Prompt:
Pick any noun, verb, adjective, and conjunction from the dictionary and give
them fake origin stories. 4-6 sentences only.
dune: (noun) a rounded
hill or ride of sand heaped up by the action of the wind.
In early England, Sir Richard Dune
was a messenger in the king’s army. He had fallen ill, but still vowed to
deliver an important message across the desert that divided the army and its
main stronghold. Halfway through his journey, he succumbed to his sickness and
collapsed. Days later, reinforcements marched across the sands to the army and
one soldier noticed a slight hill with a stiff hand sticking straight out of
it. Dune’s body was uncovered and forever after soldiers warned that piles of
sand might really be dunes – that is, covering up dead bodies.
snub: (verb) to check
or interrupt with sharp or slighting words.
In a small country town in Europe, a
young girl lived with her family. They had the unfortunate last name of
“Nubbin,” and all the other children teased the girl, calling her “nubby” or
“nub.” Eventually it became an insult among them, and the girl grew tired of
being upset by this. She began to turn up her nose and make jokes about the
others as she walked by, which caused them to call her a snob. One child,
feeling himself to be particularly creative, combined the two and called her a
“snub”, meaning a “snobby nub.” The others soon picked up on this and used the
word “snub” to characterize the action of meanly insulting someone.
mettlesome: (adjective) full
of mettle; spirited; ardent, brave, etc.
An aboriginal tribe in Australia has
a legend that has been passed down for centuries. They say that their ancestors
once lived in harmony with all living things, sharing thoughts and feelings
through a force of nature known as the Mettle. Every living thing was woven
into the Mettle, and all could instinctively access it. However, as the years
went by, tribes learned things such as “fighting” and “owning” and “greed,” and
they began to split up. As soon as people separated themselves from other
living things, cracks formed in the Mettle, until it was no longer a force that
contained all beings, but rather a spirit that lived inside all things. Now, if
a person shows great spirit or bravery, they are said to have some mettle in
them, or are “mettlesome.”
nor: (conjunction)
and not; and not either; usually as the second of the correlatives neither…nor, implying negation of both parts of the statement.
The young boy stood in the shadow of
a giant stone monolith, the words of his elders still ringing in his ears. He
had to complete an arduous task for his tribe to accept his as an adult; he was
to travel to a neighboring land that lie between Norway and the Netherlands and
return with an artifact of an enemy tribe. This monolith was to guide him, but
the boy, versed as he was in the tribe’s written language, could not make out a
single word inscribed on the stone. Two shallow arrows and a few thin letters were
carved in its face, but it looked as though some of the markings had been worn
away. Frustrated, the boy lamented “I don’t want “neither” or “nor”, I need to
find the other tribe!”
Comments
Post a Comment