Several days ago, Willow gave me the letter 'G' to post about! We have been busy planning some of our Giraffe World Tours outings for the spring, which has been great fun, but time consuming. At last I am able to wax lyrical about my favourite letter of the alphabet! (How did Willow guess?)Well, first of all 'G' stands for Gleeful. What a wonderful word in sound and in meaning ... For giraffes it perfectly describes our preferred state of mind, and can be acted out by jumping up and down shouting 'Wheeeeee!'
Next on my list is 'Greedy'. I know this can have negative connotations, but we use it in the same way as humans would say 'eager', or 'appreciative'. In Neckelchester village, 'Gleeful + Greedy = Restaurant!' Which brings me to word number three: Girth. Proud proprietor of the afore-mentioned eating establishment. Broad in build and broad in grin. Of course! Grin - another lovely g-word!
Here we have one of Girth's creations. A gorgeous gateau, which could also be a girthday cake! Feeling greedy anyone?Talking of gorgeous ...
My glamorous sister Nektareeni! Adored by her partner Girth, she jointly runs the Gleeful & Greedy Restaurant with him, as well as her own fashion boutique.
More beauty below,
Giraffodils! Their gracefully nodding blooms always gladden our hearts in the spring. (There are so many happy g-words, aren't there?)
Exploring the coutryside while planning our Tours today, we noticed shy little shoots of pale spring green popping out here and there. One of my very favourite colours! Green seems to mean the same to you Earthlings as it does to Camelopardalians - a concern for our environment. All things are inter-conneckted: I remember Barbara Martin commenting somewhere about the constellations being metaphysically linked in a grid.
Have you noticed how onomatopoeic so many g-words are? Writing the word 'grid' made me think of gurgle and glug! And that fabulous word gargle!
We giraffes just love to gargle! At Neckelchester Dental Practice we have clean-your-tongue-to-music sessions, and we always like to end with our Giraffe Gargling Song. I must put it in the side bar for you all to listen to, one day!
Have you ever tried saying, 'How much oil could a gargoyle gargle, if a gargoyle could gargle oil?' Try it now!
My next word is giggle - which is probably what you are all doing now if you attempted the tongue-twister ...
And so we come to my penultimate g-word, which is simply 'G'! My middle name ... Raph G. Neckmann. And Raph G. turned around is G. Raph ...
Let me hear you all shout it: Giraffe!
Dear bloggy friends! I hope you all enjoyed our little etymological frolic ... Many thanks to Willow for my favourite letter.
40 comments:
This post is genius! I did giggle at the Gleeful and Greedy Restaurant and those tall tub faucets! Gargoyle gargle is pretty cute, too. Thanks for a delightful post, Raph.
Thank you Willow - and thanks for such a delightful letter to work with!
giraffodils!!! so excellent. I love the elegance of your sister's long stemmed champagne glass :)
My sister Nektareeni is the embodiment of elegance, Marigirl! Many thanks!
Yes, delightful! And, Good God, your Glamorous sister is indeed absolutely Gorgeous...
I just know she doesn't swear like Gordon Ramsay (or?) or adopt a fashionable 'one of the lads' (lasses?) stance like Jamie Oliver.
I see her more like Nigella - with spots. Beauty spots, I mean!
More champagne all round, please...
Hi Raph,
Greatly enjoyed your letter list! Lots of fun and beauty. I'm glad you managed to include Necky Becky in the first picture though, or she might have been a bit miffed to miss out on the glory!
Thank you SW. I shall tell Nektareeni that she has an admirer!
(You can hear her sing if you scroll down the sidebar and click on 'They Call Me Nektareeni' in Giraffe Music Tracks)
Necky Becky included herself, Derrick! I hadn't spotted that she had climbed up there until I'd published the picture ...
Great giraffophats! Of course your .favourite word is G. Glorious, gallivanting, gregarious G - and it suits you to a T (or should that read G too)? I have never seen a giraffodil but i assume it is an exceptionally tall daffodil. Really enoyed it all.
Thank you Weaver, glad you enjoyed it all!
Glorious, gallivanting and gregarious - I love them!
Raph! did you hear me shout?! Giraffe!
you have given me new meaning for the letter 'G'
I did hear a shout, Jeane! I thought it must be Necky Becky and Nexi having a snowball fight outside ...
I want some Giraffodils!
(and I enjoyed the post immensely)
Your list of G words is Great. I love Nektateeni's bath taps and how amazing that cows and giraffes like the smell of linseed oil too!
Thank you Tom - I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Only a few more weeks, and the giraffodils should be out!
Thank you Heather. Nektareeni does like to have a stylish bathroom!
Ahh my Garden would be complete with some Giraffodils waving in the breeze! My Gratitude for the Grand and Glorious tour of G!
You are welcome, Dee!
Giraffodils would look wonderful among the cacti!
Raph, what a Gallant Giraffe you are for posting this terrific adventure in "G" words.
'Gallant'! Thank you Barbara - glad you enjoyed the post.
"Giraffe!"
G, you had me on the floor laughing out loud and then bringing out the dictionary to look up " onomatopoeic ".
How nice that Giraffodils are springing forth!Note the pun!
So much fun to read of the wonderful world you inhabit.
Thank you Rosemary! I do enjoy making people laugh.
My dictionary is in much more frequent use since I've been visiting blogs and I hope I can remember all the new words I have learned!
This post is so cute. Great G words. I mostly love the Giraffodils. What a wonderful world you have!
Thank you Lauren, glad you enjoyed the G words.
I can hardly wait for the spring, when the giraffodils will fringe the paths around Knollshire's countryside.
This has been grand! I gobbled up every gleeful word.
I've always liked the word gobbledygook and yelling "Geronimo" when I jump in the bath.
You're right, Raph; there are so many wonderful "G" words. Oh! I thought of another great (there's one - a bit overused though) "g" word - glissando! Doesn't it just make you want to find a patch of ice and slide around? Actually, I know it's a music word - and it's fun to run your hands across the keys of a piano to make a glissssandoooo!
Oh well, I must go - can't stand around gabbing all day!
Good bye!
Kat
Such a Great post! You are a Gifted illustrator - all of them are absolutely delightful! I love the Giraffe legs and faucets on the tub.
Poetikat, I'm definitely going to yell 'Geronimo!' when I jump in the bath from now on! (I suppose I'd better warn the family in advance ...)
Glissando - I like that - a very elegant word. My sister Nektareeni walks round the restaurant in a 'glissando' way when she sings.
Thank you, Bindu!
I love the word 'faucet' - Willow mentioned it too. We call them 'taps' here in Giraffe World. (I believe they are referred to as 'taps' in the UK on planet Earth, too). I think faucet sounds much nicer!
LOL ... delightful post!!!
Giraffodils and a girthday cakes -- they'll never be the same again ... :D
Well, first of all 'G' stands for Gleeful. What a wonderful word in sound and in meaning ... For giraffes it perfectly describes our preferred state of mind, and can be acted out by jumping up and down shouting 'Wheeeeee!'
You are a whimsical and delightful creature. I'm glad that we can "follow" you now! I wanna go to your lovely world often. aloha-
Thank you Olivia. I must ask Girth for some of his girthday cake recipes to put on the blog!
'Whimsical and delightful' - me?! Thank you so much, Cloudia, I am highly complimented!
You are most welcome in our world.
Goodness Gracious, Giraffe (who doesn't live in Scotland) how gorgeous are all those guttural G's! You must be gratified by your own genius. The glut of G's makes me think of those lines:
"I wandered lonely as a cloud...when all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden Giraffodils."
Guttural! I'd forgotten that word existed, Eleanor - I love it!
I must seek out 'I wandered lonely as a cloud'. It has been many years since I read it. Thank you for reminding me!
Golly gosh - gorgeous gobbledegook!
I'm shouting, can you hear me? GIRAFFE!! Love your G's, especially Glee, Greed and Girth. I gleefully engage in slight greed and it increases my girth. Not so gleeful anymore. I would like some Giraffodils in my garden - you should consider marketing them.
Gobbledegook is a wonderful word, isn't it, Jinksy!
I do keep hearing distant shouts of 'Giraffe!', Heather.
I'll probably increase my girth substantially at our Valentine's celebration meal at the Gleeful & Greedy this evening ...
Yup I enjoyed this immensely.
Thank you Sandy, glad you enjoyed the post!
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