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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Do you “temble” or “tremble”?

If you don’t do crossword puzzles, you may confuse the words tremble (as in earthquake) with temblor, as in… wait for it… earthquake. Both words suggest “shaking”.

A single trip to a good dictionary adds a couple of adjectives, tremulous, as in “trembling, shaking” and temerius, adding the definition “reckless”.

Just for fun, go one step further with tremble and find the trembles, a noun referring to “an infectious tick disease of sheep which causes them to leap about and tremble (shake) violently”.

See what you can discover during a quiet afternoon sitting in the shade with your dictionary?

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