The Big Book of Girl Stuff
Page 14
Laurel (flower, Connecticut)
Lavender (flower, Colorado)
Lilac (flower, New Hampshire)
Lily (flower, Utah)
Magnolia (flower, Mississippi)
Morgan (horse, Vermont)
Niagara (ship, Pennsylvania)
Opal, (gem, Nevada)
Palmetto (tree, South Carolina)
Pearl (gem, Kentucky)
Poppy (flower, California)
Robin (bird, Michigan)
Rose (flower, Iowa)
Sapphire (gem, Montana)
Scarlet (flower, Ohio)
Sitka (tree, Alaska)
Sunflower (flower, Kansas)
Syringa (flower, Idaho)
Tabby (cat, Massachusetts)
Trilobite (fossil, Wisconsin)
Tulip (flower, Indiana)
Turquoise (gem, Arizona)
Violet (flower, New Jersey)
Virginia (It’s a state!)
Walleye (fish, Minnesota)
Willow (bird, Washington)
Wintergreen (herb, Maine)
Yucca, (flower, New Mexico)
Place Names
Punkydoodles
Stonybatter
Takizawa
Bombay
Trinidad
Sopchoddy
Nimrod
Andorra
Ouagadougou [pronounced wah-ga-doog-oo]
Jamaica
Twitty
HooHoo
Katmandu
Flin Flon
Climpy
Yeehaw
Kyzyl [pronounced ke-zil]
Zonguldak
Samoa
Krypton
Woolloomooloo
Shanghai
Valtimo
Mashpee
Poopó
Odododiodoo
Lucia [pronounced loo-chee-uh]
Weedpatch
Doostil
Calabasas
Affpuddle
Pukë
Djibouti [pronounced je-boot-ee]
Bora Bora
Willacoochee
Kalamazoo
Glorioso
Vulcan
Mumbles
Wacahoota
Booti Booti
Zimbabwe
Meeteetse
Paducah
Wigtwizzle
Kyrgyzstan [pronounced kir-je-stan]
Coolmeelee
Piddlehinton
Weeki Wachee
Your Star Wars Nickname
Ever notice how all the characters in Star Wars have similar futuristic names? Here’s how to get yours!
For your Star Wars first name:
1. Take the first three letters of your last name.
2. Add to that, the first two letters of your first name.
For your Star Wars last name:
1. Take the first two letters of your mother’s maiden name.
2. Add to that, the first three letters of the name of the city you were born in OR the street you live on now, whichever sounds better.
*Want to make your last name seem classier? Add a “de” to the front of it, which in France, shows that you have nobility in your family. Example: Kathy Blanchette can become Kathleen de Blanchette. Fancy!
*Looking for a nice summer camp experience? Try visiting charming Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg in Massachusetts! It’s the longest place name in the U.S. This name is pronounced just like it’s spelled, like in the popular romantic song:
We took a walk one night and sat on a log
Down by Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
We kissed and then we heard a frog
Down by Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
Everybody sing along!
Doodles
This is an addictive shape to draw. Once you follow these steps, it will be on the margins of all your papers!
In India, girls show their artistic ability by drawing kolams. These are simple yet complex shapes that are supposed to bring good luck and health. The way to do it is simple. Just draw five dots across a page. Above and below it, put four dots in the spaces. Above and below those, put three dots, and so on.
Begin drawing one continuous loop that goes around ALL the dots. After you are done, you can decorate the doodle with symbols and pictures.
Name Quiz
See if you can get these questions about names right. The answers are at the end of the chapter.
1. Which month of the year is the most popular “month” name for girls?
2. What is the only state in the U.S. with a one-syllable name?
3. Which of these names was recently in the top ten most popular names for girls? Bimberly, Crayola, Ebola, Elisabet, Mossie, Pepsi, Prunella, Isabella, Salmonella, Velveeta
4. Megan writes the name of a certain U.S. state on a sheet of paper in all capital letters. She then turns the page upside down and looks at it in a mirror. The reflection reads exactly the same as she wrote it. What is the name of the state?
Answers![7]
Handwriting
Every girl knows that one of the best ways to stay awake in a boring class is to practice signing her own name. There are so many possibilities; which one looks coolest? Which style reflects who you are?
This is what makes “calligraphy” [pronounced kal-ig-raf-ee] so interesting. Calligraphy is the art of hand writing beautiful letters and can be done in different styles or fonts. Computers can be used for unique styles too, but learning to handwrite in a font is much more personal and artistic than pulling a paper out of the printer. And if you learn calligraphy, your notes in class will be admired by everyone!
Because handwriting is so personal, it’s no surprise to us that the way we write can say something about us. Countries like Germany, Switzerland, and Israel, put a lot of faith in handwriting. In France, people often must give handwriting samples for job applications. And in Israel, you may have your handwriting checked just to get an apartment!
The study of handwriting is called graphology. It is not scientific, but then, neither are hunches, intuition, or first impressions. Maybe because of this, most of the graphology experts in France are women.
You Be the Judge
If a person writes a few sentences or even a short paragraph on a blank sheet of paper, it can be analyzed. You could probably reach some conclusions yourself! For example, if a girl pushes down really hard with her pen when she writes, she is probably strong-willed and determined. But if she barely touches the paper with her pencil, it wouldn’t be a surprise to find out she’s shy.
Have a friend or family member give you a handwriting sample. Make sure to have the person sign her name at the bottom. (Don’t say what the sample is for until after you’ve gotten it, though!) Then see what the handwriting reveals about your subject!
What You See What it Means
The letters are well-rounded. This is a balanced person.
The letters are at straight angles. This person has good energy and might be a leader.
There are little happy faces, hearts, or circles for the dot on the letter “i.” She has a unicorn collection.
The “a” or “o” letters are not all the way closed in. The writer is talkative.
The “a” and “o” letters are closed in. She can keep a secret.
There is a good space between the lines of the paragraph. This is a stable person.
The letters slant to the right. The writer has an energetic, passionate personality.
The letters slant to the left. The person is timid and quiet.
It looks like the person wrote in a hurry, or it’s just messy. This shows an impatient person.
The lines of the words don’t veer up or down. She is a well-adjusted person.
The person prefers black ink. This shows a strong personality.
The letters are small and maybe squished together. She is shy and doesn’t like attention. (Probably smart, too!)
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There are big letters, or it’s written in all capitals, or there are decorations on the letters. These show a person who likes attention. She also doesn’t like to be criticized. (So you may want to skip telling her this!)
There is a good-sized left margin. The person is flexible and good at adapting.
The style of writing seems to change inside the entrygraph. This person gets bored easily and may be unreliable.
The right-hand margin is small. She is friendly and open.
The cross on the letter “t” slants down. (Or up!) If the bar slopes down, the person is a rebel. If it slants up, she has high expectations for herself and others.
There are big loops. The person is a romantic, imaginative type.
The person has a complete, readable signature. This shows maturity.
*Teachers at a primary school in Smethwick, England, were ordered to always use green ink for correcting papers. Red ink is not allowed because it is too negative and might damage a student’s self-esteem!
“Uh . . .”
If you listen to people (or yourself) talk, you’ll hear a LOT of “uh’s” and “um’s” (and even “er’s”). People say “uh” and “um” to fill in space until they can think of the next word they are going to say. Because of this, these are called “filler words.”
Men use filler words more than women do. This must be because girls are better at talking than boys, and so they don’t need as much filler.
Another interesting thing is that not all cultures use the same filler words. Here are some examples:
Hebrew: ehhhhh
Serbia and Croatia: ovay
Turkey: mmmmmm
Japan: eto [pronounced eh-to] OR ano [pronounced ah-no]
Spain: este
Mandarin Chinese: jiege [pronounced JEH-guh]
France: euh
Sweden: eh, ah, aah, hmmm, ooh, oh
Secret Message Girl
If you don’t know how to write in invisible ink yet, here’s how to do it!
Technique 1:
You Will Need: a white crayon, paper, a highlighter (any color but yellow).
If you write a message on white paper with a white crayon, it is nearly impossible to read. That is, it’s nearly impossible until you run a highlighter over it! Then the letters shine right through. Try it and you’ll see what we mean.
Technique 2:
You Will Need: white paper, a small glass or jar, lemon juice, a cotton swab, a mirror.
First, pour the lemon juice into your glass. Lemony! Now just dip the cotton swab into the lemon juice and then use the swab to write your message on the paper. Re-dip the swab into the juice if it dries out while you’re writing. (If you don’t have lemon juice, milk also works for this technique.)
Let your writing dry out; it should become invisible. When you are ready to read the message, hold it up to a strong light or fire and the words will magically appear! Another way to get the message to appear is to have an adult use an iron at low temperature to “iron” the piece of paper. Because lemon juice (or milk) darkens when heated, the message shows up!
Technique 3:
You Will Need: water, paper, two bowls, cornstarch, a chopstick (or any pen-shaped piece of wood), a sponge and iodine (ask your mom if you have some in the house).
Pour 1/4 cup of water into one of the bowls and stir 1 teaspoon of cornstarch into it. Pop it into the microwave for 30 to 40 seconds, stir it, and then microwave again for 30 to 40 seconds more. This is your ink!
Once it cools, take your chopstick, dip it into this mixture and write your secret message on the paper. As the ink dries, it will become invisible.
Once the message dries, mix 8 to 9 drops of iodine with about 1/2 cup of water in another bowl. Take a sponge, dip it in this solution, and wring it out. Then gently sponge your paper with it. The invisible message will be magically revealed!
Bad Words
“Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”
—J. K. Rowling
We guess it’s no secret that jerks or mean girls sometimes use a word that rhymes with witch. (Just put a “b” where the “w” is.) The thing about “witch with a b” is that it just means an adult female dog. And most people like dogs! This word can also mean “to complain” when it is used as a verb. (There is a famous book about knitting called Stitch ’N Bitch.) This word can also mean “a type of lamp used in Alaska.” But many people only use the word’s slang meaning, which is “a mean woman.” Times change, and words change, too. Some women even consider this word a compliment to their strong personalities. (But you are not one of them.)
*The word bitchin’ can be used as an adjective for “good” or “cool.”
Speaking of bad words, if a really mean boy ever tells you to go to h-e-[double hockey sticks], tell him you can’t because your passport isn’t ready. That’s because there is a real village in Norway named Hell. People go there all the time! (And in the winter, when there are many cold days, it even freezes over.)
*BTW, a school in Wellingborough, England, has a school policy that students are allowed to cuss up to five times per class period. Teachers are supposed to keep track of the cussing on the board.
Don’t You Hate It When the Teacher Says . . .
Here are some words you don’t like to hear from your teacher:
No name, no credit.
Listen up, people!
Class average was a D-.
Don’t raise your hand if you’re going to forget what you were going to say.
Your homework is to have a good weekend.
I need to speak with you after class.
Let’s keep it down to a dull roar.
You’re going to regret not knowing this.
Pop quiz!
Lack of planning on your part does not create an emergency on my part.
If you take away MY time, I’ll take away YOURS.
What are you eating? Did you bring enough for everyone?
Is that a note? L (Uh-oh!)
“Allow the Mouth to Rejoice!”
The United Nations is a place where ALL the different nations on the planet come together to try and solve the world’s problems. But since there are so many different languages spoken in the world, it’s tough for everyone to know what is being said. Translators (people who are good at translating words from one language to another) get to work there.
The problem with translating from one language to another is that if you translate word for word, it won’t make sense in the other language. For example, a U.N. translator once translated “Out of sight, out of mind” from English to Chinese. (This saying means “If you don’t see it, you won’t think about it.”) In Chinese, the direct translation was “Invisible, insane.” Not helpful! Translation mistakes like this happen all the time, and sometimes they are pretty funny.
Both Pepsi and Coca-Cola have had problems translating their ads into Chinese. Pepsi wanted to have the slogan Come alive with the Pepsi generation! put on billboards in China, but when they did this, they ran into trouble. That’s because the translator had written Pepsi brings back your dead ancestors as the new motto!
Coca-Cola’s translation problems were even worse. When Coke started to sell its product in China, shopkeepers began making signs to advertise the product. Trying to spell Coca-Cola in Chinese resulted in many mistakes; one of them was Bite the wax tadpole. Coca-Cola quickly had a new motto written, which translated to Allow the mouth to rejoice.
When Coors translated their ad motto Turn It Loose! into Spanish, it became Suéltalo con Coors, which can mean the same as Get diarrhea from Coors. Yech! We don’t think that’s the message they wanted to send. And when Clairol tried to shop their new curling iron (called the Mist Stick) in Germany, it didn’t sell well. Someone finally pointed out that in German slang mist means manure. Who wants a manure stick in their hair?
Slang
“I thought he was soo beyond, but when he wore sandals, I found out he was a hobbi
t.”
—Venus Frippet
Slang is cool! It can add flavor to your conversations and it’s fun to use. Sure, you already know the sitch with a lot of slang, but here are some other words that may not be as familiar to you.
adorabubble: So cute and adorable, you could cry. “That bunny was adorabubble!”
adorkable: Adorable and dorky.
agreeing machine: A girl who says “yes” to everything to make friends.
aristo-brat: A rich kid who is snotty.
A.T.M.: A friend who spends a lot of money.
babblescent: An adolescent (teenager) who is always talking or “babbling.”
babylicious: Attractive.
bad-lib: Quickly changing (or “ad-libbing”) a bad word to a good one. Example: After Samantha stubbed her toe she bad-libbed, “shh-ooot!” Other good bad-lib words are sugar, fudge, heck, and gafarbawitz.
Baldwin: In the 1990s, this meant “a cute guy.” Now it means “an overweight guy with too much hair gel.”
bathroomy: A word that describes a girl who uses the restroom much more than the average girl. Example: “Monica is gone again? She is so bathroomy.”
be toast: ruined
beanie: A pretty girl.
beyond: This means the same as “gorgeous,” as in “Those shoes are beyond.”
bi-phonal: Being able to talk on more than one phone at a time.
blato: Obvious. Blatant.
bohunk: A good-looking boy.
boo: Boyfriend or girlfriend.
botard: A bohunk who isn’t very smart.
broad squad: A group of girlfriends.
bullhorn implant: A girl with a loud voice has this.
burn the pom poms: Getting to work and not goofing around. “I finally decided to burn the pom poms and clean my room.”
catpause: How long it takes for a girl to leave the room before the other girls start talking about her.
chichi (shee-shee): Expensive in a tasteless way.