My daughter and I think it’s funny that there’s a word for throwing someone or something out of a window: defenestrate. The word comes from Latin: de for down and fenestra for window, and it’s a transitive verb. So, you can defenestrate your garbage or your mother-in-law.

“There have been many defenestrations over the course of history, but the most famous, and the one that inspired the word defenestration, was the Defenestration of Prague on May 23, 1618. Two imperial regents and their secretary were thrown out of a window of the Prague Castle in a fight over religion. The men landed on a dung heap and survived. The Defenestration of Prague was a prelude to the Thirty Years’ War.”

The quotation is from Anu Garg’s site, Wordsmith.org or A.Word.a.Day. Can you think of any other famous defenestrations, either historical or fictional, because I’m blank? Brown Bear Daughter encountered the word in Eva Ibbotson’s YA novel, A Song for Summer. She says, by the way, that she liked the story but not the ending. (No, it doesn’t end in defenestration; that comes near the beginning of the novel.)

The above is a picture of a work of art in San Francisco called “Defenstration.” I also think the word would make another good blog title.

Prior Wednesday Words of the Week: galimaufry,flanerie, vatic, pavid, galactagogue, snollygoster, apophenia.

So far, I’ve used a gallimaufry of words for my Wednesday’s Word of the Week feature: flanerie, vatic, pavid, galactagogue, snollygoster, apophenia. Can you use all seven words of the week in one (halfway intelligible) sentence?

This week’s word comes from ListVerse via Brandywine Books. The post where I found my word for the week is entitled 20 Great Archaic Words. ListVerse itself is a blog or website after my own heart, subtitled Ultimate Top Ten Lists. I did indeed find a galimaufry of lists, including Top 15 Greatest Silent Films, Top 10 Fictional Detectives, Ten Greatest American Short Story Writers, Top Ten Most Overlooked Mysteries in History, Top 10 Greatest Mathematicians, etc. You get the idea.

So, gallimaufry: A jumble or confused medley of things. Also used to describe a mix of chopped meats. The word might have come from the French, galimafree, having to do with a stew or hash.

If you plan to bake a mincemeat pie, you might use a gallimaufry. And, “Gallimaufry” is another great blog title. You’re welcome to use it if you’d like. I found one typepad blog with the title, a gallimaufrey. Be sure and let me know if you start a new one with that name.

It was simply a case of apophenia for the pavid snollygoster engaged in an afternoon of flanerie to assume that the gallimaufry of galactagogues, plastic toys, and French fries that came in his kid’s meal were actually a vatic confirmation for his candidacy. If you can translate that sentence into common English, you’re well on your way to World Word Domination.

A relative of mine posted this word on Facebook yesterday. That’s all, just the word. It’s not a word I’ve ever heard or used.

I tried to figure out what it meant, and I thought of several possible definitions. Then, I decided this word would be a good candidate for that dictionary game where everyone makes up a possible meaning, except for one person who gives the actual definition. So which of these is the true meaning of galactagogue?

A. a substance that promotes lactation in humans and other animals. Asparagus is supposed to be a galactagogue.

B. the dictatorial ruler of a galaxy or galactic empire. The galactagogue in The Empire Strikes Back is the Emperor Palpatine.

C. a large and elaborate celebration; a gala. They planned a galactagogue for the heir’s twenty-first birthday.

D. a non-living statue or wooden figure that comes to life. Pinocchio was a galactagogue.

So, which one is it, folks? The first one to answer correctly gets a virtual blue ribbon for Word Wizard of the Day.

First, I read this post at Ace of Spades about how climate change may lead to an increase in mental illness because, as far as I can tell, schoolchildren tend to get depressed at a greater rate after experiencing a hurricane or cyclone. The post ends with the word “apophenia”. Isn’t that a lovely word? But I had no idea what it meant.

So, I went to my all-purpose, handy dandy, reference tool: Wikipedia. Yes, I use Wikipedia frequently to look up the stuff that I want to know, and so far I haven’t experienced any life-altering inaccuracies. Apophenia, quoth Wikipedia, is the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random or meaningless data. Ah, what a useful word in a world where conspiracy theories and seemingly random phenomena abound.

But is it apophenia or the hand of God when I see answers to prayer, and meaningful encouragement in Scripture that speaks to my immediate needs? And what about this statement at the end of the Wikipedia article: “The popular TV show, Lost, involves extensive use of apophenia in its storyline, including Biblical and numerological patterns, mis-identified faces, intentional use of pareidolia, and more.” Were the writers of Lost saying that the numbers and the patterns and the way people came together and crossed paths was randomness perceived to have meaning, apophenia? Or was there really within the Lost world supposed to be a meaning behind the island and all the things that happened on and off-island? Or were some things “apophenia”, like Hugo’s fear of of the numbers and his perception that he was cursed, and other patterns and coincidences meaningful, such as the idea that certain people were “brought” to the island to work out their salvation in fear and trembling?

I think the world is like Lost island: there are true incidences of apophenia, such as gamblers who think they have lucky numbers, people who see climate change-related calamities in every change in the weather, and even Christians who believe they hear the voice of God in events that are simply serendipitous happenings with no special message from God embedded in them. However, we should be very careful about crying “apophenia” when God may very well be at work orchestrating events and people to do His will. Was it apophenia when Esther found herself in exactly the right place and time to save her people from annihilation? Or was it apophenia that Jesus came to a world that was prepared to deal with him in a way that would fulfill prophecy and work out God’s plan of salvation prepared from the foundation of the world? There may be such a thing as too much ascribing of all fortuitous events to God at work, but there is also the danger of being blind to the wonderful ways in which the God of the Universe designs each detail of His world to work out His purposes.