The derecho that blew through Washington, DC yesterday. (Yahoo Images)

A year or two ago, there was a massive storm that ripped through Virginia. Afterward, many of us heard the word derecho for the first time.

In case you aren’t familiar, a derecho is “a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a land-based, fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms often delivering torrential rains, flash floods, strong winds, and potentially rivaling hurricanic and tornadic forces.”

Since I am not a scientist or meteorologist, in my mind, derecho means “big ass storm that could potentially knock down trees, leave people without electricity, and generally make life miserable in your town for anywhere from a few hours to two weeks, depending on how long it takes to get electricity back to your house and the tree off your roof.”

But here’s the important thing: How many of you, when reading the word derecho thought it was pronounced dehr-E-ko? I don’t watch the news on TV or listen to it on the radio, so I don’t know how reporters are pronouncing it, but it turns out that the official and proper pronunciation is actually deh-RAY-sho. I’m thinking that some of the official TV and radio folks are mispronouncing it too, because I don’t recall hearing anyone I know pronounce derecho correctly.

So yes, I’ve been mispronouncing this word for a year or two now. My husband has been too. Since he came home yesterday and told me of his new discovery, however, I’ve been saying derecho properly over and over again, in order to fix it in my brain and on my tongue forever.

Koalas are not bears.

They are marsupials. They carry their young in their pouches, just like kangaroos, wombats, and the Tasmanian devil. (Betcha didn’t know that last one either, did you?)

So the next time you refer to koalas, just call them koalas and not koala bears.

Those poor children.

I discussed this here.

ingenious – having genius; brilliant; original and imaginative

ingenuous – lacking sophistication; straightforward; artless; naive; candid

To imply is to signify or mean; to suggest without being explicitly stated. Synonyms are assume and include. “Jill implied that Jack lied about tripping and falling down the hill.”

To infer is to derive by reasoning, to conclude or judge from the evidence. Synonyms include deduce, reason, guess, speculate, surmise. “Jack inferred that Jill did not trust him.”

noisome (adjective) offensive or disgusting, as an odor; harmful; noxious; stinking: noisome factory emissions

noisy (adjective) loud, harsh, or confused sounds; clamorous; tumultuous; vociferous: noisy football fans

odious (adjective) arousing hatred; abhorrent; repugnant; abominable; loathsome, detestable: an odious kidnapper

odorous (adjective) having a distinctive odor; smelly: an odorous stockyard