So I’m feeling a bit of pressure here. I’m told that the fourth installment of a series should be the best. Many of my geeky friends argue that the fourth Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope, which was actually the first one released… so now I’m not sure if it fits my point) is the best one[Yes, I know, some of you beg to differ]. The fourth Harry Potter book (Goblet of Fire for those keeping track at home) was a change of pace from the first three, marking not only the era of longer books but also a darker tone to the series, and is definitely a favourite of mine. If something is going to continue on, the fourth installment needs to be great. Plus, having missed last week due to some website moving /hosting issues and a few life events, the fourth installment falls on Canada Day. Well let’s hope I hit it out of the ballpark with this week’s word.
I mentioned this word on my Facebook page last week and one of my friends, Laureen (who, incidentally, has a great blog over at Tempered With Kindness) was very much in support of me using this word for my Word Wednesday post. Even though it’s technically 2 years too early. On the other hand. it’s good to know about this nice and early-like so we can all be prepared when the event happens right? Yep. That’s what I’m going to go with. In 2017, Canada will be celebrating it’s sesquicentennial, meaning the country will be turning 150 years old; so today’s Word Wednesday is sesquicentennial.
Sesquicentennial – I love the way the word sounds. Six syllable words have a way of rolling off the tongue that makes them amongst my favourite words to say (see also the word amongst which, despite what WordPress seems to think, is a legitimate word). The ‘squ’ trigraph (a phoneme with 3 letters that make a single sound) is one of the word sounds I find really easy on the ears. So any word that has 6 syllables and the ‘squ’ trigraph is doubly awesome.
As a note, sesquicentennial is relatively young as a word – though the components are old. The word comes from combining the Latin words sesqui, which means one and a half times, and centennial, which comes from the the Latin word for 100 (centum). Putting them together we get sesquicentennial meaning the 150th anniversary of an event. According to the Mirriam-Webster dictionary, the first known use of sesquicentennial was in 1880 for the city of Baltimore’s 150th anniversary.
Canada’s sesquicentennial celebration is going to be awesome, with lots of events already being planned. I remember the celebrations for the 125th anniversary of the creation of Canada, and the sesquicentennial celebrations promise to be bigger. Maybe not as big as the centennial in 1967, because there’s no Expo ’67 like event going on and I’m not sure if the provinces are going to create ear-worm like songs (Ontari-ari- ario anyone?) for the sesquicentennial but it’s going to be a great party.
Sesquicentennial (ses-kwi-sen-ten-ee-uh l) Noun – A 150th anniversary or its celebration.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a few quintessentially Canadian pictures in honour of the day.
The fourth Star Wars, A New Hope, or as I like to call it – Star Wars – is the best. If only because it was *my* first one and the one I shared with my kids first. 😀 I see your point and I fully agree with it.
I am almost *never* early for anything, so I appreciate this word so much! I am going to be sneaking it casually into so many conversations. 🙂 It’s all so very exciting!
Also, just a wee bit late, because *last* year Charlottetown had its sesquicentennial celebration. That’s okay though, when I go to PEI *this* summer I will bring it up as much as possible without seeming too geeky. Er. More so.
Totally agree about “amongst”, as well, btw. Let’s be word pals!!