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Dog Days

The dog days of summer may be over… but they don’t feel like it for me!!

And what dog likes a hot day?  Not Kobe, that’s for sure!

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372 Comments and 55 threads

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  1. leonard says: 126

    Winter babies want the dog days. In heat treatment, we capricorns of the North depend on nifty ways to keep warm, and I suppose so does everyone else. [Three dog night]…it might be an Eskimo phrase. [syllepsis] or how about astrological verses the one year thing of the animals visiting the hindue[Buddha] or is it more important before to mark conception? :roll: thanks and keep up the great lessons of enlightenment and wisdom…You are the word, coined by Parcelsus…SYLPH

  2. blelios says: 125

    That’s a pretty interesting explanation Marina. I’d love to catch you by the pool on one of those days. You or hotforprofits either would be fine with me.

  3. cufan71 says: 124

    I posted a video response: Fordson AC. I thought next time your AC breaks down you use this set up! However with gas prices so high it might not be such a good idea!!! :-) Stay COOOL!!!!

  4. Chemikal says: 123

    so did you get that AC fixed? :D

  5. isigndou2 says: 122

    Privet Marina; I love your web site and I would love to see you sister on this site with you. Anyway, I would like to know the origin of the word “Neophyte”. Your wonderful explanation of word helps me in my profession as an Interpreter. Thank you. Eric xoxo

  6. superhov says: 121

    HI MARINA!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I HAVE a word request for you. I would like to know the word root of caucasian. Does it come from the caucases mountains in the countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan?

  7. Marina,

    I would have to go with sagatarious being born on the tenth of December. :roll:

    Greg

  8. rory says: 119

    Hi Marina. I would like to request the word Courtesan.

  9. Marina, where did the word “Hurricane” come from? I’ve seen that word in the news every day this summer.

  10. Hitman says: 117

    You should change the last image, now you have 261 videos… :roll:

  11. roel says: 116

    Hi. I find that the animal PEACOCK has a very sexy sounding name. Any idea where it came from?
    Love what you’re doing with English. I’m also an English teacher and always try to make my classes very fun.
    Regards
    Roel

  12. trixie says: 115

    Hey, it’s Trixie. This is my first request, and my word is onomatopoeia. Btw, my youtube username is TrixieRules. :smile:

  13. jamcurl says: 114

    Hi. My word is “yesterday”. It sounds funny when you saw it a few times.

  14. snoopy1 says: 113

    hey.
    i want to request a word that slot of people use it. even though it’s not a nice words, but also has a lot of diffrent meaning: :arrow: the ” F word “.
    thank you so much for this week lesson!

  15. snoopy1 says: 112

    hey my love Marina.

    i wanted to request a term: :arrow: ” cold feet ”
    i’ll be so’ so happy if you choose to teach us this term :!: :smile:
    waiting to see you again my love.. :cool:

  16. lofkc says: 111

    Virgo the virgin but wondering how that can be when i have two daughters mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm just kidding. Hopefully you get through all those questions sent to other email site and i will receive my answer I know i am one in many asking questions. Curiosity killed the cat you know.

    • mijj says: 111.1

      … just thought i’d have a little peruse on the significance of “Virgo” …

      In the Tarot deck, each of the astrological stars signs and planets is represented as a card in the Major Arcana. (i.e. 12 + 10 = 22 of the 78 cards.)

      In Alaister Crowley’s Tarot deck:
      The star sign “Virgo” is represented as “IX. Hermit”.

      Quoting: Alaister Crowley’s “Book of Thoth”:
      This card is attributed to the letter “Yod” … The letter “Yod” is the first letter of the name “Tetragrammaton”, and this symbolises the Father, who is Wisdom; he is the highest form of Mercury, and the Logos, the Creator of Worlds.

      The highest symbolism of the card is, therefore, “Fertility” in its most exalted sense.

      (there’s also a bit where the card is associated with the light of Mercury which “pervades all parts of the Universe equally” … and the Hermit is “not only creative, but the fluidic essence of Light, which is the life of the Universe”)
      (… and a bit where the Hermit is associated with “the Guide of the Soul through the Lower Regions”.)

  17. wetsuit5 says: 109

    Uh oh,
    Game is on.
    HotForWords @ 748 in #1
    But a newcomer is challenging @ 571 & #2 (Was insignificant yesterday)
    #3 (Yesterday’s #2) is @ 488 getting dribbles

  18. Hello Marina. Just an FYI.
    Do you sometimes encode your audio in mono and other times in stereo just to see if I’m paying attention? :smile:

    The last seven videos were in stereo. This Dog Days video was in mono. The previous video that was mono was the Cash video

    Normally, most people would not notice the difference whether you encode in stereo or mono as there is only one channel, your voice.

    In my video player, I delay the left audio channel by 20 msec so that it sounds like you are sitting right here in the room with me, assuming your audio is encoded in stereo. I also have a VU meter to tell me when the audio is stereo or mono. In this video, the audio is in mono, so I miss the nice stereo acoustics. Am I not a pain? :smile:
    Otherwise, your audio and video is great.

    Better words that I might use instead of mono and stereo is; encoding the Center channel only (mono) or encoding the Left & Right channels (stereo).

  19. lostinhere says: 107

    My astrological symbol is a crab.

  20. iamme097 says: 106

    now i feel like a party-pooper =S and holy cow theres another interesting idiom…

  21. iamme097 says: 105

    hello hotforwords, or dear teacher, or marina, or whatever you prefer to be called,
    in your video about antidisestablishmentarianism, you said that there are only two words longer in the english language. I am pretty sure this is not true, as i have found two words with more than 28 letters (both phobias), the cooler of the two being “Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliaphobia”, meaning, quite ironically, the fear of long words :mrgreen: . could you do a vid on the origin of that?

  22. protac6 says: 104

    Hey Marina, I’ve been wondering, what made you give Kobe his name? Named after the beef? Or best basketball player on earth? :?: :?:

  23. 2utoday says: 103

    :roll: Word request “kowamba”. Could it mean messy poop from strange animals that were discovered long ago far,far, away on one of Jupiter’s moons?

  24. tazman says: 102

    Hello my dear Teacher! :mrgreen:
    I would like to know why someone would say
    ‘Go Fly A Kite’ when they are upset with somebody?
    I know you can find tne answer. :grin:

    • 2utoday says: 102.1

      :mrgreen: Remember what happened to Benjamin Franklin when he flew a kite with a key on it? He got zapped with electricity. I think when someone says,”go fly a kite”,they want you to get zapped with electricity or some other bad stuff. Yikes!! Another mystery solved!!!

  25. Word request:
    “bonfire”

  26. Are you saying that Kobe is a hot dog?

  27. WebGuyTV says: 99

    Congratulations on “Sexiest Geek”….. I have a

    WORD REQUEST!!

    for a similar word. Could you please do a lesson on the word:

    DWEEB.

    Thanks!! My username here is the same as on YouTube: WebGuyTV

    • 2utoday says: 99.1

      :lol: A dweeb is what you are for requesting such a silly word. You should of asked how long it would take to fly to Mars and back at warp factor six. This question woud make Marina scrambling for the reference books-unless she already knew the answer. Ho,boy!!!

  28. champguy says: 97

    HEY! i just joined this site because i had this one question i thought to ask you when it came to me.
    ok so i suddenly got the urge to read last of the Mohicans after i found out that it was written in 1826 because i genuinely was interested to see how people would have talked and how a book would be presented in those days.
    ok blah blah blah long story short.
    in the first chapter it describes a veil which descended low from this girls “beaver”
    does that mean what i think it means? where did the term beaver come from?
    you know… the slang version.
    thx a lot. you rock. and ur sisters cute.

  29. 2utoday says: 96

    :mrgreen: I don’t care what tactic you use,your videos are really cool!!!!

  30. cgijoe says: 95

    Well Ms. Marina, even though we are beginning the dog-days of summer I am sure there are many people – especially in the south – who can’t wait until it’s a little cooler so perhaps they can begin enjoying warm hushpuppies…. speaking of which … as much as I love the homework you give out, I am wondering if you could do some for me – how did food hushpuppy come to be called hushpuppy… inquiring minds want to know….

    Be Well

    -j

  31. 2utoday says: 94

    :mrgreen: If your air-conditioning is broke and it is very hot,why are you not sweating and why is the window closed? I say to you that this is a ruse and you air-conditioning IS working. You are using this tactic to begin this video. Is this a fortuitous mis-step I have discovered in your videos? Very interesting!! And I have solved another mystery!!
    2utoday does it again! Yeaaa!!!

  32. O SEXY WOMAN i love that picture of ur feet near the water!

  33. mijj says: 91

    Why is totty referred to as “crumpet”?

  34. xxrookyxx says: 90

    I was just thinkin about the other side of the world and I got to wondering what the origins of war and peace are.

  35. Capman911 says: 89

    Moose and squirrel and myself just help push it to 653 votes. :grin:

  36. suprstock says: 87

    My Dearest Marina, Your beeyoubies do not move when you move so they must be unreal…(fake)…yes no or maybe???

  37. trixieagogo says: 86

    Hi Marina – These days there seems to be a lot of TOMFOOLERY going on. It’s a word I love and I’ll bet the origin is very interesting. While I await the 411 I’ll switch to the alternative ’skylarking.’
    Your new pal,
    Trixie

  38. mijj says: 85

    what’s the correct collective term for a bunch of gorillas?

    is it a gaggle of gorillas? .. or is it a serenade of gorillas .. or what?

    and who makes these things up anyway .. and who decides who has the last word?

    …. hmmmmm ..?

  39. Another hour of voting left for Tuesday. Marina has 638 votes, and I see the others are attempting to make a run for first. Can’t give up now.
    bestweekendevercontest.com

  40. Hi Marina, on You Tube, the “All – Most Viewed – This Week” page 1 shows four of your videos. I noticed that the “Big Words” video did not have a red triangle in the left corner. Is that an error or your choice?

    I love that video. Very well done. I love all of your videos as your writing, delivery and editing is superb.

  41. fletcher says: 82

    That was a neat one! I was just arguing about whether or not we’d had the dog days this summer or not. But, how can you have a video without an appearance by Kobe? He’s no fluke! Ah-ha! “Fluke” Another word for you to investigate! How does the name for the fish also work out to be the meaning for something as happenstance or luck?

  42. tomservo23 says: 81

    Could you tell me the origin of the phrase “Mind your P’s and Q’s”?

  43. huggles131 says: 80

    I need to be kept after school. :grin:
    I can’t even log my web site..

    http://www.RolandBuckles.com

  44. huggles131 says: 79

    Hi Marina,
    As your student, I would like to know more about you my teacher.
    Since the school year is just starting, please treat all your students to your personal Bio.

    Roland Buckles
    http:///www.RolandBuckles.com

  45. ben.dandrea says: 78

    hi Marina, I was talking to a friend of mine and he said I was looking at life thru rose-colored glasses, that’s where curiosity struck me; what on earth does that come from? Why ROSE-colored glasses? Thanks a lot!

  46. bassdozer says: 77

    How about the orign of:

    It’s raining cats and dogs

  47. zac_sol says: 76

    lol in the zodiac im some naked dude pouring water (Aquarius) XD

  48. sniperskaya says: 75

    I the East I am a dragon, in the West I am a horny old goat.
    A dog’s life, it’s a dog eat dog world, doggone it, throw the old dog a bone, doggy style, dog face soldier, dog tired, there are a lot of expressions relating to dogs. Who let the dogs out, Marina?

  49. vivalue says: 74

    I would love to know where the term “stereotype” came from. Help me out?

  50. mijj says: 73

    The Daily Show’s correspondents are describing the survivial kits they’re using for the Democratic Convention.
    http://www.indecision2008.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=183637

    Jason Jones says he’s taking mostly condoms.

    What’s the origin of the word “condom”? Is it related to the word “condominium”?

  51. wetsuit5 says: 72

    Oh that second puppy in the investigation cut away is one butt ugly vicious bow wow. :twisted:
    I can handle clowns but that dog’s gonna give me night mares. :evil:
    I may need to borrow Kobe for a night. :grin:

  52. 3dfx says: 71

    Hi Marina!

    I Love Trance Music! (hence why i mix)

    Now in the year of 2004 a known group
    called “The Thrillseekers” made what
    many though was the best trance track
    of the year!

    It was named: Synaesthesia

    Now i wonder if you would like
    to give some more insight on
    this Term?

    The only thing i know is that it is
    some kind of a Phenomenon..

    Id be very happy to know if you
    will look into this.

    Take Care
    – Out There…!!!

    /Joseph

    aka 3DFX (tredfxman)

  53. mattym says: 70

    wow…a word lesson that I already knew! :shock:
    But I must confess, my girlfriend is really into astrology. So is that cheating?

  54. mijj says: 69

    At your current rate, M, when do you think you’ll run out of english words to investigate.

    … and when that happens, will you switch to another language?

  55. waiter says: 68

    Hey Marina ! When you are out of words please investigate the “waiter” word !

  56. I was just wondering where the expression “Bury the Hatchet” comes from. I’ve heard it in the song by Relient K called “Which to bury, us or the hatchet” and then i heard it again when i was watching TV.
    What does bury the hatchet really mean?

  57. stokesjrj1 says: 66

    stokesjrj1 on Your comment is awaiting moderation, who is moderating my comment and why is it being moderated.

  58. If you don’t create a new word for us, Marina, I’m sure a frindle do it.

  59. oh, looky here…my astrological star info:

    Planets and the Scorpio zodiac sign

    Ruling Planet: Pluto
    Career Planet: Sun
    Love Planet: Venus
    Money Planet: Jupiter
    Planet of Health and Work: Mars
    Planet of Home and Family Life: Uranus

    prolly ‘plains a lot to y’all now, doesn’t it?

    annudder :cool:

  60. mijj says: 63

    Marina … you should invent a word and make a vid to back it up ..

    .. and then send your minions out into the world to use it at every opportunity.

    … and see if you can get it into the OED.

  61. mijj says: 62

    why is everyone talking about star signs?

  62. cufan71 says: 61

    I always thought dog days ment this is what it feels like to be a dog in the heat!!! pant pant :grin:

  63. sparksnova says: 59

    My sign is Pisces , all i know is that it looks like 2 fishes swimming apart.
    May you tell us the origin of the word, “Muse”

  64. rampage0303 says: 58

    :cool:
    I would have never guessed. I don’t know much about astronomy.

    The other day I was watching one of my favorite movies, Lord of War. In the movie a dictator said “… but after this, your supreme court of kangaroos the US will shut up…” I have heared this term, kangaroo court, before but don’t know what it means or where it comes from. Care in interprete.

  65. leonard says: 57

    bark,bark, said the goat

  66. mijj says: 56

    Marina, [here's] a practical way for you to cool down when producin’ your vids in those hot, steamy, dog days.

  67. mittheman says: 55

    Dog gone it Marina, in this dog eat dog world I read this just in the nick of time.

  68. davemarkwz says: 54

    My astrologicical sign is Gemini representing twins. I prefer to think
    of it as being split in two — SHUDDUP! You want her to think we’re crazy?!?
    As I was saying, twins, look alikes, doppelgangers, two-into-one
    -That’s it! You blew it! You might as well stop vying for Marina’s
    attentions and go for her sister.

    Gemini, folks.

  69. Sun Sign: Aquarius

    That’s too bad about your long days, Marina. Wish I could help as a fellow philologist. ;-)

    No, really, I mean that.

    Thank you,
    SGOG

    P.S. Maybe you could talk about phonetic/etymologic relations in words like “thank” “think” “thing” “tide” Tide. Hm… If you need help on that one, let me Know. I could talk about that one for at least an eternity. :idea:

  70. James says: 52

    Request for you Marina where does the word “whatsoever” come from ? does it have anything to do with the 3 words “what” “so” & “ever”?

  71. mijj says: 51

    had a long hard day trying to think of a word?

    you need refreshment from your [USB drink cooler]

  72. animalntaz says: 50

    ( :mad: Damn technical difficulty caused me to rewrite this.)
    :?: Hey Marina, I noticed that you stopped using the rating option. With 100 million views, did you thought it seemed pointless?

    ( Kobe: “Huh?!” )

    Anyway, I’m am an Aires which represents the ram, and is also associated with the planet Mars, and the god of war. But I don’t believe in that astrological stuff.

  73. roadrunrnch says: 49

    Marina
    Tu vestido roja es muy bonita.
    I never give the saying any real thought.
    But I think most people today just think of it like
    dog tired, dog gone hot, gone to the dogs. dogging it.
    Dog days ie laying around in the shade and sleep.

  74. koulis3 says: 48

    what about the word austere?? :evil:

  75. I have always wanted to know…where the phrase “what ever floats your boat” came from

  76. :cool: Thanks to Marina’s investigations i’m even learning the origin of many words of one of my mother tongues:ITALIAN,therefore now i know the origin of the Italian expression ”giorni di canicola” which refers to the hottest period of the year…canicola also mean a very high temperature in general….

    ANYWAY my zodiacal sign has got a very nice and fascinating animal as symbol: the centaur!

    • Capman911 says: 45.1

      Hi Superdanilchik. Long time not to hear from you. I hope you don’t stay away this long again. I am glad you are learning Italian now. I just can’t get the grasp on the Russian language right now. I am taking a class at night and been busy with that. Hope to hear from you soon. Your friend Mike :smile:

      • PRIVEEEET MIKE,dorogoj drug! i’ve been missing you,i stay away this long because this is my last year being a student therefore i wanted to enjoy a particular kind of vacation….far away from everything,so i did’t have any possibilty of internet connection,but i cannot forget good friends like you,of course!!! :grin:

        Sooo,now i’m going to leave again for a while,i’ll be there for a couple of weeks,that means that i’ll be sitting in Marina’s classroom regularly from the 15th of September onwards..,

        I’m sooooo glad you’ve started to study Russian,i really wish i were there to help you!!!…anyway i’m always ready to help you in any case,just ask! :smile:

        I wish for you all the best,mio caro amico. -Daniel-
        i

      • aLx says: 45.1.2

        mike,
        sorry for being unclear. never thought that you’d condemn another culture. didn’t mean that.

    • Capman911 says: 45.2

      Hey Danil, You got a mention in today’s video. :cool: The video is Karaoke. :grin: So congrats on the mention. Best of luck to you. :mrgreen:
      Mike

  77. mijj says: 44

    [Golden Hair]

    This is a superb home-made version of Syd Barret’s “Golden Hair”.

    I was looking for Syd Barret’s simple acoustic version, but couldnt find one without an overlay of extra crap.

    But i found this!!!

  78. je0592p says: 42

    i would like to know what a camel toe is

  79. ganschwann says: 41

    Hey Marina.

    I live in Denmark, and Denmark is divided into three big parts (plus a few small ones). The three parts are Jylland, Fyn and Sjælland. In english Jutland, Funen and Zealand.

    As you can see, one of the parts is named Zealand in english. I wonder why and how it got that name, and has it anything to do with New Zealand? It would be obvious if New Zealand was named after Zealand, but I don’t think that’s right, is it?

    Furthermore, which was named first? New Zealand or Zealand?

    Please help me solve this mystery =)

    • Does Sjæ mean sea in Danish? I think Zea may also mean sea in one language or another. If so, it’s ironic to pair it up with “land.” Interesting request, ganschwann. Let’s “sea” what Marina does on this one!

      • Thanks for your reply.

        The weird thing is, “sjæ” isn’t a word in danish. “Sjæl” is a word in danish, meaning soul, but I don’t think that that’s gonna help us in this case.

        Another strange thing is that the word for sea in danish is “hav” (pronounced like the word “how” in english). And obviously that’s not similar to sjæ, sea or zea at all.

        A interesting fact though, is that the danish word for lake is “sø”. Could this help us maybe?

        And by the way I’ve heard that Sjælland sometimes is reffered to as “Sealand” in english, and not only Zealand.

  80. I would like to know the origin of the song “Ring Around the Rosie”, as I have heard it came from the Black Plague. Is this true? Please investigate.

  81. Capman911 says: 39

    I am a Libra, The Golden Scales.

    Libra

  82. Dez says: 38

    Leo (Latin) – “lion”

    This constellation is also known as:
    Egyptian Denderah: Pi Mentekeon – “the pouring out” (of wrath)
    Hebrew: Arieh – “the lion (hunting down his prey)” (Symbolic of the tribe of Judah and the Hebrew Messiah)
    Syriac: Aryo – “the rending lion”
    Arabic: Al Asad – “a lion coming vehemently” or “a lion leaping forth as a flame”

    Brightest star: Regulus (from Latin meaning “little king” or “treading under foot”), also called Cor Leonis (”heart of the lion”). In Arabic the star is Rijil Al Asad – “paw (or foot) of the lion”. Note: Leo is depicted in various zodiacs as leaping upon or treading upon Hydra, the serpent.

    Other Stars in the constellation:
    Denebola – “the judge” or “Lord who cometh”
    Al Giebha (Arabic) – “the exultation”
    Zosma – “shining forth”
    Sarcam (Hebrew) – “the joining” This star is also in the head of Virgo, completing and beginning the zodiac.
    Minchir Al Asad (Arabic) – “the punishing” or “tearing of the lion”
    Deneb Aleced (Arabic) – “the judge cometh who seizes”
    Al Dafera (Arabic) – “the enemy put down”

    Leo is the completion of several ancient zodiacs as well as the completion of the imagery of the sphinx… which begins as the head of a woman (Virgo) and ends with the tail of a lion… and represents (in Greek mythology) all of the wisdom/knowledge under the heavens.

  83. hi :smile:
    i’m interested to know where the word “douchebag” came from,
    if you could investigate, that would be amazing :smile:
    love you !
    :cool:

  84. Fire…. I’m feeling a bit “dog Eared”…. woof…

  85. man hands says: 35

    mine is a symbol of a virgin. :oops:

  86. Hey Marina can you tell me more about zombies.

  87. chaiiii says: 32

    Hey Marina, I wanted to know what the word “noob” means. Hope you see the message!

    Thanks <3

  88. wademan420 says: 30

    may you please look up the origon of the slang term “Boner”?

    it may sound perverted but its intresting word…

    thank you,
    from, Wade

  89. Hey fellow pupils,
    Does anyone know what sources Marina uses? (besides the OED)

  90. wetsuit5 says: 28

    Marina, did you just add a nap? :lol: :lol:

  91. mijj says: 27

    How about cracking open the word “wisdom”, Marina?

    Ps. .. i had a little check for a pictorial represenation of “wisdom” – and “Baphomet” was forthcoming.

    On checking for a pic of Baphomet …
    (<a href=”http://ar.geocities.com/odermundo/Miedo/giger_baphomet.jpg”[depicted here by H.R.Giger])
    … a site pointed out the similarity between the [traditional pose of Baphomet] and the [statue of George Washington at Smithsonian Institution Building].

    However, on further checking, it’s no suprise. The statue of Washington was a Masonic representation, and [the Masons worship(? revere?) Baphomet].

  92. Hello Marina! i just have wrote a lovely mail for you, but i can`t find the way to send it to you. Here in the site the maxim caracters of the messages is 1000., and i wrote to you a little more. Please help me with that.
    Thanks :razz:

  93. foxbow15 says: 25

    i’m a so called “virgin” ,biggest bull shit ever those astrological signs :evil: !

    ….I think the dog at 0.50 has been in the sun to long..

  94. Marina is in first place with 626 votes. Continue voting, don’t let up until the contest ends: 11:59 p.m. ET on August 30, 2008
    bestweekendevercontest.com

    Being in first place does not guarantee her winning the contest. It does guarantee that she will enter the finals. We don’t want her to be pushed into fourth position in the last hour of voting.

    In the finals, the winner is picked from the top three voted-for videos.

  95. Capricorn: The sea goat.
    And if I ever actually saw a sea goat, I’d probaby faint.

  96. rebel70pm says: 22

    I was wondering where the word “ain’t” came from. I’m from the south and I hear it all the time. Jus curious.
    Thanks! =D

  97. prospero811 says: 21

    Lot’s of idioms involve the word “dog.”

    Why does the phrase, “my dogs are barking” mean that one’s feet hurt.

    Why does the phrase, “dog’s bollocks” mean that something is “the best,” while when something is just “bollocks,” it’s bullshit?

    Why is “a dog’s breakfast” something messy, and why is a “dog’s dinner” something neat and ostentatious?

    <