Katherine uses these words and clichés in some of her clever songs, Trey Très Cliché, Pronoun Promenade! and Weird, Wild, and Wacky Words.

Aardvarks - (From "Afrikaans" a language developed and spoken by 17th century Dutch settlers in South Africa). Aard=earth; vark=pig; noun. A large animal in southern and eastern Africa with a long tongue, powerful claws, big ears, and a heavy tail. Aardvarks dig or burrow in the ground, and usually feed at night on termites and ants.

adFay - Pig Latin; noun. "Fad."

Alphabet - Greek; noun. A set of letters or other characters that are arranged in a certain order so that one or more languages can be written.

Bits - French; noun. Unit of computer information

Break a leg - Slang, cliche; phrase. Performers say this statement to one another before they appear on stage. It means "do well!" In the case of this song, you might also take it to mean exactly what it says. Poor Trey! Renee was pretty mean!

Buenos díaz - Spanish; interjection. Greeting that means "Good day."

Bytes - noun. A group of

Bite the dust - Cliche; verb. To fall in defeat; to lose; to be killed in battle.

Catch my drift? - Slang; phrase. Do you understand? Do you get the meaning?

Craze - Greek; noun. A set of letters or other characters that are arranged in a certain order so that one or more languages can be written. - Scandinavian; noun, obsolete. A sudden popular enthusiasm that creates an immediate fad. (The Beatles; Barney; Power Rangers; Pet Rocks; Pogs; The Internet;)

Cyberspace - Noun. A place that is automatically controlled by computers.

Ditty - French ; noun. A very simple song, that you can hum or sing instantly.

Exemplifies - French; verb. To show or serve as an example.

Floshes - Early English; noun. Swamps filled with weeds.

Gibb'rish - French; noun. Short for "gibberish" which means language or words that don't make sense, or cannot be understood. Like "gobbledygook."

Go jump in a lake - Slang, cliche; phrase. Disappear, or the literal meaning as it is written.

Habla'd - Spanish and English; verb. From Spanish verb "hablar" which means "to say." The "d" at the end is meant to put the word in the past tense, as in "said." This is a word I made up.

Hieroglyphic - Greek ,Latin and French; adjective. System of writing in picture form

It ain't no joke - Current street ; phrase. From Southern slang; ain't=it is not. It's not a joke. I'm not lying!

Italicized - Adverb. A style of letters in which they are printed at a slant.

It's Greek to me! - Cliche. It's too hard for me to understand.

It's hot! - Slang; cliche; phrase. It's exciting. It's in demand. It's new.

Jive - Origin unknown, noun. A way of talking using special words and phrases that are hard for some people to understand.

Kudos - Greek; noun. Honor, compliment, or praise.

Like a buffalo herd - Phrase I made up. Try it sometime. What else makes a loud noise?

Lumbering - French; verb. Moving heavily.

Make a stand - Cliche; phrase. To commit to

Mega - Greek; adjective. Great; large; multiplied by one million

Megahertz - Noun. A unit of frequency.

Migosay - Spanish Pig Latin; noun; plural. "Amigos or friends."

Mon Cherie - French; phrase. My Dear.

Murfles - Early English; noun. Freckles.

Mumbo jumbo - Noun. Complicated activity that's all confused. Gibberish.

Mumbo jumbo rumble - Phrase I made up, that means, "The words just sort of tumbled together, in a confused way.

Myriad - Greek; noun. An immense number

Newfangled - French; adjective. Of a fancy new style or fashion.

Noodles - Dutch; noun, plural. Long ribbon shapes and others made of flour and egg dough; Slang for "heads" as in "using our noodles."

Oodgay yebay - Pig Latin; interjection. Good bye. Comes from "God be with you."

Promenade - French from verb "promener" (to take for a walk) and Latin from "prominare" (to drive forward); noun. A movement in a square dance in which couples move counterclockwise in a circle. A grand march of all the guests at a formal ball.

Say what? - Current street; phrase. What did you say?

Señor - Spanish; adjective. Addressing a man that means "Mister."

Shazzaam - Slang; interjection. A made up statement made popular in a comic book that means "WOW!"

Take a hike - Slang, cliche, phrase. Disappear, or the literal meaning as it is written.

Techno - Greek and French, 20th Century English Slang; adjective. Short for "technology."
Applied science; Art; Craft.

Teddy Bear - Noun. Small stuffed toy bear named for Theodore Roosevelt, (26th President of the U.S.), after a cartoon showed him sparing the life of a cub during a hunting trip.

Tell it to me straight -Slang; phrase. Be honest with me.

Terrestrial - Latin and French; adjective. Of or relating to the earth

Touché - French from verb "toucher" to touch; phrase. To acknowledge a hit in fencing; or the success of an argument, accusation, or a witty point.

Voilà - French; verb. Look!

Vowels - French; noun. A,E, I, O, U and sometimes Y. Open sounds in speech; the sounds that dominate most words in the English language.

Yo - Spanish; street; for "me" or "Hey you!"

Wink-a-peeps - Early English; noun. Eyes.

Yerds - Early English; verb; plural. Pokes with a stick

Zyzomys - Greek and French; noun. A small Australian rodent, with short round ears, and a long tail.

Many thanks to Katherine Dines for permission to publish this glossary.
©1995 Katherine Dines. All rights reserved.

Katherine Dines is an award-winning songwriter, recording and teaching artist who performs throughout the world. To date, she has created six albums in the acclaimed series known as "Hunk*Ta*Bunk*Ta®" In addition to live concerts, she presents educational workshops for students
and in-service workshops for parents and teachers. For the past two years, she has toured military bases for the United States Department of Defense in honor of "Military Child Month."
Residing in Denver, Colorado, she continues to write and record material for other projects and is expanding Hunk*Ta*Bunk*Ta® into books, toys, television and other educational material.
Contact information: (303) 298-7122; (303) 298-7082 (fax); www.hunktabunkta.com

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