iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: friluftsliv. This untranslatable Norwegian word, coined by Henrik Ibsen in the 1850s, literally means “free-air life.” It captures Norwegians’ view that life is best lived outside.

Photo of the tundra in the Norwegian Arctic, with a weathered granite boulder in the foreground

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: dørstokkmil. It’s an untranslatable Norwegian word that means "the doorstep mile,” for those times when it’s a struggle to leave the comforts of home and venture out into the world.

Photo of an old clapboard house painted grey-green, with a cat sitting on the front door stoop.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: ataractic. It means serene.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Term that’s making me smile today: sea lantern. It’s what lighthouses are called in Turkey.

Photo of a lighthouse in a harbour at sunset

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: pretzel. A popular theory is that its name comes from the Latin brachitella (“little arms”) because it’s shaped like folded arms. Photo: Sundar1, CC-BY-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of a selection of pretzels in Germany

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Expression that’s making me smile today: My heart became a garden. In Hindi and Punjabi, it means being overcome with joy.

Photo of a garden bed with black-eyed Susans

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

This sounds like a lovely story. Last week I read This is a Poem that Heals Fish by Jean-Pierre Siméon, illustrated by Olivier Tallec, and translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick. Translators of picture books have an especially challenging job, I think, as every single word matters.

Cover of the picture book This Is a Poem that Heals Fish, showing a boy hugging a fishbowl

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: marathon. Marathon, the starting point of ancient Greek hero Pheidippides’ long run to Athens, literally means “fennel-field” for the aromatic plant that grew nearby. 📷: Sotiria Simota, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Term that’s making me smile today: goat rodeo. It’s a situation where everything is going jaw-droppingly, disastrously wrong, and the people in charge are hopelessly incapable of fixing it. 📷: Elena Tatiana Chis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of a white goat standing tall on the top branch of a tree

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Word that’s making me think today: umbethink. It’s an old Scottish and Northern English word that means to remember and to consider. 📷: Glen Dillon, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of the Twin Towers in Manhattan taken before the events of 9/11

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Terms that are making me smile today: cinnamon bun, little duck, meow sign, and moon’s ear. They’re what the @ symbol is called in Sweden, Greece, Finland, and Kazakhstan.

Image of the "at" symbol in different fonts scattered on a page

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: heofon-candel (heaven candle). It’s an Old English term for the sun. 📷: Pudelek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of the sun rising over distant hills in Poland

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: gökotta. It’s a Swedish concept that means waking up early and going outside to appreciate the stillness of the morning and listen to the birds singing in the new day.

Photo of a wooden deck next to a lake in the woods early in the morning

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: dogling. It’s an old term for a puppy. 📷: dbking, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of a St. Bernard puppy playing in autumn leaves

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Expression that’s making me smile today: Getting the partridge dizzy. It means “beating around the bush” in Spanish. 📷: Tisha Mukherjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I didn't think @troystory.bsky.social could write anything more heartwarming than HAT CAT, but he's done it with STILL FRIENDS, illustrated by Mike Deas. If your day needs a lift (whatever your age), I highly recommend this book from @orcabook.bsky.social. Bonus: It's 🇨🇦 through and through!

Cover of the picture book Still Friends, written by Troy Wilson and illustrated by Mike Deas

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: aurora. One of its older meanings is that it’s the beginning or early period of something. The aurora of laughter in a conversation, the aurora of understanding. 📷: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos, GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons

Panoramic photo of dawn over a rural setting

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: synanthrope. Synanthropes are animals that live near humans but aren’t pets or livestock. They’re close to us … but they’re beyond our control. 📷: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Chipmunk sitting on a stone ledge in a park

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: dendrophile. It’s a person who loves trees.

Photo of trees in a wooded area as the sun is about to set

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Idiom that’s making me smile today: talking about little cows and little calves. In Dutch, it means making small talk. 📷: Marilyn Peddle, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Three white calves walking in fresh green grass in soft light, either in the early morning or in the evening

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Sometimes I wonder how much I miss when I'm not paying attention.

A photo of wildflowers growing in at the side of a road is overlaid with a poem about life sneaking into a crack in the asphalt.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: comet. It comes from the Greek word komētēs, which means “wearing long hair.” To ancient observers, a comet’s glowing tail resembled long human hair flowing across the sky. 📷: Ballota, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of a comet streaking across the night sky, with the Kris fortress in Croatia lit up below it.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: swash. It’s the sound that water makes as it rushes up the beach after a wave breaks on shore. 📷: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: sensommer. It means late summer. It’s recognized in Scandinavia as the fifth season: the golden stretch of time that spans late August to early September, when the days are still warm but a new chill has crept into the evenings.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: twi-thought. It’s a vague or indistinct thought.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Word that’s making me smile today: glimmer-gauk. It’s an old dialect term for an owl. 📷: Quejaytee, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of a southern white-faced owl looking straight at the camera against a blurred green background

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

I still can’t believe I got to guest edit an issue of @littlethoughtspress.com. I’m hugely grateful to the editor, @clairemtaylor.com, for giving me this chance, and to all the writers and artists who embraced our theme. Come and be stirred by beautiful words! littlethoughtspress.com/issues

Cover of the Stirring Words issue of Little Thoughts Press magazine, showing two children stirring a pot of glowing words.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

You’ve got 9 more days to send in poems, stories, and artwork to help fill the treasure chest of words in @littlethoughtspress.com's Stirring Words issue (details: bit.ly/4d8I8xc). Here’s an old gem from my personal treasure chest. Want to take a guess what it means?

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Can you guess what this old word means? 🤔 You have until June 20 to showcase your favourite words in poems, stories, or artwork for @littlethoughtspress.com's Stirring Words issue (details here: bit.ly/4d8I8xc). Help to inspire a new generation of word lovers!

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

What do you think this old term means? Some fantabulous words are being showcased in the submissions for @littlethoughtspress.com's Stirring Words issue (details here: bit.ly/4d8I8xc). You have until June 20 to put your favourite words in the spotlight!

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

During the submission period for @littlethoughtspress.com's Stirring Words issue (details here: bit.ly/4d8I8xc), I'm highlighting some of the wonderfully odd words tucked away in the English language. What do you think this one means? 🤔 I'll post the answer tomorrow.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

A poem for little tree lovers 🌳

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

During each week of the submission window for @littlethoughtspress.com's Stirring Words issue (details here: bit.ly/4d8I8xc), I'm going to highlight one of the oddball words bobbing around in the English language. What's your best guess on what this one means? I'll post the answer tomorrow.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

And the answer is … a snigglygog is an old dialect term from the Cotswolds for a black snail.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

During the submission window for @littlethoughtspress.com's Stirring Words issue (details here: bit.ly/4d8I8xc), let's celebrate some of the most deliciously oddball words in the English language. What do you think this one means? I'll post the answer tomorrow.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

The birds in the dawn chorus announced a last-minute change to the song list for their medley this morning. First up: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas 🎶

Small black dog walking in the woods, on a path between trees covered in fresh snow

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

A poem starring lost positives (such as unruly/ruly and ruthless/ruthful) and a flock of cantankerous Canada geese

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Wishing I could’ve been a fly on the wall when the makers of the 1961 Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (a whopping 10 pounder) were arguing about which definitions deserved illustrations. “We need to do cringle!” “No, crinkity!” “Crinkle-bush!”

A page from the 1961 Webster's Third New International Dictionary containing an illustration for the word cringle.

Close-up of the illustration for the word cringle in the 1961 Webster's Third New International Dictionary.

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

I stepped out this morning, and everywhere there was the tinkling sound of rain falling on ice-coated snow. But most of all there was the sound of birds singing their hopeful spring songs. 🎶

A photo of a clump of icy snow on a pine branch

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Jennifer Thomas @jthomasabc.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

The March wind tickles the sleeping earth. Wake up, wake up! It’s time to get growing. 🌱

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