Do you suffer from Birthdatigue??

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Adopt a Word

After the wettest winter on record and the unexpected snow causing havoc at the start of the year (and keeping going by the looks of things!) we are all looking forward to the arrival of Spring. We hope it heralds some better weather and dream of it being the precursor to a beautiful, sunny and above all hot Summer!

It is also the time of new life with lambs frolicking in fields, busy birds building nests and baby bunnies running around. Plus, if your family is anything like mine, Spring is crammed full of celebrations that require a little imagination present wise and eating far too much cake. From a birthday pretty much every weekend from now until the end of April and Easter being early this year it is pretty easy to get party fatigue!

We thought we’d help you out with some light-hearted suggestions for words, and their definitions, that you could gift this season:

Sprogfest – a word created to describe the abundance of new life in the animal kingdom that occurs particularly in the spring time.

Birthdatigue – Experienced by many parents the world over and not just confined to the spring months, but especially prevalent at this time of year. It describes that sense of tiredness and resignation that overcomes you as you look at the fridge and realise it is plastered in birthday party invitations from varying children you are not entirely certain your child even knows at school.

Mumalicious – The best way to describe how fabulous, wonderful and delicious your mum really is. Just so you can get extra brownie points if you need to get her a present.

But why use ours??!! Add your own words to our database, with their special and personal definitions this season of gift giving, and make your celebrant feel super special using our Create A Word feature.

Share your made up words with us all this month on Twitter too. Tweet us at @adoptaword and tag it with #WordsOfSpring.

 

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Mums the word!

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Adopt a Word

Mums. We love them, they drive us bonkers and not everyone gets on with theirs, and the ones who are in-law get a lot of grief too. We miss them, some of us worryingly turn into ours and as a nation we celebrate them once a year. We can’t live without them though!

Mum, Mam, Mother, Mamma, Mummy whatever it is that you call yours, Mother’s Day is that time each year we take a bit of time to just say thank you for being ours. So amazing, beautiful, bonza, barking, Mummastar (yes, you can create a special word and add it to the database too!) the lexicon is your oyster when it comes to ways of telling your mum how much she means to you.

Our database definition of mother as being: a female who has given birth to offspring, really does not do them justice! As an added bonus this year you can earn extra brownie points, not only by adopting your mum the perfect word, but by doing so you are in with a chance to win her (and you too) a Spa Pamper Day! All you have to do is tell us why it’s the perfect word for her when you adopt it and you’re in with a chance.

We also would love you to share your words and bloopers on our Facebook page. Tell us your mum related stories, especially if they have a wordy theme and let’s all take the time to celebrate our wonderful mums.

Go on, she’s definitely worth it!

 

All words cost £15 to adopt and each adoption is treated as a donation to I CAN, the children’s communication charity. 

Voting ends midday 10th March 2013 GMT. Any votes after this deadline won’t count. The prize will be dispatched on 11th March 2013.

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The language of love

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Adopt a Word

The language of love is an extensive one, ranging from the extremely personal of pet names for each other to the oft recited poetry of Lord Tennyson and encompassing loves eponymous saint, Valentine.

The popular understanding of Valentine’s Day is based on story of one of the early Christian martyrs, a priest who performed marriages for Roman soldiers when it was forbidden for them and for ministering to Christians under persecution in Rome. When he was imprisoned he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer and legend states that before his execution he left her the message “from your Valentine”. There were in fact at least three Saint Valentines, another of whom was buried on the 14th February and who died with several companions in Africa, although little else is known about him.

But back to love! When writing this post I looked up Valentine in a thesaurus and was rather charmed that it was listed under endearment – to express affection or love. It makes sense really, for what is our modern celebration of this saint’s feast day about, but expressing your love for a special someone in your life. And with words at your disposal such as desiderate, adore, fervour and cherish to name but a few, you can always express the depth of your feelings with more than the standard “I love you”.

 

Some of our favourite love related words here at Adopt a Word HQ, to get you started, are:

Besotted

Canoodle

Enraptured

And there is always Romance itself!

 

If you want to make an impression this year with an unusual, personal and downright romantic gift for your valentine why not adopt a special word? Adopt your declaration of love, your pet name for them using our special create-a-word feature or simply how you feel about them.

 

If you chose adopt LOVE between Midday on Friday 1st February and midday on Thursday 14th February, then you will also be entered into our prize draw to win £100 of restaurant vouchers to spend at the restaurant of your choice. Here are the more detailed terms and conditions below:

1. Entrants must be UK residents over the age of 18, not employees of I CAN charity, or anyone else connected to the prize draw.

 

2. The prize draw is open to anyone that adopts the word ‘love’ from adoptaword.com between Midday (GMT) on Friday 1st February 2013 and Midday (GMT) on Thursday 14 February 2013.

 

3. The winner will be contacted by I CAN on Thursday 14th February 2013 after the draw has closed, to determine which restaurant the winner has chosen.

 

4. The prize will be dispatched to the winner’s address after Thursday 14th February 2013.

 

5. The prize of ‘£100 to spend at the restaurant of your choice’ will be in the form of a voucher from the winner’s preferred restaurant.

 

6. The prize is non-transferable. No cash alternative will be offered.

 

7. The prize will be delivered by post within 14 days of winner notification.

 

8. Adoptions of the word ‘love’ after the closing time and date will not be included in the draw.

 

9. The winner of the prize draw will be selected at random by a third party.

 

10. The name of the winner will be made available for up to 28 days after the closing date to anyone sending their email address to info@adoptaword.com with the subject heading ‘Valentines Prize Draw Winner 2013′.

 

11. The prize draw organiser is I CAN, 8 Wakley Street, London, EC1V 7QE

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It’s Chriiiistmaaas!!!!

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Adopt a Word

It’s that festive, fun filled time of year again and we’re all, well everyone in the Adopt A Word office at least, hoping for snow!

We want to know what word would make your perfect stocking filler this year? Or you can get your entire presents list sorted in one-go and help children with communication difficulties at the same time. Because that’s what Christmas is all about – helping others as well as having fun.

Adopted a word from today until Wednesday 19th December and tell us why it would make a great stocking filler, for a chance to be entered into our competition and added to our leader board. The word with the most votes will win a tinsel-tastic Kindle Fire HD!

For example, you could have;

Snow

Bauble

Snowman

Sleigh

Family

Grumpy

Cold

Or even Christmas itself!

The list goes on! To be entered into the competition the word does not necessarily have to be Christmassy but you need to tell us why you think it would be a great stocking filler. So if you want to adopt Gin for your Great Aunt Mildred because she’d like to find it in her stocking this year, you could win the Kindle Fire HD. Especially if you can get all her silver-surfing friends to vote for your word adoption.

So rally your friends and family members to vote for your favourite stocking filler and get adopting!!!

Adopt a word for yourself or as a gift between now and 19th December at Midday and you could win the new Kindle Fire HD.

The more words you adopt the more chances you have to win.

Terms & Conditions:
1. All words adopted until 19th December 2012 will be considered for entry into the competition.
2. Words must be adopted by midday BST on 19th December 2012. 3. The winner will be the word with the highest number of votes received.
 4. The winner will be contacted via email or Twitter and delivery of the prize will be arranged. 5. The winner consents for their name to be used for publicity purposes by I CAN in printed and/or online formats.
 6. I CAN will not pass on your details to any third party without your prior consent, but your name will be shown on our blog.

 

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