I belong to a subscription for a daily word sit called Wordsmith (wordsmith.org). They send a word out daily; I know some of them, some are complete surprises. So I want to share this one from the other day:
psithurism pronounced (SITH-yuh-riz-uhm)
It means the rustling or whispering sound, such as of leaves in the wind. Wordsmith says the word comes from the Greek psithurizein (to whisper), from psithuros (whispering, slanderous). Earliest documented use: 1848.
Who has not experienced psithurism? And who, having experienced it, has known the name for the whispering sound of leaves and green branches swaying in the breeze?
We had a large weeping willow tree in the back yard when I was just a little psithurer (that is not a real word) and, while we didn't have an American flag flying (the one at the fire house was right across the street) we did have the whistling willow branches, not far from the clothesline, where sheets and t-shirts and boxer shorts got dry from the winds of summer.
In winter, if you didn't get outside soon enough, the laundry froze, and you took it inside stacked up, and sometimes the next morning saw me putting on pants and shirts that crackled as if they had been heavily starched.
As the years went by, we got a clothes dryer, which meant no more running outside at the first sign of a thunderstorm, and the willow wept alone.
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