Word: Woolgathering
This one is just too good to pass up. I'm going to use it at the very next opportunity I have.
The Word of the Day for January 30 is:My sentence:woolgathering • \WOOL-gath-uh-ring ("th" as in "the")\ • noun
: indulgence in idle daydreamingDid you know?
"Woolgathering" once literally referred to the act of gathering loose tufts of wool that had gotten caught on bushes and fences as sheep passed by. As you might imagine, woolgathering was an unprofitable enterprise; its practitioners must have seemed to wander aimlessly, gaining little for their efforts. In the mid-16th century, "woolgathering" began to appear in figurative phrases such as "my wits (or my mind) went a-woolgathering"—in other words, "my mind went wandering aimlessly." From there, it wasn't long before the word "woolgathering" came to suggest foolish or purposeless mind-wandering.
Dammit Vanessa, will you stop your woolgathering and finish those reports!
(Disclaimer: Any similarity to real persons is strictly a co-incidence.)














I admit to my fair share of woolgathering; much to the dismay of my employer.
Posted by: E-Doo | January 30, 2004 at 03:20 PM
Lol! I actually finished a set of reports today, you know.
Posted by: Vanessa | January 30, 2004 at 04:49 PM
Excellent! But where's your sentence? :D
Posted by: Cyn | January 30, 2004 at 08:47 PM
My mind is woolgathering, as I struggle to be productive despite my head cold.
Posted by: Rose | January 30, 2004 at 09:26 PM
I tried to remember woolgathering to put in a blog post today, but could only remember the 'w' and fell back onto procrastinating, I'm afraid...
Posted by: Vanessa | January 31, 2004 at 04:08 PM
:D,
Vanessa
Posted by: Cyn | February 01, 2004 at 12:22 AM