Grum

We have always used this word in my family to denote that feeling of helpless aggression induced when confronted by cuteness overload. Just do a Google image search of "sea otter" and you will know what I mean.

I don't know if it is a family word—I see the Singlish Dictionary does not include it—yet it is used by both the Tan and Low sides of my family, and my cousin who has Penang connections pronounces it, with Hokkien intonation, gee-lum. I can't help but wonder if the codifiers of Singlish have missed something here.

My late father used to muse that the etymology of grum was actually garang, the Malay word meaning "fierce". I guess he was referring to that feeling of aggression I noted above, wherein one might, say, handle a kitten too roughly because one is overwhelmed by how adorable it is. The aforementioned Singlish Dictionary does not include this sense in its definition of garang, however, and, for what it's worth, my retired-lexicographer husband scoffs at the notion.

I see that grum is defined by the Free Dictionary as "morose", as though a blend of grim and glum. It is also the stage name of a Scottish electronic musician and the name of a well-known (to some) botnet that is responsible for sending out scads of pharmaceuticals-related spam. A coincidental convergence of forms!

My cousin (another one—I have thirty-four first cousins) who lives in Perth, Australia named her cat Grummy, in tribute to the way he made her feel when she first fell in love with him. Now that she has a daughter (who, it must be said, equally deserves the name), I wonder if this word may yet take root Down Under?

ISAS Book Award 2015

I just received some good news, which is that M.J. Toswell's The Anglo-Saxon Psalter (Brepols, 2014) won the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists' Book Award for 2015. I wrote the index, so am happy to bask in some reflected glory!