The Ozsume Dictionary
And Other Favorite Oz Lines
The Wizard of Oz has come to permeate our entire culture. Not one day goes by that you don't hear someone quote some line to use Oz as a simile or metaphor for some situation in life. It can occur when you are least expecting it. More and more I am also hearing words that have been changed just slightly to incorporate the word Oz into other words.
Examples would be:
Ozsume: for awesome.
Wizozard: for Wizard of Oz
fabuloz: for fabulous
marveloz: for marvelous
ozmatic: for automatic
ozful: for awful
Oztomible: for automobile
Ozoholic: What every lover of Oz is called
Ozzies: What a group of Ozololics are
Ozversion: Something you really dislike
This is really a fun game. See how many you can think of?
What about the lines from Oz that we use so often in other contexts:
You ask directions of some one and they say:
"Follow the Yellow Brick Road."
You do something nice for someone and they say:
"I thank you very sweetly."
You are trying to figure out a problem and a friend says:
"Click your heels three times."
You have done something that was thoughtless and perhaps embarrassing
And you say:
"I'm melting."
Another of my favorites is when I do something that really displays that I am not thinking the way I know I can. I combine two idioms.
Duh! "If I only had a brain."
What happens when someone is scared. Perhaps walking down a street with friends after dark. How appropriate today,
"Lions, and Tigers and Bears, Oh my. . .
These are fun and can make a bad situation seem much better and they make us laugh and not take ourselves too seriously. How many more of these can you think of? Please contact me with your ideas!
Word Games for Kids and Big Kids too
Here is a fun word game that appeals to most people. We all did this in some form in school and I think it's still fun.
Example:
How many words can you find in the following sentence?
Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!
You can find:
Ask, money, are, save, kite and others.
Try these:
I'll get you my pretty, and you're little dog too.
Just follow the Yellow Brick Road.
We're off to see the Wizard . . .
Are you a good witch or a bad witch?
I am Oz the Great and Powerful.
We're on our way to see the Wizard now.
If it is not in my own back yard it wasn't meant to be.
Have fun and let me know how you did.
Jim Whitcomb suggested this game. I think it is a great idea too. Jim also has a fantastic Oz Web Site called Jim's "Wizard of Oz" Website. Thanks Jim.