Oe, Oes

How about another obscure double-vowel word — oe. There seem to be a few definitions for this one, all of which have an Anglo-Saxon flavour to them. The definition most familiar to Scrabble players is that the oe is a violent whirlwind that occurs off the Faroe Islands. For those of you not familiar, the Faroes are a small group of islands to the Northeast of Scotland, roughly equidistant between it and Iceland.

That's where to find an oe.

The other definition I found is an archaic Scottish term for an illegitimate grandchild. And I also found reference to it as an alternate spelling (Scottish again) for oy, an expression of pain, despair or annoyance.

Don’t forget that you can put an -s at the end of this one, for those instances when there are multiple whirlwinds off the Faroe islands. It happens.

Lets use all three definitions in a sentence, shall we?

“Oe! My oe died in the oe, and I am thus too saddened to eat this haggis.”

Ai, Ais

My first post will focus on one of those delightfully useful double-vowel two-letter words — ai. The ai, also known as the Maned Sloth, also known as Bradypus torquatus, is a roughly cat-sized herbivore. Native to the Atlantic coastal rainforests of Brazil, deforestation has reduce its range, and it is now listed as vulnerable to extinction. Ais are reported to spend 60%-80% of their time sleeping (doing so upside-down). They lead solitary lives, only coming together to mate, after which a single sloth baby is born.

The plural of ai is ais. Pronounce it ah-eee.

Now lets use it in a sentence…

“Oh my god… the ai just bit me, and now it has a taste for blood!”

I want one!