As I start the morning, I ponder on what to write about. I open my computer to a fresh, blank page. Yes, I have several articles / essays / projects in various stages of writing on my ideaSketchpad 💡 that I can work on… But then again, it is a blank page that faces me… With the “Add title” in big bold letters on the top left hand corner, I wonder.

Maybe, I should get back on track with the idea of writing my book.

Interestingly, I just researched that what I and other like me, do is “blag”. Oops! I have to mention that this is an Irish word, I repeat: an “Irish” word. My family line on my father’s side is suppose to be Irish 3 generations ago. So, I thought I’d tembak a word or two in Irish here and there. “Tembak”(i) is a Malay word meaning “shoot” (ii). In this context, it means “to let fly” (iii) a word or two.

The meaning of “blag” in English is a word we commonly hear – “blog”.

noun

1. a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style. “A blog, or web log to give the term its full name, is basically a journal available for other people to read on the web.”

verb

1. add new material to or regularly update a blog. “It’s about a week since I last blogged”

“Blag” in informal British means

verb

1. manage to obtain (something) by using persuasion or guile. “they blagged two free tickets to France”
2. steal (something) in a violent robbery or raid. “I could lie in wait and blag her fur coat”

noun

1. an act of using persuasion or guile to obtain something. “Raising the £6.5 million had been either a heroic achievement by selfless, dedicated humanitarians or the blag of the century”
2. A violent robbery or raid. “He plays an ageing thief whose plans to retire are postponed by a young whipper-snapper who blackmails him into one last blag.” (1)

So, I have to be careful where I use “blag”.

Then, it seems to become more complicating when I attempt to explain further. The word “tembak” literally means to shoot (bang! bang! Not the other shoot that grows). My sentence “I thought I’d tembak a word or two” would mean “to say” or Malaysian English explanation “simply say”.

“Does “simply say” have the same meaning as “to let fly”? Generally, it is meant to have the same meaning… maybe… to say without thinking. “You simply say” or “don’t simply say” is commonly used here in Malaysia.

Then again, when I said, “I thought I’d tembak a word or two in Irish”; it was meant to mean, “I thought I’d show off my knowledge of the Irish language with a word or two in Irish”.

Ok okay, so why did I research what I and others do is called blog (more commonly used) or “blag” (to add more colour than the bland statements)? Until just a few minutes ago before I found out the actual meaning of “blog”; I used to think of it as logging in to your diary or updating your social media. Here I have a website and I’d say, I just updated my website with a new article. Now, I know what it means.

English can be a tad bit confusing, don’t you think?

I’d like to leave you with a video song clip I watched early this morning as I love to listen to the music. The Free Radicals Band is awesome. Here, they perform some hits from the iconic group, “The Doobie Brothers”.

NOTES:
1. Victionary