Come talk about fun and quirky words in the English Language. Posting is open to all members.
trill
This morning on the radio I heard an advert for Slippery Elm Cough Drops. Their sales pitch includes the line Widely used by singers, those who trill, talk, testify, and extend the limits of their vocal abilities. So I had to look up trill.
I was aware of the noun version, a rapid alternation between an indicated note and the one above it. But I was not aware of the verb: to impart the quality of a tril to; to utter as, or with, a trill. I'm not an expert on the word, but I imagine Lina Lamont from Sound of Music Singing in the Rain.
So protip of the day: if you find yourself trilling go get yourself a Slippery Elm cough drop. (disclaimer: the author has never tried Slippery Elm cough drops.)





It'd be hilarious if the statement "A trill is a higher pitched ululation." was accurate. Alas, a ululation is just a howl. But I've often thought of lower-pitched trills as ululations.
I guess I'm on a vocal kick and I didn't even realize it!
Slippery elm cough drops seem odd to me, since slippery elm is more for digestive issues.
I'm a singer. In my experience as a verb, it's more a high-pitched rolling your tongue at someone. You know how people fake purr? It's kind of like that only with a high pitch involved. My middle child does it all the time. Think of a high-pitched cooing. It's not necessarily a bad sound like Lina Lamont. (Who's in Singing in the Rain, not Sound of Music ;).)
The rolled R in the Spanish language is also considered a trill, if I'm remembering my Spanish classes properly!
Yeah. That's really what I think first. Followed by a bird noise. Also the way that Cosette sings in "Heart Full of Love" is a bit trilly. Not my particular style but it's not bad.
To "trill your Rs" is how I've used it most, but when I think of musical trilling I think of Snow White singing to the birds.
Oops you are totally right on the movie. Are you saying it has positive contexts more than negative ones?
Yeah. Or at the very least neutral ones. At least not without any sort of modifier. Trilling nasally would be bad.
Cool. Thanks for setting me straight on that. For new words I depend on you guys to fill in the gaps of what I can get in 15 minutes of internet research.
Trill is also an extraterrestrial species in Deep Space: Nine. I never heard one sing.
Oh I'm fairly sure Jadzia Dax sang at some point in DS9.
She sings with Klingon chef in "Playing God" iirc.
Probably on the Klingon ship with Worf as second officer too. And a bunch of other times. Certainly she hummed a lot in that episode with the hidden previous host who was a murderous pianist.
Sounds familiar. I'm rewatching it and I'm not that far into the series because I keep getting distracted by work.
I'll not remind you of any more then :) It was a good series though, there was a story arc but it was pretty episodical too. In recent years everything half good is a huge story arc that you cannot possibly follow if you don't binge watch.
Indeed. I haven't watched it all the way through since it first ran. I've picked up episodes here and there on syndication. But children, life, and now lack of an actual tv got in the way. So I'm doing my best to binge watch, but since my work involves television, I end up reading in my spare time rather than watching tv.
Often much better to read anyway. My favourite author died 2 years ago though, and in many respects he ruined reading for me. I have a great deal of trouble enjoying other authors because I found his books and writing so good.
That sucks. :( I've pretty much always been a reader. I don't even know if I could say I have a favorite author.
I didn't as a kid, but I can honestly say that Terry Pratchett was my favourite by far now. And he wrote so many consistently great books. I liked Douglas Adams too, sadly few books by him before he died.
Both good choices. You may like Tad Williams.