Word of the Week (WOW) is a weekly challenge created by Heena Rathore P. It’s a fun way to improve vocabulary by learning new words every week.
To participate, simply do a post with your word and leave the link as a comment on Heena’s WOW post for this week (above link).
I’m up to the letter Y this week and, as with X, I’ve had limited choice for this week’s word – and I imagine Z will be just as bad. I can’t wait to get back to starting the alphabet again.
So, here is my WOW for this week:
Word:
yammer
Pronunciation:
yam•mer (ˈyæm ər)
Audio link:
Part of Speech:
verb
Related Forms:
noun: yammer; yam·mer·er
adverb: yammeringly
Meaning:
As a verb:
1. to utter or whine in a complaining or peevish manner
2. to make a complaint, loudly or persistently: 
3. (intransitive) esp of an animal, to howl or wail plaintively or distressingly; yelp or yowl.
As a noun:
- yammer e.g. The yammer of animated conversation emanated from the boardroom:
2. a yammering sound, wail, or utterance
3. nonsense; jabber
Synonyms:
beef, bellyache, bitch, bleat, carp, caterwaul, croak, fuss, gripe, grizzle, grouch, grouse, growl, grumble, grump, holler, keen, moan, murmur, mutter, nag, repine, scream, squawk, squeal, wail, whimper, whinge, whine, complain, yawp/yaup, yowl.
Antonyms:
crow, delight, rejoice
Word Origin:
Middle English yameren, alteration of yomeren -to murmur, be sad – from Old English gēomrian -akin to Old High German jāmaron, to be sad. First known use: 15th century
Use in a Sentence:
1. After the earthquake, the seismographs yammered for days:
2. Maria escorted the old lady back to her house, smiling patiently as she yammered on about the old days:
3. Chris yawned, willing the teacher to stop yammering about boring algebraic equations:
4. Left alone in the isolated cottage, Judith found the constant yammer of the guard dog quite unnerving:
If you’d like to see more interesting words visit Heena’s page:
Millie Thom 
Chris’ dream of becoming the first boy toy on Mars is slipping from his muscular grasp.
Yes, I imagine Chris might well regret his lapse of attention in future years. It’s not everyone who could make the esteemed status of first toy boy on Mars. He’s got such potential that boy… Thank you for that smile-inducing comment, Prospero. 😀
just came across a review of Shadow as I was looking at random blogs, it’s one you’d’ve seen by now since you commented on it… thought I’d mention, I’m so pleased for you that word is going ’round about how good the work is… go Millie go! you deserve it and it’s pure justice that the world be exposed to it 🙂
Thank you for your very inspiring comments, Heath. I’m not sure it can exactly be described as word ‘going round’, but a few people (besides you, of course ❤ ) have read Book 1 and reviewed it on their blogs now. I don't know which one you've seen, but they've all been very nice and positive. I've still got a long way to go, though! Perhaps when Book 3 is finished, it will help. Who knows? I hope your playscript is progressing well, too. It's hard to balance writing with so many other things, isn't it? 😀
I always though yammer meant to go on ceaselessly. So there you go, learn something new every day!
That is one of the meanings, Bekki, i.e.
to do what I do all too much… to rabbit on. It does show that in a ccouple of the sentences I’ve done. But I can see that I didn’t make that clear in the ‘meanings’ at the top. I’ll have to add a bit to that! Thanks for that.
Ah right! Read the definitions twice to check but only half read the examples! Opps! Smacking my wrist!
The fault is all mine, Bekki – no wrist slapping for you! I should have made that particular meaning clear. I’ll get round to adding something later. 🙂
🙂
Interesting word to learn! I rarely hear anyone speaking the word “yammer” in HK. I guess this word is used more often in English speaking country. Thank you Millie for being our lovely teacher! ❤ 🙂
Hello Khloe! Lovely to hear from you again. Yes, yammer is a strange word. It’s quite a well used one, although it’s not one I’d particulary choose myself. I prefer more interesting terms like ‘rabbiting on’ or ‘waffling’. I’m very good at it, whatever we call it! ❤
Hi Millie! I always love to learn new word from you. Haha yes it sounds pretty to me, but also interesting at the same time. ‘Rabbiting on’ or ‘waffling’ are definitely more interesting😉
This is a new word to me, and your sentences are quite appropriate. I can see a few uses for this word already, as number one son is yammering on about his congested nasal passages post winter lurgy!!!
You put the word to excellent use there, Amanda. (You’d have to add a photo of him, of course.) Thank you for that. 🙂
That would be difficult as he avoids photos at all costs!!!
Gorgeous explanations – that is a new word for me. But, I do know a few yammerers. It is an interesting word. I was curious about the origin, but it is definitely not Melanesian. 😛 When I read anything with “yam” I think of food Millie. We planted a lot of yams. I love eating them. I guess I have been away from PNG for too long.
It’s a funny word, and not one I’d use in particular. As for its origin, many words in the English language have Latin, Norman-French, German or Norse origins – sometimes more than one per word. I imagine Melanesian words would have very different roots. I agree, yammer is enough to make anyone think of food! I think a nice long holiday back in PNG would do you the world of good. 😀
“Use in a sentence” reminds me of the story about the teacher who asked a student to use detail, defeat, and defense in a sentence.
“De horse went over de fence, defeat before de tail,” the student answered.
Excellent! I don’t know why I haven’t heard that one before – it’s a gem. I can see what you mean about the ‘Use in a sentence’. Perhaps it does sound a bit naff!
I didn’t mean to imply that–it just jogged that memory.
I know, Ellen. And it was a good memory – which gave me a chuckle. 😀