Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Agog about award noms

 I missed a week of Slang-o-rama, and I blame it on being agog re: nominations left and right. 'Tis the season when various organizations start putting forth their nominees for various awards, and I always devour those lists avidly. But before I offer the ones that have me all agog, let's take a quick Slang-o-rama look at (you guessed it!) agog...

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The Online Etymology Dictionary has this adverbial entry:

agog: "in a state of desire; in a state of imagination; heated with the notion of some enjoyment; longing" [Johnson], c. 1400, agogge, probably from Old French en gogues "in jest, good humor, joyfulness," from gogue "fun," which is of unknown origin.

Wiktionary also defines the Old French en gogues as "in a merry mood" and also points to the Italian agognare (“to desire eagerly”). Plus, it additionally defines the adjective agog to mean wide open (eyes), which is actually the definition that first popped to my mind. Merriam-Webster also has a very nice entry that dives a little deeper into the word and provides adjectival synonyms "eager," "agape," "astonished," bustling," and "replete." MW also provides different "first use" dates, with 1663 as an adverb and 1664 as an adjective. 

Now, to the lists!

Nominees for various mystery/crime fiction/nonfiction awards are starting to roll in:

• Nominations for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Awards are here
• Left Coast Crime has its Lefty Award nominees here (and to add excitement to my agog, THE SECRET IN THE WALL is a nominee for the Lefty award for Best Historical Mystery!)
• Malice Domestic has announced the nominees for the Agatha Awards here

Congratulations to ALL nominees, everywhere, and a special shout-out to good buddy Mary Anna Evans who is up for an Edgar and an Agatha for her nonfiction book The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie, co-authored with J. C. Bernthal. 

A good place to get the latest greatest news in the mystery corner of the world is Janet Rudolph's Mystery Fanfare blog (plus Janet runs fun cartoons that make me laugh, such as this one about the difference between dogs and cats.)

Stepping out of the world of mystery, let's not forget the Oscar nominations! Along with being an avid reader, I love movies, and am glad to see some of my favorites from last year listed. If you have any favorite films you're agog over, leave a comment and let me know...

Eyes all agog (and a marvelous hat!), circa 1880
By C & R Lavis, Eastbourne - Family collection, Public Domain, Link