Blogging from A to Z, X is for Xbox and xtra bits...

Ok we are on to letter X. I've hit a wall so to speak. Imagination is a big part of being a child so I'm going to use mine now...


X is for Xbox, we never had these as kids!  I don't feel old but looking how far technology has come in my lifetime already, is pretty crazy.

The game consoles that were around in the 80s were like this

and this

and now kids have ones like this

and you can do this

X is also for the xtra bits I've forgotten to mention (a cheat me? never, this is the best I could come up with).  Yes I know that is not how you really spell extra!

So here's all the xtra bits I forgotten to mention in posts that I wanted to do

When I talked about toys in the letter T I forgot about rubik's cubes, I never masted one and they
drove me mad.

A film I know loads of you would love, I certainly did (still do) is The Goonies.  I could tie it in with x, as x marks the spot and the film involved a treasure map (grasping at straws springs to mind).  Any way it's a fantastic film!

For yesterdays post I forgot to mention two children's programmes Why don't you? and  Wacaday, Mamma J from http://www.mamajhearts.co.uk/ reminded me about them  in her comments.

Another 'xtra bit' I wanted to tell you about and was disappointed I forgot was an author I loved as a child, Ursual Moray Williams.  I don't actually remember the author as a child but it was when I grew up I realised she was the author of so many books I loved.  Here books often involved the tales of brave little creatures and the trials and hardships of their lives who eventually find happiness in a loving home.   Here are two of my favourites:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bogwoppit-Ursula-Moray-Williams/dp/1903252369

I absolutely loved the Bogwoppit, it was one of the books I orderd from the Puffin book club!  I am seriosuly considering getting it again to see if I still would love it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gobbolino-Witchs-Young-Puffin-Books/dp/0140302395

I discovered Gobbolino through Story teller magazines.  My BFF Nik bought me a copy as a present a few years ago and we use to read it to my Hubbys children when they use to stay, they loved it to.

X is a tricky letter and it will be interesting to read what others have chosen to write about for their posts.  Did many people actually write about a genuine x word?

On my quest for words beginning with the letter X  I came across this on http://oxforddictionaries.com about words beginning with X.

How many words begin with ‘x’?

The letter ‘x’ is comparatively rare in English, especially when used to begin words. The dictionary on this website, which covers today’s English, contains about 120 words that start with ‘x’, from X itself (a noun which, among other things, is used to refer to an X-shape) to xystus (a long portico in which athletes used to exercise in ancient Greece). This total includes names of people, places, and events (such as Xenophon and Xingtai).

The much larger and historical Oxford English Dictionary, which includes rare words and obsolete terms that aren’t used in current English, but which doesn’t cover proper names, contains around 400 words that begin with ‘x’. Some of the more obscure ones are the wonderful xanthodontous, which means ‘having yellow teeth’ and xsturgy, a very rare word only recorded in 1592, meaning ‘the process of polishing’.

Many ‘x’ words in English derive from Greek sources, such as xenos (‘stranger’), which gave us xenophobia, and xulos, meaning ‘wood’, from which we have xylophone and xylography (‘the art of engraving on wood’). The ‘x’ section of the dictionary also includes a high proportion of scientific and technical terms, such as xanthic (meaning ‘yellowish’) and xiphoid (‘sword-shaped’).

from http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/how-many-words-begin-with-x

In the name of blogging from A to Z I could of told a few porkies and talked about playing the xylophone in the school orchestra but that was actually Hubby's memory not mine.  I could tell you about a horrid teacher who was mean to all the children and she was an xanthodont (one with yellow teeth) or and was xanthocomic (yellow haired)  but that would be a lie. Although we all have a teacher from our childhoods we either loved or hated.  We always disliked one called Mrs Wallis, she was a write misery, one of her things was if the class was being noisy we would have to 'look and listen'  and keep both our arms up in the air.  I can't remember how long for,  probably felt like minutes or hours but was seconds.

I feel I should stop now because, well because I'm struggling with further ideas!