Wednesday, November 04, 2009

WNW: Best Word Ever--Theobroma


Today's WNW is a brief vocabulary lesson . . . with a point.

The word: theobroma

Let's break it down.

Theo comes from the Greek root for "god"

broma means "food"

So basically, theobroma means "food of the gods."

Can you guess what it means? No, not ambrosia. Something even better. Oh, yeah. You know.

Theobroma is the genus name for the cacao plant.


(Here's a picture of cacao pods I took myself at the NY Chocolate Show back in 2003.)

In short, theobroma refers to CHOCOLATE, and one of the main chemicals found in chocolate is called theobromine.

So why did I use WNW to share a chocolate vocabulary lesson today?

Because I have a special announcement:

My chocolate cookbook has been officially accepted for publication!

The original thought was the it might be out next fall (Oct 2010) just in time for Christmas shopping. The official release date is still up in the air, but there's a slight possibility it might come out a little earlier.

I'll keep readers updated!

In the meantime, I'm going to go celebrate with some of the Finnish chocolate my parents brought home with them.

(You haven't tasted milk chocolate unless you've had a Fazer Blue. Go ahead and feel jealous.)

22 comments:

Cluttered Brain said...

Thanks for the theobroma lesson! WOW! CONGRATS!!!!I love chocolate!

And just in case you didn't see your FB profile page yet, I ordered the Word nerd book yesterday! It should be shipped MON. YEAh for me too!!!!!

Kristina P. said...

THis is so exciting! Congrats!

And I am definitely going to try to use this word around Charlie.

Don said...

Hooray! This is great news. Can't wait to try out the recipes.

Melanie Jacobson said...

Congrats!

Cheri Chesley said...

Yay!! I love the connection, too--chocolate is the food of the gods :)

Congrats on the cookbook. I can't wait to get my hands on one.

Jami said...

Oh yum! You've been making my chocolate-hungry for months over on facebook. Can't wait to see it.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!!! Hooray for me! Er, I mean YOU! (But really me because I'll get to buy said book and impress people with my chocolate skills that I don't really have.)
And you announced it in the BEST possible way: with a WORD-NERD WEDNESDAY!!! Woo-hoo!

CountessLaurie said...

OKAY, I am officially jealous.

Anonymous said...

I'm so excited for the cookbook to come out. How exciting, after all your hard work.

On another note, I've been writing my first draft of my first novel, and I must say, I love your There, Their, They're book. I bought it at the Book Academy Conference, and use it often. Whenever I'm stumped by something, I ask myself, "What does the Word Nerd have to say about it?" It's been very helpful for me.

Carolyn V. said...

Oh my gosh! How awesome! I'm going to kick up my treadmill time so I can buy it!

Sherrie said...

Congratulations! I can't wait.

Stephanie Humphreys said...

Now I know what to put on my Christmas list next year. Congratulations!

NorahS said...

Congratulations!

And I agree it is the perfect name for chocolate.

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

I love that you tied the announcement in a WNW! Really hope it comes out on the earlier end of the spectrum. So thrilled for you!

Stephanie said...

Agreed. One of the best words ever.

Randi said...

Wait, did you say genus, or genius? Because I think you could apply either and be totally correct!

Congratulations!! I can't wait.

Lara Neves said...

Phewsh and Congrats and I can't wait to buy your book of Theobromine goodness!

Sher said...

This is your best WNW yet! Anything to do with Chocolate is good!
Especially a cook book full of...I was going to say Theobroma goodness, but Lara beat me to it!

Amanda D said...

Congratulations! I'm so excited for you! And for me because I'm thinking baking with some chocolate sounds pretty good.

Amanda D said...

Here's one for a WNW - is it "peeks" your interest or "peaks" your interest. I don't know and for some reason, it's driving me crazy!

LisAway said...

Hooray! Congratulations. That's terrific. And HOW COOL about the chocolate being the food of the gods. I guess it's no recent discovery, eh?

And I love Amanda D's WNW suggestion. Didn't you recently mention that one? Because I seem to recall that neither of those spellings are correct. :)

Cranberryfries said...

Yahoo. Congrats on it being done. I know the perfect person for this. Can't wait to get her a copy.

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