lent, lent, lint & lindt–strange, ain’t it?

today is ash wednesday; the first day of lent, a 40 day period of sacrifice and spiritual preparation on the calendar of many christian churches. believers are preparing for easter sunday which celebrates the resurrection of jesus christ.

boy receiving ashes on forehead for ash wednesday

ash wednesday is the first day of lent (nbcnews.com)

robbie williams uses the word in his sarcastic song millennium and references the tradition of giving something up (abstaining from, quitting) for lent. listen at 1:05 on the video

live for liposuction, detox for your rent
overdose for christmas and give it up for lent

lent is also the irregular past tense and past participle of the verb lend.

i need the money i lent u
this awkward request is a funny example of lend in the past

lindt, the swiss chocolate brand is pronounced the same way too.

picking lint out of a belly button 
gross belly button fuzz is pronounced the same as the delicious brand of chocolate (getty)

finally, lintthe fuzzy material that collects in dryers, pockets and belly buttons has the same pronunciation as well.  it doesn’t happen often, or maybe it had never happened before and will never happen again, but lint made it into headlines during the nba playoffs in 2014.

lint brush. not lent brush.
a lint brush

rapper drake was seen lint-brushing his pants courtside at game 2 of the toronto raptors/brooklyn nets nba playoff series in 2014.  it was heavily reported in the media.

do u observe lent? could u give up lindt chocolate for 40 days? have u ever lint-brushed in public? post your experiences under leave a reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *