Zealous and Zoo What?

I got way behind on posting this last entry of the A to Z Blogging Challenge due to garden work and then thunder storms that required keeping our computers off for the weekend. So here goes for the last entry. I was going to write on Zealous and I will post just a short paragraph about that word and then move onto a fun word I discovered in the dictionary.

My first choice of a Z word was zealous since that describes John to a T. It means to be full of, characterized by, or due to zeal;  ardently active, devoted, or diligent. Normally we think of the word zeal used in the context of religion, or a specific cause. In thinking about my son, zealous could describe just about any activity he engaged in. But he wasn't the type to choose many things to occupy his time. There were just a few things that he was truly zealous about; his relationship with God, his studies, orchids, biking and tropical fish. What are you zeaous about?

Now for the fun word: Z is for Zoo Doo. Yep! It's really an entry in the dictionary. This is going to be fun! The dictionary definition of zoo doo is: compost made from the dung of zoo animals.

When I saw this word, it reminded me of something that happened to me one time in Brazil many years ago. The circus was in town and I had heard that zoo doo was really good for the garden. However, I would have to get some of the zoo animal manure; especially elephant manure, in order to make some. So some friends and I jumped into a pickup truck and went down to the circus to ask for some.

Keep in mind that we hadn't been in Brazil for all that long and I was still working on becoming proficient in Portuguese. We finally found someone who seemed to be caring for the animals so we thought he would be a good candidate to ask about the elephant manure. In my best Portuguese I said what I thought was, "Do you think I could have a load of elephant manure for my garden?"

The response was a rather puzzled look on the man's face. He looked back and forth from me to the pickup truck, to the elephant and continued to seem puzzled. I thought maybe he hadn't heard me or hadn't understood me so I asked again, slightly rephrasing my question.

Finally, after a long hesitation he said, "Well, ma'am, I don't think the elephant is going to fit in your pickup truck!"

We've had many a good laugh at my expense over this! To this day, I have no idea what I really said. (FYI: I did get a load of elephant manure and it made lovely zoo doo.)