Avuncular

I just had to look this one up; alas, it wasn’t all that exciting.

adj 1: being or relating to an uncle 2: like an uncle in kindness or indulgence; “showed avuncular concern”

1. Of or having to do with an uncle.
2. Regarded as characteristic of an uncle, especially in benevolence or tolerance.

But then I found this one: whorled

adj 1: like the pattern basic to the human fingerprint [syn: looped] 2: in the shape of a coil [syn: coiling, helical, spiral, spiraling, volute, voluted, turbinate] 3: forming one or more whorls (especially a whorl of leaves around a stem) [syn: verticillate, verticillated]

Having or forming whorls or a whorl: whorled flower parts; a whorled textile pattern.

Which obviously led to this one: whorl

noun 1: a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles [syn: coil, roll, curl, curlicue, ringlet, gyre, scroll] 2: a strand or cluster of hair [syn: lock, curl, ringlet] 3: a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops; “a coil of rope” [syn: coil, spiral, volute, helix]

1. A form that coils or spirals; a curl or swirl.
2. A turn of the cochlea or of the ethmoidal crest.
3. An area of hair growing in a radial manner.
4. One of the circular ridges or convolutions of a fingerprint.

Which then reminded me of a little girl that lived in our neighborhood when I was but a wee child. I think her last name was close to ours, which did seem to cause some confusion amongst the parishoners. You see, she whorled (to think that I used to say twirled) her hair into such tiny knots that it pulled out. I do believe that this is some type of diagnosed behavior disorder, although I can’t remember the name.