Word of the Day

[Augustine2004]

conte

essay: May be an Italian count (rank) or Italian earl. Or, a short story, especially a tale of adventure.


"The conte of Monte Cristo!" That is neither proper English nor Italian. "The conte of The Count of Monte Cristo" is shockingly poor diction. Many a conte could be told about my abysmal lack of education.

[ObamaAntichrist]

Acorn

[Augustine2004]

Acorn

? The best interpretation I could come up with is, "A corny post." Acorny=? If you were contemning my last effort, I am sorry, I will try to do better.

[Augustine2004]

contemn

essay: I suspected the definition of contemn in my dictionary fell short of completeness, so I did some research. I came to no definite conclusion, but I did decide to offer some synonyms: deplore, deprecate, dis (also diss) [slang], disapprove (of), discountenance, disdain, disfavor, disrespect, high-hat, look down (on or upon), scorn, slight, sniff (at), snoot, snub.


After the Professor rattled off the synonyms for contemn, one of his students, Zoe, exclaimed, "I hope 'love' has more synonyms than that word!'

[Augustine2004]

contemporary

essay: There's a possible ambiguity with contemporary. Contemporary critics of Shakespeare may mean critics in his time or critics in our time. To make the meaning clear, rewrite either the context or the phrase in question (for example, critics in Shakespeare's time or critics today say that . . . ) [My dictionary is the source with some alterations.]

[Augustine2004]

content

resigned to circumstances.

essay: The definition above was not one that I expected, and did some brief online research. I did not find any such definition there. Usually a connotation is some kind of happiness, but that definition does not have any such connotation, does it? Moreover, what context would force that definition rather than the alternative? Feel free to jump in with a brilliant insight that would make sense of all that and banish my perplexity.


"My slaves are content," the Master said, waving a beefy hand over the cotton fields. Roarke nodded, just to be polite. He wondered what the Master precisely meant. On the basis of the slaves' poker faces, perhaps "resigned to their circumstances" was what he meant.

[biribiri]

content

resigned to circumstances.

1. satisfy in a limited way; "He contented himself with one glass of beer per day" - dictionary definition that would come close, and I think in earlier times, it may have been even closer to "resigned to circumstances", but it is unexpected in contemporary English.

As to your cited example - that sentence would be said in irony.

[Augustine2004]

contra

essay: That contra can be a preposition surprised me. You probably know it as a prefix, as in contraindicate. You might even know the usage in music: contrabasson (an instrument that is pitched next below the basson). But perhaps you didn't see this phrase before: pro and contra. Another example of preposterous usage--sorry--prepositional usage is this: Contra my poll, Dizzle chose to stay the course, and that's what brought us home.

[Augustine2004]

addendum: contra in music can be used with any instrument: contrapiano. Just kidding about that last part.

[Augustine2004]

contradistinguish

to distinguish by contrasting qualities.

We also have contradistinctive (adjective), a word similar in a way to contradistinguish.

[Augustine2004]

contrapuntal

Music: Of, pertaining to, or incorporating counterpoint.


A contrapuntist is a specialist in contrapuntal music. Wikipedia contains at least one example to which you can listen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrapuntist >>>>>>> and search for "linear" then look on the page for a reproduction of a music score. The caption underneath that has a "Play" link. (PM me if you have trouble.)

[Augustine2004]

contretemps

an inopportune or embarrassing occurrence.
An argument or confrontation.


A French word that should find wider usage, especially where I am concerned. The number of contretemps in my life may dumbfound you.

[Augustine2004]

contumacy and contumely

essay: Those words look similar, but have distinct meanings.
Contumacy : obstinate or contemptuous resistance to authority or willful disobedience to a court order.
Contumely : rudeness or contempt in behavior or speech or an insulting remark or act.


The little devil engaged in contumely toward Sally, the girl next door. Alas, that was not the end of his impishness. An hour later found him engaged in contumacy toward Mrs. Stehr, his mathematics teacher.

[Augustine2004]

conundrum

a fanciful question whose answer involves wordplay.
A puzzling problem or question that seems to have no satisfactory solution.


I didn't know about the first definition. I looked for examples and didn't find any good ones. By the way, the origin of conundrum is itself a conundrum. Readers are invited to submit conundrums of the first kind.

[Augustine2004]

conversant

familiarity owing to study or experience.


Teabooty wasn't conversant with the arts of the Tang dynasty, but he wasn't going to betray his ignorance to the scion of the Tang breakfast drink dynasty unless Teabooty couldn't help it.