Word of the Day

[Augustine2004]

Theme: Shakespeare's words

arm-gaunt
armipotent

adj.
first word -- lean from bearing arms
second word -- mighty in arms.

Antony and Cleopatra Act I Scene V:
Alex. ‘Good friend,’ quoth he, 52
‘Say, the firm Roman to great Egypt sends
This treasure of an oyster; at whose foot,
To mend the petty present, I will piece
Her opulent throne with kingdoms; all the east, 56
Say thou, shall call her mistress.’ So he nodded,
And soberly did mount an arm-gaunt steed,
Who neigh’d so high that what I would have spoke
Was beastly dumb’d by him. 60


All’s Well that Ends Well Act IV. Scene III:
First Lord. This is your devoted friend, sir; the manifold linguist and the armipotent soldier. 104


Possible modern use: The arm-gaunt boys in Bastogne welcomed Third Army Commander Patton's armipotent boys.

[Augustine2004]

Theme: Shakespeare's words

aroint thee

command.
Be off with you.


King Lear Act III. Scene IV:
Edg. This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet: he begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock; he gives the web and the pin, squints the eye, and makes the harelip; mildews the white wheat, and hurts the poor creature of earth.
Swithold footed thrice the old;
He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold;
Bid her alight,
And her troth plight,
And aroint thee, witch, aroint thee!




Possible modern use: {This seems a classy & useful phrase for TWeb moderators.}

I forgot to credit http://www.bartleby.com/70/4334.html for my Shakespeare quotes. Sorry!

[Augustine2004]

Theme: Shakespeare's words

bell-wether

substantive.
a sheep at the head of a flock that bears a bell.

The Merry Wives of Windsor. Act III. Scene V.
Falstaff. <snip> But mark the sequel, Master Brook: I suffered the pangs of three several deaths: first, an intolerable fright, to be detected with a jealous rotten bell-wether; next, to be compassed, like a good bilbo, in the circumference of a peck, hilt to point, heel to head; and then, to be stopped in, like a strong distillation, with stinking clothes that fretted in their own grease: think of that, a man of my kidney, think of that, that am as subject to heat as butter; a man of continual dissolution and thaw: it was a miracle to ’scape suffocation.<snip>

Modern use:
Bell-wether is often applied to a leader, a standard, or a representative.

{Some of you who read Falstaff's complaint above (that fat guy comic who's so good at talking his way out of verbal traps) may think of Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of Rings trilogy. Shakespeare meant "bilbo," a sword with a flexible blade. I suppose Falstaff compared his "compression" to the flexing of a bilbo to fit into a small space.}

[Lazy Agnostic]

Augie,
Thanks so much for filling-in while we're away. Right now I'm typing on a french keyboard and brother what a chore. I'm glad I don't have to catch up today. Thanks, again.

[Augustine2004]

Augie,
Thanks so much for filling-in while we're away. Right now I'm typing on a french keyboard and brother what a chore. I'm glad I don't have to catch up today. Thanks, again.

No problem. What do the French say in situations like this one?
_______________________________


Theme: Shakespeare's words

bemadding


adjective.
causing madness.


King Lear. Act III. Scene I.
Kent. <snip> Now to you:
If on my credit you dare build so far
To make your speed to Dover, you shall find 40
Some that will thank you, making just report
Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow
The king hath cause to plain. <snip>
{The last word is 'to complain of.'}

Modern use:
Dee Dee was ready to spit bullets. She felt that especially Archgerbil's criticism was bemadding. {Not a knock on Mad Gerbil, whose posts are on the contrary besaning.}

[Augustine2004]

Theme: Shakespeare's words

break cross


verb.
(Of a knight's lance) break unfortunately.


Much Ado About Nothing. Act V. Scene I.
Claudius Nay then, give him another staff: this last was broke cross.


Possible Modern use:
The last try broke cross, again, leaving Sad Sack to wonder why his luck had been so ruinously bad all week.

{I selected some words from a glossary in a complete "works of Shakespeare" anthology while watching the Dallas Cowboys break the heart (cross?) of Seattle Seahawks in a Monday Night game, so it really didn't take extra time at all. In fact writing up the Shakespeare "Word of the Day" selections is taking more time than gleaning them in the first place. I found a passel of words with meanings different in Shakespeare's time from today. Here's an annotated list:

One would think that buck-washing would have something to do with getting a male mammal of a certain genus to come clean. Nay, it can mean, washing linen. Buck is, linen in the wash. Buckram is not a male animal that tries to butt you in your, well, butt, but tough, stiff linen. Budget may mean, a tinker's bag. Bulk may not mean excessive waist fat, but the display stall in the front of a shop. The most surprising meaning is that for bully: A fine man; friend. What can I say, but "Bully for bully!" Cheapen may mean, bargain for. Competitor may not be your foe but partner, at least in Shakespeare's time.}

[Augustine2004]

Theme: Shakespeare's words

blench


verb, intransitive.
to recoil or start as from shock.
other meanings not listed.

substantive (in Shakespeare's time.)
sidelong glance.

King Lear. Act III. Scene I.
Duke. <snip> The provost knows our purpose and our plot. 4
The matter being afoot, keep your instruction,
And hold you ever to our special drift,
Though sometimes you do blench from this to that,
As cause doth minister.


Modern use:
Fearfully peering into the bird's room, Dee Dee saw something that made her blench.
{"That moment is more than equal to any in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds."
_______ --- Lazy Agnostic, Chicago Talltales}

{Yet another fine mess in English that makes little girls blench: A word of the same spelling is often used in the sense of to turn white (usually spelled blanch). A related word is bleach. It comes from the French word for white, blanc.}

[Augustine2004]

Theme: Shakespeare's words
{correction to last word entry ('blench'): Measure for Measure. Act IV. Scene V. Had you consequently clenched your fists in fury, my apologies.}

bootless


adj.
useless, pointless.


King Henry the Sixth, 3rd Part. Act II. Scene VI
Clifford.{wounded} <snip>
Bootless are plaints, and cureless are my wounds;
No way to fly, nor strength to hold out flight:
The foe is merciless, and will not pity;
For at their hands I have deserv’d no pity.
<snip>


Modern use:
Microsoft's long and bootless attempts to turn the Fists of Fury game into a international bestseller made Bill Gates wonder if he'd lost his Midas touch. To blame, however, are such things as Old Navy commercials, . . .

[Augustine2004]

Theme: Shakespeare's words


candle-waster


substantive.
bookworm.


Much Ado About Nothing. Act V. Scene I.{Unfortunately, this passage is difficult. Shakespeare's plays are better heard than read anyway. Hie thee to a stage production of Much Ado About Nothing!}
Leonato. <snip>
Bid sorrow wag, cry ‘hem’ when he should groan,
Patch grief with proverbs; make misfortune drunk 20
With candle-wasters; bring him yet to me,
And I of him will gather patience.
<snip>


Possible Modern use:
{That's a phrase to remember ('candle-waster') should you be called that in a TWeb post. (joke) I will look for a comeback to that. (joke)}

[Augustine2004]

Theme: Shakespeare's words

clerestory
clerestories


substantive.
The upper part of a large building like a church with windows; the windows themselves.


Twelfth-Night; or, What You Will. Act IV. Scene II.
Clown. Why, it hath bay-windows transparent as barricadoes, and the clerestories toward the south-north are as lustrous as ebony; and yet complainest thou of obstruction?


Modern use:
The clerestory windows in the gym might use a good cleaning. It did seem dim inside despite a bright day outside.

[Augustine2004]

Theme: Shakespeare's words

cockatrice


substantive.
a mythical serpent supposedly having a fatal glance and hatched from a cock's egg.
Click here for a picture if you don't mind being killed.


Romeo and Juliet. Act III. Scene II.
Juliet.
What devil art thou that dost torment me thus?
This torture should be roar’d in dismal hell.
Hath Romeo slain himself? say thou but ‘I,’
And that bare vowel, ‘I,’ shall poison more
Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice:
I am not I, if there be such an ‘I;’
Or those eyes shut that make thee answer ‘I.’
If he be slain, say ‘I;’ or if not ‘no:’
Brief sounds determine of my weal or woe.


Modern use:
Hercules was fortunate to be behind Xena when she was glaring at the male centaur, so cockatrice was her face.

[Augustine2004]

Theme: Shakespeare's words

Corinthian


substantive.
a citizen from Corinth, a city in south Greece that was noted for licentiousness.

King Henry the Fourth, First Part. Act II. Scene IV.
Prince Hal, the future Henry IV. {Here he is telling a friend about his riotous time.}
<snip> They take it already upon their salvation, that though I be but Prince of Wales, yet I am the king of courtesy; and tell me flatly I am no proud Jack, like Falstaff, but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a good boy <snip>.


Modern use:
Like Prince Hal, before he became King Henry IV, "no proud Jack, like Falstaff, but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a good boy," the scion of the von Haupsnitskioff family embarked on a wastrel life.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Back from France. Charming visit; hope to retire there. Thanks to St Augustine for filling-in. Please feel free to continue your contributions.


Word of the Day for Wednesday December 15, 2004

hoi polloi

\hoi-puh-LOI\, noun:
The common people generally; the masses.

Lizzie insisted that her children distinguish themselves from the hoi polloi by scrupulous honesty.
--Kate Buford, Burt Lancaster: An American Life

The exchange of roles in "The Prince and the Pauper" suggests that a man of the people can be a benevolent ruler because of his humble roots, that a prince can become a better ruler through exposure to hoi polloi.
--Michiko Kakutani "In Classic Children's Books, Is a Witch Ever Just a Witch?" New York Times, December 22, 1992

America's cereal queen [Marjorie Merriweather Post, heir to the Post Cereal fortune] had the same problems that the hoi polloi have -- philandering husbands, messy divorces, soggy Grape-Nuts.
--Maureen Dowd, "Rich Little Rich Girl," New York Times, February 12, 1995


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Hoi polloi is Greek for "the many."

Usage: Some argue that the definite article ("the") should not be used in front of "hoi polloi," as hoi means "the" in Greek. However, "the hoi polloi" has been used since the earliest recorded instances of the term in English and is considered correct by most authorities.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday December 16, 2004

recherche

\ruh-sher-SHAY\, adjective:
1. Uncommon; exotic; rare.
2. Exquisite; choice.
3. Excessively refined; affected.
4. Pretentious; overblown.

. . . recherche topics interesting only to university specialists.
--Katharine Washburn and John F. Thornton, Dumbing Down

She was mocking the pretensions of the cookery writer who insists on recherche ingredients not because of their qualities but their snob value.
--Angela Carter, Shaking a Leg

In recent years, Garber's appetite for the rigors of theory seems to have diminished. The books have kept coming, but the italics-heavy meditations and the recherche terminology have receded.
--Zoë Heller, "House Arrest," The New Republic, July 3, 2000


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Recherche comes from French, from rechercher, "to seek out," from re- + chercher, "to look for, to seek."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday December 17, 2004

permeate

\PUR-mee-ayt\, transitive verb:
1. To spread or diffuse through.
2. To pass through the pores or openings of.

intransitive verb:
To spread through or penetrate something.

A darkly sweet aroma permeated the air; white orchid blossoms erupted from snakelike vines.
--Chu Tien-Wen, Notes of a Desolate Man

Passers-by could see into buildings through display windows, while the warm glow and sweet smells emanating from the shops and cafes permeated the partly enclosed pedestrian ways.
--Larry R. Ford, The Spaces Between Buildings

The travelers, with their pinched, ferocious expressions and their too brightly glittering eyes, projected an aura of paranoia mixed with anxiety that permeated the bus.
--Tama Janowitz, A Certain Age

The fear of crime permeates their lives. They worry about being mugged . . . in a parking lot or while walking home from work.
--David J. Krajicek, Scooped!


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Permeate is from Latin permeare, "to go through, to pass through," from per-, "through" + meare, "to go, to pass."