Word of the Day

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday August 24, 2003

HYPERBOLE

hyperbole \hy-PUHR-buh-lee\, noun:
Extravagant exaggeration.

[bar Jonah]

Today @ 09:09 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=192952#post192952)
Dee Dee Warren:
Word of the Day for Sunday August 24, 2003

HYPERBOLE

hyperbole \hy-PUHR-buh-lee\, noun:
Extravagant exaggeration.
Anyone who knows me well, knows this is one thing I'm never guilty of.

Not only do I not lie, but I don't even exaggerate.

Not EVER. :ri:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday August 27, 2003

DOUR

dour \DOO-uhr; DOW-uhr\, adjective:
1. Harsh; stern.
2. Unyielding; inflexible; obstinate.
3. Marked by ill humor; gloomy; sullen.

[Bob Jenkins]

Has somebody called Dee Dee dour? Where did she hear that word?

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday August 29, 2003

DOPPELGANGER


doppelganger \DOP-uhl-gang-uhr\, noun:
1. A ghostly double or counterpart of a living person.
2. Alter ego; double.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Saturday August 30, 2003

GAINSAY


gainsay \gayn-SAY; GAYN-say\, transitive verb:
1. To deny or dispute; to declare false or invalid.
2. To oppose; to contradict.

[Bob Jenkins]

another word - for every day

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday August 31, 2003

FLOUT

flout \FLOWT\, transitive verb:
To treat with contempt and disregard; to show contempt for.

intransitive verb:
To mock, to scoff.

noun:
Mockery, scoffing.

[Bob Jenkins]

I thought a floutist was in a marching band or symphonic grouping

[themuzicman]

DDW flouts full preterism

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Tuesday September 2, 2003

EN MASSE

en masse \en MASS; on MASS\, adverb:
All together; as a whole.

[Bob Jenkins]

spl_cadet is en masse and about to receive the sacrement

[LeiLani]

:rofl:

All the full preterists ran away screaming en masse from Dee Dee :teeth:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday September 3, 2003

CADGE

cadge \KAJ\, transitive verb:
To beg or obtain by begging; to sponge.

intransitive verb:
To beg; to sponge.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Thursday September 4, 2003

PERAMBULATE

perambulate \puh-RAM-byuh-layt\, intransitive verb:
To walk about; to roam; to stroll; as, "he perambulated in the
park."

transitive verb:
1. To walk through or over.
2. To travel over for the purpose of surveying or inspecting.

[Bob Jenkins]

Dee Dee perambulates Tweb's threads with a preterist's eye

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday September 8, 2003

DEFENESTRATE

defenestrate \dee-FEN-uh-strayt\, transitive verb:
To throw out of a window.

[themuzicman]

So, DDW tends to defenstrate full preterist views?

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday September 12, 2003

INVEIGH

inveigh \in-VAY\, intransitive verb:
To rail (against some person or thing); to protest strongly or
attack with harsh and bitter language -- usually with
"against"; as, "to inveigh against character, conduct,
manners, customs, morals, a law, an abuse."

[themuzicman]

DDW frequently loves to inveigh against the full preterists.

Michael

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday September 14, 2003

CONFLUENCE

confluence \KON-floo-uhn(t)s\, noun:
1. A flowing or coming together; junction.
2. The place where two rivers, streams, etc. meet.
3. A flocking or assemblage of a multitude in one place; a
large collection or assemblage.

[brother vinny]

Today @ 09:56 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=211564#post211564)
Dee Dee Warren:

Word of the Day for Sunday September 14, 2003

CONFLUENCE

confluence \KON-floo-uhn(t)s\, noun:
1. A flowing or coming together; junction.
2. The place where two rivers, streams, etc. meet.
3. A flocking or assemblage of a multitude in one place; a
large collection or assemblage.

Used in a sentence?

"The confluence of preterists to a dispensationalist web forum is normally not a welcome happenstance."

:wink:

[yxboom]

:lol:

[Sher]

:rofl:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday September 15, 2003

HORATORY

hortatory \HOR-tuh-tor-ee\, adjective:
Marked by strong urging; serving to encourage or incite; as,
"a hortatory speech."

[themuzicman]

As in "DDW's horatory debate was very appealing"?

[Bob Jenkins]

As in "The hoary whore became hoarse in her horatory"?

Editted to EXCLUDE Dee Dee from ANY resemblence to the example

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Tuesday September 16, 2003

DOTAGE

dotage \DOH-tij\, noun:
Feebleness of mind due to old age; senility.

[brother vinny]

Today @ 06:37 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=212810#post212810)
Dee Dee Warren:

Word of the Day for Tuesday September 16, 2003

DOTAGE

dotage \DOH-tij\, noun:
Feebleness of mind due to old age; senility.

Today's word used in a sentence:

"Anyone ascribing to the vile heresy of Mid-Acts Dispensationalism would have to be either willfully evil or in his dotage."

[dizzle]

:lmbo:

[Em7add11]

:eek: :lol:

[themuzicman]

DDW defends preterism with dotage.

Michael

[brother vinny]

What? No word today?!?

Looks like I'll have to come up with my own. . ..

Merriam-Webster's (www.m-w.com) Word of the day is

sagacious \suh-GAY-shuss\ adjective

*1 : of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment : discerning
2 : caused by or indicating acute discernment

Example sentence:

A sagacious student of Scripture is unlikely to be snared by the vile heresy of Mid-Acts Dispensationalism.

Dictionary.com's word for today is:

canard \kuh-NAHRD\, noun:

1. An unfounded, false, or fabricated report or story.

Poster's note: Folks, Dictionary.com just wants to make things too easy for me. :lmbo: ]

2. A horizontal control and stabilizing surface mounted forward of the main wing of an aircraft.
3. An aircraft whose horizontal stabilizer is mounted forward of the main wing.

Example sentence:

The canard of Mid-Acts Dispensationalism, in which Paul has a gospel different than that of Christ and His disciples, has tripped up many an unwary Christian.

[brother vinny]

Dee Dee, where art thou?

:ddw:

:shrug:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday September 22, 2003

MARTINET

martinet \mar-t'n-ET\, noun:
1. A strict disciplinarian.
2. One who lays stress on a rigid adherence to the details of
forms and methods.

[LeiLani]

Dee Dee hasn't been much of a martinet with the WOtD thread... it's been a while since she posted the last one. :teeth:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Tuesday September 23, 2003

SUPERNUMERARY


supernumerary \soo-puhr-NOO-muh-rair-ee; -NYOO-\, adjective:
1. Exceeding the stated, standard, or prescribed number.
2. Exceeding what is necessary or desired; superfluous.

noun:
1. A supernumerary person or thing.
2. An actor without a speaking part, as a walk-on or an extra
in a crowd scene.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday September 24, 2003

deus ex machina

deus ex machina \DAY-uhs-eks-MAH-kuh-nuh; -nah; -MAK-uh-nuh\,
noun:
1. In ancient Greek and Roman drama, a god introduced by means
of a crane to unravel and resolve the plot.
2. Any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an
apparently insoluble difficulty.

[themuzicman]

[you] showed up in a deus ex machina and convinced the world of post-trib, pre-millenial covenental historiciam

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday September 26, 2003

TOOTHSOME


toothsome \TOOTH-suhm\, adjective:
1. Pleasing to the taste; delicious; as, "a toothsome pie."
2. Agreeable; attractive; as, "a toothsome offer."
3. Sexually attractive.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday September 28, 2003

TITIVATE


titivate \TIT-uh-vayt\, transitive & intransitive verb:
To smarten up; to spruce up.

[brother vinny]

Today @ 12:38 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=224460#post224460)
Dee Dee Warren:

Word of the Day for Sunday September 28, 2003

TITIVATE


titivate \TIT-uh-vayt\, transitive & intransitive verb:
To smarten up; to spruce up.

Hmph. I like mine better. (http://theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10966) :teeth:

"I went on to titivate my theology by throwing out the dispensational garbage."

(And I did, too. This weekend, I sold off The Big Difference, by Bob Hill, A Dispensational Theology, by Charles Baker, and Acts, Dispensationally Considered, Volumes 1 and 2, by C.R. Stam. If anyone wants my old copies of The Plot manuscript, let me know!)

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Tuesday September 30, 2003

ATRABILIOUS

atrabilious \at-ruh-BIL-yuhs\, adjective:
1. Melancholic; gloomy.
2. Irritable; ill-natured; peevish.

[dizzle]

BV, if you wish to give away a copy of The Plot, I think Holding would be glad to have it. I had asked him a while ago to do a review/analysis of it if he ever got the time.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday October 1, 2003

EXPROPRIATE


expropriate \ek-SPROH-pree-ayt\, transitive verb:
1. To deprive of possession.
2. To transfer (the property of another) to oneself.

[Solly]

I have expropriated 4th place in the top ten

[Jaltus]

...and promptly been expropriated of it.

[Solly]

comin at ya

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday October 5, 2003

IMBUE

imbue \im-BYOO\, transitive verb:
1. To tinge or dye deeply; to cause to absorb thoroughly; as,
"clothes thoroughly imbued with black."
2. To instill profoundly; to cause to become impressed or
penetrated.

[EdJones]

[L. imbuo; in and the root of Eng. buck, to buck cloth, that is, to dip, drench or steep in water.]


3. To tincture deeply; to cause to imbibe; as, to imbue the minds of youth with good principles.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday October 6, 2003

DENIZEN

denizen \DEN-uh-zuhn\, noun:
1. A dweller; an inhabitant.
2. One that frequents a particular place.
3. [Chiefly British] An alien granted certain rights of
citizenship.
4. An animal, plant, etc. that has become naturalized.

Pearls to the first person who PMs me with a link to a post where they properly uses this word.

[EdJones]

DENIZEN, n.

1. In England, an alien who is made a subject by the kings letters patent, holding a middle state between an alien and a natural born subject. He may take land by purchase or devise, which an alien cannot; but he cannot take by inheritance.

2. A stranger admitted to residence and certain rights in a foreign country.

Ye gods,

Natives, or denizens, of blest abodes.

3. A citizen.

DENIZEN, v.t. To make a denizen; to admit to residence with certain rights and privileges; to infranchise.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Tuesday October 7, 2003

STAID

staid \STAYD\, adjective:
Steady or sedate in character; sober; composed; regular; not
wild, volatile, or fanciful.

[EdJones]

STAID, pret, and pp. of stay; so written for stayed.

1. a. [from stay, to stop.] Sober; grave; steady; composed; regular; not wild, volatile, flighty or fanciful; as staid wisdom.

To ride out with staid guides.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Yesterday @ 08:34 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=236890#post236890)
EdJones:

STAID, pret, and pp. of stay; so written for stayed.

1. a. [from stay, to stop.] Sober; grave; steady; composed; regular; not wild, volatile, flighty or fanciful; as staid wisdom.

To ride out with staid guides.
The marine mammals were beginning to be sexually frisky during a childrens show. The zookeeper knew that sea birds would distract them---but a construction project blocked the way, leaving the only short-route through the big cats' pen. Figuring the cats would be sated and lazy after just feeding, he felt safe fetching the birds.

On his return he was arrested by police. The charge: Transporting gulls over staid lions for immoral porpoises.

[Lazy Agnostic]

CAPACIOUS
capacious \kuh-PAY-shuhs\, adjective:
Able to contain much; roomy; spacious.

PULE
pule \PYOOL\, intransitive verb:
To whimper; to whine.

SUBLUNARY
sublunary \suhb-LOO-nuh-ree\, adjective:
Situated beneath the moon; hence, of or pertaining to this
world; terrestrial; earthly.

RICTUS
rictus \RIK-tuhs\, noun:
1. The gape of the mouth, as of birds.
2. A gaping grin or grimace.

WINSOME
winsome \WIN-suhm\, adjective:
1. Cheerful; merry; gay; light-hearted.
2. Causing joy or pleasure; agreeable; pleasant.

MELEE
melee \MAY-lay; may-LAY\, noun:
1. A fight or hand-to-hand struggle in which the combatants
are mingled in one confused mass.
2. A confused conflict or mingling.

PLACATE
placate \PLAY-kayt; PLAK-ayt\, transitive verb:
To appease; to pacify, especially by making concessions

SPURIOUS
spurious \SPYUR-ee-uhs\, adjective:
1. Not proceeding from the true or claimed source; not
genuine; false.
2. Of illegitimate birth.

WAYLAY
waylay \WAY-lay\, transitive verb:
1. To lie in wait for and attack from ambush.
2. To approach or stop (someone) unexpectedly.

INGENUE
ingenue \AN-zhuh-noo\, noun:
1. A naive girl or young woman.
2. An actress playing such a person; also: the stage role of
an ingenue.

OSCULATION
osculation \os-kyuh-LAY-shuhn\, noun:
The act of kissing; also: a kiss.

VOLUPTUARY
voluptuary \vuh-LUHP-choo-er-ee\, noun:
A person devoted to luxury and the gratification of sensual
appetites; a sensualist.

ENMITY
enmity \EN-mih-tee\, noun:
Hatred; ill will; hostile or unfriendly disposition.

SUB ROSA
sub rosa \suhb-ROH-zuh\, adverb:
Secretly; privately; confidentially.

COMPUNCTION
compunction \kuhm-PUHNK-shuhn\, noun:
1. Anxiety or deep unease proceeding from a sense of guilt or
consciousness of causing pain.
2. A sting of conscience or a twinge of uneasiness; a qualm; a
scruple.

UPBRAID
upbraid \uhp-BRAYD\, transitive verb:
To scold or criticize harshly.

GAUCHERIE
gaucherie \goh-shuh-REE\, noun:
1. A socially awkward or tactless act.
2. Lack of tact; boorishness; awkwardness.

AGRESS
aggress \uh-GRES\, intransitive verb:
To commit the first act of hostility or offense; to make an
attack.

CHIMERICAL
chimerical \ky-MER-ih-kuhl; -MIR-; kih-\, adjective:
1. Merely imaginary; produced by or as if by a wildly fanciful
imagination; fantastic; improbable or unrealistic.
2. Given to or indulging in unrealistic fantasies or fantastic
schemes.

SPOONY
spoony \SPOO-nee\, adjective:
1. Foolish; silly; excessively sentimental.
2. Foolishly or sentimentally in love.

STORMY PETREL
stormy petrel \STOR-mee-PET-ruhl\, noun:
1. Any of various small sea birds of the family Hydrobatidae,
having dark plumage with paler underparts; also called storm
petrel.
2. One who brings discord or strife, or appears at the onset
of trouble.

VOTARY
votary \VOH-tuh-ree\, noun:
1. One who is devoted, given, or addicted to some particular
pursuit, subject, study, or way of life.
2. A devoted admirer.
3. A devout adherent of a religion or cult.
4. A dedicated believer or advocate.

MELANGE
melange \may-LAHNZH\, noun:
A mixture; a medley.

SALUTARY
salutary \SAL-yuh-ter-ee\, adjective:
1. Producing or contributing to a beneficial effect;
beneficial; advantageous.
2. Wholesome; healthful; promoting health.

SCRABBLE
scrabble \SKRAB-uhl\, intransitive verb:
1. To scrape or scratch with the hands or feet.
2. To struggle by or as if by scraping or scratching.
3. To proceed by clawing with the hands and feet; t
4. To make irregular, crooked, or unmeaning marks; to
scribble; to scrawl.

PIEBALD
piebald \PY-bald\, adjective:
1. Having spots and patches of black and white, or other
colors; mottled.
2. Mixed; composed of incongruous parts.

LIMN
limn \LIM\, transitive verb:
1. To depict by drawing or painting.
2. To portray in words; to describe.

MOLLIFY
mollify \MOL-uh-fy\, transitive verb:
1. To pacify; to soothe or calm in temper or disposition.
2. To reduce in intensity; to temper.
3. To soften; to reduce the rigidity of.

IMMOLATE
immolate \IM-uh-layt\, transitive verb:
1. To sacrifice; to offer in sacrifice; to kill as a
sacrificial victim.
2. To kill or destroy, often by fire.

TETCHY
tetchy \TECH-ee\, adjective:
Peevish; testy; irritable.

EMOLUMENT
emolument \ih-MOL-yuh-muhnt\, noun:
The wages or perquisites arising from office, employment, or
labor; gain; compensation.

BENIGNANT
benignant \bih-NIG-nuhnt\, adjective:
1. Kind; gracious.
2. Beneficial; favorable.

VERDANT
verdant \VUR-dnt\, adjective:
1. Covered with growing plants or grass; green with
vegetation. 2. Green. 3. Unripe in knowledge, judgment, or experience; unsophisticated; green.

VIRAGO
virago \vuh-RAH-go; vuh-RAY-go\, noun:
1. A woman of extraordinary stature, strength, and courage.
2. A woman regarded as loud, scolding, ill-tempered,quarrelsome, or overbearing.

SUPPOSITITIOUS
supposititious \suh-poz-uh-TISH-uhs\, adjective:
1. Fraudulently substituted for something else; not being what
is purports to be; not genuine; spurious; counterfeit.
2. Hypothetical; supposed.

INANITION
inanition \in-uh-NISH-uhn\, noun:
1. The condition or quality of being empty. 2. Exhaustion, as from lack of nourishment. 3. Lack of vitality or spirit.

CONSPECTUS
conspectus \kuhn-SPEK-tuhs\, noun:
1. A general sketch or survey of a subject.
2. A synopsis; an outline.

SALMAGUNDI
salmagundi \sal-muh-GUHN-dee\, noun:
1. A salad plate usually consisting of chopped meat,
anchovies, eggs, and onions, served with oil and vinegar.
2. Any mixture or assortment; a medley; a potpourri; a
miscellany.

CAESURA
caesura \sih-ZHUR-uh; -ZUR-\, noun;
plural caesuras or caesurae \sih-ZHUR-ee; -ZUR-ee\:
1. A break or pause in a line of verse, usually occurring in
the middle of a line, and indicated in scanning by a double
vertical line; for example, "The proper study || of mankind is
man" [Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man].
2. Any break, pause, or interruption.

DEPRECATE
deprecate \DEP-rih-kayt\, transitive verb:
1. [Archaic] To pray against, as an evil; to seek to avert by
prayer.
2. To disapprove of strongly.
3. To belittle; to depreciate.

MISNOMER
misnomer \mis-NO-muhr\, noun:
1. The misnaming of a person in a legal instrument, as in a
complaint or indictment.
2. Any misnaming of a person or thing; also, a wrong or
inapplicable name or designation.

VERBIAGE
verbiage \VUR-bee-ij\, noun:
1. An overabundance of words; wordiness.
2. Manner or style of expression; diction.

BROBDINGNAGIAN
Brobdingnagian \brob-ding-NAG-ee-uhn\, adjective:
Of extraordinary size; gigantic; enormous.

INVIDIOUS
invidious \in-VID-ee-uhs\, adjective:
1. Tending to provoke envy, resentment, or ill will.
2. Containing or implying a slight.
3. Envious.

MINATORY
minatory \MIN-uh-tor-ee\, adjective:
Threatening; menacing.

EXPLICATE
explicate \EK-spluh-kayt\, transitive verb:
To explain; to clear of difficulties or obscurity.

CENSORIOUS
censorious \sen-SOR-ee-uhs\, adjective:
1. Tending to blame, condemn, or criticize; harshly critical.
2. Implying or expressing harsh criticism or disapproval; as,
"censorious remarks."

EQUABLE
equable \EK-wuh-buhl; EE-kwuh-\, adjective:
1. Equal and uniform; not varying.
2. Not easily disturbed; not variable or changing -- said of
the feelings, temper, etc.

ASSIDUOUS
assiduous \uh-SIJ-oo-uhs\, adjective:
1. Constant in application or attention; devoted; attentive.
2. Performed with constant diligence or attention;
unremitting; persistent; as, "assiduous labor."

NOISOME
noisome \NOY-sum\, adjective:
1. Noxious; harmful; unwholesome.
2. Offensive to the smell or other senses; disgusting.

INURE
inure \in-YOOR\, transitive verb:
To make accustomed or used to something painful, difficult, or
inconvenient; to harden; to habituate; as, "inured to drudgery
and distress."

BIVOUAC
bivouac \BIV-wak, BIV-uh-wak\, noun:
An encampment for the night, usually under little or no
shelter.
intransitive verb:
To encamp for the night, usually under little or no shelter

TMESIS
tmesis \TMEE-sis\, noun:
In grammar and rhetoric, the separation of the parts of a
compound word, now generally done for humorous effect; for
example, "what place soever" instead of "whatsoever place," or
"abso-bloody-lutely."

UMBRAGE
umbrage \UHM-brij\, noun:
1. Shade; shadow; hence, something that affords a shade, as a
screen of trees or foliage.
2. a. A vague or indistinct indication or suggestion; a hint.
b. Reason for doubt; suspicion.
3. Suspicion of injury or wrong; offense; resentment.

SUSURRUS
susurrus \su-SUHR-uhs\, noun:
A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur.

CANOROUS
canorous \kuh-NOR-us; KAN-or-uhs\, adjective:
Richly melodious; pleasant sounding; musical.

TREPIDATION
trepidation \trep-uh-DAY-shuhn\, noun:
1. [Archaic] An involuntary trembling; quaking; quivering.
2. A state of dread or alarm; nervous agitation; apprehension;
fright.

ONEIRIC
oneiric \oh-NY-rik\, adjective:
Of, pertaining to, or suggestive of dreams; dreamy.

MAELSTROM
maelstrom \MAYL-struhm\, noun:
1. A large, powerful, or destructive whirlpool.
2. Something resembling a maelstrom; a violent, disordered, or
turbulent state of affairs.

EPIGONE
epigone \EP-uh-gohn\, noun:
An inferior imitator, especially of some distinguished writer,
artist, musician, or philosopher.

NONAGE
nonage \NON-ij; NOH-nij\, noun:
1. The time of life before a person becomes legally of age.
2. A period of youth or immaturity.

MALADROIT
maladroit \mal-uh-DROYT\, adjective:
Lacking adroitness; clumsy; awkward; unskillful; inept.

SARTORIAL
sartorial \sar-TOR-ee-uhl\, adjective:
1. Of or relating to a tailor or to tailoring.
2. Of or relating to clothing, or style or manner of dress.
3. [Anatomy] Of or relating to the sartorius muscle.

LACUNA
lacuna \luh-KYOO-nuh\, noun;
plural lacunae \luh-KYOO-nee\ or lacunas:
1. A blank space; a missing part; a gap.
2. (Biology) A small opening, depression, or cavity in an
anatomical structure.

FUNEREAL
funereal \fyoo-NIR-ee-uhl\, adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to a funeral.
2. Suiting a funeral; solemn; dark; gloomy; mournful.

SIMULACRUM
simulacrum \sim-yuh-LAY-kruhm; -LAK-ruhm\, noun;
plural simulacra \sim-yuh-LAY-kruh; -LAK-ruh\:
1. An image; a representation.
2. An insubstantial, superficial, or vague likeness or
semblance.

PUTATIVE
putative \PYOO-tuh-tiv\, adjective:
Commonly thought or deemed; supposed; reputed.

VITIATE
vitiate \VISH-ee-ayt\, transitive verb:
1. To make faulty or imperfect; to render defective; to
impair; as, "exaggeration vitiates a style of writing."
2. To corrupt morally; to debase.
3. To render ineffective; as, "fraud vitiates a contract

AUTOCRAT
autocrat \AW-tuh-krat\, noun:
An absolute monarch who rules with unlimited authority; by
extension, any person with undisputed authority in a
relationship or situation

COMESTIBLE
comestible \kuh-MES-tuh-buhl\, adjective:
Suitable to be eaten; edible.
noun:
Something suitable to be eaten; food.

SARDONIC
sardonic \sar-DON-ik\, adjective:
Scornful, mocking; disdainfully humorous.

LEXICON
lexicon \LEK-suh-kon\, noun;
plural lexicons or lexica \-kuh\:
1. A book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words
in a language with the definition of each; a dictionary.
2. The vocabulary of a person, group, subject, or language.
3. [Linguistics] The total morphemes of a language.

CONTEMPORANEOUS
contemporaneous \kuhn-tem-puh-RAY-nee-uhs\, adjective:
Originating, existing, or occurring at the same time.

SUPEROGATORY
supererogatory \soo-puhr-ih-ROG-uh-tor-ee\, adjective:
1. Going beyond what is required or expected.
2. Superfluous; unnecessary.

COMITY
comity \KOM-uh-tee\, noun:
A state of mutual harmony, friendship, and respect, especially
between or among nations or people; civility.
comity of nations, noun:
1. The courteous recognition by one nation of the laws and
institutions of another.
2. The group of nations observing international comity.

ELEEMOSYNARY
eleemosynary \el-uh-MOS-uh-ner-ee\, adjective:
1. Of or for charity; charitable; as, "an eleemosynary
institution."
2. Given in charity; having the nature of alms; as,
"eleemosynary assistance."
3. Supported by or dependent on charity; as, "the eleemosynary
poor."

INCLEMENT
inclement \in-KLEM-uhnt\, adjective:
1. Rough, harsh; extreme, severe -- generally restricted to
the elements or weather.
2. Severe, unrelenting; cruel.

HUGGER-MUGGER
hugger-mugger \HUH-guhr-muh-guhr\, noun:
1. A disorderly jumble; muddle; confusion.
2. Secrecy; concealment.
adjective:
1. Confused; muddled; disorderly.
2. Sec

PANOPLY
panoply \PAN-uh-plee\, noun:
1. A splendid or impressive array.
2. Ceremonial attire.
3. A full suit of armor; a complete defense or covering.

PREVARICATE
prevaricate \prih-VAIR-uh-kayt\, intransitive verb:
To depart from or evade the truth; to speak with equivocation.

INVEIGLE
inveigle \in-VAY-guhl; -VEE-\, transitive verb:
1. To persuade by ingenuity or flattery; to entice.
2. To obtain by ingenuity or flattery.

HARRIDAN
harridan \HAIR-uh-din\, noun:
A scolding, vicious woman; a shrew; a hag.

LASCIVIOUS
lascivious \luh-SIV-ee-uhs\, adjective:
1. Lewd; lustful.
2. Tending to arouse sexual desires.

VISAGE
visage \VIZ-ij\, noun:
1. The face, expression, or look, usually of a person.
2. Appearance; aspect

LUGUBRIOUS
lugubrious \lu-GOO-bree-us; -GYOO-\, adjective:
1. Mournful; indicating sorrow, often in a way that seems
feigned, exaggerated, or ridiculous.
2. Gloomy; dismal.

INTERSTICE
interstice \in-TUR-stuhs\, noun;
plural interstices \in-TUR-stuh-seez; -suhz\:
1. A space between things or parts, especially a space between
things closely set; a narrow chink; a crack; a crevice; an
interval.
2. An interval of time.

SEMPITERNAL
sempiternal \sem-pih-TUR-nuhl\, adjective:
Of never ending duration; having beginning but no end;
everlasting; endless.

IDEE FIXE
idee fixe \ee-day-FEEKS\, noun;
plural idees fixes \ee-day-FEEKS\:
An idea that dominates the mind; a fixed idea; an obsession.

PRESTIDIGITATION
prestidigitation \pres-tuh-dij-uh-TAY-shuhn\, noun:
Skill in or performance of tricks; sleight of hand.

SPECIOUS
specious \SPEE-shuhs\, adjective:
1. Apparently right; superficially fair, just, or correct, but
not so in reality; as, "specious reasoning; a specious
argument."
2. Deceptively pleasing or attractive.

STERTOROUS
stertorous \STUR-tuh-ruhs\, adjective:
Characterized by a heavy snoring or gasping sound; hoarsely
breathing.

FATUOUS
fatuous \FACH-oo-uhs\, adjective:
1. Inanely foolish and unintelligent; stupid.
2. Illusory; delusive.

TRICE
trice \TRYS\, noun:
A very short time; an instant; a moment; -- used chiefly in
the phrase "in a trice."

SURFEIT
surfeit \SUR-fit\, noun:
1. An excessive amount or supply.
2. Overindulgence, as in food or drink.
3. Disgust caused by overindulgence or excess.

PROVENDER
provender \PROV-uhn-duhr\, noun:
1. Dry food for domestic animals, such as hay, straw, corn,
oats, or a mixture of ground grain; feed.
2. Food or provisions.

BIBELOT
bibelot \BEE-buh-loh\, noun:
A small decorative object without practical utility; a
trinket.

PATERFAMILIAS
paterfamilias \pay-tuhr-fuh-MIL-ee-uhs; pat-uhr-; pah-\, noun;
plural patresfamilias \pay-treez-; pat-reez-; pah-treez-\:
The male head of a household or the father of a family.

BOMBAST
bombast \BOM-bast\, noun:
Pompous or pretentious speech or writing.

INCULCATE
inculcate \in-KUHL-kayt; IN-kuhl-kayt\, transitive verb:
To teach and impress by frequent repetition or instruction.

PARVENU
parvenu \PAR-vuh-noo; -nyoo\, noun:
One that has recently or suddenly risen to a higher social or
economic class but has not gained social acceptance of others
in that class; an upstart.

CHOLERIC
choleric \KOL-uh-rik; kuh-LAIR-ik\, adjective:
1. Easily irritated; inclined to anger; bad-tempered.
2. Angry; indicating or expressing anger; excited by anger.

NETTLESOME
nettlesome \NET-l-suhm\, adjective:
Causing irritation, vexation, or distress.

DAPPLE
dapple \DAP-uhl\, noun:
1. A small contrasting spot or blotch.
2. A mottled appearance, especially of the coat of an animal
(as a horse).

ANTEDILUVIAN
antediluvian \an-tih-duh-LOO-vee-uhn\, adjective:
1. Of or relating to the period before the Biblical flood.
2. Antiquated; from or belonging to a much earlier time.

OSTRACIZE
ostracize \OS-truh-syz\, transitive verb:
1. To banish or expel from a community or group; to cast out
from social, political, or private favor.
2. [Greek Antiquity] To exile by ostracism; to banish by a
popular vote, as at Athens.

THAUMATURGY
thaumaturgy \THAW-muh-tuhr-jee\, noun:
The performance of miracles or magic.

PAUCITY
paucity \PAW-suh-tee\, noun:
1. Fewness; smallness of number; scarcity.
2. Smallness of quantity; insufficiency.

ENCOMIUM
encomium \en-KOH-mee-uhm\, noun;
plural encomiums or encomia \-mee-uh\:
An often formal expression of warm or high praise.

TOPER
toper \TOH-puhr\, noun:
One who drinks frequently or to excess.

PLAINT
plaint \PLAYNT\, noun:
1. An expression of sorrow; lamentation.
2. A complaint.

ALACRITY
alacrity \uh-LACK-ruh-tee\, noun:
A cheerful or eager readiness or willingness, often manifested
by brisk, lively action or promptness in response.

DISHEVELED
disheveled, also dishevelled \dih-SHEV-uhld\, adjective:
In loose disorder; disarranged; unkempt; as, "disheveled
hair."

RESPITE
respite \RES-pit\, noun:
1. A delay or postponement.
2. A temporary suspension of punishment; reprieve.
3. An interval of rest or relief.
transitive verb:
1. To grant a respite to.
2. To postpone; to delay.

PYRRHIC VICTORY
Pyrrhic victory \PIR-ik\, noun:
A victory achieved at great or excessive cost; a ruinous
victory.

ENCUMBRANCE
encumbrance \en-KUHM-brun(t)s\, noun:
1. A burden, impediment, or hindrance.
2. A lien, mortgage, or other financial claim against a
property.

COPIOUS
copious \KOH-pee-uhs\, adjective:
1. Affording an abundant supply; plentifully furnished;
lavish.
2. Large in quantity; plentiful, profuse; abundant.
3. Full of information or matter.

ASCETIC
ascetic \uh-SET-ik\, noun:
One who renounces material comforts and practices extreme
self-denial, especially as an act of religious devotion.

AGGRANDIZE
aggrandize \uh-GRAN-dyz; AG-ruhn-dyz\, transitive verb:
1. To make great or greater; to enlarge; to increase.
2. To make great or greater in power, rank, reputation, or
wealth; -- applied to persons, countries, etc.
3. To make appear great or greater; to exalt.

SYNCRETIC
syncretic \sin-KRET-ik; sing-\, adjective:
Uniting and blending together different systems, as of
philosophy, morals, or religion.

DONNYBROOK
donnybrook \DON-ee-brook\, noun:
1. A brawl; a free-for-all.
2. A heated quarrel or dispute.

DONNYBROOK
donnybrook \DON-ee-brook\, noun:
1. A brawl; a free-for-all.
2. A heated quarrel or dispute.

RATIOCINATION
ratiocination \rat-ee-oh-suh-NAY-shun\ noun
*1 : the process of exact thinking : reasoning
2 : a reasoned train of thought

TCHOTCHKE
tchotchke \CHOCH-kuh\, noun:
A trinket; a knickknack.

FACTITIOUS
factitious \fak-TISH-uhs\, adjective:
1. Produced artificially, in distinction from what is produced
by nature.
2. Artificial; not authentic or genuine; sham.

ALFRESCO
alfresco \al-FRES-koh\, adverb:
In the open air; outdoors.
adjective:
Taking place or located in the open air; outdoor.

PLETHORA
plethora \PLETH-uh-ruh\, noun:
1. An abnormal bodily condition characterized by an excessive
amount of blood in the system.
2. Excess; superabundance.

PHYSIOGNOMY
physiognomy \fiz-ee-OG-nuh-mee; -ON-uh-mee\, noun:
1. The art of discovering temperament and other characteristic
qualities of the mind from the outward appearance, especially
by the features of the face.
2. The face or facial features, especially when regarded as
indicating character.
3. The general appearance or aspect of a thing.

CONSTITUTIONAL
constitutional \kon-stih-TOO-shuhn-uhl; -TYOO-\, noun:
A walk taken for one's health.

TUTELAGE
tutelage \TOO-tuhl-ij; TYOO-\, noun:
1. The act of guarding or protecting; guardianship;
protection.
2. The state of being under a guardian or tutor.
3. Instruction, especially individual instruction accompanied
by close attention and guidance.

FILLIP
fillip \FIL-uhp\, noun:
1. A snap of the finger forced suddenly from the thumb; a
smart blow.
2. Something serving to rouse or excite; a stimulus.
3. A trivial addition; an embellishment

EXCORIATE
excoriate \ek-SKOR-ee-ayt\, transitive verb:
1. To express strong disapproval of; to denounce.
2. To tear or wear off the skin of.

SINE QUA NON
sine qua non \sin-ih-kwah-NON; -NOHN; sy-nih-kway-\, noun:
An essential condition or element; an indispensable thing

COGNOSCENTE
cognoscente \kon-yuh-SHEN-tee; kog-nuh-; -SEN-\, noun;
plural cognoscenti \-tee\:
A person with special knowledge of a subject; a connoisseur.

VEHEMENT
vehement \VEE-uh-muhnt\, adjective:
1. Characterized by intensity of emotions or convictions, or
forcefulness of expression.
2. Characterized by or acting with great force or energy;
strong.

SACRIOLIST
sacricolist /noun;
devout worshipper

HYPERBOLE
hyperbole \hy-PUHR-buh-lee\, noun:
Extravagant exaggeration.

DOUR
dour \DOO-uhr; DOW-uhr\, adjective:
1. Harsh; stern.
2. Unyielding; inflexible; obstinate.
3. Marked by ill humor; gloomy; sullen.

DOPPELGANGER
doppelganger \DOP-uhl-gang-uhr\, noun:
1. A ghostly double or counterpart of a living person.
2. Alter ego; double.

GAINSAY
gainsay \gayn-SAY; GAYN-say\, transitive verb:
1. To deny or dispute; to declare false or invalid.
2. To oppose; to contradict.

FLOUT
flout \FLOWT\, transitive verb:
To treat with contempt and disregard; to show contempt for.
intransitive verb:
To mock, to scoff.

EN MASSE
en masse \en MASS; on MASS\, adverb:
All together; as a whole.

CADGE
cadge \KAJ\, transitive verb:
To beg or obtain by begging; to sponge.
intransitive verb:
To beg; to sponge.

PERAMBULATE
perambulate \puh-RAM-byuh-layt\, intransitive verb:
To walk about; to roam; to stroll; as, "he perambulated in the
park."
transitive verb:
1. To walk through or over.
2. To travel over for the purpose of surveying or inspecting.

DEFENESTRATE
defenestrate \dee-FEN-uh-strayt\, transitive verb:
To throw out of a window.

INVEIGH
inveigh \in-VAY\, intransitive verb:
To rail (against some person or thing); to protest strongly or
attack with harsh and bitter language -- usually with
"against"; as, "to inveigh against character, conduct,
manners, customs, morals, a law, an abuse."

CONFLUENCE
confluence \KON-floo-uhn(t)s\, noun:
1. A flowing or coming together; junction.
2. The place where two rivers, streams, etc. meet.
3. A flocking or assemblage of a multitude in one place; a
large collection or assemblage.

HORATORY
hortatory \HOR-tuh-tor-ee\, adjective:
Marked by strong urging; serving to encourage or incite; as,
"a hortatory speech."

DOTAGE
dotage \DOH-tij\, noun:
Feebleness of mind due to old age; senility.

SAGACIOUS
sagacious \suh-GAY-shuss\ adjective
1 : of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment : discerning
2 : caused by or indicating acute discernment

MARTINET
martinet \mar-t'n-ET\, noun:
1. A strict disciplinarian.
2. One who lays stress on a rigid adherence to the details of
forms and methods.

[Lazy Agnostic]

SUPERNUMERARY
supernumerary \soo-puhr-NOO-muh-rair-ee; -NYOO-\, adjective:
1. Exceeding the stated, standard, or prescribed number.
2. Exceeding what is necessary or desired; superfluous.
noun:1. A supernumerary person or thing.
2. An actor without a speaking part, as a walk-on or an extra
in a crowd scene.deus ex machina

DEUS EX MACHINA
deus ex machina \DAY-uhs-eks-MAH-kuh-nuh; -nah; -MAK-uh-nuh\,
noun:
1. In ancient Greek and Roman drama, a god introduced by means
of a crane to unravel and resolve the plot.
2. Any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an
apparently insoluble difficulty.

TOOTHSOME
toothsome \TOOTH-suhm\, adjective:
1. Pleasing to the taste; delicious; as, "a toothsome pie."
2. Agreeable; attractive; as, "a toothsome offer."
3. Sexually attractive.

TITIVATE
titivate \TIT-uh-vayt\, transitive & intransitive verb:
To smarten up; to spruce up.

ATRABILIOUS
atrabilious \at-ruh-BIL-yuhs\, adjective:
1. Melancholic; gloomy.
2. Irritable; ill-natured; peevish.

EXPROPRIATE
expropriate \ek-SPROH-pree-ayt\, transitive verb:
1. To deprive of possession.
2. To transfer (the property of another) to oneself.

IMBUE
imbue \im-BYOO\, transitive verb:
1. To tinge or dye deeply; to cause to absorb thoroughly; as,
"clothes thoroughly imbued with black."
2. To instill profoundly; to cause to become impressed or
penetrated.

DENIZEN
denizen \DEN-uh-zuhn\, noun:
1. A dweller; an inhabitant.
2. One that frequents a particular place.
3. [Chiefly British] An alien granted certain rights of
citizenship.
4. An animal, plant, etc. that has become naturalized.

STAID
staid \STAYD\, adjective:
Steady or sedate in character; sober; composed; regular; not
wild, volatile, or fanciful.

[Bob Jenkins]

CONVIVIUM, n.

Though English has convivial, which is based on the Latin convivium for a feast or banquet (or, more broadly, a living together, from con + vivo), the latter word has not itself been in the language until recently.
It started to appear in Britain and other parts of the English-speaking world in the late 1990s to refer to local groups or chapters—usually named in the plural as convivia—set up by the Slow Food movement. This was formed in 1989, as a result of an Italian initiative, as a reaction against increasing globalisation and standardisation of food, especially fast food (hence its name).

http://www.worldwidewords.org/turnsofphrase/tp-con2.htm


Hurray! A place for me!

[dizzle]

Wow! LA has compiled them for us. The first one is the best when the site was founded in honor of Boom's head.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Thursday October 9, 2003

ADUMBRATE

adumbrate \AD-uhm-brayt; uh-DUHM-\, transitive verb:
1. To give a sketchy or slight representation of; to outline.
2. To foreshadow in a vague way.
3. To suggest, indicate, or disclose partially.
3. To cast a shadow over; to shade; to obscure.

[Solly]

Could you adumbrate the specifics of Præterysm DD?

[EdJones]

:violin:



ADUM'BRATE, v.t. [L. adumbro, to shade, from umbra, a shade.]

To give a faint shadow, or slight likeness; to exhibit a faint resemblance, like a shadow.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday October 10, 2003

TURGID

turgid \TUR-jid\, adjective:
1. Swollen, bloated, puffed up; as, "a turgid limb."
2. Swelling in style or language; bombastic, pompous; as, "a
turgid style of speaking."

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Saturday October 11, 2003

PARAGON

paragon \PAIR-uh-gon; -guhn\, noun:
A model of excellence or perfection; as, "a paragon of beauty;
a paragon of eloquence."

[EdJones]

TUR'GID, a. [L. turgidus, from turgeo, to swell.]

1. Swelled; bloated; distended beyond its natural state by some internal agent or expansive force.

A bladder held by the fire grew turgid.

More generally, the word is applied to an enlarged part of the body; as a turgid limb.

2. Tumid; pompous; inflated; bombastic; as a turgid style; a turgid manner of talking.

[EdJones]

TUR'GID, a. [L. turgidus, from turgeo, to swell.]

1. Swelled; bloated; distended beyond its natural state by some internal agent or expansive force.

A bladder held by the fire grew turgid.

More generally, the word is applied to an enlarged part of the body; as a turgid limb.

2. Tumid; pompous; inflated; bombastic; as a turgid style; a turgid manner of talking.


###################################



PAR'AGON, n. [L. par,equal.]

1. A model or pattern; a model by way of distinction, implying superior excellence or perfection; as a paragon of beauty or eloquence.

2. A companion; a fellow.

3. Emulation; a match for trial.

PAR'AGON, v.t.

1. To compare; to parallel.

The picture of Pamela, in little form, he wore in a tablet, purposing to paragon the little one with Artesia's length. [Little used.]

2. To equal. [Little used.]

PAR'AGON, v.i. To pretend comparison or equality. [Little used.]

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday October 13, 2003

PROFLIGATE


profligate \PROF-luh-guht; -gayt\, adjective:
1. Openly and shamelessly immoral; dissipated; dissolute.
2. Recklessly wasteful.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday October 15, 2003

ROTUND

rotund \roh-TUHND\, adjective:
1. Round; circular; spherical.
2. Rounded in figure; plump; chubby.
3. Full and rich in sound; sonorous.

[themuzicman]

:ddw: is probably... uhh .umm... Never mind. :metro: :doh:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday October 17, 2003

BEDAUB

bedaub \bih-DOB\, transitive verb:
1. To smudge over; to besmear or soil with anything thick and
dirty.
2. To overdecorate; to ornament showily or excessively.

[Bob Jenkins]

ROTUND

rotund \roh-TUHND\, adjective:
1. Round; circular; spherical.
2. Rounded in figure; plump; chubby.
3. Full and rich in sound; sonorous.

Some men think 3 and 2 are natural

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday October 22, 2003

PANACEA

panacea \pan-uh-SEE-uh\, noun:
A remedy for all diseases, problems, or evils; a universal
medicine; a cure-all.

[Em7add11]

I need to find a panacea for my pancreatic panache.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday October 24, 2003

ARBITER

arbiter \AR-buh-tuhr\, noun:
1. A person appointed or chosen to judge or decide a dispute.
2. Any person who has the power of judging and determining.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday October 29, 2003

CATARACT

cataract \KAT-uh-rakt\, noun:
1. A great fall of water over a precipice; a large waterfall.
2. A downpour; a flood.
3. A clouding or opacity of the lens or capsule of the eye,
which obstructs the passage of light.

[Shaolin]

tor·rent
n.
1. A turbulent, swift-flowing stream.
2. A heavy downpour; a deluge.
3. A heavy, uncontrolled outpouring: a torrent of
insults; torrents of mail.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday October 31, 2003

WRAITH

wraith \RAYTH\, noun:
1. An apparition of a living person seen before death; hence,
an apparition; a specter; a ghost.
2. A shadowy or insubstantial form, appearance, or
representation of something.

[Xavier]

Tolken... NICE

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday November 2, 2003

INTERNECINE

internecine \in-tuhr-NES-een; -NEE-syn; -NEE-sin\, adjective:
1. Of or relating to conflict within a nation, an
organization, or a group.
2. Mutually destructive; involving or accompanied by mutual
slaughter.
3. Deadly; destructive; marked by slaughter.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday November 3, 2003

POTENTATE

potentate \POH-tuhn-tayt\, noun:
One who possesses great power or sway; a ruler, sovereign, or
monarch.

[themuzicman]

So, yxboom is the POTENTATE of Tweb?

[dizzle]

He likes to think so.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday November 5, 2003

AVUNCULAR

avuncular \uh-VUHNG-kyuh-luhr\, adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to an uncle.
2. Resembling an uncle, especially in kindness or indulgence.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday November 7, 2003

AMITY

amity \AM-uh-tee\, noun:
Friendship; friendly relations, especially between nations.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Saturday November 8, 2003

MICROCOSM

microcosm \MY-kruh-koz-uhm\, noun:
1. A little world. Hence, man or human nature as a supposed
epitome of the world or universe (compare [1]macrocosm).
2. A smaller, representative system having analogies to a
larger system.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Tuesday November 11, 2003

SOLICITOUS

solicitous \suh-LIS-uh-tuhs\, adjective:
1. Manifesting or expressing care or concern.
2. Full of anxiety or concern; apprehensive.
3. Extremely careful; meticulous.
4. Full of desire; eager.

[Bob Jenkins]

Does the dictionary have my picture next to that definition?

[dizzle]

hahahahaha this is too good to pass up (sorry Bob!) .... actually I find this one:

Word of the Day for Thursday November 13, 2003

OBFUSCATE

obfuscate \OB-fuh-skayt\, transitive verb:
1. To darken or render indistinct or dim.
2. To make obscure or difficult to understand or make sense
of.
3. To confuse or bewilder.

:lmbo:

[Bob Jenkins]

that's me!!!!!!!!!!!

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday November 14, 2003

TERMAGANT

termagant \TUR-muh-guhnt\, noun:
A scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; a shrew.

adjective:
Overbearing; shrewish; scolding.

[Bob Jenkins]

I know some men like that

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday November 16, 2003

BIFURCATE

bifurcate \BY-fur-kayt; by-FUR-kayt\, transitive verb:
To divide into two branches or parts.

[brother vinny]

Preterist speak with bifurcated tongue.

[Jade]

:shocked:

I don't know him.

:eek:

[Bob Jenkins]

If you have a smilie for "I don't know him", Gail would like it

Never mind, I'll give her this :bjnotknow:

[Xavier]

:doh:

:lol:

[Jade]

Bob Jenkins:

If you have a smilie for "I don't know him", Gail would like it

Never mind, I'll give her this :bjnotknow:

<click-save>

I think that one will come in handy later. :wink:

[Ric]

:eek:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday November 17, 2003

FELICTOUS

felicitous \fuh-LIS-uh-tuhs\, adjective:
1. Suitably applied or expressed; appropriate; apt.
2. Happy; delightful; marked by good fortune.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Tuesday November 18, 2003

PORTENT

portent \POR-tent\, noun:
1. A sign of a coming event or calamity; an omen.
2. Prophetic or menacing significance.
3. Something amazing; a marvel.

[Xavier]

TWebs continuous crashing were mere portent to the fall of the Internet... :hrm:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday November 19, 2003

BELLICOSE

bellicose \BEL-ih-kohs\, adjective:
Inclined to or favoring war or strife; warlike; pugnacious.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Thursday November 20, 2003

INTERLARD

interlard \in-tuhr-LARD\, transitive verb:
To insert between; to mix or mingle; especially, to introduce
something foreign or irrelevant into; as, "to interlard a
conversation with oaths or allusions."

[EdJones]

INTERL`ARD, v.t.

1. Primarily, to mix fat with lean; hence, to interpose; to insert between.



-----------------------------------------------------------

PORTENT', n. [L. portentum.] An omen of ill; any previous sign or prodigy indicating the approach of evil or calamity.

My loss by dire portents the god foretold.

[Xavier]

:huh:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Saturday November 22, 2003

REPINE

repine \rih-PINE\, intransitive verb:
1. To feel or express discontent.
2. To long for something.

[markporter]

and a most appropriate word it is too.

[Ric]

:fight:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday November 24, 2003

LIMPID

limpid \LIM-pid\, adjective:
1. Characterized by clearness or transparency; clear; as, "a
limpid stream."
2. Calm; untroubled; serene.
3. Clear in style; easily understandable.

Word of the Day for Sunday November 23, 2003

PLAUDIT

plaudit \PLAW-dit\, noun:
1. A round or demonstration of applause.
2. Enthusiastic approval; an expression of praise.

Word of the Day for Tuesday November 25, 2003

AFICIONADO

aficionado \uh-fish-ee-uh-NAH-doh\, noun:
An enthusiastic admirer; a fan.

Word of the Day for Wednesday November 26, 2003

RAPACIOUS

rapacious \ruh-PAY-shuhs\, adjective:
1. Given to plunder; seizing by force.
2. Subsisting on prey.
3. Grasping; greedy.

[dizzle]

Now use them all in a sentence.

[Stephen]

In the opera, the rapacious pirates's plans were limpid, as the audience had seen the performance multiple times, but every time it managed to arouse a plaudit from the crowd of affectionados

[Stephen]

Where's my gold star?

[dizzle]

Sent you some pearls!

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Thursday November 27, 2003

SATIETY

satiety \suh-TY-uh-tee\, noun:
The state of being full or gratified to or beyond the point of
satisfaction.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday November 28, 2003

OBTRUDE

obtrude \uhb-TROOD; ob-\, transitive verb:
1. To thrust out; to push out.
2. To force or impose (one's self, remarks, opinions, etc.) on
others with undue insistence or without solicitation.

[kafka]

This time of year the elements of christmas commercialism obtrude into every aspect of my everyday life.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday December 7, 2003

ELYSIUM

Elysium \ih-LIH-zee-uhm; ih-LIH-zhee-uhm; \, noun:
1. A dwelling place assigned to happy souls after death; the
seat of future happiness; Paradise.
2. Hence, any place or condition of ideal bliss or complete
happiness.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday December 10, 2003

MALCONTENT

malcontent \mal-kuhn-TENT; MAL-kuhn-tent\, noun:
1. One who is discontented or dissatisfied.
2. A discontented subject of a government; one who opposes an
established order.

[Queen]

Aren't we all once in a while....even if it seems silly? :wink:

Lots of love sunshine and be content with just being alive,
Queen

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Thursday December 11, 2003

GALLIMAUFRY

gallimaufry \gal-uh-MAW-free\, noun:
A medley; a hodgepodge.

[Xavier]

TWeb is a GALLIMAUFRY of wonderful people....

:hug: TWeb.... :smile:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Saturday December 13, 2003

SOLACE

solace \SOL-is\, noun:
1. Comfort in time of grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety.
2. That which relieves in distress; that which cheers or
consoles; a source of relief.

transitive verb:
1. To comfort or cheer in grief or affliction; to console.
2. To allay; to soothe; as, "to solace grief."

[EdJones]

SOL'ACE, v.t. [from L. soatium; solor, to comfort, assuage, relieve. See Console.]

1. To cheer in grief or under calamity; to comfort; to relieve in afflication; to console; applied to persons; as, to solace one's self with the hop of future reward.

2. To allay; to assuage; as, to solace grief.

SOL'ACE, v.i. To take comfort; to be cheered or relieved in grief.


===========================
GAL'LIMAUFRY, n. A hash; a medley; a hodge-podge. [Little used.]

1. Any inconsistent or ridiculous medley.

2. A woman. [Not in used.]

===============================

MAL'CONTENT, n. [mal and content.] A discontented subject of government; one who murmurs at the laws and administration, or who manifests his uneasiness by overt acts, as in sedition or insurrection.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday December 14, 2003

ADMONITION

admonition \ad-muh-NISH-uhn\, noun:
1. Gentle or friendly reproof.
2. Counseling against a fault or oversight; friendly caution
or warning.

[EdJones]

ADMONI'TION, n. Gentle reproof; counseling against a fault; instruction in duties; caution; direction. Tit. 3. 1Cor. 10. In church discipline, public or private reproof to reclaim an offender; a step preliminary to excommunication.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday December 22, 2003

PERTINACIOUS

pertinacious \puhr-tin-AY-shuhs\, adjective:
1. Holding or adhering obstinately to any opinion, purpose, or
design.
2. Stubbornly or perversely persistent.

[Solly]

Hmmm, points carboard finger :ddw:

slly

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Tuesday December 23, 2003

Hobson's choice \HOB-suhnz-CHOIS\, noun:
A choice without an alternative; the thing offered or nothing.

[Lizard]

When ever my kids say that they don't like what I (or Mrs. Faramir usually) maked for dinner, I give them Hobson's choice.

[Bob Jenkins]

There is always plenty of ketchsup

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday December 26, 2003:

superannuated \soo-pur-AN-yoo-ay-tid\, adjective:
1.Discharged or disqualified on account of old age; retired
from service, especially with a pension.
2.Old; no longer in use; no longer valid; outmoded.

[Bob Jenkins]

:bjharumph: I'm surprised Dee Dee didn't put my picture in this latest entry.

:bjcrossfing:

[Lizard]

My cousins just gave their superannuated Jeep to the Salvation Army.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Saturday December 27, 2003

expunge \ik-SPUNJ\, transitive verb:
1. To strike out, erase, or mark for deletion; to obliterate;
as, "to expunge words, lines, or sentences."
2. To wipe out or destroy; to annihilate.

[themuzicman]

DD's purpose is to expunge all vestiges of futurism.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday December 29, 2003

dissimulate \dih-SIM-yuh-layt\, transitive verb:
To conceal under a false appearance.

[EdJones]

To cry like a chicken.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday January 4, 2004

sycophant \SIK-uh-fuhnt\, noun:
A person who seeks favor by flattering people of wealth or
influence; a parasite; a toady.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday January 7, 2004

variegated \VAIR-ee-uh-gay-tid\, adjective:
1. Having marks or patches of different colors; as,
"variegated leaves or flowers."
2. Varied; distinguished or characterized by variety;
diversified.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Thursday January 8, 2004

clamber \KLAM-buhr; KLAM-uhr\, intransitive verb:
To climb with difficulty, or on all fours; to scramble.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Saturday January 10, 2004

effete \eh-FEET; ih-\, adjective:
1. No longer capable of producing young; infertile; barren;
sterile.
2. Exhausted of energy; incapable of efficient action; worn
out.
3. Marked by self-indulgence or decadence; degenerate.
4. Overrefined; effeminate.

[Xavier]

DDW is not effete... :smile:

[Bob Jenkins]

Dee Dee has two ef feet

[Xavier]

:lol:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday January 14, 2004

obstreperous \uhb-STREP-uhr-uhs; ob-\, adjective:
1. Noisily and stubbornly defiant; unruly.
2. Noisy, clamorous, or boisterous.

[Solly]

:lol:

On the day Darwin got matrixed as well

[Queen]

Today @ 11:22 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=379713#post379713)
Solly:

:lol:

On the day Darwin got matrixed as well

:rant:


Don't you dare to insult Darwin!!!!!!!!!!!!!


:wise:

[Solly]

*sigh* Not him Queen

[Queen]

Today @ 11:39 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=379729#post379729)
Solly:

*sigh* Not him Queen



:huh:

[Solly]

:lmbo:

[Queen]

:eh:


:huh:













:lmbo:

I am glad I made you smile.....:wink:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Saturday January 17, 2004

timorous \TIM-uhr-uhs\, adjective:
1. Full of apprehensiveness; timid; fearful.
2. Indicating, or caused by, fear.

[dizzle]

01-15-2004 @ 06:22 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=379713#post379713)
Solly:

:lol:

On the day Darwin got matrixed as well

you shoulda seen the love letter he sent me... replete with refences to my love life, perhaps I would get run over by a bus, and have a body part fall off :oldeek:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday January 18, 2004

irenic \eye-REN-ik; -REE-nik\, adjective:
Tending to promote peace; conciliatory.

[Xavier]

TWeb's :spam: serves an irenic purpose and as counterpoint to the serious debate.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday January 19, 2004

bilious \BIL-yuhs\, adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to bile.
2. Marked by an excess secretion of bile.
3. Pertaining to, characterized by, or affected by gastric
distress caused by a disorder of the liver.
4. Appearing as if affected by such a disorder.
5. Resembling bile, especially in color.
6. Of a peevish disposition; ill-tempered.

[Busheses]

01-17-2004 @ 10:37 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=385887#post385887)
Dee Dee Warren:

you shoulda seen the love letter he sent me... replete with refences to my love life, perhaps I would get run over by a bus, and have a body part fall off :oldeek:

Could I read it? I promise not to copy cat it when I get matrixed meself. I promised. What do you say yes, yes, yes, yes. I am particularly interested in your love life of course. Come on DD Let me read it.

[dizzle]

:sigh:

Word of the Day for Friday January 23, 2004

unguent \UNG-gwuhnt\, noun:
A salve for sores, burns, or the like; an ointment.

[themuzicman]

As in, "The ever compassionate and insightful Dee Dee remembered to bring the unguent to the preterist debate... for when her opponent would need it."

:hrm:

[dizzle]

Crap I couldn't find this thread after I lost my bookmarks.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Saturday January 24, 2004

abeyance \uh-BAY-uhn(t)s\, noun:
Suspension; temporary cessation.


Word of the Day for Sunday January 25, 2004

concinnity \kuhn-SIN-uh-tee\, noun:
1. Internal harmony or fitness in the adaptation of parts to a
whole or to each other.
2. Studied elegance of design or arrangement -- used chiefly
of literary style.
3. An instance of concinnity.

[Xavier]

The science posters' abeyance to posting on topic can be drawn back to why they cannot explain concinnity.

:teeth:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Thursday January 29, 2004

soi-disant \swah-dee-ZAHN\, adjective:
Self-styled; so-called.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday February 1, 2004

surreptitious \suhr-uhp-TISH-uhs; suh-rep-\, adjective:
1. Done, made, or gotten by stealth.
2. Acting with or marked by stealth.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Sunday February 8, 2004

rapport \ra-POR; ruh-\, noun:
A relation, especially one characterized by sympathetic
understanding, emotional affinity, or mutual trust.

[Bob Jenkins]

Rapport! \rah-port verb

Commonaly heard on the parade ground when a military commander asks the state of the troops. The answer is "All present and accounted for, SIR!

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Monday February 9, 2004

forcible \FOR-suh-buhl\, adjective:
1. Using force against opposition or resistance; effected or
accomplished by force; as, "forcible entry or abduction."
2. Characterized by force, efficiency, or energy; powerful.

[Queen]

well, chips does force itself on me all the time!!!!:tongue:

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Tuesday February 10, 2004

bombinate \BOM-buh-nayt\, intransitive verb:
To buzz; to hum; to drone.

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Wednesday February 11, 2004

insuperable \in-SOO-pur-uh-bul\, adjective:
Incapable of being passed over, surmounted, or overcome;
insurmountable; as, "insuperable difficulties."

[Em7add11]

So Superman (at one point) could have been called Insuperableman?

[dizzle]

Word of the Day for Friday February 13, 2004

hinterland \HIN-tur-land\, noun:
1. A region situated inland from a coast.
2. A region remote from urban areas; backcountry.
3. A region situated beyond the major metropolitan or cultural
centers.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Feb 14
buss

\BUS\, noun:
A kiss; a playful kiss; a smack.

transitive verb:
To kiss; especially to kiss with a smack.

Lucky guesser gets a buss upon his plucky kisser.
--William H. Gass, Cartesian Sonata and Other Novellas

Exchange a random peace greeting during Mass with a stranger in the next pew and the odds are roughly one in fifty that you shake the hand or buss the cheek of a parishioner who has had at least one marriage voided by a diocesan tribunal.
--Robert H. Vasoli, What God Has Joined Together


Feb15
discrete

\dis-KREET\, adjective:
1. Constituting a separate thing; distinct.
2. Consisting of distinct or unconnected parts.
3. (Mathematics) Defined for a finite or countable set of values; not continuous.

Niels Bohr, working with Rutherford in 1912, was intensely aware... of the need for a radically new approach. This he found in quantum theory, which postulated that electromagnetic energy -- light, radiation -- was not continuous but emitted or absorbed in discrete packets, or "quanta."
--Oliver Sacks, "Everything in Its Place," New York Times Magazine, April 18, 1999

Llinas compared these studies to phrenology, the eighteenth-century pseudoscience that divided the brain into discrete chunks dedicated to specific functions.
--John Horgan, The Undiscovered Mind

In contemporary usage, continents are understood to be large, continuous, discrete masses of land, ideally separated by expanses of water.
--Martin W. Lewis and Karen E. Wigen, The Myth of Continents

High culture is less a set of discrete works of art than a phenomenon shaped by circles of conversation and criticism formed by its creators, distributors and consumers.
--John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination


Feb16
plaintive

\PLAYN-tiv\, adjective:
Expressive of sorrow or melancholy; mournful; sad.

Meanwhile Jack Byron's plight in France was becoming desperate and his letters to his sister increasingly plaintive.
--Phyllis Grosskurth, Byron: The Flawed Angel

The shadows have lengthened, and the night birds have begun their plaintive chorus.
--Valerie Martin, "Being St. Francis," The Atlantic, AugustÊ2000

. . . the plaintive cries of loneliness of the immigrant.
--Jeremy Eichler, "Tango and the Individual Talent," New Republic, July 3, 2000


Feb17
tractable

\TRAK-tuh-buhl\, adjective:
1. Capable of being easily led, taught, or managed; docile.
2. Easily handled, managed, or worked; malleable.

I have always found horses, an animal I am attached to, very tractable when treated with humanity and steadiness.
--Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

He thought that our temperaments are at least partly innate: "Some men by unalterable frame of their constitution are stout, others timorous, some confident, others modest and tractable."
--Jonathan Weiner, Time, Love, Memory

Alice gets out her calculator and begins solving what, for her, is a far more tractable kind of problem.
--Stephen S. Hall, "The Smart Set," New York Times Magazine, June 4, 2000


Feb18
quietus

\kwy-EE-tuhs\, noun:
1. Final discharge or acquittance, as from debt or obligation.
2. Removal from activity; rest; death.
3. Something that serves to suppress or quiet.

I have put a quietus upon that ticking. Depend upon it, the ticking will trouble you no more.
--Herman Melville, "The Apple-Tree Table"

Consider a small police-blotter report from an 1875 issue of The Grant County Herald in Silver City, N[ew] M[exico]: "We learn that on Friday, Jose Garcia, who lives at the Chino copper mines, caught his wife in flagrante delicto -- we leave the reader to guess the crime -- Jose, then and there, gave her the quietus with an axe."
--Thomas Kunkel, "The Pen Is Mightier Than the Six-Shooter," New York Times, August 30, 1998

It was after eleven when Fanning put the quietus to his day, retreating to the "Hospitality Suite" where he'd been hanging his hat these past weeks.
--David Long, The Daughters of Simon Lamoreaux

During his final illness, someone asked Schiller how he felt: "calmer and calmer" was the reply. It was a quietus he richly deserved.
--Roger Kimball, "Schiller's 'Aesthetic Education,' " New Criterion, March 2001


Feb19
inscrutable

\in-SKROO-tuh-buhl\, adjective:
Difficult to fathom or understand; difficult to be explained or accounted for satisfactorily; obscure; incomprehensible; impenetrable.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright recalled the inscrutable comment of a French diplomat about the interaction of the various European organisations: "It will work in practice, yes. But will it work in theory?"
--Jonathan Fenby, France on the Brink

There is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny.
--Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness

He delighted in keeping people guessing. His thought processes were eclectic, inscrutable and unpredictable.
--"Martin Mogridge," Times (London), March 17, 2000

A page of John Lennon's enigmatic lyrics for "I Am [the] Walrus," one of the Beatles' most inscrutable songs, was sold for £78,500 at auction in London yesterday.
--John Shaw, "Lennon lyric sells for £78,500," Times (London), October 1, 1999

[Xavier]

Gee LA... Didn't get your fix from the crossword this morning... :wink:

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday February 20, 2004

avatar

\AV-uh-tar\, noun:
1. The incarnation of a deity -- chiefly associated in Hinduism with the incarnations of Vishnu.
2. An embodiment, as of a quality, concept, philosophy, or tradition; an archetype.
3. A temporary manifestation or aspect of a continuing entity.

In 1517, the year of their first contact, the Aztecs took the Spaniards to be avatars of Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent, god of learning and of wind.
--Paul Theroux, Fresh Air Fiend

People . . . believe he was some sort of avatar of peace and love, the ultimate hippie.
--Edna Gundersen, "For $60, a ticket to read," USA Today, October 5, 2000

It would seem that no definitive identification can be made (Rimbaud the symbolist, the surrealist, the Bolshevik, Rimbaud the bourgeois, the crook, the pervert, Rimbaud the prophet, the superman, the mystic, Rimbaud the Catholic, the cabalist, the atheist, etc.); the latest "proved" avatar is forever recycled as evidence -- faulty or secure -- on which to base the next.
--Richard Howard, "There Was Only One Rimbaud," New York Times, November 19, 2000

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday February 21, 2004

expiate

\EK-spee-ayt\, transitive verb:
To make amends for; to atone for.


Then his devout and long-suffering widow, a princess born, built a beautiful church on the estate to expiate his sins.
-- Serge Schmemann, Echoes of a Native Land

And if you have offended each other, you expiate your sins and offenses by confessing them and apologizing.
--Aung San Suu Kyi, The Voice of Hope

The characters often attempt, however futilely, to expiate their past mistakes.
--Michael Ruhlman, "A Writer at His Best." New York Times, September 20, 1987

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday February 22, 2004

gauche

\GOHSH\, adjective:
Lacking social polish; tactless; awkward; clumsy.

He was largely exempted from the formal socializing he said he found so hard to manage, flustered and gauche in polite company as he had always been.
--John Sturrock, "Well on the Way to Paranoia," New York Times, July 28, 1991

He was by nature intellectual, shy, even gauche and he always believed he lacked the common touch.
--"Editor whose legacy was diversity," Irish Times, October 9, 1999

The audience's performance was altogether more gauche, with scores of people in the stalls constantly turning round to gawp at Mick Jagger seated ten rows back.
--Noreen Taylor, "How was it for him?" Times (London), August 3, 2000

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday February 23, 2004

lambaste

\lam-BAYST\, transitive verb:
1. To give a thrashing to; to beat severely.
2. To scold sharply; to attack verbally; to berate.

. . . someone who spends most of his time lambasting his opponents for supporting the wrong ideas and the wrong courses of action.
--Richard Bernstein, "A Conservative Who's Outgrown His Pigeonhole," New York Times, August 11, 1995

Evening after evening, Hiro and his teammates were lambasted for their failures and shortcomings.
--Noboru Yoshimura and Philip Anderson, Inside the Kaisha

Michael Porter, a leading Harvard business guru, offered further ammunition to critics of Europe's economic management, lambasting continental business culture for failing to promote entrepreneurship.
--Gary Duncan, "Euro 'likely to mean single government,' " Times (London), January 27, 2001

I]Eventually, at a 1965 conference of African and Asian revolutionaries in Algiers, he exploded, publicly lambasting the Russian leaders as "accomplices to imperialist exploitation."[/I]
--Peter Canby, "Poster Boy for the Revolution," New York Times, May 18, 1997

[dizzle]

I really want to thank LA from the bottom of my heart for taking over this committment as a service to our Tweb community. Please send him some pearls.

[Lazy Agnostic]

I really want to thank LA from the bottom of my heart for taking over this committment as a service to our Tweb community. Please send him some pearls.
You're quite welcome, Dee Dee. I don't believe in pearls though.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday February 24, 2004

recrudescent

\ree-kroo-DES-uhnt\, adjective:
Breaking out again after temporary abatement or suppression; as, "a recrudescent epidemic."

Now they are recrudescent like other old maladies we thought we had eliminated.
--Marilynne Robinson, "The way we work, the way we live," Christian Century, September 9, 1998

Imagining the prospect of a recrudescent Marxist revolutionary movement, the State Police became politicised in a way reminiscent of the 1919-22 period.
--Richard Oliver Collin, "Italy: A Tale of Two Police Forces," History Today, September 1999

At the end of a six- to eight-month treatment regimen, only about half the first cohort of prisoners were declared cured -- and some of these later developed signs of recrudescent disease.
--Paul Farmer, "TB Superbugs: The Coming Plague on All our Houses," Natural History, April 1999

[Lazy Agnostic]

flibbertigibbet

\FLIB-ur-tee-jib-it\, noun:
A silly, flighty, or scatterbrained person, especially a pert young woman with such qualities.

We discover here not the flibbertigibbet Connolly describes but a serious reader (Goethe, Tolstoy, Proust) who found her cultural ideal in 18th-century France.
--Martin Stannard, "Enter Shrieking," New York Times, November 28, 1993

He argues persuasively that Millay's reputation has been harmed not only by academics who dread and fear her heartfelt "simplicity," but by the very admirers who wished to promote her as a kind of whimsical flibbertigibbet, a poetical Anne of Green Gables.
--Liz Rosenberg, "So Young, So Good, So Popular," New York Times, March 15, 1992

[Xavier]

Reminds me of a song from "Sound of Music"...

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday February 26, 2004

malapropism

\mal-uh-PROP-iz-uhm\, noun:
The usually unintentionally humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound; also, an example of such misuse.

At 15, Rachel, the whiny would-be beauty queen who "cares for naught but appearances," can think only of what she misses: the five-day deodorant pads she forgot to bring, flush toilets, machine-washed clothes and other things, as she says with her willful gift for malapropism, that she has taken "for granite."
--Michiko Kakutani, "'The Poisonwood Bible': A Family a Heart of Darkness," New York Times, October 16, 1998

He also had, as a former colleague puts it, "a photogenic memory"--a malapropism that captures his gift for the social side of life, his Clintonian ability to remember names of countless people he has met only briefly.
--Eric Pooley and S.C. Gwynne, "How George Got His Groove," Time, June 21, 1999

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A malapropism is so called after Mrs. Malaprop, a character noted for her amusing misuse of words in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy The Rivals.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Reminds me of a song from "Sound of Music"...
or "Mary Poppins". (Love Julie Andrews' voice.)

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday February 27, 2004

raffish

\RAF-ish\, adjective:
1. Characterized by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity, crudeness, or rowdiness; tawdry.
2. Marked by a carefree unconventionality or disreputableness; rakish.

The speaker was in his forties, an attractive-looking man with a black eye patch that gave him the raffish look of an amiable pirate.
--Sidney Sheldon, The Best Laid Plans

Sometimes we would go to the Gargoyle Club, . . . but it was too full of raffish upper-class drunks for my taste.
--John Richardson, The Sorcerer's Apprentice

We are told about Bacon's taste for raffish, lower-class lovers, his penchant for gambling and his almost complete disregard for money.
--Michiko Kakutani, "Portrait of a Portraitist Of a Century's Horrors," New York Times, December 14, 1993


--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Raffish derives from the noun raff (chiefly used in the compound or duplicate, riffraff), meaning "people of a low reputation."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday February 28, 2004

vet

\VET\, transitive verb:
1. To provide veterinary care for (an animal).
2. To provide (a person) with medical care.
3. To examine carefully; to subject to thorough appraisal; to evaluate.

intransitive verb:
To practice as a veterinarian.

She was the right age (in her fifties), and her personal background had been vetted during the Senate confirmation hearings.
--Eleanor Clift and Tom Brazaitis, Madam President

The "Stasi files law," as it is popularly known, also made it possible to vet parliamentarians for Stasi connections.
--John O. Koehler, Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police

Unlike, say, Bob Rubin (the Wall Street investment banker and incoming head of the National Economic Council), who probably needed half a law firm to vet his portfolio, I had no stocks or bonds.
--George Stephanopoulos, All Too Human

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday February 29, 2004

pleonasm

\PLEE-uh-naz-uhm\, noun:
1. The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; as, "I saw it with my own eyes."
2. An instance or example of pleonasm.
3. A superfluous word or expression.

Dougan uses many words where few would do, as if pleonasm were a way of wringing every possibility out of the material he has, and stretching sentences a form of spreading the word.
--Paula Cocozza, "Book review: How Dynamo Kiev beat the Luftwaffe," Independent, March 2, 2001

Such a phrase from President Nixon's era, much favored by politicians, is "at this moment in time." Presumably these five words mean "now." That pleonasm probably does little harm except, perhaps, to the reputation of the speaker.
--Eoin McKiernan, "Last Word: Special Relationships," Irish America, August 31, 1994

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday March 1, 2004

tenet

\TEN-it\, noun:
Any opinion, principle, dogma, belief, or doctrine that a person holds or maintains as true.

. . . the tenet that all men are created equal and seen as such by the eyes of God.
--Kaye Gibbons, On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon

This kind of tolerance and receptivity is itself a cardinal tenet of Enlightenment thought.
--Gary B. Nash, History on Trial

Since the 1950s, the central tenet of US foreign policy and security strategy had been to "contain" the Soviet Union and communist domination and influence.
--George Bush and Brent Scowcroft, A World Transformed

The central tenet of whig theory was the inevitability of progress.
--William L. Bird, Jr., Better Living


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Tenet comes from Latin tenet "he holds" (something as true), from tenere, "to hold."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday March 2, 2004

[B]qua]/B]

\KWAY; KWAH\, preposition:
In the capacity or character of; as.

This might be thought a decisive objection to a federal judge's writing about this subject even if the judge writes qua academic rather than qua judge.
--Richard A. Posner, An Affair of State

Gossipmongers aren't obsessed with gossip qua gossip; they're grappling with the great issues of our day: Truth, Honor and Justice.
--Robert Plunket, "Cyberscandal," New York Times, June 1, 1997

Another problem is the estimation in which one is held qua artist by fellow New Yorkers.
--John Romano, "Is Hollywood Fatal for New York Writers?" New York Times, March 11, 1984


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Qua is from the Latin, from qui, "who."

[Dave G]

I've never heard qua used outside of a Latin phrase, such as "sine qua non." Hm.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Wednesday March 3, 2004

invective

\in-VEK-tiv\, noun:
1. An abusive expression or speech; a vehement verbal attack.
2. Insulting or abusive language.

adjective:
Of, relating to, or characterized by insult, abuse, or denunciatory language.

But one can also note that he chose a fitting image for himself, going out in a duel of honor, armed all over with spikes of witty invective and a specialised knowledge of insult.
--Adrian Frazier, George Moore, 1852-1933

They all seemed to be in their usual mood of precarious good humour which could splinter at any moment into invective and menacing gesture.
--Alice Thomas Ellis, Pillars of Gold

One evening John Mitchell, slightly in his cups, let loose at Whalen with a mess of invective about writers, their inflated notion of their importance to political campaigns, and the need to keep them in their place.
--Leonard Garment, In Search of Deep Throat

Political satire at the expense of governments or institutions is one thing. Personal invective is another.
--Victoria Glendinning, Jonathan Swift: A Portrait


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Invective comes from Late Latin invectivus, "reproachful, abusive," from Latin invectus, past participle of invehi, "to inveigh against."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday March 4, 2004

bowdlerize

\BODE-luh-rise; BOWD-\, transitive verb:
1. To remove or modify the parts (of a book, for example) considered offensive.
2. To modify, as by shortening, simplifying, or distorting in style or content.

The president did not call for bowdlerizing all entertainment, but stressed keeping unsuitable material away from the eyes of children.[I]
--"Conference a start toward loosening grip of violence," Atlanta Journal, May 12, 1999

[I]His tempestuous high school years are touched upon in a delightful scene where the precocious Roy infuriates his English teacher by trying to restore some of Shakespeare's saucier lines to that classroom's bowdlerized study of Hamlet.
--Herman Goodden, "A Few Scenes in the Life of Roy McDonald," London Free Press, December 7, 2000

He added that he bowdlerized some of the lyrics -- substituting "jerk" and "butt" for some less printable words.
--Lloyd Grove, "The Reliable Source," Washington Post, February 15, 2001


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Bowdlerize derives from the name Thomas Bowdler, an editor in Victorian times who rewrote Shakespeare, removing all profanity and sexual references so as not to offend the sensibilities of the audiences of his day.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday March 5, 2004

fait accompli

\fay-tah-kom-PLEE; fet-ah-\, noun
plural faits accomplis \same or -PLEEZ\:
An accomplished and presumably irreversible deed or fact.

In 1991, with German reunification a fait accompli and the European Community striding toward full political and economic integration, the future had seemed extraordinarily bright.
--Richard K. Lester, The Productive Edge

Olga, strict and tradition-minded, marries a man her father has found for her in Greece: she accepts the choice as a fait accompli, and falls in love with him on sight.
--Michiko Kakutani, "After 'Eleni,' Life of a Woman's Children in America," New York Times, October 17, 1989

To argue that Napoleon could have acted differently at Borodino is a meaningless wrestle with a fait accompli.
--James Wood, The Broken Estate

Once again, God abandons fundamentalists; putative acceptance of homosexuality is nearly fait accompli.
--M A Love, in correspondence


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Fait accompli comes from the French, literally meaning "accomplished fact": fait, from Latin factum

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday March 6, 2004

pettifogger

\PET-ee-fog-ur\, noun:
1. A petty, unscrupulous lawyer; a shyster.
2. A person who quibbles over trivia.

A more respectable-looking individual was never seen; he really looked what he was, a gentleman of the law -- there was nothing of the pettifogger about him.
--George Borrow, Lavengro

The nitpickers, the whiners, the pettifoggers are everywhere.
--Bill Kraus, "Without Health Care Reform, Forget It," Capital Times, December 15, 1993

The case . . . opened my eyes to a problem that doesn't get half the ink lavished on unprincipled pettifoggers but is arguably twice as important.
--Max Boot, Out of Order

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday March 7, 2004

vagary

VAY-guh-ree; vuh-GER-ee\, noun:
An extravagant, erratic, or unpredictable notion, action, or occurrence.

Her words are a dreadful reminder that much of life's consequences are resultant of vagary and caprice, dictated by the tragedy of the ill-considered action, the irrevocable misstep, the irrevocable moment in which a terrible wrong can seem the only right.
--Rosemary Mahoney, "Acts of Mercy?" New York Times, September 13, 1998

Weather is one of the vagaries of blue-water racing, ruling the sport like a malicious jester.
--Martin Dugard, Knockdown

This thing called love was a total mystery to me, but the vagaries of passion and despair that accompanied each devotion kept my life in high drama.
--Jane Alexander, Command Performance

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Vagary comes from Latin vagari, "to stroll about, to wander," from
vagus, "wandering."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday March 8, 2004

idyll

\EYE-dl\, noun:
1. A simple descriptive work, either in poetry or prose, dealing with simple, rustic life; pastoral scenes; and the like.
2. A narrative poem treating an epic, romantic, or tragic theme.
3. A lighthearted carefree episode or experience.
4. A romantic interlude.

Sheep are not the docile, pleasant creatures of the pastoral idyll. Any countryman will tell you that. They are sly, occasionally vicious, pathologically stupid.
--Joanne Harris, Chocolat

From too much looking back, he was destroyed, . . . trying to re-create an idyll that never truly existed except in his own imagination.
--Gore Vidal, The Essential Gore Vidal

She kept a diary that poignantly captured the sense of youthful gaiety shattered by events suddenly intruding on their teenage idyll.
--James T. Fisher, Dr. America

The Guevaras' honeymoon idyll, such as it was, did not last long.
--Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevara : A Revolutionary Life


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Idyll ultimately derives from Greek eidullion, "a short descriptive poem (usually on pastoral subjects); an idyll," from eidos, "that which is seen; form; shape; figure." The adjective form is idyllic.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday March 9, 2004

truckle

\TRUHK-uhl\, intransitive verb:
To yield or bend obsequiously to the will of another; to act in a subservient manner.

Only where there was a "defiance," a "refusal to truckle," a "distrust of all authority," they believed, would institutions "express human aspirations, not crush them."
--Pauline Maier, "A More Perfect Union," New York Times, October 31, 1999

The son struggled to be obedient to the conventional, commercial values of the father and, at the same time, to maintain his own playful, creative innocence. This conflict could make him truckle in the face of power.
--Dr. Margaret Brenman-Gibson, quoted in "Theater Friends Recall Life and Works of Odets," by Herbert Mitgang, New York Times, October 30, 1981

I am convinced that, broadly speaking, the audience must accept the piece on my own terms; that it is fatal to truckle to what one conceives to be popular taste.
--Sidney Joseph Perelman, quoted in "The Perelman Papers," by Herbert Mitgang, New York Times, March 15, 1981


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Truckle is from truckle bed (a low bed on wheels that may be pushed under another bed; also called a trundle bed), in reference to the fact that the truckle bed on which the pupil slept was rolled under the large bed of the master. The ultimate source of the word is Greek trokhos, "a wheel."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Wednesday March 10, 2004

patrician

\puh-TRISH-un\, noun:
1. A member of one of the original citizen families of ancient Rome.
2. A person of high birth; a nobleman.
3. A person of refined upbringing, manners, and taste.

adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to the patrician families of ancient Rome.
2. Of, pertaining to, or appropriate to, a person of high birth; noble; not plebeian.
3. Befitting or characteristic of refined upbringing, manners, and taste.

London possessed the manner of a patrician. He was a man whose stately elegance suggested that he deemed himself above the fray.
--Martin Garbus, Tough Talk

In Senator Harrison G. Otis's words, King was the "last of the Romans," or those patrician Federalists who hoped to model the American Senate upon the aristocratic body of the Roman Republic and to keep the plebeian House in check.
--Joseph Martin Hernon, Profiles in Character

A neutral observer could not have said whether the handsome gentleman with the black satin eye patch over his left eye, and the meticulously trimmed salt-and-pepper goatee, and the jaunty straw hat, and the air of patrician confidence, was betraying now and then a just-perceptible apprehension, or whether, like numerous others, quite naturally in these heightened circumstances, he is merely anticipating the contest to come.
--Joyce Carol Oates, My Heart Laid Bare

I stuck up for patrician values, incarnate, as I imagined, in the professional class I issued from, exemplified by my grandfather.
--David Laskin, Partisans


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Patrician derives from Latin patricius, from patres, "senators," plural of pater, "father."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday March 11, 2004

apocryphal

\uh-POK-ruh-fuhl\, adjective:
1. (Bible) Pertaining to the Apocrypha.
2. Not canonical. Hence: Of doubtful authority or authenticity; spurious; false.

Apocryphal or not, the anecdote contains at least a grain of truth.
--Caroline Fraser, God's Perfect Child

In 1959 he told Walter Gutman that he first started writing when he was three years old, but that his sister threw away all his childhood writings one day when she cleaned out the attic. This sounds apocryphal as it is unlikely that he could read or write at that tender age, and if he could he would certainly have told us.
--Barry Miles, Jack Kerouac King of the Beats

He always told romanticised apocryphal stories of his ancestry, sometimes a bastard grandfather, brought up on the parish, sometimes "a weaver, half poet and half madman."
--Kathleen Jones, A Passionate Sisterhood


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Apocryphal ultimately derives from Greek apokruphos, "hidden (hence, spurious)," from apokruptein, "to hide away," from apo-, "away, from" + kruptein , "to hide."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday March 12, 2004

efficacious

\ef-ih-KAY-shuhs\, adjective:
Possessing the quality of being effective; producing, or capable of producing, the effect intended; as, an efficacious law.

Lawyers make claims not because they believe them to be true, but because they believe them to be legally efficacious. --Paul F. Campos, Jurismania

Henri IV wrote to his son's nurse, Madame de Montglat, in 1607 insisting 'it is my wish and my command that he be whipped every time he is stubborn or misbehaves, knowing full well from personal experience that nothing in the world is as efficacious'.
--Katharine MacDonogh, Reigning Cats and Dogs: A History of Pets at Court Since the Renaissance

Plagued by rats, the citizens of Hamelin desperately seek some efficacious method of pest control.
--Francine Prose, review of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, as retold by Robert Holden, New York Times, August 16, 1998

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday March 13, 2004

deign

\DAYN\, intransitive verb:
To think worthy; to condescend -- followed by an infinitive.

intransitive verb:
To condescend to give or bestow; to stoop to furnish; to grant.

Not until I pour vodka on his shirt does he deign to acknowledge my existence.
--Jay McInerney, Model Behavior

Maybe the President does not deign to read op-ed pages, but his speechwriters surely do.
--William Safire, "The Wrong Way." New York Times, June 14, 1999

Like most healthy, normal people (if you deign to categorize yourself that way), you are probably fraught with worry so intense these days you are sleeping standing up with your eyes open.
--Lisa Napoli, "Every Little Thing's Gonna Be All Right!" New York Times, December 14, 1996

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday March 14, 2004

sanctum

\SANK-tum\, noun;
plural sanctums or sancta:
1. A sacred place.
2. A place of retreat where one is free from intrusion.

What's more, the babble of radios, televisions and raised voices from the other households in the condominium rarely penetrated this sanctum.
--Tim Parks, Mimi's Ghost

[/I]Symour has spent most of her research time in that sanctum of the professional biographer, the London Library. [/I]
--John Mullan, "The agony and the ecstasy," The Guardian, December 23, 2000

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday March 15, 2004

malinger

\muh-LING-guhr\, intransitive verb:
To feign or exaggerate illness or inability in order to avoid duty or work.

Because he twice slapped battle-stressed soldiers in Sicily who, he thought, were merely malingering, he was denied a major command in the Normandy landings.
--Bernard Knox, "Scorched Earth," New York Times, November 14, 1999

It is impossible to determine exactly what inspired Mary's various symptoms, but her own and other family members' letters suggest that her suffering may have been a combination of hypochondria, conscious histrionics and malingering, and unconscious rebellion against her father.
--Caroline Fraser, God's Perfect Child

My specialty is subjecting the data I obtain to successive mathematical corrective formulas to filter the truly psychotic from those who are malingering.
--Barbara Kirwin, Ph.D, The Mad, the Bad, and the Innocent


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Malinger derives from French malingre, "sickly," perhaps from Old French mal, "badly" + heingre , "lean, thin."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday March 16, 2004

redound

\rih-DOWND\, intransitive verb:
1. To have a consequence or effect.
2. To return; to rebound; to reflect.
3. To become added or transferred; to accrue.

Even if we don't officially round them up, as we did with Japanese Americans in World War II, the unofficial acts of meanness and hatred against those who look like our blood enemies are likely to redound to our shame.
--William Raspberry, "Worse to Come," Washington Post, September 15, 2001

Women are so inclined to vote Democratic that a Republican drive to get out the women's vote may actually redound to the Democrats' advantage.
-- Ruth Conniff, "No more angry feminists," The Progressive, October 1, 1996

The Kemp Commission tracked three periods of reduced taxation in this century. Each was followed by an economic boom that redounded to the benefit of the entire society.
--Mona Charen, "You Can't Punish the Rich Without Hurting the Rest of Us," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 25, 1996

O'Sullivan busied himself writing would-be contributors, outlining his plan for the enterprise and how its glory would redound to all associated with the project.
--Edward L. Widmer, Young America

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Wednesday March 17, 2004

perfidy

\PUR-fuh-dee\, noun:
The act of violating faith or allegiance; violation of a promise or vow; faithlessness; treachery.

Having just fought a war to get rid of a king, the framers had "the perfidy of the chief magistrate" clearly in their sights when they included broad grounds for impeachment.
--Ann H. Coulter, High Crimes and Misdemeanors

To ordinary Algerians, the news that chemical tests did not end until 1978 was renewed proof of the hypocrisy and perfidy of the military who have misruled them since independence in 1962.
--"Bombshell that rocked generals in Algeria," Irish Times, October 25, 1997

Soon Esther has fallen desolately into the arms of her girlfriend, seeking advice and reassurance about the perfidy of men.
--Janet Maslin, "Rendezvous in Paris," New York Times, August 9, 1996

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday March 18, 2004

doughty
\DOW-tee\, adjective:
Marked by fearless resolution; valiant; brave.

He was obsessed with the Arctic, his imagination stoked by epic accounts of the doughty pioneers who had led wooden ships into uncharted waters and northern mists.
--Sara Wheeler, "In Cold Blood?" New York Times, February 25, 2001

One day he stumbled, fell against the spinning saw and half severed his left arm. It was three days before a doctor came, but the doughty old Swede was still alive.
--Quentin Reynolds, "The Bold Victory of a Man Alone," New York Times, September 13, 1953

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday March 19, 2004

anathema

\uh-NATH-uh-muh\, noun:
1. A ban or curse pronounced with religious solemnity by ecclesiastical authority and accompanied by excommunication. Hence: the denunciation of anything as accursed.
2. An imprecation; a curse; a malediction.
3. Any person or thing cursed by ecclesiastical authority.
4. Any person or thing that is intensely disliked.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday March 20, 2004

salad days

noun:
A time of youthful inexperience, innocence, or indiscretion.

Those were his salad days, and he thought they might last forever.
--David Gergen, " 'They Love You. Watch Out,' " New York Times, February 2, 1997


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Salad days was coined by Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra: "My salad days,/ When I was green in judgment, cold in blood."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday March 21, 2004

connubial

\kuh-NOO-bee-ul; -NYOO-\, adjective:
Of or pertaining to marriage, or the marriage state; conjugal; nuptial.

Wed as teenagers in Chicago, my parents' connubial collaboration had a second result: me and, seven years after my birth, a spectacularly beautiful sequel, my sister, Marcia.
--Larry Gelbart, Laughing Matters

Given Tina's dismissive attitude toward marriage and the tumult of her relationships with men, it would also be fascinating to know more than we do about the emotional texture and tone of her parents' thirty years of connubial life.
--Patricia Albers, Shadows, Fire, Snow

But no such happy marriage could now teach the admiring multitude what connubial felicity really was.
--Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice


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Connubial comes from Latin conubialis, from conubium, "marriage, intermarriage," from con-, "with, together" + nubere, "to veil, to marry." It is related to nubile , "of an age suitable for marriage; hence, sexually mature and attractive."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday March 22, 2004

repletion \rih-PLEE-shun\, noun:
1. The condition of being completely filled or supplied.
2. Excessive fullness, as from overeating.

We have to earn silence, then, to work for it: to make it not an absence but a presence; not emptiness but repletion.
--Pico Iyer, "The Eloquent Sounds of Silence," Time, January 1993

With distended belly and bursting waistcoat, his eyes glazed with repletion, he picks listlessly at his teeth with a fork.
--Kenneth Rose, "Madness of King George's son," Daily Telegraph, November 14, 1998

He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion.
--Jeff Guinn, "The Ghoul, the Bad, the Ugly," Arizona Republic, June 7, 1999


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Repletion is derived from Latin replere, "to fill again, to fill up," from re- + plere, " to fill." Plenty is a related word.

[Solly]

This thread is replete with word meanings, and LA is the new master of repletion

[dizzle]

salad days? That is a new one.

for me those are my days of dieting

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday March 23, 2004

woebegone \WOE-buh-gon; -bee-\, adjective:
1. Beset or overwhelmed with woe; immersed in grief or sorrow; woeful.
2. Being in a sorry condition; dismal-looking; dilapidated; run-down.

Socrates, condemned to death by the people of Athens, prepares to drink a cup of hemlock, surrounded by woebegone friends.
--Alain De Botton, The Consolations of Philosophy

This woebegone lot includes Henry, a real-estate developer whose dream project has, like his marriage, slipped into bankruptcy; Henry's sister, Wiloma, who has hurled herself headlong into the arms of a New Age church to survive her own divorce; and Henry and Wiloma's decrepit Uncle Brendan, a former monk whose faith has eroded along with his health, stranding him in a nursing home.
--Jennifer Howard, review of The Forms of Water, by Andrea Barrett, New York Times, June 13, 1993

After 40 years as a producer he thinks of himself as a battered, scarred but well-armoured animal, "like an old turtle"; and if such creatures could speak they would probably sound like [him], a bit woebegone but drolly unsurprised by life's vicissitudes.
--"Time for another Hugo hit," Times (London), May 22, 2000

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Wednesday March 24, 2004

perorate

\PUR-uh-rayt\, intransitive verb:
1. To conclude or sum up a long discourse.
2. To speak or expound at length; to declaim.

These people don't talk, they perorate, pontificate, bombast.
--Jean Charbonneau, "Biographer's quest becomes self-searching journey," Denver Post, January 28, 2001

Our mother favored a staccato, stand-up style; if our father could perorate, she could condense.
--Annie Dillard, "The Leg In The Christmas Stocking: What We Learned From Jokes," New York Times, December 7, 1986

You may perorate endlessly.
--Richard Elman, "A Rap on Race," New York Times, June 27, 1971

Mr Holding's peroration against me near the end of this article is worth quoting: “Doherty’s shameful pretense at scholarship may be recognized for what it is: stretched facts keyholed into a strained theory; begged questions scurrying for their ratholes, and a blank canvas presented as a substantial and masterful work of art. Believe this man’s ravings if you will, and you will be a skeptic of remarkable faith.”
--Earl Doherty, "The Jesus Puzzle" website

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Perorate comes from Latin perorare "to speak at length or to the end," from per-, "through, throughout," + orare, "to speak."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday March 25, 2004

gambol

/GAM-buhl/, intransitive verb:
To dance and skip about in play; to frolic.

noun:
A skipping or leaping about in frolic.

I've been told dolphins like to gambol in the waves in these waters, and that sighting them brings good luck.
--Barbara Kingsolver, "Where the Map Stopped," New York Times, May 17, 1992

The bad news is that while most of us gambol in the sun, there will be much wringing of hands in environment-hugging circles about global warming and climate change.
--Derek Brown, "Heatwaves," The Guardian, June 16, 2000

Then they joined hands (it was the stranger who began it by catching Martha and Matilda) and danced the table round, shaking their feet and tossing their arms, the glee ever more uproarious, -- danced until they were breathless, every one of them, save little Sammy, who was not asked to join the gambol, but sat still in his chair, and seemed to expect no invitation.
--Norman Duncan, "Santa Claus At Lonely Cove," The Atlantic, December 1903

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Gambol, earlier gambolde or gambalde, comes from Medieval French gambade, "a leaping or skipping," from Late Latin gamba, "hock (of a horse), leg," from Greek kampe, "a joint or bend."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday March 26, 2004

mephitic

\muh-FIT-ik\, adjective:
1. Offensive to the smell; as, mephitic odors.
2. Poisonous; noxious.

The mephitic stench from the bilge became overpowering.
--Richard Holmes, Coleridge: Darker Reflections, 1804-1834

Over everything presides "a sort of mephitic fog," a pervasive sulfuric stink.--Dale Peck, "Way Outback," New York Times, March 22, 1998

. . . unpoisoned by the mephitic vapours which poisoned the atmosphere of his police-office.
--Henry Fielding, Tom Jones
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Mephitic is the adjective form of mephitis , "a foul-smelling or noxious exhalation from the earth; a stench from any source," from the Latin.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday March 27, 2004

inimical

\ih-NIM-ih-kul\, adjective:
1. Having the disposition or temper of an enemy; unfriendly; unfavorable.
2. Opposed in tendency, influence, or effects; antagonistic; adverse.

Here the planet under scrutiny is Venus -- a world even more inimical to human existence than Mars. With a poisonous CO2 atmosphere, hellish temperatures and atmospheric pressure 90 times that of Earth's, "a person exposed to Venus's surface . . . would flash-burn a split second before any remaining chemical residue was squashed flat."
--Gerald Jonas, "Science Fiction," New York Times, February 27, 2000

Yeats's conflict with his father was not only about the conventional employment which J. B. Yeats believed was inimical to creative freedom.
--Terence Brown, The Life of W. B. Yeats

T. H. Logan, an inimical police officer, drives his wife mad with grief by killing the seal she used to love to swim with.
--Aoibheann Sweeney, "Gnawing on Bones," New York Times, June 11, 2000


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Inimical comes from Late Latin inimicalis, from Latin inimicus, "unfriendly, adverse, hostile," from in-, "not" + amicus, "friendly, well-wishing, favorable to," from [I]amare /I], "to love."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday March 28, 2004

ken

\KEN\, noun:
1. Perception; understanding; knowledge.
2. The range of vision.
3. View; sight.

He was to make several important discoveries, the most significant being that infantile paralysis was caused not by germs, as cerebrospinal meningitis had been, but by a mysterious agent just then emerging into the ken of science.
--James Thomas Flexner, Maverick's Progress

So we are predisposed -- if not preprogrammed -- to accept tales of animals who display human motives, understanding, reason, and intentions. It takes a far greater imagination to conceive the possibility that a dog's mental life may assume a form that is simply beyond our ken.
--Stephen Budiansky, If a Lion Could Talk

Libussa, the youngest, particularly beautiful, unworldly and serious, was able to see what was hidden from other people's ken and to prophesy.
--Peter Demetz, Prague in Black and Gold

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday March 29, 2004

proscribe

\proh-SKRYB\, transitive verb:
1. To denounce, condemn, or forbid as harmful; to prohibit.
2. To put outside the protection of the law; to outlaw.
3. To publish the name of (a person) as condemned to death with his property forfeited to the state.

Even in war there are rules and accepted norms of behaviour that prohibit the use of certain types of weapons (for example, hollow-point or 'dum-dum' bullets, CS 'tear' gas, chemical and biological warfare agents), proscribe various tactics and outlaw attacks on specific categories of targets.
--Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism

The game about to be played has tacit rules, since television shows, like every social milieu in which discourse circulates, allow certain things to be said and proscribe others.
--Pierre Bourdieu, On Television

[/I]The Eighth Commandment, prohibiting theft, clearly implies the sanctity of property; the same holds true of the Tenth Commandment, which proscribes coveting "anything that is your neighbor's."[/I]
--Richard Pipes, Property and Freedom

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[/I]Proscribe[/I] comes from Latin proscribere, "to make publicly known, to publish, to proscribe," from pro-, "before, in front" + scribere, "to write."

Usage: Don't confuse proscribe with prescribe. They are virtual opposites: to proscribe is to forbid; to prescribe is to recommend. It might help to keep in mind that proscribe has an o, like no.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday March 30, 2004

grandiloquent

\gran-DIL-uh-kwuhnt\, adjective:
Lofty in style; pompous; bombastic.

He became more than usually grandiloquent as if to make up for the years of silence with words of [I] gold.
--Peter Ackroyd, "Supreme man of letters," Times (London), November 22, 2000

The more grandiloquent and picturesque the language the greater the distance at which he keeps you.
--Richard Eder, "Irish Memories, Irish Poetry," New York Times, September 19, 1976

A voracious reader with a passion for history and great men, he was a droll raconteur with a grandiloquent style.
--Richard Siklos, Shades of Black
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Grandiloquent comes from Latin grandiloquus, from grandis, "grand" + loqui, "to speak." The noun form is grandiloquence.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Wednesday March 31, 2004

approbation

\ap-ruh-BAY-shuhn\, noun:
1. The act of approving; formal or official approval.
2. Praise; commendation.

The speech struck a responsive chord among many and won him much approbation.
--George Bush and Brent Scowcroft, A World Transformed

More importantly, these drawings represented a first success, which brought the intoxicating rewards of approbation and cash.
--Matthew Sturgis, Aubrey Beardsley: A Biography

To some of his contemporaries, the episode seemed more the schemings of someone craving attention and the approbation of his peers than an act of sabotage.
--Richard Siklos, Shades of Black
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approbation is from Latin approbatio, from approbare, "to approve or cause to be approved" from ap- (for ad), used intensively + probare, "to make or find good," from probus, "good, excellent, fine."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday April 1, 2004

puckish

\PUHK-ish\, adjective:
Whimsical; mischievous; impish.

Superficially obnoxious, his friendly, puckish manner endeared him to those who relished the intensity of turn-of-the-century bohemian New York.
--William B. Scott and Peter M. Rutkoff, New York Modern

To his credit he exhibits on occasion a puckish humor. Commenting on elementary reasoning abilities of chimpanzees engaged in experiments, he says they may "be wondering whether people have the capacity for reason, and if so, why they need help from apes to solve such simple problems."
--Richard Restak, "Rational Explanation," New York Times, November 21, 1999

It happens that I had recently read an article on wordplay in the Smithsonian magazine in which the author asserted that some puckish soul had once sent a letter addressed, with playful ambiguity, to

HILL
JOHN
MASS
and it had gotten there after the postal authorities had worked out that it was to be read as "John Underhill, Andover, Mass." (Get it?)
--Bill Bryson, I'm a Stranger Here Myself

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Puckish comes from Puck, the name of a mischievous sprite in English folklore, from Middle English pouke, "goblin," from Old English puca.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday April 2, 2004

coterminous

\koh-TUR-muh-nuhs\, adjective:
1. Having the same or coincident boundaries.
2. Having the same scope, range of meaning, duration.

In a democracy the interests of the people are, or at least should be, coterminous with those of the state.
--Ronald Steel, "The Domestic Core of Foreign Policy," The Atlantic, JuneÊ1995

That kind of sociological prejudice rests on a false supposition, . . . that "social" and "governmental" are coterminous, and that anyone who is against governmental action is therefore essentially "atomistic."
--Brian Doherty, "Cybersilly," Reason, August/September 2000

The collapse of the swing phenomenon was coterminous with the emergence of bebop.
--David Nasaw, "Big-Band Theory," New York Times, November 26, 2000

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Coterminous is from Latin conterminus, from com-, "together; with" + terminus

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday April 3, 2004

mountebank

\MOUN-tuh-bank\, noun:
1. A peddler of quack medicine, who stands on a platform to appeal to the audience.
2. A charlatan; a boastful pretender to knowledge or a skill.

The man whom Mr. Masson had described as his father's guru is finally regarded by the alert, knowing, newly skeptical son as "a phony, a charlatan, a mountebank, an impostor, a quack."
--Robert Coles, "His First Fallen Idol," New York Times, February 7, 1993

Nevertheless, in William Avery Rockefeller one clearly detects the blarney and easy conviviality of the mountebank.
--Ron Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

To his critics including some of the other topnotchers in the school of Paris, he is a talented mountebank and irrepressible showman who has lured his followers and the world up a blind artistic and intellectual alley.
--"Captain Picasso's Voyages," Time, June 26, 1950

Yet to make such judgments on any question rather than trying to examine the question properly, to discover what the full answers might be, is coercive philistinism: it is to allow the mountebank to triumph over the critic, the mob orator to drown the doubts of the sceptic.
--Kevin Myers, "An Irishman's Diary," Irish Times, November 12, 1999

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mountebank comes from the Italian montambanco, montimbanco, from the phrase monta in banco , literally "mounts on bench" (i.e. "gets up on a bench").

Synonyms: charlatan, deceiver, Holding, impostor, quack.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday April 4, 2004

tirade

\TY-raid; tih-RAID\, noun:
A long angry speech; a violent denunciation; a prolonged outburst full of censure or abuse.

The force of this tirade made Matthew glance nervously at Coots, who shrugged and asked his partner, "You just about all through?"
--Trevanian, Incident at Twenty-Mile

Bobby wanted to enquire further, but knew better; more questions were apt to set off a tirade.
--Stephen King, Hearts In Atlantis

[H]e was likeable, had panache, and his contemptuous tirades were rarely taken at face value.
--Michael Schaller, Altered States


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Tirade comes from French, from Italian tirada, properly, "a pulling"; hence, "a lengthening out, a long speech, a tirade," from tirare, "to pull, to draw

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday April 5, 2004

palaver

\puh-LAV-uhr; puh-LAH-vur\, noun:
1. Idle talk
2. Talk intended to beguile or deceive.
3. A parley usually between persons of different backgrounds or cultures or levels of sophistication; a talk; hence, a public conference and deliberation.

intransitive verb:
To talk idly.

transitive verb:
To flatter; to cajole.

The spaceship crew settles down for a long bout of philosophical discourse that sounds suspiciously like teatime palaver in an Oxford University common room: "Time is a construct of thought too. In High Space this is all more nakedly obvious, is it not? Space isn't a thing. As Kant said . . . ."
--Gerald Jonas, "Science Fiction," New York Times, July 8, 1990

For me, a young writer about to have yet another commencement address inflicted on him, it was a wonderful surprise -- an honest and detailed talk, free of the usual piety and palaver that clutter those speeches.
--Alan Lelchuk, "The Death of the Jewish Novel,"New York Times, November 25, 1984

He is glad to palaver of his many adventures, as a boy will whistle after sundown in a wood.
--O. Henry, "The Man Higher Up"


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Palaver derives from Late Latin parabola, "a proverb, a parable," from Greek parabole, from paraballein, "to compare," from para-, "beside" + ballein, "to throw."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday April 6, 2004

vertiginous

\vur-TIJ-uh-nuhs\, adjective:
1. Affected with vertigo; giddy; dizzy.
2. Causing or tending to cause dizziness.
3. Turning round; whirling; revolving.
4. Inclined to change quickly or frequently; inconstant.


But up close the building is impossibly steep, vertiginous, hostile.
--Neil Baldwln, Legends of the Plumed Serpent

[H]e did us no good when, without permission, he entered Tibetan air space and flew up over central China, explaining that it was impossible to comply with the authorities' instructions to land because of the vertiginous mountain terrain.
--Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, Around the World in 20 Days

. . . the bouldery ruins of vertiginous cliffs pounded and lashed by the fury of wind and water.
--Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker, The Beach


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Vertiginous derives from Latin vertigo, "a turning round, a whirling round; giddiness," from vertere, "to turn." Related words include reverse, "to turn back (re-) or around"; subvert, "to undermine" (from sub-, "under" + vertere -- at root "to turn from under, to overturn"); and versus, "against" (from versus, "turned towards," hence "facing, opposed," from the past participle of vertere).

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Wednesday April 7, 2004

remonstrate

\rih-MAHN-strayt; REH-mun-strayt\, intransitive verb:
To present and urge reasons in opposition to an act, measure, or any course of proceedings -- usually used with 'with'.

transitive verb:
To say or plead in protest, opposition, or reproof.

If a hailstorm starts, surely instead of remonstrating with it, you try to take shelter.
--Victor Pelevin, A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia and Other Stories

When things went beyond the control of her forceful personality, inventiveness or charm, if the problem was something she could not alter or manipulate, she didn't pine or remonstrate, she merely buried what was threatening or damaging to her sense of worth.
--Colin Thubron, "Sophisticated Traveler," New York Times, October 10, 1999

Tories and Liberal Democrats remonstrated with each other.
--Matthew Parris, "Cockney market forces drive Ginger bananas," Times (London), May 16, 2001


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Remonstrate comes from Medieval Latin remonstrare, "to show again, to point back to, as a fault," from re- + monstrare, "to show."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday April 8, 2004

bailiwick

\BAY-luh-wik\, noun:
1. A person's specific area of knowledge, authority, interest, skill, or work.
2. The office or district of a bailiff.

I'll give it a try, but this is not my bailiwick.
--Sue Grafton, 'L' Is for Lawless

He "professed ignorance, as of something outside my bailiwick."
--Marc Aronson, "Wharton and the House of Scribner: The Novelist as a Pain in the Neck," New York Times, January 2, 1994

Fund-raising was Cliff's bailiwick, anyway, and he seemed to have it in hand.
--Curt Sampson, The Masters


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Bailiwick comes from Middle English baillifwik, from baillif, "bailiff" (ultimately from Latin bajulus, "porter, carrier") + wik, "town," from Old English wic, from Latin vicus, "village."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday April 9, 2004

impregnable

\im-PREG-nuh-buhl\, adjective:
1. Not capable of being stormed or taken by assault; unconquerable; as, an impregnable fortress.
2. Difficult or impossible to overcome or refute successfully; beyond question or criticism; as, an impregnable argument.

During this destruction the villagers . . . relied on their ancient instinct for survival and retreated to the impregnable fortress of the mountain.
--Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins, Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet

What Spinoza says of laws is equally true of party-platforms,--that those are strong which appeal to reason, but those are impregnable which compell the assent both of reason and the common affections of mankind.
--James Russell Lowell, "The Election in November," The Atlantic, October 1860


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Impregnable is from Old French, from the prefix im-, "not" (from Latin in-) + prenable, "able to be taken or captured," from prendre, "to take," from Latin prehendere.

[Lizard]

Word of the Day for Friday April 9, 2004

impregnable

\im-PREG-nuh-buhl\, adjective:
1. Not capable of being stormed or taken by assault; unconquerable; as, an impregnable fortress.
2. Difficult or impossible to overcome or refute successfully; beyond question or criticism; as, an impregnable argument.

During this destruction the villagers . . . relied on their ancient instinct for survival and retreated to the impregnable fortress of the mountain.
--Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins, Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet

What Spinoza says of laws is equally true of party-platforms,--that those are strong which appeal to reason, but those are impregnable which compell the assent both of reason and the common affections of mankind.
--James Russell Lowell, "The Election in November," The Atlantic, October 1860


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Impregnable is from Old French, from the prefix im-, "not" (from Latin in-) + prenable, "able to be taken or captured," from prendre, "to take," from Latin prehendere.Then there's the red neck definition:

Impregnable = infertile.


Ex.

Before we were married my wife told me she was impregnable. Well, she wasn't. That's why we had to get married. :eek:

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday April 10, 2004
renege \rih-NIG; -NEG\, intransitive verb:
To go back on a promise or commitment.

Today, politicians everywhere routinely renege on pledges in the belief that any problem can be solved by short-term fixes, spin-doctoring or character assassination.
--Larry Elliott, "Universal man must take responsibility for slaying Beveridge's five giants," The Guardian, January 10, 2000

But now the Senate is proposing to renege on the deal, and the governors are furious.
--By Judith Havemann Washington Post, March 13, 1999

And George W. Bush knows from seeing his father renege on his "no new taxes" pledge how a single judgment can end up crippling a presidency.
--James Carney and Karen Tumulty, "How They Run the Show," Time, October 29, 2000

Did the omni-one not know at this time that the Israelites would become even more unrighteous--or whatever Turkel thinks caused Yahweh to renege on his promise--or did the omni-one not know that there would be no Jews “to take part in the covenant”--if this is what Turkel is trying to argue?
--Farrell Till, "Tilling Turkel’s 'Land Ahoy' - Part 4", website




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Renege is from Medieval Latin renegare, "to deny again, to go back upon," from Latin re-, "back, again" + negare, "to say no, to deny."

[Bill the Cat]

Please respect the privacy of fellow members

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday April 11, 2004

apprise

\uh-PRYZ\, transitive verb:
To give notice to; to inform; -- often followed by of; as, "we will apprise the general of an intended attack; he apprised the commander of what he had done."

When Tyler, tuning in to channel seven, became apprised of this news, he raised his eyebrows and smiled.
--William T. Vollmann, The Royal Family

I felt it a duty almost to stifle opinion: as a doctor, you are there to support the patient, apprise him of the bare clinical facts only.
--David Loxterkamp, M.D., A Measure of My Days

Baum soon apprised Denslow of his plan to mount a Wizard of Oz musical, and Denslow, eager to participate in the project, began to shop around for a producer.
--Mark Evan Swartz, Oz Before the Rainbow


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Apprise comes from French appris, past participle of apprendre, from Old French aprendre, "to learn," from Vulgar Latin apprendere, from Latin apprehendere, "to take hold of (by the mind)," from ad- + prehendere, "to lay hold of, to seize."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday April 12, 2004

improvident

\im-PROV-uh-duhnt; -dent\, adjective:
Lacking foresight or forethought; not foreseeing or providing for the future; negligent or thoughtless.

Elizabeth's husband . . . had been a reckless, improvident man, who left many debts behind him when he died suddenly of a consumption in September 1704.
--David Nokes, Jane Austen: A Life

Lily is spoiled, pleasure-loving, and has one of those society mothers who are as improvident as a tornado.
--Elizabeth Hardwick, Sight-Readings: American Fictions

He called the decision "an exercise in raw judicial power" that was "improvident and extravagant."
--Linda Greenhouse, "White Announces He'll Step Down From High Court," New York Times, March 20, 1993


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Improvident derives from Latin improvidens, improvident-, from im- (for in-), "not" + providens, provident-, present participle of providere, "to see beforehand, to provide for," from pro-, "before, forward" + videre, "to see."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday April 13, 2004

carom

\KAIR-uhm\, noun:
1. A rebound following a collision; a glancing off.
2. A shot in billiards in which the cue ball successively strikes two other balls on the table.

intransitive verb:
1. To strike and rebound; to glance.
2. To make a carom.

transitive verb:
To make (an object) bounce off something; to cause to carom.

The cart smashed into the steep hillside in explosive caroms and bounces, sending billows of dust and rock into the air.
--Ev Ehrlich, Grant Speaks

Three blocks away, in the Rue des Jardiniers, four Moroccan children were kicking a filthy soccer ball up and down the street. It caromed off the parked cars, rolled into the gutter, was kicked again, leaving dirty blotches where it had smacked against the vehicles' fenders.
--Philip Shelby, Gatekeeper

The anger caroms around in our psyches like jagged stones.
--Randall Robinson, Defending the Spirit


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Carom derives from obsolete carambole, from Spanish carambola, "a stroke at billiards."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Wednesday April 14, 2004

myrmidon

\MUR-muh-don; -duhn\, noun:
1. [Capitalized] A member of a warlike Thessalian people who followed Achilles on the expedition against Troy.
2. A loyal follower, especially one who executes orders without question, protest, or pity.

He risked assassination, torture or . . . retaliation, the defining signatures of Mr. Milosevic and his ultranationalist myrmidons.
--Bruce Fein, "Follow U.S. war crimes advice?" Washington Times, May 10, 2001

Those who created EMU [(European) Economic and Monetary Union] -- mainly politicians and their myrmidons in the offices and conference rooms of Brussels -- portray a beckoning landscape of wealth, liberty and economic power that will rival the United States and surpass Asia.
--James O. Jackson, "The One-Way Bridge," Time, May 11, 1998

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday April 15, 2004

privation

\pry-VAY-shun\, noun:
1. An act or instance of depriving.
2. The state of being deprived of something, especially of something required or desired; destitution; need.

The late Georges Bernanos complained that the isolated labor of writing deprived novelists of essential human contacts. This is, indeed, a bitter and painful privation, even if it is in some instances a temperamental preference of novelists.
--Saul Bellow, "My Man Bummidge," New York Times, September 27, 1964

The Carsons were more often poor than of modest means, and this privation shaped Rachel's opportunities and her personality from the outset.
--Linda Lear, Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature

Poverty had by no means been eliminated, but the extreme privation that had earlier characterized large sections of the country had disappeared.
--Fred Warner Neal, "Yugoslavia at the Crossroads," The Atlantic, December 1962

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday April 16, 2004

ossify

\AH-suh-fy\, intransitive verb:
1. To change into bone; to become bony.
2. To become hardened or set in a rigidly conventional pattern.

transitive verb:
1. To change into bone; to convert from a soft tissue to a hard bony tissue.
2. To harden; to mold into a rigidly conventional pattern.

One is left with the image . . . of a lonely, aging dictator "still searching for something that is impossibly elusive," still haranguing his audiences, yet incapable of recognizing the flaws of the system he has created, and presiding over an increasingly ossified regime and society.
--Stanley Hoffmann, "Power Unshared and Total," New York Times, November 30, 1986

Liberation from ossified community bonds is a recurrent and honored theme in our culture, from the Pilgrims' storied escape from religious convention in the seventeenth century to the lyric nineteenth-century paeans to individualism by Emerson ("Self-Reliance"), Thoreau ("Civil Disobedience"), and Whitman ("Song of Myself") to Sherwood Anderson's twentieth-century celebration of the struggle against conformism by ordinary citizens in Winesburg, Ohio to the latest Clint Eastwood film.
--Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone

It was a case of fresh, consistent dogmatism against ossified, utilitarian dogma.
--Milovan Djilas, Fall of the New Class


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Ossify is from Latin os, oss-, "bone" + -fy, from Latin -ficare, akin to facere, "to make."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday April 17, 2004

troglodyte

\TROG-luh-dyt\, noun:
1. A member of a primitive people that lived in caves, dens, or holes; a cave dweller.
2. One who is regarded as reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.

When the survivalists emerged blinking into the sunlight to restock their caves after the terror, my first reaction was to say, "Bless their dotty, troglodyte hearts."
--Judy Mann, "Survivalists Flee Reality to Live in Fear," Washington Post, October 5, 2001

. . . an admitted electronics-averse troglodyte like myself, who writes with a fountain pen, shaves with a mug and brush, grinds his own coffee and spends summers in a Maine fishing town where the nearest latte is 45 minutes away.
--Frank Van Riper, "Another Door Opens," Washington Post, May 5, 2000

For the first time, opening a fashion magazine didn't make me feel like a cloddish troglodyte who needed fixing.
--Janelle Brown, "Keeping it real," Salon, June 4, 2001


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Troglodyte comes from Latin Troglodytae, a people said to be cave dwellers, from Greek Troglodytai, from trogle, "a hole" + dyein, "to enter." The adjective form is troglodytic.

[dizzle]

Look!!!! GrayPilgrim is the Word of the Day!!!

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday April 18, 2004

wan

\WAHN\, adjective:
1. Having a pale or sickly hue; pale; pallid.
2. Lacking vitality, as from weariness, illness, or unhappiness; feeble.
3. Lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble.

She was concerned about her grandson's wan appearance. "So skinny," she would say in Yiddish, "such a plucked little owl."
--Herbert G. Goldman, Banjo Eyes

Her pale, pinched lips, sunken eyes and wan, haggard cheeks presented a mournful contrast to her former self.
--Wilkie Collins, Iolani

. . . some wan heroine in a Gothic romance, keening over a faithless lover, trembling before a murderous stalker, falling into the arms of her rescuers.
--Marilyn Stasio, review of Final Jeopardy, by Linda Fairstein, New York Times, July 28, 1996

Through the frayed curtain at my window, a wan glow announces the break of day.
--Jean-Dominique Bauby, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly


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Wan is from Old English wann, "gloomy, dark."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday April 19, 2004

peremptory

\puh-REMP-tuh-ree\, adjective:
1. Precluding or putting an end to all debate or action.
2. Not allowing contradiction or refusal; absolute; decisive; conclusive; final.
3. Expressive of urgency or command.
4. Offensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted power; dictatorial; dogmatic.

He would dismiss the whole business . . . with a peremptory snort.
--R.M. Berry, Leonardo's Horse

When she meets with his angry and peremptory refusal, Lucy travels to his country estate; but, entering the woods that surround it, she finds that Charles has defended himself from just such unwanted visits by girding the estate with a number of steel traps.
--Henry Alford, "Slaves of the Hamptons," New York Times, August 8, 1999

Peremptory letters from faceless financiers.
--George F. Will, Bunts

And we're provided with mini-narratives familiar even to those with only a passing knowledge of Russian history: the woman who stands day after day outside the political prison in the frigid cold, hoping to catch a glimpse of her husband; the collisions with the imperious and peremptory bureaucrats.
--Jim Shepard, "Dead Souls," New York Times, September 26, 1999

The voice that came over the wire was full of grovel and Hollywood subjunctives. It was a voice trained to cut through the din of nightclubs and theater rehearsals, a flexible instrument that could shift from adulation to abuse in a single syllable, ingratiating yet peremptory, a rich syrup of unction and specious authority.
--Sidney Joseph Perelman, quoted in the New York Times, March 15, 1981


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Peremptory comes from Latin peremptorius, "destructive," from peremptus, past participle of perimere, "to take thoroughly, to do away with, to destroy; hence, to thwart, to frustrate," from per-, "thoroughly" + emere, "to take, to obtain."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday April 20, 2004

harbinger

\HAR-bin-juhr\, noun:
1. (Archaic) One who provides lodgings; especially, the officer of the English royal household who formerly preceded the court when traveling, to provide and prepare lodgings.
2. A forerunner; a precursor; one that presages or foreshadows what is to come.

transitive verb:
To signal the approach of; to presage; to be a harbinger of.

Comets have been mistakenly interpreted by humans in times past as harbingers of doom, foretelling famine, plague, and destruction.
--Walter Alvarez, T. Rex and the Crater of Doom

More than the steamboat, more than anything else, the railroads were the harbinger of the future, and the future was the Industrial Revolution.
--Stephen E. Ambrose, Nothing Like It In the World

The airy draughts felt to him like the undoing of everything, the unfastening of ties, a harbinger of chaos.
--Pauline Melville, The Ventriloquist's Tale


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Harbinger, which originally signified a person sent ahead to arrange lodgings, derives from Middle English herbergeour, "one who supplies lodgings," from Old French herbergeor, from herbergier, "to provide lodging for," from herberge, "a lodging, an inn" (cp. modern French auberge), ultimately of Germanic origin.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Wednesday April 21, 2004

small beer


noun:
1. Weak beer.
2. Insignificant matters; something of little importance.

adjective:
Unimportant; trivial.

We dined early upon stale bread and old mutton with small beer.
--Ferdinand Mount, Jem (and Sam)

"I was not born for this kind of small beer," says Joan the wife of the colonial governor, who imagines leading armies or "droves of inflamed poets."
--Nancy Willard, "The Nameless Women of the World," New York Times, December 18, 1988

Call me a geek, but for biologists, marvels like the parasitic flatworm are on tap every day, making the reveries of Hollywood seem like small beer.
--Jerry A. Coyne, "The Truth Is Way Out There," New York Times, October 10, 1999

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday April 22, 2004

commodious

\kuh-MOH-dee-us\, adjective:
Comfortably or conveniently spacious; roomy; as, a commodious house.

Then there are the trousers, black check or blue check, with commodious pockets.
--Richard F. Shepard, "For Caring Chefs, Crowning Glory Is the Headgear," New York Times, August 15, 1990

This brought John to accept Benjamin Franklin's invitation to reside in his commodious quarters in Passy, a suburb at the city's edge.
--Paul C. Nagel, John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life

Fed by the melting ice packs, the ocean rose again, inundating coastal lowlands and pouring back through the Narrows, creating the commodious Upper Bay that would serve as the harbor of New York.
--Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898


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Commodious derives from the Latin commodus, "conforming to measure, hence convenient or fit for a particular purpose," from com-, "with" + modus, "measure."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday April 23, 2004

scapegrace

\SKAYP-grayss\, noun:
A reckless, unprincipled person; one who is wild and reckless; a rascal; a scoundrel.

She intended to divide her fortune neither evenly nor proportional to need, but to ensure her own pleasure, bequeathing the bulk of it to her scapegrace nephew Rawdon Crawley, who had few virtues but much vitality; he amused her.
--Randy Cohen, "The Heir Unapparent," New York Times Magazine, December 12, 1999

The Poggenpuhls consist of a widowed mother, three unmarried daughters, and two young soldier sons, one a model of rectitude and the other, Leo, a high-living scapegrace who, naturally, is everybody's favorite
--Dennis Drabelle, "The Dickens of Berlin," The Atlantic, October 2000

He is a happy-go-lucky scapegrace of a boy, often a younger brother, who, by the exercise of cunning and a quick tongue but, above all, by good luck, overtakes his worthy betters to rise from rags to riches and get the girl as well.
--Roland Huntford, Nansen: The Explorer as Hero


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Scapegrace is from scape (a variant of escape) + grace.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday April 24, 2004

nascent

\NAS-uhnt; NAY-suhnt\, adjective:
Beginning to exist or having recently come into existence; coming into being.

But there are other nascent technologies that are widely predicted to play a major part in moving the world from a dependence on oil, nuclear energy and coal.
--"Out of thin air," The Guardian, October 31, 2001

By the time that John D. Rockefeller was born in 1839, Richford was acquiring the amenities of a small town. It had some nascent industries . . . plus a schoolhouse and a church.
--Ron Chernow, Titan The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

This surprising success prompted several other companies to enter this nascent market.
--Ted Gioia, The History of Jazz


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Nascent comes from Latin nascens, "being born," present participle of nasci, "to be born."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday April 25, 2004

gravid

\GRAV-id\, adjective:
Being with child; heavy with young or eggs; pregnant.

For the moment the Cap'n Toby lies at rest outside the harbor, and the twelve-inch mackerels that Brian and I are cutting up for lobster bait are ripe, their bellies gravid with either blood-red roe or milt the color of sailors' bones.
--Richard Adams Carey, Against the Tide

In North America, in contrast, the British conquered an empire; New France disappeared from history. But -- Anderson's profound theme -- Britain's triumph was gravid with defeat.
--Jack Beatty, "Defeat in Victory," The Atlantic, December 2000

she is a bored society matron who seduces him before a carload gravid with already weary, now grossed-out morning commuters.
--Rita Kempley, review of The Adjuster (MGM/UA Studios movie), Washington Post, June 29, 1992


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Gravid derives from Latin gravidus, from gravis, "heavy."