Word of the Day
Word of the Day
Just a little place to collect words that you encounter during your exploits.
Rules:
1. It must be a word that you did not know before, and that you encountered when someone else said or wrote it.
2. No more than one per day, please.
3. English words only.
4. Please provide a definition along with the word so we can all increase our verbosity.
5. Where you encountered it would be nice to know.
Rules:
1. It must be a word that you did not know before, and that you encountered when someone else said or wrote it.
2. No more than one per day, please.
3. English words only.
4. Please provide a definition along with the word so we can all increase our verbosity.
5. Where you encountered it would be nice to know.
Deus ab veritas
Re: Word of the Day
Reading an article in the economist, I saw
abstruse: adjective. Difficult to comprehend, RECONDITE. <you're not the only one who finds Einstein's theory of relativity abstruse>
abstruse: adjective. Difficult to comprehend, RECONDITE. <you're not the only one who finds Einstein's theory of relativity abstruse>
Deus ab veritas
- Giovanni Schwartz
- Posts: 3396
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:41 pm
Re: Word of the Day
Regarding a post I saw here:
Recondite: adjective. Difficult to comprehend, abstruse.
Recondite: adjective. Difficult to comprehend, abstruse.
Re: Word of the Day
Giovanni Schwartz wrote:Recondite: adjective. Difficult to comprehend, abstruse.
I'm currently cataloging chemistry theses, so I'm having to look up a bunch of words, but I probably won't post here until I encounter a new word in something I'm reading voluntarily.
- Giovanni Schwartz
- Posts: 3396
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:41 pm
Re: Word of the Day
Or, you know, something useful.
Re: Word of the Day
Ah, but the chemistry-related words might actually prove to be more useful, if I could remember them the next time I had to catalog chemistry theses.
Re: Word of the Day
I've moved on from Caitlin Moran's How To Be a Woman to her collection of essays Moranthology. I was reading an essay about how much she hates a certain character (Lola) on a kids' tv show (Charlie and Lola) and found this fascinating word: 'ballache'. I naturally pronounced it in a French manner to rhyme with 'panache' ([buh-lahsh]. I got excited to look up this unknown word and post it on this thread. Turns out I was pronouncing the word wrong and it's a word I very much already knew.
Never fear, though. In the next paragraph I was given a word that I can actually add to this thread:
termagant (n.)
[tur-muh-guhnt]
1. A violent, turbulent, or brawling woman.
From Moranthology (p. 147): "That was very much a ritual I intended to pass on to my own children, until this ... termagant came along."
Never fear, though. In the next paragraph I was given a word that I can actually add to this thread:
termagant (n.)
[tur-muh-guhnt]
1. A violent, turbulent, or brawling woman.
From Moranthology (p. 147): "That was very much a ritual I intended to pass on to my own children, until this ... termagant came along."
Re: Word of the Day
Hahahaha to baLLACHE.
In Jasper Fforde, of course.gam·boge
/gamˈbōj/
Noun
A gum resin produced by various eastern Asian trees, used as a yellow pigment and as a purgative.
- Giovanni Schwartz
- Posts: 3396
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:41 pm
Re: Word of the Day
Glebe: N. Pronounced Glebe. (Rhymes with... the feeb of feeble?)
"When in the sultry glebe I faint..." (Hymns, 109 , v. 2, first line, "The Lord my Pasture will Prepare")
A fancy word for a field.
It means a field. Story about this song: At one of the devotionals in the MTC, we're singing it as the opening song. This was at a time when the gym was only partially open, so our zone was assigned to overflow. Anyway, we're singing this song, but by the end of the first verse, there are two people in the whole room (the big one directly across from the cafeteria, for the record) who are singing: me, and the sister missionary from my zone sitting next to me. Cue the start of the second verse. We're both singing, and get to the "Sultry Glebe" and simultaneously lose it, and bust up laughing. After we finally get ourselves under control and stop laughing at the hilarity of this hymn, and how there's probably no one in the room who know what it's reALLY SAYING, we stop laughing, and realize that THERE REALLY WAS NO ONE IN THE ROOM SINGING BUT THE TWO OF US. And everyone had heard us laughing. It was beautiful, and after that I learned what a glebe was.
The man who gave that devotional that day was Hispanic, had a thick accent, and was talking (at least part of the time) about baptism. Every time he said baptism or baptized, my companion about lost it again.
"When in the sultry glebe I faint..." (Hymns, 109 , v. 2, first line, "The Lord my Pasture will Prepare")
A fancy word for a field.
It means a field. Story about this song: At one of the devotionals in the MTC, we're singing it as the opening song. This was at a time when the gym was only partially open, so our zone was assigned to overflow. Anyway, we're singing this song, but by the end of the first verse, there are two people in the whole room (the big one directly across from the cafeteria, for the record) who are singing: me, and the sister missionary from my zone sitting next to me. Cue the start of the second verse. We're both singing, and get to the "Sultry Glebe" and simultaneously lose it, and bust up laughing. After we finally get ourselves under control and stop laughing at the hilarity of this hymn, and how there's probably no one in the room who know what it's reALLY SAYING, we stop laughing, and realize that THERE REALLY WAS NO ONE IN THE ROOM SINGING BUT THE TWO OF US. And everyone had heard us laughing. It was beautiful, and after that I learned what a glebe was.
The man who gave that devotional that day was Hispanic, had a thick accent, and was talking (at least part of the time) about baptism. Every time he said baptism or baptized, my companion about lost it again.
Re: Word of the Day
ir·rupt [ih-ruhpt]
verb (used without object)
1. to break or burst in suddenly.
2. to manifest violent activity or emotion, as a group of persons.
3. (of animals) to increase suddenly in numbers through a lessening of the number of deaths.
verb (used without object)
1. to break or burst in suddenly.
2. to manifest violent activity or emotion, as a group of persons.
3. (of animals) to increase suddenly in numbers through a lessening of the number of deaths.
Re: Word of the Day
fac·ile /ˈfasəl/
Adjective
1. (esp. of a theory or argument) Appearing neat and comprehensive by ignoring the complexities of an issue; superficial.
2. (of a person) Having a superficial or simplistic knowledge or approach.
Adjective
1. (esp. of a theory or argument) Appearing neat and comprehensive by ignoring the complexities of an issue; superficial.
2. (of a person) Having a superficial or simplistic knowledge or approach.
Re: Word of the Day
cal·li·pyg·i·an
/ˌkaləˈpijēən/
adj. Having well-shaped buttocks.
/ˌkaləˈpijēən/
adj. Having well-shaped buttocks.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
- Giovanni Schwartz
- Posts: 3396
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:41 pm
Re: Word of the Day
This reminds me of my mom's butt book.
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- Posts: 758
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:19 pm
Re: Word of the Day
Fainaigue: to shirk, evade work or responsibility.
The way my friend pronounced it (fin-ehg), it sounded similar to finagle. Are they related?
The way my friend pronounced it (fin-ehg), it sounded similar to finagle. Are they related?
Re: Word of the Day
I've used the word countless times, but have never seen it spelled. Fascinating.UffishThought wrote:Fainaigue: to shirk, evade work or responsibility.
- Giovanni Schwartz
- Posts: 3396
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:41 pm
Re: Word of the Day
One of my favorite words to spell is yarmulke.
Re: Word of the Day
I've never heard of the former, but the OED says that "finagle" comes from "fainaigue" and that "finagle" was originally just an American coinage, but it's since made its way back across the pond.UffishThought wrote:Fainaigue: to shirk, evade work or responsibility.
The way my friend pronounced it (fin-ehg), it sounded similar to finagle. Are they related?
Re: Word of the Day
Ouster (n.)
3. Law The act of forcing one out of possession or occupancy of material property to which one is entitled; illegal or wrongful dispossession.
This word has been used a lot here in Toronto since the ouster of Mayor Rob Ford. I think it is very bizarre to see the -er ending describing an action rather than a person who does the action. 'Ousting' seems like the more natural term to me, but I guess I'm wrong.
3. Law The act of forcing one out of possession or occupancy of material property to which one is entitled; illegal or wrongful dispossession.
This word has been used a lot here in Toronto since the ouster of Mayor Rob Ford. I think it is very bizarre to see the -er ending describing an action rather than a person who does the action. 'Ousting' seems like the more natural term to me, but I guess I'm wrong.
Re: Word of the Day
It also has a pretty specific legal meaning and I find it odd to be used colloquially. It may be a more entertaining word to sue, but "removal" seems much more appropriate for what happened to Ford.Yarjka wrote:Ouster (n.)
3. Law The act of forcing one out of possession or occupancy of material property to which one is entitled; illegal or wrongful dispossession.
This word has been used a lot here in Toronto since the ouster of Mayor Rob Ford. I think it is very bizarre to see the -er ending describing an action rather than a person who does the action. 'Ousting' seems like the more natural term to me, but I guess I'm wrong.
Re: Word of the Day
My reaction to about half the words posted here is "You didn't know that word?" My reaction to the other half is "No, I'm pretty sure that's not a real word." So, at least I've got the extremes covered.
Anyway, NPR is apparently quite fond of the word "ouster," which is probably why I'm familiar with it: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anpr.org+ouster
Anyway, NPR is apparently quite fond of the word "ouster," which is probably why I'm familiar with it: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anpr.org+ouster