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Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:51 pm
by Dead Cat
Portia wrote:Indefinite Integral wrote:Katya wrote:legerdemain - skillful use of one's hands when performing conjuring tricks
Isn't that "light of hand" in French all squished together, or am I just making things up?
You're correct.
And now I'm wondering about the etymology of "slight of hand"--"
light of hand" makes more sense, now that I think about it--but I feel too lazy to google right now.
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:39 pm
by Marduk
That's *ahem*sleight of hand, which if memory serves, is from the Saxon part of our language, not the Roman (unlike legerdemain.)
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 8:52 pm
by Katya
Indefinite Integral wrote:Katya wrote:legerdemain - skillful use of one's hands when performing conjuring tricks
Isn't that "light of hand" in French all squished together, or am I just making things up?
Yes, although I was originally parsing it as leger-demain ("light tomorrow"), which made no sense.
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 8:53 pm
by Katya
Marduk wrote:That's *ahem*sleight of hand, which if memory serves, is from the Saxon part of our language, not the Roman (unlike legerdemain.)
Well, with that "gh" it could hardly be anything but (although I didn't realize it was "sl
eight" until just now). Also, it's apparently a cognate with "sly."
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 1:38 pm
by Portia
ukase: yo͞oˈkās,-ˈkāz/
noun
noun: ukase; plural noun: ukases
an edict of the Russian government.
"Tsar Alexander I issued his famous ukase unilaterally decreeing the North Pacific Coast Russian territory"
an arbitrary command.
"defying the publisher in the very building from which he had issued his ukase"
From a 1984
William Safire "On Language" column about the term "Ms."
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 12:14 pm
by Katya
cynosure - a person or thing that is the center of attention or admiration
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 12:37 pm
by Whistler
horology - the study and measurement of time, or the art of making clocks and watches
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 5:13 pm
by Whistler
ailuromancy - divination, especially weather prediction based on the actions of cats
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2014 6:46 pm
by Katya
louche - disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing way
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:00 pm
by vorpal blade
Portia wrote:ukase: yo͞oˈkās,-ˈkāz/
noun
noun: ukase; plural noun: ukases
an edict of the Russian government.
"Tsar Alexander I issued his famous ukase unilaterally decreeing the North Pacific Coast Russian territory"
an arbitrary command.
"defying the publisher in the very building from which he had issued his ukase"
From a 1984
William Safire "On Language" column about the term "Ms."
This was the word my wife didn't get in last week's USA Today cross word puzzle.
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:57 pm
by Whistler
Ice wine/Eiswein - wine made from grapes frozen while on the vine, making a sweet wine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_wine
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 11:31 am
by mic0
FUBAR = f'd up beyond all reason.
Saying "FUBAR" just makes me giggle. It's so silly sounding. Also, I had no idea "SNAFU" was/is also an acronym.
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:17 pm
by Marduk
I'd always heard "recognition." (Which the Wikipedia page says is also acceptable. So I guess this comment doesn't really add anything. Oh well.)
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:43 am
by Katya
palynology - the study of plant pollen, spores and certain microscopic plankton organisms (collectively termed palynomorphs) in both living and fossil form
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 3:48 pm
by Katya
staddle stones - Stones used as supporting bases for granaries, hayricks, game larders, etc. The staddle stones lifted the granaries above the ground thereby protecting the stored grain from vermin and water seepage.
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:19 am
by Portia
Two phrases:
cute hoorism, from an article about the Irish national character.
steady clip, I knew what this meant, but had a hard time explaining it to a coworker. Which of these
etymologies is most applicable is unclear to me. She thought it was a reference to
meaning 1.2 about ammunition. In my head it was related to
clip-clop, but that is probably a folk etymology.
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 4:47 pm
by Portia
UffishThought wrote:Portia wrote:Gaslighting:
Gaslighting is a form of mental abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory, perception and sanity. Instances may range simply from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred, up to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
The term "gaslighting" comes from the play Gas Light and its film adaptations. The term is now also used in clinical and research literature.
Source: boardboard
I first found it
here, if you're interested.
Don't have the time to read that in its entirety now, but I'm going to revisit.
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 4:46 pm
by Katya
trenchant - vigorous or incisive in expression or style
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 8:41 pm
by Katya
LORAN - LOng RAnge Navigation, a system of long-distance navigation in which position is determined from the intervals between signal pulses received from widely spaced radio transmitters
Re: Word of the Day
Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 9:14 pm
by Tally M.
pyhrric - (of a victory) won at too great a cost to have been worthwhile for the victor