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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2007 7:41:26 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for May 24 is:
apparatchik \ah-puh-RAH-chik\ noun 1 : member of a Communist apparat *2 : a blindly devoted official, follower, or member of an organization (as a corporation or political party)
Example sentence: The boss seemed to prefer apparatchiks to anyone with a glimmer of independent thought.
Did you know? In the context of the definition of "apparatchik" (a term English speakers borrowed from Russian), "apparat" essentially means "party machine." An "apparatchik," therefore, is a cog in the system of the Communist Party. The term is not an especially flattering one, and its negative connotations reflect the perception that some Communists were obedient drones in the great Party machine. In current use, however, a person doesn't have to be a member of the Communist Party to be called an "apparatchik"; he or she just has to be someone who mindlessly follows orders in an organization or bureaucracy.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2007 15:13:27 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for May 29 is:
hemidemisemiquaver \hem-ih-dem-ih-SEM-ih-kway-ver\ noun : a musical note with the time value of 1/64 of a whole note : sixty-fourth note
Example sentence: The pianist's fingers became a blur flying over the keys as she played the difficult hemidemisemiquavers of the allegro movement.
Did you know? Hemidemisemiquavers are the fastest musical notes that are commonly played, and performing them well can stretch human technique to its limit. The term is mainly used in Britain, where eighth notes are called "quavers," sixteenth notes are called "semiquavers," and thirty-second notes are called "demisemiquavers." In the United States, "hemidemisemiquaver" is likely to be used humorously, occurring especially as a clever substitute for "moment" or "bit," as in "the concert ended not a hemidemisemiquaver too soon."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2007 8:53:36 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for June 1 is:
demulcent \dih-MULL-sunt\ adjective : soothing
Example sentence: The lozenges had a demulcent effect, and my sore throat was soon feeling much better.
Did you know? "Demulcent" derives from the Latin verb "demulcere," meaning "to soothe." "Demulcere" in turn comes from a combination of the prefix "de-" and "mulcere," an earlier verb that also means "to soothe." As an adjective, "demulcent" often applies to the soothing nature of some medicines, but you can also use it to describe such things as a soothing voice or a soothing demeanor. The noun "demulcent" is used for a gelatinous or oily substance that is capable of soothing inflamed or abraded mucous membranes and protecting them from further irritation.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2007 9:11:38 GMT -5
he Word of the Day for June 2 is:
jocose \joh-KOHSS\ adjective *1 : given to joking : merry 2 : characterized by joking : humorous
Example sentence: In the office, Ellie's lively, jocose personality keeps everyone smiling and upbeat.
Did you know? When you need a word to describe something (or someone) that causes or is intended to cause laughter, you might pick "jocose" or a synonym such as "humorous," "witty," "facetious," or "jocular." Of those terms, "humorous" is the most generic and can be applied to anything that provokes laughter. "Witty" suggests cleverness and a quick mind, while "facetious" is a word for something that is not meant to be taken seriously. "Jocose" and "jocular" both imply a habitual waggishness and a fondness for joking.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2007 7:41:36 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for June 5 is:
louche \LOOSH\ adjective : not reputable or decent
Example sentence: Her novels are populated by louche characters wasting their days in brothels and seedy bars.
Did you know? "Louche" ultimately comes from the Latin word "luscus," meaning "blind in one eye" or "having poor sight." This Latin term gave rise to the French "louche," meaning "squinting" or "cross-eyed." The French gave their term a figurative sense as well, taking that squinty look to mean "shady" or "devious." English speakers didn't see the need for the sight-impaired uses when they borrowed the term in the 19th century, but they kept the figurative one. The word is still quite visible today and is used to describe both people and places of questionable repute.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2007 8:29:52 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for June 14 is:
roister \ROY-ster\ verb : to engage in noisy revelry : carouse
Example sentence: Hugh didn't get much sleep last night because his neighbors were roistering until the wee hours of the morning.
Did you know? As Hugo Williams asserts in _The Times Literary Supplement_ (November 15, 1991), roistering tends to be "funnier, sillier and less harmful than standard hooliganism, being based on nonsense rather than violence." Roisterers might be chagrined to learn that the word "roister" derives from a Middle French word that means "lout" or "boor" ("rustre"). Ultimately, however, it is from the fairly neutral Latin word "rusticus," meaning "rural." In the 16th century, the original English verb was simply "roist," and one who roisted was a "roister." Later, we changed the verb to "roister" and the corresponding noun to "roisterer."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2007 9:30:18 GMT -5
Happy solstice!
The Word of the Day for June 21 is:
estival \ESS-tuh-vul\ adjective : of or relating to the summer
Example sentence: On summer evenings, Carl would sit for hours on the porch enjoying the warmth of the estival breezes.
Did you know? "Estival" and "festival" look so much alike that you might think they're very closely related, but that isn't the case. "Estival" traces back to "aestas," which is the Latin word for "summer" (and which also gave us "estivate," a verb for spending the summer in a torpid state -- a sort of hot-weather equivalent of hibernation). "Festival" also comes from Latin, but it has a different and unrelated root. It derives from "festivus," a term that means "festive" or "merry." "Festivus" is also the ancestor of "festive" and "festivity" as well as the much rarer "festivous" (which also means "festive") and "infestive," meaning "not merry, mirthless."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2007 9:19:01 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for August 6 is:
turbid \TER-bid\ adjective 1 *a : thick or opaque with or as if with roiled sediment b : heavy with smoke or mist 2 a : deficient in clarity or purity : foul, muddy b : characterized by or producing obscurity (as of mind or emotions)
Example sentence: With alarm and dismay, Evelyn saw that the turbid floodwaters had started seeping into her kitchen.
Did you know? "Turbid" and "turgid" (which means "swollen or distended" or "overblown, pompous, or bombastic") are frequently mistaken for one another, and it?s no wonder. Not only do the two words differ by only a letter, they are often used in contexts where either word could fit. For example, a flooded stream can be simultaneously cloudy and swollen, and badly written prose might be both unclear and grandiloquent. Nevertheless, the distinction between these two words, however fine, is an important one for conveying exact shades of meaning, so it's a good idea to keep them straight.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2007 9:11:56 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for August 8 is:
aught \AWT\ pronoun 1 : anything *2 : all, everything
Example sentence: "Xury said it was a lion, and it might be so for aught I know." (Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe)
Did you know? "If you know aught which does behove my knowledge / Thereof to be inform'd, imprison't not / In ignorant concealment," Polixenes begs Camillo in Shakespeare's _The Winter's Tale_, employing the "anything" sense of "aught." Shakespeare didn't coin the pronoun "aught," which has been a part of the English language since before the 12th century, but he did put it to frequent use. Writers today may be less likely to use "aught" than were their literary predecessors, but the pronoun does continue to turn up occasionally. "Aught" can also be a noun meaning "zero," and for a while the phrase "the aughts" was bandied about as a proposed label for the decade that began in the year 2000.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2007 10:28:06 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for September 19 is:
fissiparous \fih-SIP-uh-rus\ adjective : tending to break up into parts : divisive
Example sentence: The promotion of Suzy to starting setter had a fissiparous effect on the rest of the team.
Did you know? When it first entered English in the 19th century, “fissiparous” was concerned with reproduction. In biology, a fissiparous organism is one that produces new individuals by fission; that is, by dividing into separate parts, each of which becomes a unique organism. (Most strains of bacteria do this.) “Fissiparous” derives from Latin “fissus,” the past participle of “findere” (“to split”), and “parere,” meaning “to give birth to” or “to produce.” Other “parere” offspring refer to other forms of reproduction, including “oviparous” (“producing eggs that hatch outside the body”) and “viviparous” (“producing living young instead of eggs”). By the end of the 19th century “fissiparous” had acquired a figurative meaning, describing something that breaks into parts or causes something else to break into parts.
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Post by pineapple on Sept 19, 2007 20:37:08 GMT -5
I see you stopped taking your medication, Ruffda. Still talking to yourself.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2007 21:36:56 GMT -5
That is a fissiparous post, pinecone. You should know I'm not allowed to stop taking my meds.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2008 9:01:46 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for January 5 is:
chthonic \THAH-nik\ adjective : of or relating to the underworld : infernal
Example sentence: Laleh compared entering her brother's basement bedroom to a descent into chthonic regions: it was dark and odd-smelling, and she was a little frightened of what she might find there.
Did you know? "Chthonic" might seem a lofty and learned word, but it's actually pretty down-to-earth in its origin and meaning. It comes from "chthon, "which means "earth" in Greek, and it is associated with things that dwell in or under the earth. It is most commonly used in discussions of mythology, particularly underworld mythology. Hades and Persephone, who reign over the underworld in Greek mythology, might be called "chthonic deities," for example. "Chthonic" has broader applications, too. It can be used to describe something that resembles a mythological underworld (e.g.,"chthonic darkness"), and it is sometimes used to describe earthly or natural things (as opposed to those that are elevated or celestial).
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2008 10:09:44 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for January 25 is:
foozle \FOO-zul\ verb : to manage or play awkwardly : bungle
Example sentence: Carl thought he had an easy putt lined up for a birdie, but instead he foozled the shot and hooked the ball to the left.
Did you know? "Foozle" dates only to the late 19th century, but its origins are obscure. The German dialect verb "fuseln" ("to work carelessly") could figure in its history, but that speculation has never been proven. Not particularly common today, "foozle" still holds a special place in the hearts, minds, and vocabularies of many golfers. In golf, to foozle a shot is to bungle it and a foozle is a bungled shot. In a _Century_ magazine piece from 1899 called "Two Players and their Play," Beatrice Hanscom reveals more of golf's specialized vocabulary: She tops her ball; then divots fly; In bunkers long she stays; She foozles all along the course In most astounding ways: In sooth, it is an eery thing The way Priscilla plays.
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Post by Gorf on Jan 25, 2008 13:01:54 GMT -5
May I be a foozler?
Are foozle sticks anything like fizzle sticks or fiddle sticks?
Missing mind wants to know.
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