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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2009 7:58:32 GMT -5
Dictionary.com Word of the Day
foofaraw: excessive or flashy ornamentation; also, a fuss over a trivial matter.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2009 15:04:03 GMT -5
Dictionary.com Scrabble Word of the Day jouk [jook]: a sudden, elusive movement; also, to dodge or duck. bit.ly/2WRc3a
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Post by cruncher on Oct 13, 2009 21:18:19 GMT -5
Dive, duck, dip, dodge, dive.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2009 9:27:24 GMT -5
This derivation I knew. Something my father, an art historian, had told me.
The Word of the Day for October 18 is:
ostracize \AHS-truh-syze\ verb : to exclude from a group by common consent
Example sentence: Ostracized by her former friends for spreading false rumors and gossip, Christina now walks to school alone.
Did you know? In ancient Greece, prominent citizens whose power or influence threatened the stability of the state could be exiled by a practice called ostracism. Voters would elect to banish another citizen by writing that citizen's name down on a potsherd (a fragment of earthenware or tile). Those receiving enough votes would then be subject to temporary exile from the state (usually for ten years). The English verb "ostracize" can mean "to exile by the ancient method of ostracism," but these days it usually refers to the general exclusion of one person from a group at the agreement of its members. "Ostracism" and "ostracize" derive from the Greek "ostrakizein" ("to banish by voting with potsherds"). Its ancestor, the Greek "ostrakon" ("shell" or "potsherd"), also helped to give English the word "oyster."
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2009 7:45:07 GMT -5
Dictionary.com Word of the Day fugacious: lasting but a short time
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Post by cruncher on Oct 19, 2009 17:45:08 GMT -5
I think they have a pill for that now.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2009 7:34:28 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for October 22 is:
rugose \ROO-gohss\ adjective *1 : full of wrinkles 2 : having the veinlets sunken and the spaces between elevated
Example sentence: Sam has happy memories of being a child in his grandmother's lap, stroking her soft, rugose face.
Did you know? "Rugose" was borrowed into English in the late 17th century from the Latin adjective "rugosus" ("wrinkled"), which itself derives from "ruga" ("wrinkle"). One descendant of "ruga" that you'll probably recognize is "corrugate," which initially meant "to form or shape into wrinkles or folds." Another, which might be more familiar to scientists, is "rugulose," meaning "finely wrinkled." In addition, there is the noun "rugosity," which can refer to either the quality or state of being full of wrinkles or an individual wrinkled place.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 12:46:38 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for October 24 is:
gruntle \GRUN-tul\ verb : to put in a good humor
Example sentence: The hour wait irked us, but once we were seated, we were immediately gruntled by an amiable waiter.
Did you know? The verb "disgruntle," which has been around since 1682, means "to make ill-humored or discontented." The prefix "dis-" often means "to do the opposite of," so people might naturally assume that if there is a "disgruntle," there must have first been a "gruntle" with exactly the opposite meaning. But actually, "dis-" doesn’t always work that way -- in some rare cases it functions instead as an intensifier. "Disgruntle" developed from this intensifying sense of "dis-" plus "gruntle," an old word meaning "to grumble." In the 1920s, a writer humorously used "gruntle" to mean "to make happy" -- in other words, as an antonym of "disgruntle." The use caught on. At first "gruntle" was used only in humorous ways, but people eventually began to use it seriously as well.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2009 17:39:11 GMT -5
Dictionary.com Weird Word Wednesday
- hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia: the fear of long words.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2009 18:40:48 GMT -5
Dictionary.com Weird Word Wednesday - hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia: the fear of long words. "Mental Health question: What is hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia? A tongue-in-cheek expansion of sesquipedaliophobia, a fear of long words! wiki.answers.com/.../What_is_hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - " So antidisestablishmentarianism is still the longest "real" nonscientific word?
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Post by romeo on Oct 29, 2009 17:24:03 GMT -5
I come from a long line of hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobiacs.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2009 10:57:56 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for November 5 is:
maugre \MAW-gur\ preposition archaic : in spite of
Example sentence: "I love thee so that, maugre all thy pride, / Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide." (Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene i)
Did you know? "Maugre" is now quite rare, but having served the English language for more than 700 years, it's due whatever rest it's currently enjoying. Although it may not be a word worth incorporating into your expressive vocabulary, being familiar with it will be helpful in reading the works of such authors as Shakespeare, Scott, Milton, and, as in this quote from his Essays, First Series, Emerson: "By virtue of this inevitable nature, private will is overpowered, and, maugre our efforts or our imperfections, your genius will speak from you, and mine from me." The word is Anglo-French in origin, coming from "mal" or "mau," meaning "evil," and "gre," meaning "grace, favor."
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2009 9:51:37 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for November 6 is:
nudnik \NOOD-nik (the "OO" is as in "good")\ noun : a person who is a bore or nuisance
Example sentence: James worried that he would never finish his work if the office nudnik didn't quit hanging around his cubicle.
Did you know? The suffix "-nik" came to English through Yiddish (and ultimately from Polish and Ukrainian). It means "one connected with or characterized by being." You might be familiar with "beatnik," "computernik," or "neatnik," but what about "no-goodnik" or "allrightnik"? The suffix "-nik" is frequently used in English to create nonce words that are often jocular or slightly derogatory. Some theorize that the popularity of the suffix was enhanced by Russian "Sputnik," as well as Al Capp's frequent use of "-nik" words in his "L'il Abner" cartoons. The "nud-" of the Yiddish borrowing "nudnik" ultimately comes from the Polish word "nuda," meaning "boredom."
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2009 9:36:57 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for November 13 is:
gust \GUST\ noun : keen delight
Example sentence: The hungry children ate every morsel with gust.
Did you know? You're no doubt familiar with the simple "gust" that means "a brief burst of wind." But that word, which first appeared in print in 1588, was preceded at least a century and a half earlier by a differently derived homograph. The windy "gust" is probably derived from an Old Norse word, whereas our featured word today (which is now considerably rarer than its look-alike) comes to us through Middle English from "gustus," the Latin word for "taste." "Gustus" gave English another word as well. "Gusto" (which now usually means "zest," but can also mean "an individual or specific taste") comes to us from "gustus" by way of Italian.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2009 13:50:16 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for November 18 is:
littoral[/size][/color] \LIT-uh-rul\ adjective : of, relating to, or situated or growing on or near a shore especially of the sea
Example sentence: The report shows dramatic improvement in the condition of the state's littoral waters since the cleanup effort began.
Did you know? You're most likely to encounter "littoral" in contexts relating to the military and marine sciences. A "littoral combat ship" is a fast and easily maneuverable combat ship built for use in coastal waters. And in marine ecology, the "littoral zone" is a coastal zone characterized by abundant dissolved oxygen, sunlight, nutrients, and generally high wave energies and water motion. Most of us, however, are more likely to encounter the noun "littoral," which refers to a coastal region (and more technically, to the shore zone between the high tide and low tide points). Although the adjective is older -- dating from the mid 17th century -- the noun, which dates from the early 19th century, is more common. "Littoral" comes to English from Latin "litoralis," itself from "litor-" or "litus," meaning "seashore."
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