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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2004 9:39:07 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for May 14 is:
megrim \MEE-grum\ noun 1 a : migraine b : vertigo, dizziness 2 a : fancy, whim *b plural : low spirits
Example sentence: "It sounds like you've got a case of the megrims," said Aunt Carrie to little BiK, pulling out some cocaine, "but I know just the thing to cheer you up."
Did you know? "Megrim" and "migraine" share a meaning and an etymology. Latin and Greek speakers afflicted with a pain in one side of the head called their ailment "hemicrania" or "hemikrania," from the Greek terms "hemi-," meaning "half," plus "kranion," meaning "cranium." French-speaking sufferers used "migraine," a modification of "hemicrania," for the same condition. English speakers borrowed "migraine" from French -- twice. In the 14th century, they modified the French term to form "migreime," which in turn gave rise to "megrim." Later, in the 15th century, they returned to French and borrowed "migraine" again, this time retaining its French spelling. Nowadays, "megrim" and "migraine" can still be used interchangeably, but "megrim" is also used to refer to much less severe and painful departures from normal health.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
[Editorial comment: they're making all of this up!]
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2004 9:42:09 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for May 15 is:
nebulous \NEH-byuh-lus\ adjective 1 : of, relating to, or resembling a nebula : nebular *2 : indistinct, vague
Example sentence: BiK's nebulous description of the novel led her teacher to suspect that she hadn't read past the book jacket.
Did you know? "Nebulous" comes from the Latin word "nebulosus," meaning "misty," which in turn comes from "nebula," meaning "mist," "fog," or "cloud." In the 18th century, English speakers borrowed "nebula" and gave it a somewhat more specific meaning than the Latin version. In English "nebula" refers to a cloud of gas or dust in deep space, or in less technical contexts, refers simply to a galaxy. "Nebulous" itself, when it doesn't have interstellar implications, usually means "cloudy" or "foggy" in a figurative sense. One's memory of a long-past event, for example, will often be nebulous. A teenager might give a nebulous recounting of his evening upon coming home. Or a politician might make a campaign promise but give only a nebulous description of how he would fulfill it.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2004 10:42:46 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for May 16 is:
sangfroid \SAHN-FRWAH (the vowel in the first syllable is pronounced nasally without any following consonant)\ noun : self-possession or imperturbability especially under strain
Example sentence: Harry thought he would be a jittery, stumbling mess on the day of his presentation, but instead surprised himself and impressed others with his sangfroid.
Did you know? If you're a lizard, "cold-blooded" means your body temperature is strongly influenced by your environment. If you're an English-speaking human, it means you are callous and unfeeling. If you're a French speaker, it means that you're calm, cool, and collected in stressful situations. By the mid- 1700s, English speakers were already using "cold-blooded" (that term has been around since the late 1500s), but they must have liked the more positive spin the French put on having "cold blood" because they borrowed the French "sang-froid" (literally, "cold blood") for someone who is imperturbable under strain. The French term, by the way, developed from the Latin words "sanguis" ("blood") and "frigidus" ("cold").
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2004 10:43:35 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for May 17 is:
maffick \MAFF-ik\ verb : to celebrate with boisterous rejoicing and hilarious behavior
Example sentence: In 1904, author H.H. Munro penned, "Mother, may I go and maffick, / Tear about and hinder traffic" in his sardonic satire about the South African War, "Reginald's Peace Poem."
Did you know? "Maffick" is an alteration of Mafeking Night, the British celebration of the lifting of the siege of a British military outpost during the South African War at the town of Mafikeng (also spelled Mafeking) on May 17, 1900. The South African War was fought between the British and the Afrikaners, who were Dutch and Huguenot settlers originally called Boers, over the right to govern frontier territories. Though the war did not end until 1902, the lifting of the siege of Mafikeng was a significant victory for the British because they held out against a larger Afrikaner force for 217 days until reinforcements could arrive. The rejoicing in British cities on news of the rescue produced "maffick," a word that was popular for a while, especially in journalistic writing, but is now less common.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2004 10:44:06 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for May 18 is:
raffish \RAF-ish\ adjective 1 : marked by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity or crudeness *2 : marked by a careless unconventionality : rakish
Example sentence: Tristan was a raffish young rebel, a free spirit who sought every opportunity to flout convention and challenge authority.
Did you know? "Raffish" sounds like it should mean "resembling the raff." But what is "raff"? Originally, "raff" was rubbish. That term derives from the Middle English "raf," and it was being used for trash and refuse back in the 1400s. At around the same time, English speakers were also using the word "riffraff" to mean "disreputable characters" or "rabble." The origins of "riffraff" are distinct from the "rubbish" sense of "raff"; "riffraff" derives from an Anglo-French phrase meaning "one and all." By the mid-1600s, the similarities between "raff" and "riffraff" had prompted people to start using the two words as synonyms, and "raff" gained a "rabble" sense. It was that ragtag "raff" that gave rise to the adjective "raffish" in the late 1700s.
* Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2004 8:44:59 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for May 19 is:
objurgation \ahb-jer-GAY-shun\ noun : a harsh rebuke
Example sentence: "The young man . . . began to fan himself vigorously with his hat, and broke out into a lively objurgation upon the hot weather." (Henry James, _Roderick Hudson_)
Did you know? "Objurgation" traces to the Latin "objurgare" ("to scold or blame"), which was formed from "ob-" ("against") and "jurgare" ("to quarrel" or, literally, "to take to law" -- in other words, "to bring a lawsuit"). "Jur-" in Latin means "law," and there are several English words related to "objurgation" that have legal implications, including "perjury," "abjure," "jurisprudence," and even "injury." But despite its etymological connection to the law, the word "objurgation" carries no legal weight. It refers to nothing more than an unusually harsh or severe scolding.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2004 9:35:16 GMT -5
A bonus. Webster's Top 10 Words (as selected by word fans):
1) defenestration 2) serendipity 3) onomatopoeia 4) discombobulate 5) plethora 6) callipygian (shapely buttocks) 7) juxtapose 8) persnickety 9) kerfuffle 10) flibbertigibbet
Personally, I would have added susurrus.
And I love John Prine's song "Onomatopoeia."
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Post by Gorf on May 19, 2004 10:13:40 GMT -5
Why isn't obfuscation in the list?
Does BiK have anything to do with it not being in the list?
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Post by vierra on May 19, 2004 10:37:14 GMT -5
Too many words, too little time.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2004 10:41:04 GMT -5
>-(Gorf)-<[} link=board=chitchat&thread=1083679888&start=37#2 date=1084979620]Why isn't obfuscation in the list? Does BiK have anything to do with it not being in the list? Obfuscation? Are you kidding me? Look at just some of the runnersup: akimbo hoyden lissome oubliette fandango galumph kumquat quixotic diaphanous loam palimpsest antimacassar galoot myrmidon panacea clandestine lugubrious obstreperous curmudgeon ethereal paradigm Get outtahere with "obfuscation"! Defenestrate it!
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Post by Gorf on May 19, 2004 13:01:12 GMT -5
Obfuscation? Are you kidding me? Look at just some of the runnersup: akimbo hoyden lissome oubliette fandango galumph kumquat quixotic diaphanous loam palimpsest antimacassar galoot myrmidon panacea clandestine lugubrious obstreperous curmudgeon ethereal paradigm Get outtahere with "obfuscation"! Defenestrate it! Surely you jest. Ethereal, paradigm,fandango, panacea, curmudgeon, clandestine and loam are purely plebeian level words. You're simply being obfuscatory.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2004 13:18:39 GMT -5
Dammit, Gorf. This is the last time:
TALK TO WEBSTER'S!!
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Post by Gorf on May 19, 2004 15:08:17 GMT -5
I talked to Smuckers they said they don't have anyone named Websters working for them at this time.
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Post by FloridaPerson on May 22, 2004 12:58:41 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2004 15:01:18 GMT -5
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