Word of the Day!

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This is the first one I've gotten I've used before...It's a great lawyer word. "Your honor, there's not one scintilla of evidence linking my client to the crime charged!!! I therefore request that all charges be dismissed."

Yeehaa! I just feel myself getting smarter by the minute!! Although, that may be the caffeine kicking in!

 

how about this one,

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is fear of long words.

'think i hear alanis m. singing ironic in the background.

 

LOL Good one nior!

I'd like to see Bel try to use that one at a business meeting, let alone pronounce it properly (not that anyone would pick up on any of the mistakes).

 

Actually I used Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia in a sentence during a meeting, and my boss gave me the day off! It was fantastic!


Word of the Day for Thursday October 24, 2002

halcyon \HAL-see-uhn\, noun:
1. A kingfisher.
2. A mythical bird, identified with the kingfisher, that was
fabled to nest at sea about the time of the winter solstice
and to calm the waves during incubation.

adjective:
1. Calm; quiet; peaceful; undisturbed; happy; as, "deep,
halcyon repose."
2. Marked by peace and prosperity; as, "halcyon years."

It seems to be that my boyhood days in the Edwardian era
were halcyon days.
--Mel Gussow, "At Home With John Gielgud: His Own
Brideshead, His Fifth 'Lear,'" [1]New York Times, October
28, 1993

It is a common lament that children today grow up too fast,
that society is conspiring to deprive them of the halcyon
childhood they deserve.
--Keith Bradsher, "Fear of Crime Trumps the Fear of Lost
Youth," [2]New York Times, November 21, 1999

It was a halcyon life, cocktails and bridge at sunset,
white jackets and long gowns at dinner, good gin and
Gershwin under the stars.
--Elizabeth M. Norman, [3]We Band of Angels
_________________________________________________________

Halcyon derives from Latin (h)alcyon, from Greek halkuon, "a
mythical bird, kingfisher."

 

Reminds me of Valin Halcyon, the father of Corran Horn (Star Wars EU, Rogue Squadron)

 

Happy Friday!

Word of the Day for Friday October 25, 2002

tendentious \ten-DEN-shuhs\, adjective:
Marked by a strong tendency in favor of a particular point of
view.

Most writing about Wagner has been like political
pamphleteering--tendentious, one-sided and full of
revisionist zeal.
--Erich Leinsdorf, "The Cruel Face of Genius," [1]New York
Times, May 15, 1988

Since I believe all novels are political, I certainly
believe that it is possible for a novelist to admix
deliberate political purpose and aesthetics, although there
is certainly the danger, in the process, of making art that
is tendentious . . . and therefore not terribly
artistically interesting.
--Rick Moody, quoted in "Politics and the Novel: A
Symposium," [2]Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2000

All types of social disagreements seem to be routed almost
inexorably into the tendentious jargon and intellectually
impoverished categories of legal reasoning, until everyone
from Alan Dershowitz to the guy fixing your radiator
insists on giving you his opinion about fundamental rights,
or presumptions of innocence, or probable cause, or--God
help us--"what the Constitution requires."
--Paul F. Campos, [3]Jurismania: The Madness of American
Law
__________________________________________________

Tendentious comes from Medieval Latin tendentia, from Latin
tendens, tendent-, present participle of tendere, "to stretch,
to direct one's course to, to be inclined." It is related to
tendency.

 

My favorite has always been concupiscient; I don't know why, but Wallace Stevens tends to use the good ones in his poetry

 

Word of the Day for Monday October 28, 2002

captious \KAP-shuhs\, adjective:
1. Marked by a disposition to find fault or raise objections.
2. Calculated to entrap or confuse, as in an argument.

The most common among those are captious individuals who
can find nothing wrong with their own actions but
everything wrong with the actions of everybody else.
--"In-Closet Hypocrites," Atlanta Inquirer, August 15, 1998

Mr Bowman had, I think, been keeping Christmas Eve, and was
a little inclined to be captious: at least, he was not on
foot very early, and to judge from what I could hear,
neither men nor maids could do anything to please him.
--M. R. James, The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Stories

Most authors would prefer readers such as Roiphe over
captious academic critics.
--Steven Moore, "Old Flames," [1]Washington Post, November
26, 2000

With the imperturbablest bland clearness, he, for five
hours long, keeps answering the incessant volley of fiery captious questions.
--Thomas Carlyle, [2]The French Revolution
__________________________________________________

Captious is derived from Latin captiosus, "sophistical,
captious, insidious," from captio, "a taking, a fallacy,
sophism," from capere, "to take, to seize."

 

So dictionary.com doesn't send word of the day on weekends? Them slackers..

 

Actually, Dictionary.com DOES send them on the weekends...I'm just too much of a slacker to post them!

Word of the Day for Tuesday October 29, 2002

ersatz \AIR-sahts; UR-sats\, adjective:
Being a substitute or imitation, usually an inferior one.

Meanwhile, a poor copy was erected in the courtyard; many
an unsuspecting traveler paid homage to that ersatz
masterpiece.
--Edith Pearlman, "Girl and Marble Boy," [1]The Atlantic,
December 29, 1999

All we can create in that way is an ersatz culture, the
synthetic product of those factories we call variously
universities, colleges or museums.
--Sir Herbert Read, The Philosophy of Modern Art

Then there was the sheaf of hostile letters larded with
ersatz sympathy, strained sarcasm or pure spite.
--"Time for GAA to become a persuader," [2]Irish Times,
Monday, April 13, 1998
__________________________________________________

Ersatz derives from German Ersatz, "a substitute."

 

Bel ... in other words, relying on you to supply us with our daily dose of knowledge is an ersatz to the real "Word of the Day" e-mail service?

(If you use a new piece of information (aka a word) within 30 seconds of learning it, you have a much higher chance of retaining it!)



[Actually ersatz is an adjective, not a noun, so it would be "In other words, your supplying us with our daily dose of knowledge is an ersatz "Word of the Day" e-mail service?" - BTA]

[ October 29, 2002, 17:21: Message edited by: Blackthorne TA ]

 

Just a little word I'd like to point out quikly:
"Heaven":as many of you might think that heaven is a place or existant world it is NOT!!! Heaven is more of a way of life! After the second coming or "Doomsday","Judgment day" god will re-start the world! All who have been good in their former life will find it easy to live and will be happy and always having fun and passing the endless days of immortality happily! Hell on the other hand like heaven is also a way of life! In the new world the unjust and evil will find it hard and difficult to live in this world and every day will be a great struggle!

Just thought I'd clear that out since some people might not know the true meaning of these two word (Hell and heaven). Thanks for listening to me if you have.

Another sentence that I refered to in my previus explanations:

"The second coming"(Also knowen as "Judgement day" or even "Doomsday"): This does not mena that the world will blow up or the sun will go supernova! It is when the lord will come for the second time to earth and will re-start the world!

Also this one is important:

Jesus Christ, God and the holy spirit: They are not seperate people or gods on their own or even under gods who serve the lord! They are the lord! Jesus is made from Gods supstance and there for is him, The holy spirit is his spirit.

Finally...

"Christianism": This does not mean to go to church and serve the pope or arch bishop. It does not mean that you must be with catholics or orthodox! It means that you are a good pearson of a just nature and of a fair soul and big heart! You go to church, pray often, ask from god but also give and it also means that you are good and humble and are ready to share anything with one who has nothing!

I wanted to clear this up coz it shock me today when I saw how few of my orthodox mates didnt know this(NOTE: Yes I was an atheist but now I've goined the christians!)

Padeen Dragonblade "The scholar and servent of God"!!!

 

Good Stuff Padeen, you've been studying your eschatology. Gotta love the amillenial point of view!

 

Word of the Day for Wednesday October 30, 2002

paroxysm \PAIR-uhk-siz-uhm\, noun:
1. (Medicine) A sudden attack, intensification, or recurrence
of a disease.
2. Any sudden and violent emotion or action; an outburst; a
fit.

But when he's on target -- and more often than not he is --
he can send you into paroxysms of laughter.
--William Triplett, "Drawing Laughter From a Well of Family
Pain," [1]Washington Post, June 13, 2002

Dickens had a paroxysm of rage: 'Bounding up from his
chair, and throwing his knife and fork on his plate (which
he smashed to atoms), he exclaimed: "Dolby! your infernal
caution will be your ruin one of these days!"'
--Edmund Wilson, "Dickens: The Two Scrooges," [2]The
Atlantic, April/May 1940

Mrs. Bumble, seeing at a glance that the decisive moment
had now arrived, and that a blow struck for mastership on
one side or another, must necessarily be final and
conclusive, dropped into a chair, and with a loud scream
that Mr. Bumble was a hard-hearted brute, fell into a
paroxysm of tears.
--Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
__________________________________________________

Paroxysm is from Greek paroxusmos, from paroxunein, "to
irritate, provoke or excite (literally to sharpen
excessively)," from para-, "beyond" + oxunein, "to sharpen, to
provoke."

 

Thanks Mat!
Anyway I just visited a net dictionary....i typed in the word "Holy" it gives me "Satan and sin"!!! Gotta love the dumb @££ that writes this stuff(In the dictionary of course)!

Padeen.

 

lol, I have to say I absolutely love this topic
keep 'em coming!

a buck on Bel will use that word in a sentence correctly first!

[ October 30, 2002, 21:51: Message edited by: Lokken ]

 

Here's a good Halloween word...Have a spooky day!


Word of the Day for Thursday October 31, 2002

tenebrous \TEN-uh-bruhs\, adjective:
Dark; gloomy.

He found the Earl, who is eight feet tall and has the
family trait of a Cyclops eye, standing stock still,
dressed from head to foot in deepest black, in one of the
most tenebrous groves in all his haunted domains.
--Peter Simple, "At Mountwarlock," [1]Daily Telegraph,
March 20, 1998

We are so used to the tenebrous atmosphere that can be
created in indoor theatres that it's a shock to realise
that this murkiest of tragedies first saw the literal light
of day at the Globe theatre.
--Paul Taylor, "Cool, calm, disconnected," [2]Independent,
June 7, 2001

And lurking behind our every move is the knowledge of our
own mortality. It gives life its edgy disquiet, its
tenebrous underside.
--Douglas Kennedy, "Sudden death," [3]Independent, July 3,
1999
__________________________________________________

Tenebrous derives from Latin tenebrosus, from tenebrae,
"darkness."

 

That word reminds me of the name of some bad guy in a game I've played. Can't remember if it was an AD&D creature, but I think he was a demon. I guess they chose a rather descriptive word for that tenebrous being.

(Not sure if I used that correctly here, since all three examples given used tenebrous to describe the surroundings.)

 

Belisarius, Belisarius, where forth art though Belisarius ... deny thy schedule and refuse thy day-planner, if thou hast love, then post the word of the day!

Filling in ....

cadre \KAD-ree; -ray; KAH-dray; -druh\, noun:
1. A core or nucleus of trained or otherwise qualified personnel around which an organization is formed.
2. A tightly knit and trained group of dedicated members active in promoting the interests of a revolutionary party.
3. A member of such a group.
4. A framework upon which a larger entity can be built; a scheme.

Trained cadres flowed across the porous border and down the blossoming supply trail through eastern Laos (the Ho Chi Minh Trail).
--Peter Gay, Pleasure Wars: The Bourgeois Experience

Around 1880, the year Flaubert died, the French avant-garde was made up of a cadre of bitter, highly self-conscious poets, painters, novelists, and critics.
--Daniel Okrent, "Twilight of the Boomers," Time, June 12, 2000

The prison's existence was known only to those who worked or were imprisoned there and to a handful of high-ranking cadres, known as the Party Center, who reviewed the documents emerging from S-21 and selected the individuals and the military and other units to be purged.
--David Chandler, Voices From S-21: Terror and History in Pol Pot's Secret Prison

The failure of the League of Nations and the shock of Munich had spurred more support, sometimes from names that were widely known, for a federation of free peoples, a union of sovereign states, or whatever similar arrangement might lower the possibility of conflict. Adherents came from the usual cadre of pious dreamers.
--Hugo Young, This Blessed Plot: Britain and Europe from Churchill to Blair

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon entering the English language around 1830 via Sir Walter Scott's Introduction to The Lay of the Last Minstrel, this word first meant "framework," and by the 1850s was a term for a group of people. It was borrowed from the French cadre, a picture frame, from Italian quadro, framework, from Latin quadrum, square, four-sided thing.

(Wow, that felt good!)

 

The e-mail didn't arrive until just now! Thanks for posting it though Mathetais! You have proven yourself worthy of being a member in the Word of the Day cadre!!!

Happy Friday All!!

I couldn't double post, so here's Monday's word of the day:

Word of the Day for Monday November 4, 2002

parley \PAR-lee\, noun:
A conference or discussion, especially with an enemy, as with
regard to a truce or other matters.

intransitive verb:
To speak with another; to confer on some point of mutual
concern; specifically, to have a discussion with an enemy.

The government recognized his knack for parleying with
tribes, and it sent him all over the West.
--Geoffrey O'Gara, [1]What You See in Clear Water

Whether the Indians came out to parley or, seeing that the
fort was about to fall, came out to surrender is unclear.
--Willard Sterne Randall, [2]George Washington: A Life

In case of Servia's non-compliance with the ultimatum the
army will invade the kingdom without further parley.
--"Austria Ready to Invade Servia, Sends Ultimatum," [3]New
York Times, July 24, 1914
__________________________________________________

Parley comes from Old French parlée, from parler, "to speak,"
from Medieval Latin parabolare, from Late Latin parabola, "a
proverb, a parable, a similitude," from Greek parabole, "a
comparison, a placing beside," from paraballein, "to throw
beside, hence to compare," from para-, "beside" + ballein, "to
throw."

Here's Sunday and Saturday as well:

Word of the Day for Sunday November 3, 2002

inscrutable \in-SKROO-tuh-bul\, adjective:
Difficult to fathom or understand; difficult to be explained
or accounted for satisfactorily; obscure; incomprehensible;
impenetrable; as, an inscrutable design or event.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright recalled the
inscrutable comment of a French diplomat about the
interaction of the various European organisations: "It will
work in practice, yes. But will it work in theory?"
--Jonathan Fenby, France on the Brink

[T]here is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the
sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as
inscrutable as Destiny.
--Joseph Conrad, [1]The Heart of Darkness

He delighted in keeping people guessing. His thought
processes were eclectic, inscrutable and unpredictable.
--"Martin Mogridge," [2]Times (London), March 17, 2000

A page of John Lennon's enigmatic lyrics for "I Am [the]
Walrus," one of the Beatles' most inscrutable songs, was
sold for £78,500 at auction in London yesterday.
--John Shaw, "Lennon lyric sells for £78,500," [3]Times
(London), October 1, 1999
__________________________________________________

Inscrutable is from Late Latin inscrutabilis, from Latin in-,
not + Late Latin scrutabilis, searchable, from Latin scrutari,
to search through, to examine thoroughly (as if rummaging the
trash or a heap of discarded garments), from scruta, trash,
rags. The noun form is inscrutability. There is a word
[4]scrutable, though it is less often encountered than its
opposite. A related word is scrutiny, careful examination.

Synonyms: indecipherable, mysterious, impenetrable,
unaccountable. [5]Find more at Thesaurus.com.

Saturday:

Word of the Day for Saturday November 2, 2002

gubernatorial \GOO-ber-nuh-TOR-ee-uhl\, adjective:
Of or pertaining to a governor.

In 1780 [1]John Hancock was elected the first governor of
Massachusetts under its new constitution and thereafter was
easily reelected whenever he chose to run. His
gubernatorial career was marked by his inability to prevent
a fiscal and currency crisis in the mid-1780s.
--"John Hancock," [2]The Reader's Companion to American
History

Jesse Ventura did not abandon his rough habits or smooth
his swagger during the gubernatorial campaign, and a
plurality of the audience evidently felt charmed rather
than insulted.
--Paul Gray, "Body Slam," [3]Time, November 16, 1998

Prisoners, the vast majority of them lifers in a state
where a life term means life, blamed their despair on tough
parole laws and a dearth of gubernatorial pardons.
--Jill Smolowe, "Bringing Decency Into Hell," [4]Time,
December 14, 1992

The popular voice, at the next gubernatorial election,
though loud as thunder, will be really but an echo of what
these gentlemen shall speak, under their breath, at your
friend's festive board.
--Nathaniel Hawthorne, [5]The House of the Seven Gables
__________________________________________________

Gubernatorial is from Latin gubernator, "governor," from
gubernare, "to govern," which is also the source of govern.

[ November 04, 2002, 13:58: Message edited by: Sir Belisarius ]