Word of the Day Monday December 11, 2006
ossify \AH-suh-fy\, intransitive verb: 1. To change into bone; to become bony. 2. To become hardened or set in a rigidly conventional pattern.
transitive verb: 1. To change into bone; to convert from a soft tissue to a hard bony tissue. 2. To harden; to mold into a rigidly conventional pattern.
One is left with the image . . . of a lonely, aging dictator "still searching for something that is impossibly elusive," still haranguing his audiences, yet incapable of recognizing the flaws of the system he has created, and presiding over an increasingly ossified regime and society.
-- Stanley Hoffmann, "Power Unshared and Total", New York Times, November 30, 1986
Liberation from ossified community bonds is a recurrent and honored theme in our culture, from the Pilgrims' storied escape from religious convention in the seventeenth century to the lyric nineteenth-century paeans to individualism by Emerson ("Self-Reliance"), Thoreau ("Civil Disobedience"), and Whitman ("Song of Myself") to Sherwood Anderson's twentieth-century celebration of the struggle against conformism by ordinary citizens in Winesburg, Ohio to the latest Clint Eastwood film.
-- Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone
It was a case of fresh, consistent dogmatism against ossified, utilitarian dogma.
-- Milovan Djilas, Fall of the New Class
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Ossify is from Latin os, oss-, "bone" + -fy, from Latin -ficare, akin to facere, "to make."
GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)
Word of the Day Tuesday December 12, 2006
approbation \ap-ruh-BAY-shuhn\, noun: 1. The act of approving; formal or official approval. 2. Praise; commendation.
The speech struck a responsive chord among many and won him much approbation.
-- George Bush and Brent Scowcroft, A World Transformed
More importantly, these drawings represented a first success, which brought the intoxicating rewards of approbation and cash.
-- Matthew Sturgis, Aubrey Beardsley: A Biography
To some of his contemporaries, the episode seemed more the schemings of someone craving attention and the approbation of his peers than an act of sabotage.
-- Richard Siklos, Shades of Black
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Approbation is from Latin approbatio, from approbare, "to approve or cause to be approved," from ap- (for ad-), used intensively + probare, "to make or find good," from probus, "good, excellent, fine."
approbation \ap-ruh-BAY-shuhn\, noun: 1. The act of approving; formal or official approval. 2. Praise; commendation.
The speech struck a responsive chord among many and won him much approbation.
-- George Bush and Brent Scowcroft, A World Transformed
More importantly, these drawings represented a first success, which brought the intoxicating rewards of approbation and cash.
-- Matthew Sturgis, Aubrey Beardsley: A Biography
To some of his contemporaries, the episode seemed more the schemings of someone craving attention and the approbation of his peers than an act of sabotage.
-- Richard Siklos, Shades of Black
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Approbation is from Latin approbatio, from approbare, "to approve or cause to be approved," from ap- (for ad-), used intensively + probare, "to make or find good," from probus, "good, excellent, fine."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Wednesday December 13, 2006
inkhorn \INK-horn\, adjective: 1. Affectedly or ostentatiously learned; pedantic.
noun: 1. A small bottle of horn or other material formerly used for holding ink.
. . .the widespread use of what were called (dismissively, by truly learned folk) "inkhorn terms."
-- Simon Winchester, "Word Imperfect", The Atlantic Monthly, May 2001
In prison he wrote the De Consolatione Philosophiae, his most celebrated work and one of the most translated works in history; it was translated . . . by Elizabeth I into florid, inkhorn language.
-- The Oxford Companion to English Literature, s.v. "Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus (c. 475 - 525)."
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Inkhorn derives from the name for the container formerly used (beginning in the 14th century) for holding ink, originally made from a real horn. Hence it came to refer to words that were being used by learned writers and scholars but which were unknown or rare in ordinary speech.
inkhorn \INK-horn\, adjective: 1. Affectedly or ostentatiously learned; pedantic.
noun: 1. A small bottle of horn or other material formerly used for holding ink.
. . .the widespread use of what were called (dismissively, by truly learned folk) "inkhorn terms."
-- Simon Winchester, "Word Imperfect", The Atlantic Monthly, May 2001
In prison he wrote the De Consolatione Philosophiae, his most celebrated work and one of the most translated works in history; it was translated . . . by Elizabeth I into florid, inkhorn language.
-- The Oxford Companion to English Literature, s.v. "Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus (c. 475 - 525)."
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Inkhorn derives from the name for the container formerly used (beginning in the 14th century) for holding ink, originally made from a real horn. Hence it came to refer to words that were being used by learned writers and scholars but which were unknown or rare in ordinary speech.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Felonius was, as usual, up late, and working furiously at his keyboard on his next novel, when he suddenly felt the barrel of a gun nestle itself into the base of his skull. His hands froze, and he heard the whisssk of a lighter, the slow inhale of breath, and then saw, and smelled, the smokey exhale that enveloped him from behind.
Vanilla cavendish. Cheap. Stale too, by the smell.
He'd known this moment would come.
"Still penning subversive lies, in that avant-garde English inkhorn drawl of yours, eh comrade ?" the evil voice sneered, from behind. "And of course your students greet your treasonous blatherings with knee-jerk approbation. Ah, to be young and naieve again, convinced of our own immortality, and certain that all things are possible and permissable ... even though you and I both know that they are most assuredly NOT. Order must be maintained."
Felonious finished tapping out the rest of the sentence he was working on, and then discreetly positioned his hand, closed his eyes, and hit <alt>~. Suddenly, a half-dozen high-powered flashbulbs hidden in the bookcase above his computer flashed the room with blinding light. The voice behind him screamed, and the gun wavered. In a blur, Felonius spun out of the chair, grabbed the wrist, and executed a perfect Aikido immobilization/disarm lock that dropped the gun into his own hand. He wasted no time in squeezing off 3 quick rounds into the assailant's face.
Phuuut !
Phuuut !
Phuuut !
Blood spattered his shirt, and the assailant collapsed, dead. Snubbing out the smouldering tiparillo with his shoe, he began unscrewing the silencer.
"Fool. Did you really think that after 3 consecutive visits, with similar warnings, that you'd catch me at unawares ? I'm not as mentally ossified as your bosses on the Board of Education."
He spat on the corpse, sat down, and resumed typing.
"Nothing will stop me from making tenure. NOTHING. Least of all a gutter rat substitute teacher like you."
Vanilla cavendish. Cheap. Stale too, by the smell.
He'd known this moment would come.
"Still penning subversive lies, in that avant-garde English inkhorn drawl of yours, eh comrade ?" the evil voice sneered, from behind. "And of course your students greet your treasonous blatherings with knee-jerk approbation. Ah, to be young and naieve again, convinced of our own immortality, and certain that all things are possible and permissable ... even though you and I both know that they are most assuredly NOT. Order must be maintained."
Felonious finished tapping out the rest of the sentence he was working on, and then discreetly positioned his hand, closed his eyes, and hit <alt>~. Suddenly, a half-dozen high-powered flashbulbs hidden in the bookcase above his computer flashed the room with blinding light. The voice behind him screamed, and the gun wavered. In a blur, Felonius spun out of the chair, grabbed the wrist, and executed a perfect Aikido immobilization/disarm lock that dropped the gun into his own hand. He wasted no time in squeezing off 3 quick rounds into the assailant's face.
Phuuut !
Phuuut !
Phuuut !
Blood spattered his shirt, and the assailant collapsed, dead. Snubbing out the smouldering tiparillo with his shoe, he began unscrewing the silencer.
"Fool. Did you really think that after 3 consecutive visits, with similar warnings, that you'd catch me at unawares ? I'm not as mentally ossified as your bosses on the Board of Education."
He spat on the corpse, sat down, and resumed typing.
"Nothing will stop me from making tenure. NOTHING. Least of all a gutter rat substitute teacher like you."
Last edited by Darb on Fri Dec 15, 2006 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Word of the Day Friday December 15, 2006
neologism \nee-OLL-uh-jiz-um\, noun: 1. A new word or expression.
2. A new use of a word or expression. 3. The use or creation of new words or expressions. 4. (Psychiatry) An invented, meaningless word used by a person with a psychiatric disorder. 5. (Theology) A new view or interpretation of a scripture.
The word "civilization" was just coming into use in the 18th century, in French and in English, and conservative men of letters preferred to avoid it as a newfangled neologism.
-- Larry Wolff, "If I Were Younger I Would Make Myself Russian': Voltaire's Encounter With the Czars", New York Times, November 13, 1994
If the work is really a holding operation, this will show in a closed or flat quality in the prose and in the scheme of the thing, a logiclessness, if you will pardon the neologism, in the writing.
-- Harold Brodkey, "Reading, the Most Dangerous Game", New York Times, November 24, 1985
The word popularizing was a relative neologism (the Review boasted five years later, "Why should we be afraid of introducing new words into the language which it is our mission to spread over a new world?").
-- Edward L. Widmer, Young America
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The French word neologisme, from which the English is borrowed, is made up of the elements neo-, "new" + log-, "word" + -isme, -ism (all of which are derived from Greek).
Brad's Word of Yesterday (since he bolded it instead of inkhorn
)
drawl /drôl/ verb: drawled, drawl·ing, drawls verb intr.: To speak with lengthened or drawn-out vowels. verb tr.: To utter with lengthened or drawn-out vowels: "We-e-ell," the clerk drawled. noun: The speech or manner of speaking of one who drawls: a Southern drawl.
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Drawl is probably from Low German drauelen, to loiter, delay.
neologism \nee-OLL-uh-jiz-um\, noun: 1. A new word or expression.
2. A new use of a word or expression. 3. The use or creation of new words or expressions. 4. (Psychiatry) An invented, meaningless word used by a person with a psychiatric disorder. 5. (Theology) A new view or interpretation of a scripture.
The word "civilization" was just coming into use in the 18th century, in French and in English, and conservative men of letters preferred to avoid it as a newfangled neologism.
-- Larry Wolff, "If I Were Younger I Would Make Myself Russian': Voltaire's Encounter With the Czars", New York Times, November 13, 1994
If the work is really a holding operation, this will show in a closed or flat quality in the prose and in the scheme of the thing, a logiclessness, if you will pardon the neologism, in the writing.
-- Harold Brodkey, "Reading, the Most Dangerous Game", New York Times, November 24, 1985
The word popularizing was a relative neologism (the Review boasted five years later, "Why should we be afraid of introducing new words into the language which it is our mission to spread over a new world?").
-- Edward L. Widmer, Young America
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The French word neologisme, from which the English is borrowed, is made up of the elements neo-, "new" + log-, "word" + -isme, -ism (all of which are derived from Greek).
Brad's Word of Yesterday (since he bolded it instead of inkhorn
)drawl /drôl/ verb: drawled, drawl·ing, drawls verb intr.: To speak with lengthened or drawn-out vowels. verb tr.: To utter with lengthened or drawn-out vowels: "We-e-ell," the clerk drawled. noun: The speech or manner of speaking of one who drawls: a Southern drawl.
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Drawl is probably from Low German drauelen, to loiter, delay.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Monday December 18, 2006
opportune \op-uhr-TOON; -TYOON\, adjective: Suitable for a given purpose or occasion; timely.
There is a war on. It's not the most opportune of times to distract the president with a phony political scandal.
-- James Taranto, OpinionJournal, January 14, 2002
With corporate America under siege, there has never been a more opportune moment to adopt better business practices.
-- Arianna Huffington, "The Coming Corporate Revolution?", AlterNet, August 12, 2002
O lesson opportune, O how I welcome thee!
-- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
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Opportune is from Latin opportunus, from ob portum, "toward port." For travelers at sea who wish to return to land, it's a welcome wind that blows toward the port.
opportune \op-uhr-TOON; -TYOON\, adjective: Suitable for a given purpose or occasion; timely.
There is a war on. It's not the most opportune of times to distract the president with a phony political scandal.
-- James Taranto, OpinionJournal, January 14, 2002
With corporate America under siege, there has never been a more opportune moment to adopt better business practices.
-- Arianna Huffington, "The Coming Corporate Revolution?", AlterNet, August 12, 2002
O lesson opportune, O how I welcome thee!
-- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
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Opportune is from Latin opportunus, from ob portum, "toward port." For travelers at sea who wish to return to land, it's a welcome wind that blows toward the port.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Tuesday December 19, 2006
impassive \im-PASS-iv\, adjective: 1. Devoid of or unsusceptible to emotion. 2. Showing no sign of emotion or feeling; expressionless.
As before, he seemed neither happy nor unhappy. Just utterly impassive.
-- Lesley Hazleton, Driving To Detroit
Yet highway troopers, too, wore smoked glasses to mask their emotions and thus look formidably impassive as they delivered news as highly charged as jazz.
-- Edward Hoagland, Compass Points
He was a slight, kindly man, his impassive face sculpted with deep furrows, who held himself very erect and had a demeanor which suggested a degree of resigned boredom from having taught the same unchanging discipline year after year to each new class of medical students.
-- Frances K. Conley M.D., Walking Out on the Boys
Still, he remained impassive and unexcited, even when informed of the death of Helen Jewett.
-- Patricia Cline Cohen, The Murder of Helen Jewett
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Impassive is derived from Latin in-, "not" + passivus, "subject to emotion," from passus, past participle of pati, "to suffer."
impassive \im-PASS-iv\, adjective: 1. Devoid of or unsusceptible to emotion. 2. Showing no sign of emotion or feeling; expressionless.
As before, he seemed neither happy nor unhappy. Just utterly impassive.
-- Lesley Hazleton, Driving To Detroit
Yet highway troopers, too, wore smoked glasses to mask their emotions and thus look formidably impassive as they delivered news as highly charged as jazz.
-- Edward Hoagland, Compass Points
He was a slight, kindly man, his impassive face sculpted with deep furrows, who held himself very erect and had a demeanor which suggested a degree of resigned boredom from having taught the same unchanging discipline year after year to each new class of medical students.
-- Frances K. Conley M.D., Walking Out on the Boys
Still, he remained impassive and unexcited, even when informed of the death of Helen Jewett.
-- Patricia Cline Cohen, The Murder of Helen Jewett
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Impassive is derived from Latin in-, "not" + passivus, "subject to emotion," from passus, past participle of pati, "to suffer."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Genre: Star Wars Spoof
Yoda, the diminutive but powerful Puni Master of the Farce, looked on impassively as his young punwan undergoes his daily training routine.
Obiwhim: {panting with exertion} By the way, Master Yoda ... have I mentioned that you've been looking a bit plump lately ?
Yoda: Judge me by my thighs do you ? Thighs matter not. The strength of a Puni Knight comes not from pudgy thighs, but from his connection to The Farce. A Puni's strength FLOOOOWS from The Farce. Numismatic beings are we ... not this pudgy stuff we pinch when we're feeling a bit bloated.
Obiwhim: "Numismatic beings" ? Are we coin collectors then ? I think perhaps you meant 'numinous', my Master.
Yoda: Good ... good ... an opportunistic pun that was, and you countered it well. Right you are. A test that was. Hmmmmmm ... strong with the farce are you, yes. Someday, a powerful Puni shall you be. You will need such strength with The Farce when you one day face Darth Spiel, the Dark Lord of The Said.
Obiwan: The Who ?
Yoda: No, not "The Who". A terran musical group are they, and enter this tale they do not. Confused are your genres and cultural references, my young punwan. Referring to "Darth Spiel", and his "Say-troopers", am I. It is the future, not The Present, I see.
Obiwhim: Well, it *is* Christmas, Master Yoda. Perhaps you need glasses ?
Yoda: Very good, Obiwhim Jaloppy ... you're our only hope.
Yoda, the diminutive but powerful Puni Master of the Farce, looked on impassively as his young punwan undergoes his daily training routine.
Obiwhim: {panting with exertion} By the way, Master Yoda ... have I mentioned that you've been looking a bit plump lately ?
Yoda: Judge me by my thighs do you ? Thighs matter not. The strength of a Puni Knight comes not from pudgy thighs, but from his connection to The Farce. A Puni's strength FLOOOOWS from The Farce. Numismatic beings are we ... not this pudgy stuff we pinch when we're feeling a bit bloated.
Obiwhim: "Numismatic beings" ? Are we coin collectors then ? I think perhaps you meant 'numinous', my Master.
Yoda: Good ... good ... an opportunistic pun that was, and you countered it well. Right you are. A test that was. Hmmmmmm ... strong with the farce are you, yes. Someday, a powerful Puni shall you be. You will need such strength with The Farce when you one day face Darth Spiel, the Dark Lord of The Said.
Obiwan: The Who ?
Yoda: No, not "The Who". A terran musical group are they, and enter this tale they do not. Confused are your genres and cultural references, my young punwan. Referring to "Darth Spiel", and his "Say-troopers", am I. It is the future, not The Present, I see.
Obiwhim: Well, it *is* Christmas, Master Yoda. Perhaps you need glasses ?
Yoda: Very good, Obiwhim Jaloppy ... you're our only hope.
Word of the Day Wednesday December 20, 2006
derogate \DER-uh-gayt\, intransitive verb: 1. To deviate from what is expected. 2. To take away; to detract; -- usually with 'from'.
transitive verb: 1. To disparage or belittle; to denigrate.
If someone wants to derogate from that and make a choice, then they are free to do it.
-- Ciaran Fitzgerald, "Food champion'srecipe for success", Irish Times, November 13, 1998
Evidently, in Robbins's moral calculus, prostituting one's art in the name of the foremost mass murderer of modern times does not in the least derogate from one's idealism and courage.
-- Terry Teachout, "Cradle of Lies", Commentary Magazine, February 2000
Likewise, there has been a blatant attempt to distort the impact of Ronald Reagan's leadership during this period and to derogate or deny his accomplishments.
-- Edwin Meese, With Reagan
And if the other is other than us, then that otherness is either something we would like to have, so we choose to romanticize the other; or it is something we would like to leave behind, so we choose to derogate the other; or it is something we would like to keep available, so we choose to celebrate the other.
-- Richard A. Shweder, "Storytelling Among the Anthropologists", New York Times, September 21, 1986
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Derogate comes from the past participle of Latin derogare, "to propose to repeal part of a law, to diminish," from de-, "away from" + rogare, "to ask, to ask the people about a law."
derogate \DER-uh-gayt\, intransitive verb: 1. To deviate from what is expected. 2. To take away; to detract; -- usually with 'from'.
transitive verb: 1. To disparage or belittle; to denigrate.
If someone wants to derogate from that and make a choice, then they are free to do it.
-- Ciaran Fitzgerald, "Food champion'srecipe for success", Irish Times, November 13, 1998
Evidently, in Robbins's moral calculus, prostituting one's art in the name of the foremost mass murderer of modern times does not in the least derogate from one's idealism and courage.
-- Terry Teachout, "Cradle of Lies", Commentary Magazine, February 2000
Likewise, there has been a blatant attempt to distort the impact of Ronald Reagan's leadership during this period and to derogate or deny his accomplishments.
-- Edwin Meese, With Reagan
And if the other is other than us, then that otherness is either something we would like to have, so we choose to romanticize the other; or it is something we would like to leave behind, so we choose to derogate the other; or it is something we would like to keep available, so we choose to celebrate the other.
-- Richard A. Shweder, "Storytelling Among the Anthropologists", New York Times, September 21, 1986
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Derogate comes from the past participle of Latin derogare, "to propose to repeal part of a law, to diminish," from de-, "away from" + rogare, "to ask, to ask the people about a law."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Drill Sgt: Listen up, maggots. The first of you knock-kneed momma's boys who launches a derogatory remark in my general direction is gonna get a faceful of ME. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR ?!
Soldier1: Did he say "queer ?"
Soldier2:
Shhhhhhh ...
Drill Sgt: I HEARD THAT !! Drop and give me 50 good ones !
Soldier1: Sir, I don't have $50.
Soldier2:
Soldier1: Did he say "queer ?"
Soldier2:
Shhhhhhh ...Drill Sgt: I HEARD THAT !! Drop and give me 50 good ones !
Soldier1: Sir, I don't have $50.
Soldier2:
Word of the Day Thursday December 21, 2006
malaise \muh-LAYZ; -LEZ\, noun: 1. A vague feeling of discomfort in the body, as at the onset of illness. 2. A general feeling of depression or unease.
The first sign of illness is a malaise no worse than influenza.
-- Steve Jones, Darwin's Ghost
Beauty is a basic pleasure. Try to imagine that you have become immune to beauty. Chances are, you would consider yourself unwell -- sunk in a physical, spiritual, or emotional malaise.
-- Nancy Etcoff, Survival of the Prettiest
He fell in love with Modotti's sad beauty and her indecipherable character, and he saw in her the same vague subtle malaise that made him feel like a stranger to life.
-- Pino Cacucci, Tina Modotti: A Life
Shortly after the birth of his second child, the Prince found himself in a state of malaise and dissatisfaction with life which manifested itself as a boredom with his wife, and an interest in one of the young ladies at court.
-- Andrew Crumey, Pfitz
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Malaise comes from the French, from Old French mal, "bad, ill" + aise, "comfort, ease."
malaise \muh-LAYZ; -LEZ\, noun: 1. A vague feeling of discomfort in the body, as at the onset of illness. 2. A general feeling of depression or unease.
The first sign of illness is a malaise no worse than influenza.
-- Steve Jones, Darwin's Ghost
Beauty is a basic pleasure. Try to imagine that you have become immune to beauty. Chances are, you would consider yourself unwell -- sunk in a physical, spiritual, or emotional malaise.
-- Nancy Etcoff, Survival of the Prettiest
He fell in love with Modotti's sad beauty and her indecipherable character, and he saw in her the same vague subtle malaise that made him feel like a stranger to life.
-- Pino Cacucci, Tina Modotti: A Life
Shortly after the birth of his second child, the Prince found himself in a state of malaise and dissatisfaction with life which manifested itself as a boredom with his wife, and an interest in one of the young ladies at court.
-- Andrew Crumey, Pfitz
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Malaise comes from the French, from Old French mal, "bad, ill" + aise, "comfort, ease."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Friday December 22, 2006
flibbertigibbet \FLIB-ur-tee-jib-it\, noun: A silly, flighty, or scatterbrained person, especially a pert young woman with such qualities.
We discover here not the flibbertigibbet Connolly describes but a serious reader (Goethe, Tolstoy, Proust) who found her cultural ideal in 18th-century France.
-- Martin Stannard, "Enter Shrieking", New York Times, November 28, 1993
He argues persuasively that Millay's reputation has been harmed not only by academics who dread and fear her heartfelt "simplicity," but by the very admirers who wished to promote her as a kind of whimsical flibbertigibbet, a poetical Anne of Green Gables.
-- Liz Rosenberg, "So Young, So Good, So Popular", New York Times, March 15, 1992
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Flibbertigibbet is from Middle English flipergebet, which is probably an imitation of the sound of meaningless chatter.
flibbertigibbet \FLIB-ur-tee-jib-it\, noun: A silly, flighty, or scatterbrained person, especially a pert young woman with such qualities.
We discover here not the flibbertigibbet Connolly describes but a serious reader (Goethe, Tolstoy, Proust) who found her cultural ideal in 18th-century France.
-- Martin Stannard, "Enter Shrieking", New York Times, November 28, 1993
He argues persuasively that Millay's reputation has been harmed not only by academics who dread and fear her heartfelt "simplicity," but by the very admirers who wished to promote her as a kind of whimsical flibbertigibbet, a poetical Anne of Green Gables.
-- Liz Rosenberg, "So Young, So Good, So Popular", New York Times, March 15, 1992
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Flibbertigibbet is from Middle English flipergebet, which is probably an imitation of the sound of meaningless chatter.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
A flock of francophiliac flibbertigibbets were hijacking our WOTD game thread with an extended side-discussion, which has since been relocated here. 
Word of the Day Archive Sunday January 7, 2007
chimerical \ky-MER-ih-kuhl; -MIR-; kih-\, adjective: 1. Merely imaginary; produced by or as if by a wildly fanciful imagination; fantastic; improbable or unrealistic. 2. Given to or indulging in unrealistic fantasies or fantastic schemes.
But those risks are real, not chimerical.
-- George J. Church, "Mission of Mercy", Time, April 29, 1991
It prophesies war in the service of a peace which can never arrive because the vision it pursues is chimerical.
-- Hywel Williams, "The danger of liberal imperialism", The Guardian, October 4, 2001
In the chimerical atmosphere of the Museum of Jurassic Technology, it is far from clear where fact ends and fiction begins--or vice versa.
-- Margaret Wertheim, "The Museum of Jurassic Technology", Omni, November 1, 1994
Her name is Dulcinea; her country El Toboso, a village in La Mancha; her degree at least that of Princess, for she is my Queen and mistress; her beauty superhuman, for in her are realized all the impossible and chimerical attributes of beauty which poets give to their ladies.
-- Miguel De Cervantes, Don Quixote
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Chimerical is ultimately derived from Greek khimaira, "she-goat" or "chimera," which in Greek mythology was a monster having the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon.
Word of the Day Monday January 8, 2007
sunder \SUN-dur\, transitive verb: 1. To break apart; to separate; to divide; to sever.
intransitive verb: 1. To become parted, disunited, or severed.
As the issue of slavery threatened to sunder the United States, President Abraham Lincoln, using biblical language, warned that "a house divided against itself cannot stand."
-- Morris B. Abraham, "Using the bully pulpit at the United Nations", Minneapolis Star Tribune, January 20, 1997
Momentous business was at hand, as the last colonial ties with England were about to be sundered, and Madison was compelled to take his stand for both a separation from the mother country and the erection of a republican form of government.
-- Robert A. Rutland, James Madison and the Search for Nationhood
Their romance was sundered by World War II, and she scarcely saw Tito again until 1953.
-- "Tribute: For 40 Years Prima Ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn Created a Soaring Legend of Grace and Beauty", People, March 11, 1991
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Sunder is from Old English sundrian.
chimerical \ky-MER-ih-kuhl; -MIR-; kih-\, adjective: 1. Merely imaginary; produced by or as if by a wildly fanciful imagination; fantastic; improbable or unrealistic. 2. Given to or indulging in unrealistic fantasies or fantastic schemes.
But those risks are real, not chimerical.
-- George J. Church, "Mission of Mercy", Time, April 29, 1991
It prophesies war in the service of a peace which can never arrive because the vision it pursues is chimerical.
-- Hywel Williams, "The danger of liberal imperialism", The Guardian, October 4, 2001
In the chimerical atmosphere of the Museum of Jurassic Technology, it is far from clear where fact ends and fiction begins--or vice versa.
-- Margaret Wertheim, "The Museum of Jurassic Technology", Omni, November 1, 1994
Her name is Dulcinea; her country El Toboso, a village in La Mancha; her degree at least that of Princess, for she is my Queen and mistress; her beauty superhuman, for in her are realized all the impossible and chimerical attributes of beauty which poets give to their ladies.
-- Miguel De Cervantes, Don Quixote
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Chimerical is ultimately derived from Greek khimaira, "she-goat" or "chimera," which in Greek mythology was a monster having the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon.
Word of the Day Monday January 8, 2007
sunder \SUN-dur\, transitive verb: 1. To break apart; to separate; to divide; to sever.
intransitive verb: 1. To become parted, disunited, or severed.
As the issue of slavery threatened to sunder the United States, President Abraham Lincoln, using biblical language, warned that "a house divided against itself cannot stand."
-- Morris B. Abraham, "Using the bully pulpit at the United Nations", Minneapolis Star Tribune, January 20, 1997
Momentous business was at hand, as the last colonial ties with England were about to be sundered, and Madison was compelled to take his stand for both a separation from the mother country and the erection of a republican form of government.
-- Robert A. Rutland, James Madison and the Search for Nationhood
Their romance was sundered by World War II, and she scarcely saw Tito again until 1953.
-- "Tribute: For 40 Years Prima Ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn Created a Soaring Legend of Grace and Beauty", People, March 11, 1991
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Sunder is from Old English sundrian.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
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CodeBlower
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Just looking at the word, I guessed this was the origin -- but I had no idea we actually had a word such as that. Very cool!Ghost wrote:Chimerical is ultimately derived from Greek khimaira, "she-goat" or "chimera," which in Greek mythology was a monster having the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon.
"Budge up, yeh great lump." -- Hagrid, HP:SS
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The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador
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The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador
Word of the Day Tuesday January 9, 2007
uxorious \uk-SOR-ee-us; ug-ZOR-\, adjective: Excessively fond of or submissive to a wife.
It is batty to suppose that the most uxorious of husbands will stop his wife's excessive shopping if an excessive shopper she has always been.
-- Angela Huth, "All you need is love", Daily Telegraph, April 24, 1998
Flagler seems to have been an uxorious, domestic man, who liked the comfort and companionship of a wife at his side.
-- Michael Browning, "Whitehall at 100", Palm Beach Post, February 22, 2002
Fuller is as uxorious a poet as they come: hiatuses in the couple's mutual understanding are overcome with such rapidity as to be hardly worth mentioning in the first place ("How easy, this ability / To lose whatever we possess / By ceasing to believe that we / Deserve such brilliant success").
-- David Wheatley, "Round and round we go", The Guardian, October 5, 2002
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Uxorious is from Latin uxorius, from uxor, wife.
uxorious \uk-SOR-ee-us; ug-ZOR-\, adjective: Excessively fond of or submissive to a wife.
It is batty to suppose that the most uxorious of husbands will stop his wife's excessive shopping if an excessive shopper she has always been.
-- Angela Huth, "All you need is love", Daily Telegraph, April 24, 1998
Flagler seems to have been an uxorious, domestic man, who liked the comfort and companionship of a wife at his side.
-- Michael Browning, "Whitehall at 100", Palm Beach Post, February 22, 2002
Fuller is as uxorious a poet as they come: hiatuses in the couple's mutual understanding are overcome with such rapidity as to be hardly worth mentioning in the first place ("How easy, this ability / To lose whatever we possess / By ceasing to believe that we / Deserve such brilliant success").
-- David Wheatley, "Round and round we go", The Guardian, October 5, 2002
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Uxorious is from Latin uxorius, from uxor, wife.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
S Adams
S Adams
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CodeBlower
- Shakespearean Groupie
- Posts: 1760
- Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2006 12:27 am
- Location: IL, USA
- Contact:
At a nod from wife, the uxorious husband turned off the television, sundering the chimerical tale that had deafened the children to the announcement of "Bedtime!".Ghost wrote:uxorious \uk-SOR-ee-us; ug-ZOR-\, adjective: Excessively fond of or submissive to a wife.
"Budge up, yeh great lump." -- Hagrid, HP:SS
-=-
The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador
-=-
The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador