GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[voralfred]

but the thin line post didn't seem to make much sense.

It was not a "thin" line but a "fine line". I was just continuing Brad's alliteration on "..ine", that's all. Not so many english words with "..ine" jumped to my mind, so I kept it short.

I looked it up in a dictionary. I found that "decolletage" does exist in french with one obscure meaning in agriculture (something about cutting roots) and another one in metallurgy (I won't even try to describe). Moreover it also describes the action of a seamstress when she creates the part of a dress around the throat, in such a way as to make it rather open. But the result of this "decolletage" is the "décolleté" of the dress.
Of course, the english language does not have to use words of french origin the way the french do. We also use english words in a very weird way.
Do you know what "goal" means in french when discussing "football" (by which I mean what you call soccer, not american football, the latter being for all practical purposes totally unknown here)? You wouldn't believe it!

[felonius]

The deceased lupine lay supine beneath the pine ... having whined, and then dined, on a deadly nightshade that could have slain nine.

Now not so fine, the deceased lupine would soon find himself brined and then tined for Little Red Riding Hood's peace of mind - as well as pieces of hind.

[tollbaby]

According to le-dictionnaire.com, "décolletage" is a masculine noun.

[Darb]

Brad, deliberately ignoring the inscrutable foofaraw on etymologial origins, flashes his {somewhat unimpressive} masculine decolletage at the assembled participants ... and then backs it up with a display of his equally masculine backside.

[laurie]

Brad should have said "derriere" to go with "decolletage".

[Darb]

/me re-orients derriere in order to view laurie's suggestion from the perspective of hindsight.

The roving punster was here !

[voralfred]

Brad should have said "derriere" to go with "decolletage".

He could also have said "postérieur", which in slang becomes "postère".

Now the way french people sound a "poster", meaning a sign posted in a public place as an advertisement; "a poster advertised the coming attractions" is exactly the same sound.

And curiously enough there was a poster where a singer actually did just what Brad just said he did: show his postère.

Here is the link
http://www.retrofm.com/affiche/gd/polnareff.jpg

Polnareff was sentenced and heavily fined for that postère-poster but he made so much money singing (fully dressed, of course) at the Olympia, because of the huge publicity he got, it was worth paying the fine!

[CodeBlower]

So, this would make voralfred a poster poster. Am I correct?

[tollbaby]

hehe another instance in which North American usage differs greatly from European. We don't tend to adopt English words when there's a perfectly good French one to use... a poster here is "une affiche". (similarly, "parking" is "stationnement", "weekend" is "fin de semaine", "shopping" is "magasinage" or "magasiner", etc.)

[voralfred]

So, this would make voralfred a poster poster. Am I correct?

Well, you could even say it makes me a postère-poster poster!

[Darb]

Ghostie is behind schedule today, I see.

/me sets up a linguistic kill-zone, and awaits the forthcoming WOTD post from nearby cover.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Thursday January 25, 2007

dissimulate \dih-SIM-yuh-layt\, transitive verb: 1. To conceal under a false appearance.
intransitive verb: 1. To hide one's feelings or intentions; to put on a false appearance; to feign; to pretend.

He was too drunk to attempt to dissimulate his loneliness.
-- Neil Gordon, The Gun Runner's Daughter

Her suffering was largely psychological and easily dissimulated.
-- George E. Delury, But What If She Wants to Die?

The dog cannot dissimulate, cannot deceive, cannot lie because he cannot speak.
-- Axel Munthe, The Story of San Michele

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Dissimulate comes from Latin dissimulare, "to conceal, to pretend that things are not as they are," from dis- + simulare, "to make like, to copy," from similis, "like." The noun form is dissimulation.

[Darb]

{Brad broke from cover, dropped his dissimulation regarding the target's tardiness, and promptly holed the WOTD with a single shot from his 30-06 hunting rifle. Walking over, he adminstered a 'double tap' with a 9mm pistol, from point blank range, to ensure it was truly dead. Whipping out his hunting knife, he promptly set about gutting and skinning the kill, and breaking it down into its component syllables}

Ok, who wants dark meat, and who wants light ?

Ewww, he's mutilating dissimulate right before our eyes.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Monday January 29, 2007

gadabout \GAD-uh-bout\, noun: Someone who roams about in search of amusement or social activity.

In his unorthodox and callow way, he frequently upset and annoyed his countrymen, but they continued to vote for him, perhaps taking a vicarious pleasure in being led by such a world-famous gadabout.
-- "Milestones of 2000", Times (London), December 29, 2000

She hugged him fiercely. "Oh, I love you, Jake Grafton, you worthless gadabout fly-boy, you fool that sails away and leaves me."
-- Jack Anderson, Control

Teddy was a bon vivant and gadabout.
-- Nadine Brozan, "Born in a Trunk: The Story of the Hornes", New York Times, June 20, 1986

Mr. Hart-Davis, as befits a professional literary man, is something of a gadabout.
-- Daphne Merkin, "From Two Most English Men", New York Times, June 23, 1985

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Gadabout is formed from the verb gad, "to rove or go about without purpose or restlessly" (from Middle English gadden, "to hurry") + about.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Tuesday January 30, 2007

cohort \KOH-hort\, noun: 1. A group or band of people.
2. A companion; an associate. 3. A group of people sharing a common statistical factor (as age or membership in a class) in a demographic study. 4. (Roman Antiquity) A body of about 300 to 600 soldiers; the tenth part of a legion. 5. Any group or body of warriors.

Ultimately we could have the know-how to breed these groups of human beings -- called 'clones' after the Greek word for a throng -- to produce a cohort of super-astronauts or dustmen, soldiers or senators, each with identical physical and mental characteristics most suited to do the job they have to do.
-- William Breckon

We, he indicated his cohorts, "are stopping at the Marriot.
-- Hilary Mantel, Eight Months on Ghazzah Street

If his own cohorts strayed from the path of honor, he was quick to become the most terrible of enemies.
-- Adrian Frazier, George Moore, 1852-1933

Worldwide, about 7 percent of the relevant age cohort (twenty to twenty-four years) attend postsecondary educational institutions--a statistic that has shown an increase each decade since World War II.
-- Thomas J. Stanley, The Millionaire Next Door

Some of Custer's harsh juvenile humor was shared by his cavalry cohort, who put a premium on toughness.
-- Louise Barnett, Touched by Fire

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Cohort derives from Latin cohors, "an enclosure, a yard," hence, "a division of an army camp," hence "a troop, a company," hence, "a division of the Roman army."

[felonius]

"Private Johnson, report!"

"Enemy approaching at 12 o'clock, sir."

"Private Johnson, consort!"

"Sorry sir, you're not really my type."

"Private Johnson, retort!"

"I was trying to be polite before, sir, but if you insist - bugger off!"

"Private Johnson, cavort!"

"Can't take a hint, can you sir?"

"Private Johnson, resort!"

"No way. Not even if it's six-star. Ain't goin with YOU."

"Private Johnson, cohort!"

"Sorry sir - you're on your own with this one. Here they come - hit the deck!"

(GUNFIRE BARRAGE)
(PAUSE)

"Private Johnson?"

"Sir?"

"Morte..."

[Darb]

Major Tintagel ran a calloused hand through his thinning hair. He hated writing condolance letters to the families of KIAs, but he had no choice - the upper brass at 19th Division HQ were sticklers for making sure such things got handled promptly, and since he was in charge of the 3rd Cohort, he was the one who was on the hook.

He wracked his brain for what little he knew about Pfc Johnson.

He remembered his company commander reporting that the man was a bit of a gadabout before joining the military, and a notorious wise-cracker. According to his fit-rep reports, the man was a below-average soldier, and he was routinely laid up by bouts with various social diseases ... and in a fit of cosmic justice, his death certificate indicated that close range gunfire had blown the private's privates clean off. Johnson's emotionally troubled immediate superior was currently in the brig at Ft. Bragg, for murder.

The bottom line was that the situation involving the privates's privates was a touchy one, and he had no choice but to take matters in hand personally, because the letter he was writing was bound to get a lot of scrutiny by those on top.

The Major forced himself to dissimulate a bit while penning his first rough draft ...

"Dear Mrs. Johnson,

I regret to inform you that your son, Pfc. Johnson, was <strike>scragged</strike> killed in battle with the enemy earlier today.

Your son was <strike>a slacker</strike> an example of America's finest, and ...

[tollbaby]

condolence...

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Wednesday January 31, 2007

homily \HAH-muh-lee\, noun: 1. A sermon; a discourse on a religious theme. 2. A moralizing lecture or discourse. 3. An inspirational saying; also, a platitude.

Trumpets sounded, wine ran from fountains, bishops delivered homilies, magistrates presented the keys to their cities, triumphal arches sprang up along the way.
-- Christine Pevitt, Philippe, Duc D'Orleans: Regent of France

He launched into a homily about marriage as a garden that requires care.
-- Janet Maslin, "Somehow Form a Family': Between the Hills and Gilligan's Island", New York Times, June 7, 2001

Fathers Cyprien and Marie-Nizier were the first to nod off during the homily on bad thoughts.
-- Rémy Rougeau, "Cello"

The book consisted of easy-to-remember rhyming homilies on the subjects of selling, winning, and making money ("If you want to earn your dough, get up in the morning and GO, GO, GO!").
-- Brad Barkley, Money, Love

A Washington homily fit the situation: "That which must be done eventually is best done immediately."
-- Ward Just, Echo House

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Homily ultimately derives from Greek homilia, "instruction," from homolein, "to be together or in company with," hence "to have dealings with," from homilos, "an assembled crowd," from homos, "same." One who delivers homilies is a homilist. Homiletic means "of or pertaining to a homily."

[Darb]

Archbishop Phyrrho Perfidious hemmed and hawed profusely before finally agreeing to do the homily for Mrs. Johnson. He was heavily preoccupied with with his own personal matters, and wasn't feeling particularly enthusiastic about hosting the private services for a privateless pivate ex gadabout pirate ... but the small stack of C-notes she'd slipped him helped turn the tide on his private reservations about the whole sordid affair.

[CodeBlower]

.. private services for a privateless pivate ..

Perhaps Archbishop Phyrrho Perfidious should start a sermon series entitled "Hominy Homilies for the Homeless".

[Darb]

Brig. Gen. Hugh Braggadocio thundered his fury at Maj. Tintagel, who cringed visibly under the onslaught.

"That blithering murderous idiot, Brayton, is over there in the brig at Bragg, bragging about how he deliberately de-privatized Private Johnson's privates after a private lover's quarrel, and now he's hired a literary agent to press go with the press on a series of tell-all interviews about other previously hushed-up friendly fire incidents in his Cohort, and rampant Christian-on-Arab, Arab-on-Christian, and Soldier-on-Soldier-on-Goat homosexuality in the trenches !"

"Not only that, but some investigative reporter sifted your trash, and found that hand-written draft condolance letter you wrote earlier ... and you can bet the late night talk shows won't be very dissimulating in their opinions when they see it published !"

"Bugger me if this isn't turning into a public relations nightmare ... and it's all YOUR FAULT !"



"And if all that wasn't bad enough, the private's family has hired that pusilanimous pedophile, Perfidious, to perform the private's homily in private services ... and when the media gets wind of that bloody little tidbit, the shan will really hit the fit !"

"Mark my words, Tintagel ... when this is over, I'll have you billeted on permanent night duty in Antarctica, chipping frozen poo outta permafrost latrines !"

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Friday February 2, 2007

moribund \MOR-uh-bund\, adjective: 1. In a dying state; dying; at the point of death. 2. Becoming obsolete or inactive.

He put on a beaver overcoat, a present from a wealthy Petrograd banker and speculator, Ignati Porfiryevich Manus, whose niece had been moribund with fever until Rasputin's healing intercession had revived her.
-- Brian Moynahan, Rasputin: The Saint Who Sinned

Perhaps this explained his solicitousness, his tender careful moist gaze, as if she were moribund.
-- Kathryn Harrison, The Binding Chair

The real problem is not the economic crisis that dominates the headlines, but a pair of intertwined long-run concerns: the work force is shrinking fast, and Japan undermines its economy's productivity by squandering money on life support for moribund industries and backward regions.
-- Nicholas D. Kristof, "Empty Isles Are Signs Japan's Sun Might Dim", New York Times, August 1, 1999

If talking about books -- a subject often more personal than politics and more arguable than religion -- can be bruising, it can for the same reasons be thrilling. Yet serious literary conversation as an avocation, as an impromptu congress of amateurs, has been moribund for half a century.
-- Brian Hall, "The Group", New York Times, June 6, 1999

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Moribund is from Latin moribundus, from mori, "to die."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Monday February 5, 2007

missive \MIS-iv\, noun: A written message; a letter.

She also agreed to write to the Prince, while the Count included a suitably outraged missive of his own.
-- Saul David, Prince of Pleasure

Well, somebody sent the invitation, I said, getting back to the mysterious missive.
-- Jane Heller, Name Dropping

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Missive comes from the Medieval French lettre missive, literally, letter intended to be sent; it ultimately derives from Latin missus, past participle of mittere, to send.

[voralfred]

Mrs. Johnson had to dissimulate from her moribund husband the missive from Major Tintagel telling her of the attack on the cohort where their son had served as a private, that had left him both dead and privateless, lest the shock made it necessary for Archbishop Phyrrho Perfidious to give two homilies instead of one.