GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Look how long those scribbles have been on the paleolithic cave walls in France and Spain.

Apparently the Cro-Magnon recognised Neanderthal art when they saw it, and left it alone for us to discover.
Or maybe those were prehistoric versions of "Vive la France" and "Arriba España" for their respective soccer teams?

[Algot Runeman]

shedload

Pronunciation: /ˈSHedˌlōd/

noun
British informal
a large amount or number: had she decided to join a rival, she would doubtless be earning a shedload of money

Origin:
1990s: from shed + load; perhaps euphemistic after shitload


401(k) 2012

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Bill Gates has a shedload of money. Most of us are lucky to have a shed.

[Those Brits, too formal by half.]

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

shedload
... perhaps euphemistic after shitload
...
Bill Gates has a shedload of money. Most of us are lucky to have a shed.

How true!

And without the eufemism the statement is still true.

[laurie]

shedload
... perhaps euphemistic after shitload

Oh goody

Now I can add shedload to friggin', heck, arf, and darn on my "List of Words To Use When My Sister's Granddaughter Is Around".

It used to be my "List of Words To Use When My Sister's Sons Are Around".

Before that it was my "List of Words To Use When Mom and Dad Are Around".

[Algot Runeman]

bupkis

Pronunciation: /ˈbo͝opkis, ˈbəp-/

noun
informal
nothing at all: you know bupkis about fundraising

Origin:
from Yiddish



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The shed leaned more than a few degrees to the left. Bob knew bupkis about effective construction techniques. Salvador Dali would have been proud of the results.

[It looks as if the WotD people at Oxford Dictionaries Online know bupkis about avoiding duplication. It looks as if we've done this word back on January 22, 2012. Sorry! Go on vacation, word mavens.]

[laurie]

Go on vacation, word mavens.]

That's probably what the ODO folks are doing this week.

After all, "'The Tonight Show" ran re-runs sometimes when Johnny (or Jay) left for vacation.

[Algot Runeman]

putsch

Pronunciation: /po͝oCH/

noun
a violent attempt to overthrow a government.

Origin:
1920s: from Swiss German, literally 'thrust, blow'


Penn Provenance Project

☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹

No body moved. It wasn't easy to recognize which components belonged together. Clothing was no help either. Everything was shredded. Mark didn't grimace. The putsch was complete. The "New Age" begins now.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

putsch

Putsch is a rare instance of a language, other than English, having the shorter word.

Compare with the English hostile takeover.

[Algot Runeman]

arcane

Pronunciation: /ärˈkān/

adjective
understood by few; mysterious or secret: modern math and its arcane notation

Derivatives
arcanely
adverb

Origin:
mid 16th century: from Latin arcanus, from arcere 'to shut up', from arca 'chest'


Travis S

(-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-: - (-:

Medieval guilds existed through their largely successful efforts to keep the specific arcane skills secret within the guild.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

arcane

Since my discovery of the Wikipedia, a lot of things are not arcane any more.
Thanks, Jimmy and team.

[Algot Runeman]

geas

Pronunciation: /geSH/

noun (plural geasa /ˈgeSHə/)
(in Irish folklore) an obligation or prohibition magically imposed on a person.

Origin:
Irish


cobalt123 (Hillary Ryland?)

⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹⚿⚹

Shazam! The geas to participate in the IBDoF forum for Word of the Day is hereby set. All who see this statement must join...forever!

[Oh, yeah. I can see you all out there averting your gaze and trying to keep your eyes closed. It won't work, you know.The key was that "Shazam" right up front.]

Here's another case of childhood pronunciation not getting a correction until today. I had always pronounced this "gee ass". Maybe I never heard it, though I have read it many times.

More info

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

geas

My first encounter with a geas wasn't with me and, as a matter of fact, I had nothing to do with it. It was actually with Ingrey, but I had never met him before I met him. That would have been hard to do.

When Ingrey went to collect Ijada, he had been surreptitiously hexed with a geas, which I didn't do and only know about because it was told by Lois McMaster Bujold, though she hadn't done it either.

Anyway, in The Hallowed Hunt - that's the story's title, you see - the geas is defeated and evicted, but something else was hunted and that took the rest of the book. And the book is where I tangled with geas for the very first time.

BTW. In my copy of Van Dale's English-Dutch, Nederlands-Engels dictionary, the word geas does not exist.
Neither does Shazam!, therefore you should consider me exempt and immune from your spell or else I'll hit you with my German dictionary.

As for the pronunciation ... sheesh ... I would say spell or anaesthetic instead.

[Algot Runeman]

you should consider me exempt and immune from your spell or else I'll hit you with my German dictionary.

Ya vohl, mein herr. Damit kann ich ganz gut leben.[1]

On the other hand, the geas remains as a trap for all the rest of mankind. WotD World Domination!

[1] Okay, man. Chill out. I can live with that. (loose translation)

[laurie]

Here's another case of childhood pronunciation not getting a correction until today. I had always pronounced this "gee ass". Maybe I never heard it, though I have read it many times.

A language in which "Sean" is pronounced "Shawn" and "Siobhan" is pronounced "Shiv on" definitely has a geas attached to it.

I'd love to speak Gaelic if I could skip the pronunciation part...

[Algot Runeman]

absquatulate

Pronunciation: /abˈskwäCHəˌlāt/

verb
[no object] humorous
leave abruptly: some overthrown dictator who had absquatulated to the U.S.A.

Derivatives
absquatulation
Pronunciation: /abˌskwäCHəˈlāSHən/ noun

Origin:
mid 19th century: blend, simulating a Latin form, of abscond, squattle 'depart', and perambulate


Britt-Marie Sohlström

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Harvey determined his best hope of success was to absquatulate while appearing to merely meander with a doll substituted for his son in the perambulator.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

absquatulate

This reminds me of a little grandma anecdote.

One day Grandmama, wearing one of her stylish fur coats, lost her cool. She and Granddad were strolling down Main Street, shopping. Suddenly they had to tack around a homeless tramp just being thrown out of the saloon. The uncouth fellow, taken aback by grandma's disdainful frown, eyed her coat and said, "Hey lady, they're forecasting rain tonight. Can I borrow your portable bivouac?".
All of a sudden amazingly fast on his feet, and also because grandpa restrained his wife, the guy got away unscathed. Barely.

The foolish fellow had to absquatulate in a hurry, abandoning his bruised dignity, left pitifully meowing in the mud.

[Algot Runeman]

Podunk

Pronunciation: /ˈpōˌdəNGk/

noun
[usually as modifier] informal
a hypothetical small town regarded as typically dull or insignificant: she lived in a Podunk town notable for nothing except the girls' school where she taught art

Origin:
mid 19th century: a place name of southern New England, of Algonquian origin


Matthew High

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The town of Podunk was so small that the general store was also the gas station, post office, library and town offices. There wasn't even a tavern, which might help explain why the town attracted few visitors.

[laurie]

Papa used to say he was born in Skunk Hollow in the town of Podunk. We laughed... until on one Sunday drive we went to his birthplace. It wasn't really Podunk, but the house was all by it's lonesome on Skunk Hollow Road and had both an outdoor well and an outdoor toilet.

Podunk indeed.


It amazes me what my Papa (born 1916) experienced in his lifetime. To go from a house with no electricity or plumbing to one with cable TV, internet, and low-flow toilets is just the beginning...

[Algot Runeman]

golem

Pronunciation: /ˈgōləm/

noun
(in Jewish legend) a clay figure brought to life by magic.
an automaton or robot.

Origin:
late 19th century: from Yiddish goylem, from Hebrew gōlem 'shapeless mass'


Michael Jones

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^oo^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It is well known that a person with a golem must have twelve other goals of greater importance: A, B, C...

[laurie]

Bad, Algot, very bad...

[Algot Runeman]

solatium

Pronunciation: /səˈlāSHēəm/

noun (plural solatia /-SHēə/)
informal
a thing given to someone as a compensation or consolation: a suitable solatium in the form of an apology was offered to him

Origin:
early 19th century: from Latin, literally 'solace'


vincent Angler

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For some, the second place ribbon is a prize, for others is merely a solatium.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

golem ...

Bad, Algot, very bad...

solatium ...

Algot, are you offering solatium to Laurie for her criticism or are you begging it for your alleged, erm ..., badness?

[Algot Runeman]

E.P.S.,

I am just the messenger. The words appear in my email inbox. I pass them along. I would never criticize laurie and would certainly give her the gold medal every time. I've also learned to treat the rest of you word mavens with kid gloves.

I am merely at your service, mighty ones.



[Carrying many undistributed solatia under his arms, the gleeful golem absquatulates stage left.]

[laurie]

Well, in the event you ever do offer me a solatium...

Spoiler: show

... cash - lots of it - always works best.

[Algot Runeman]

capitulate

Pronunciation: /kəˈpiCHəˌlāt/

verb
[no object]
cease to resist an opponent or an unwelcome demand; surrender: the patriots had to capitulate to the enemy forces

Derivatives
capitulator
Pronunciation: /-ˈlātər/ noun

Origin:
mid 16th century (in the sense 'parley, draw up terms'): from French capituler, from medieval Latin capitulare 'draw up under headings', from Latin capitulum, diminutive of caput 'head'


Jen R

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Karl's putsch was kaput. His troops were dead or gravely wounded around him and nobody from the sidelines was jumping to his aid. Though it was virtually certain he would lose more than this battle, he capitulated as if it were merely a game of chess.