GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

porringer

/ˈpɒrɪn(d)ʒə/
noun
historical
A small bowl, typically with a handle, used for soup, stew, or similar dishes.

Origin
Late Middle English (earlier as potager and pottinger): from Old French potager, from potage ‘contents of a pot’.

==========

Pauline proudly put the porringer in front of her infant son. It was the same one his great-great-grandfather had used so many years before and had been polished and preserved down the generations of her family.

[Algot Runeman]

digitigrade

/ˈdɪdʒɪtɪˌɡreɪd/
adjective
Zoology
(of a mammal) walking on its toes and not touching the ground with its heels, as a dog, cat, or rodent.
Compare with plantigrade

Origin
Mid 19th century: from Latin digitus ‘finger, toe’ + -gradus ‘-walking’.
/ˈdɪdʒɪtɪˌɡreɪd/

==========

Please don't be a heel and give me a bad grade for my illustration of a digitigrade paw print.

[voralfred]

Humans are plantigrades. But a major human activity, for already some millenia, is producing written words (and/or numbers). For that we either handwrite or, only recently, type, both activities best done using our fingers. Should we be considered as digitigraphes ?

[Algot Runeman]

clement

/ˈklɛm(ə)nt/
adjective
1 (of weather) mild.
2 (of a person or their actions) merciful.

Origin
Late Middle English (in clement (sense 2)): from Latin clemens, clement-.

==========

The authorities are trying to be calm and clement as they encourage coastal residents to evacuate from the Carolinas in the United States. For the moment, the weather is clement, but will become wild and dangerous by Thursday as hurricane Florence bears down on them.

[voralfred]

When I was a kid, I believed that seedless tangerines were called "clementines" because they were merciful to their eaters, not trying to choke them with the vicious seeds of the other kind (who should really have been called dangerines - ever had a seed in your throat ?)

[Algot Runeman]

coaxial

/kəʊˈaksɪəl/
adjective
1 Having a common axis.
1.1 (of a cable or line) transmitting by means of two concentric conductors separated by an insulator.

==========

Tim replaced the squirrel-chewed coaxial cable from the outside connector to the inside distribution center so everyone could watch TV. To be honest, it was the cable company technician who did the job.

[Algot Runeman]

extract

extract Verb/ɪkˈstrakt/
extract Noun/ˈɛkstrakt/
verb
[with object]
1 Remove or take out, especially by effort or force.
1.1 Obtain (a substance or resource) from something by a special method.
1.2 Obtain (something such as money or information) from someone unwilling to give it.
1.3 Select (a passage from a text, film, or piece of music) for quotation, performance, or reproduction.
1.4 Derive (an idea) from a body of information.
2 Mathematics - Calculate (a root of a number)
noun
1 A short passage taken from a text, film, or piece of music.
2 A preparation containing the active ingredient of a substance in concentrated form.

Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin extract- ‘drawn out’, from the verb extrahere, from ex- ‘out’ + trahere ‘draw’.

==========

After ODO recommended "decoct" which we used back in 2013, I decided to try to extract some benefit from their choice, which definition included extract, so there.


[To be honest, it was easier when E.P.S. was in charge around here. Based on his dentist's experience he could extract toothsome meanings for the rest of us to play with.]

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

extract

How could you possibly have known ??? This is more than just coincidence.

As fate would have it, I've had two periodontally compromised teeth extracted, day before yesterday. My colleague and I planned a porcelain-fused-to-gold bridge to replace them in a couple of weeks.

Spoiler: show

[Algot Runeman]

extract

How could you possibly have known ??? This is more than just coincidence.


Vee haff zee vays to gett inzide da heads off ANYVUN!

[Algot Runeman]

triumph

/ˈtrʌɪʌmf/
noun
1 A great victory or achievement.
1.1 mass noun The state of being victorious or successful.
1.2 mass noun Joy or satisfaction resulting from a success or victory.
1.3 A highly successful example of something.
2 The processional entry of a victorious general into ancient Rome.

verb
[no object]
1 Achieve a victory; be successful.
1.1 Rejoice or exult at a victory or success.
2 (of a Roman general) ride into ancient Rome after a victory.

Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French triumphe (noun), from Latin triump(h)us, probably from Greek thriambos ‘hymn to Bacchus’. Current senses of the verb date from the early 16th century.

In an unexpected triumph of the improbable, three competitors touched the finish line simultaneously.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

...

Vee haff zee vays to gett inzide da heads off ANYVUN!

Oh come off it, you fake Lord Carious.

You couldn't swat a fly if it landed on your nose.

[Algot Runeman]

meeple

/ˈmiːp(ə)l/
noun
A small figure used as a playing piece in certain board games, having a stylized human form.

Origin
Early 21st century: apparently a blend of my and a phonetic respelling of people and first used with reference to the board game Carcassonne.

==========

Marcel manipulated Marie's meeple as well as his own. She was happy to sit beside him. Alzheimer's had robbed her of the ability to play for herself, but she loved being involved with the group and the game.

[Algot Runeman]

croquis

/krəʊˈkiː/
noun
A rough draft; a sketch.

Origin
French.

==========

In the spring, Jack dashed off a croquis of the crocus flowers and decided to call himself Jacques.



[I very much like that this short dictionary definition seems like a sketch all by itself.]

[Algot Runeman]

gonzo

/ˈɡɒnzəʊ/
adjective
North American
informal
1 Relating to or denoting journalism of an exaggerated, subjective, and fictionalized style.
2 Bizarre or crazy.

Origin
1970s: perhaps from Italian gonzo ‘foolish’ or Spanish ganso ‘goose, fool’.

==========

The news story was so gonzo as to be totally unbelievable. More surprising is that it was published in the New York Times and not The National Inquirer.

[Algot Runeman]

burrow

/ˈbʌrəʊ/
noun
A hole or tunnel dug by a small animal, especially a rabbit, as a dwelling.

verb
[no object]
1 (of an animal) make a hole or tunnel, typically for use as a dwelling.
1.1 with adverbial of direction Dig into or through something solid.
1.2 with adverbial of direction - Hide underneath or press close to something.
1.3 Make a thorough inquiry; investigate.

Origin
Middle English: variant of borough.

Charlie asked Sam, "Can I borrow your burrow,
Just for today, not tomorrow?
Without it, I think I shall soon come to sorrow.
I think that the Wolf might just be real thorough."

[Algot Runeman]

zeitgeber

/ˈzʌɪtɡeɪbə/
noun
Physiology
A rhythmically occurring natural phenomenon which acts as a cue in the regulation of the body's circadian rhythms.

Origin
1950s: from German Zeitgeber, from Zeit ‘time’ + Geber ‘giver’.

===========

Of all the zeitgebers which contributed to Don's steady circadian rhythm, dawn was his favorite.

[Algot Runeman]

synchronous

/ˈsɪŋkrənəs/
adjective
1 Existing or occurring at the same time.
2 Astronomy
Making or denoting an orbit around the earth or another celestial body in which one revolution is completed in the period taken for the body to rotate about its axis.

Origin
Mid 17th century: from late Latin synchronus (from Greek sunkhronos, from sun- ‘together’ + khronos ‘time’) + -ous.

==========

I do not appreciate the current trend of talk shows on radio or television or even at organizational meetings when every body talks all at once. I cannot process the synchronous sounds sufficiently.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

synchronous

Fortunately the Wiener Sängerknaben manage to sing perfectly synchronously, in lyrics and pitch.
Otherwise ... unimaginable ...

Spoiler: show

Some of the parents and siblings of the Vienna Boys' Choir:
(You expected a different picture, didn't you?)

[Algot Runeman]

E.P.S.,

You sneakily, surreptitiously and semi-synchronously substituted a similar scene?
Picture my profound, perplexed puss as I puzzled at the re-placement.

(Do siblings and parents of the Vienna Boys' Choir have some synchronous significance?)

[Algot Runeman]

obscure

/əbˈskjʊə/
adjective
1 Not discovered or known about; uncertain.
1.1 Not important or well known.
2 Not clearly expressed or easily understood.
2.1 Hard to define; vague.
2.2 Dark or dim.

verb
[with object]
1 Keep from being seen; conceal.
1.1 Make unclear and difficult to understand.
1.2 Keep from being known.

Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French obscur, from Latin obscurus ‘dark’, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘cover’.

==========

The names in the document were so well known that it was necessary to mark out entire paragraphs in order to obscure the people involved in the debacle.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

...
Do siblings and parents of the Vienna Boys' Choir have some synchronous significance?

Yes, they do. They sing along synchronously but sotto voce in front of the TV set.

[Algot Runeman]

foxfire

/ˈfɒksfʌɪə/
noun
mass noun
North American
The phosphorescent light emitted by certain fungi on decaying timber.

==========

Sleeping in the woods, we might open our eyes at an unexpected sound only to gaze with night-sensitive eyes to see luminescent foxfire outside the tent.

[Algot Runeman]

pelage

/ˈpɛlɪdʒ/
noun
mass noun
Zoology
The fur, hair, or wool of a mammal.

Origin
Early 19th century: from French, from Old French pel ‘hair’.

==========

Penny, unable to hide as the rain began pelting down from above, scurried along the final block to her apartment. She fervently hoped her magnificent coat of sable and ermine-trimmed pelage would retain its full glory, perhaps with some help from her trusted furrier.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

pelage

The meanings of the words pelage and pelagic have nothing whatsoever in common.
Another example of English illogicality.

As for me myself, in spite of my three score and fourteen years, I'm glad to still have a full head of dense gray pelage. People estimate me 15 years younger.

Reminder to self: update my 15-year old profile picture!

Spoiler: show

No current picture available.

[Algot Runeman]

E.P.S. Of course "pelagic"! Bravo. Good catch!

I take this route, to root for your excellent exploration and understanding of the roots of the English language.



[Nota Bene: check the variations of how route is pronounced.]