GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Darb]

* Darb squelches his reply by downing a glass of welches grape juice.

[MidasKnight]

... and then belches.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

bivouac

\BIV-wak, BIV-uh-wak\

noun:
1.
An encampment for the night, usually under little or no shelter.

intransitive verb:
1.
To encamp for the night, usually under little or no shelter.

Read the full entry

Quotes:
Rob had made his emergency bivouac just below the South Summit.
-- David Breashears, "Death on the mountain", The Observer, March 30, 2003

They were stopped by savage winds and forced to bivouac 153 m below the day's goal.
-- Erik Weihenmayer, "Men of the Mountain", Time Pacific, February 4, 2002

Origin:
Bivouac comes from French bivouac, from German Beiwache, "a watching or guarding," from bei, "by, near" + wachen, "to watch."

Irreverant example:
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.

[voralfred]

Jack Kerouac used to bivouac often.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Jack Kerouac used to bivouac often.

Bob Morane too.
Ah, those were the days ...

[Darb]

Yo man, bivouac'n fer crack iz whack !

(translation: "Excuse me Sir, but in my exceedingly humble opinion, sleeping on the street in order secure some crystallized cocaine is not the most dignified way to go about it. By the way, do you have any Grey Poupon ?")

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... By the way, do you have any Grey Poupon ?")

Sorry, no.
Tierenteyn is my preferred bear-trap while bivouacing. When they lick that mustard, critters keel over like drunk knights errant.

[Algot Runeman]

When I bivouac on extended hiking trips, I rarely find any Grey Poupon, just the occasional brown poop on the side of the trail. Those casual hikers have no shame. A few more steps away from the path and a rock or two on top make the experience more pleasant for the rest of us.

Jack Daniels and I don't bother with tents on these hikes. We meet Jose Cuervo halfway along the trail. Sam Adams and Bud Weiser occasionally stumble in towards the end of the trip. With these friends along, I don't always even notice whether I am on the actual trail. It can be a real adventure in the "wild" forest preserve along the sludgy shores of the Des Plaines River near Lake Potawatomi off Dundee Road.

[You know the Des Plaines River: Too thick to drink but too thin to plow.]
Your map research skills will lead you to the town in which I grew from boy to teen.
[Hint: Lego' Brickworld 2010 was apparently held there, too. Just amazing how small this world is.]

[Darb]

I think I took a plane to Des Plaines once ... it's that strange plain in Spain where the rains mainly fall, and the only accomodations are by bivouac, right ?

[Darb]

Tattoo: "Des Plaines, Boss ... Des Plaines !"

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

canorous

\kuh-NOR-us; KAN-or-uhs\

adjective:
1.
Richly melodious; pleasant sounding; musical.

Read the full entry

Quotes:
I felt a deep contentment listening to the meadowlark's complex melody as he sat on his bragging post calling for a mate, and the soft canorous whistle of the bobwhite as he whistled his name with intermittent lulls.
-- Donna R. La Plante, "Remember When: The prairie after a spring rain", Kansas City Star, March 16, 2003

But birds that are canorous and whose notes we most commend, are of little throats, and short necks, as Nightingales, Finches, Linnets, Canary birds and Larks.
-- Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica

Origin:
Canorous comes from the Latin canor, "melody," from canere, "to sing." It is related to chant, from French chanter, "to sing," ultimately from Latin canere.

Irreverant example:
When my grandma appeared in public, sporting a fur coat, a boa, a hat or some other fur accoutrement, she didn't mind men whistling their wordless admiration. But only if their tune was in the proper pitch, not too loud, clearly appreciative and, above all, canorous!

[Algot Runeman]

Ken Oras, renouned cantor of the Ben T'Nail congregation, ignored the clamor of the crowd. He would begin when he was ready. Ken refused to begin his chant before his preparations were done. He was known for his canorous clarity. This morning, his throat refused to be free of a troublesome clog. A clogged cantor can't chant. Let the crowd rant.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

interviewer: "Are you canorous, Ma'am?"

my grandma: "Sure I eat meat. Don't you?"

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

eke

\EEK\

transitive verb:
1.
To gain or supplement with great effort or difficulty -- used with 'out'.
2.
To increase or make last by being economical -- used with 'out'.

Read the full entry

Quotes:
When the PRI unites around a candidate and the two opposition parties divide the rest of the vote, the ruling party can usually eke out a victory.
-- Mary Beth Sheridan, "PRI Wins Mexico State Governor's Race, but Loses Smaller Stronghold", Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1999

Inevitably, the prodigious footnotes get in the way of what is, basically, a simple parable. Like the wide margins the publishers use to eke out a skimpy text, they make the novel seem bigger than it is.
-- James MacBride, "What Did Myra Want?", New York Times, February 18, 1968

Although life was hard it was not unendurable, and the rugged and resourceful villagers eke out a living on the thin crust of the soil.
-- Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins, "Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet"

... should know that I embrace my stunted maturity, which is responsible for most of the fun I'm able to eke out of life.
-- ChoChiyo, IBDoF, December 02, 2004

Origin:
Eke is from Old English ecan, "to increase."

Irreverant example:
My grandma had disciplined herself never to scream or even raise her voice. So whenever she was heard to calmly pronounce the word eke, she most probably meant

Spoiler: show

"EEK!"

[Darb]

Back during the great recession, Zeke eked out a meager living as a circus geek. Although the prospect of biting the heads off chickens had initially elicited an "eek !", at least he got to keep the chicken afterwards, to feed his family of 12.

[Algot Runeman]

Marc, always the contrarian, eked in his living by investing in garbage truck companies. His parents always made him take out the trash, and he figured they were giving him a life lesson. Having steadily invested in any garbage removal company he could over the years, Marc became "filthy rich", hence the "eke in" phrase and the well known aphorism, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

prolix

\pro-LIKS; PRO-liks\
adjective:
1.
Extending to a great length; unnecessarily long; wordy.
2.
Tending to speak or write at excessive length.

Read the full entry

Quotes:
It was a cumbersome book, widely criticized for being prolix in style and maddeningly circular in argument.
-- Simon Winchester, "Word Imperfect", The Atlantic, May 2001

Montaigne is a little too prolix in his determination to tell us almost everything that happens as he fishes his way across the country, and he gives us a few too many accounts of the people he meets and of their repetitiously gloomy opinions.
-- Adam Hochschild, "Deep Wigglers of the Volga", New York Times, June 28, 1998

Greenspan, on the other hand, is given to prolix comments whose sentences are hung like Christmas trees with dependent clauses.
-- John M. Berry, "Greenspan: A Man Aware of Feasibility", Washington Post, June 14, 1987

Origin:
Prolix is derived from Latin prolixus, "poured forth, overflowing, extended, long," from pro-, "forward" + liquere, "to be fluid."

Irreverent example:
"You know, even though he's deaf and mute, she appears quite happy with him, she married him eagerly enough. And she speaks sign language whenever he has to understand the conversation. But at the wedding ceremony it took her no more than two seconds to say 'I do' in sign language and he needed half a minute to say exactly the same. Is he prolix or a politician or so?"
"Not that I know. But she told me that he stutters too."

[Algot Runeman]

Pointedly un-prolix post.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Pointedly un-prolix post.

I think 'pointedly' is redundant and 'post' may be superfluous too.

Hey, I need a break, once in a while, you know?
Shopping, cleaning, measuring, cutting, chopping and mixing is hard work too! (see 'sign in, sign' out thread)

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

edify

\ED-uh-fy\
transitive verb:
1.
To instruct and improve, especially in moral and religious knowledge; to teach.
--edifying, adjective

Read the full entry

Quotes:
In their tour, the judges saw some of the more edifying spots on the Internet
-- "Second Federal Panel Declares C.D.A. [the Communications Decency Act] Unconstitutional", New York Times, July 30, 1996

They viewed what edifying sights the coastal towns offered, including a fascinating zoo.
-- Paul C. Nagel, John Quincy Adams

Just what depth of woods is required to edify, modify and/or enlighten a person in the way that we know a stay within an unguarded, ongoing, wild wood can?
-- Charles Siebert, "Found in the Woods", New York Times Magazine, June 6, 1999

Origin:
Edify is from Old French edifier, from Latin ædifico, ædificare, to build.

Irreverant example:
Whenever I encounter that word, I always think of cannibals edifying an explorer, i.e. cooking him in a large black cauldron until he's edible.

[voralfred]

It would seem that the Brigitte Bardot Foundation was not able to edify your Grandmother about animal rights and the use of synthetic furs instead of real one.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

the Brigitte Bardot Foundation was not able to edify your Grandmother

Ah, but the foundation is no edification.
Moreover, both my grandma and BB have been known to wear beaver fur.

[Darb]

I'm obliged to ask, strictly for my own self-edification ... but are you referring to the Canadian long-hair beaver, or the Brazilian Bald Beaver ?

[Algot Runeman]

Please edify me on the not so transparent teachings of the Church. Is transsexualism a transmutation or a transgression of transubstantiation? Translate as needed and transmit your treatise by whatever transport you can.

Eddie! Fie on you.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

I'm obliged to ask, strictly for my own self-edification ... but are you referring to the Canadian long-hair beaver, or the Brazilian Bald Beaver ?

Well, erm, off and on, I think ...