GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by **Ghost** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 8:12 am

Word of the Day for Monday February 7, 2005

importunate \im-POR-chuh-nit\, adjective: Troublesomely urgent; overly persistent in request or demand; unreasonably solicitous.

An emperor penguin in captivity starved to death by feeding all his rations -- about six pounds of fish daily -- to an importunate chick.
--Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, The Emperor's Embrace

The play is a cacophony of importunate ringing doorbells and telephones, of pleas both professional and romantic from an exasperating assortment of colleagues and admirers.
--Ben Brantley, "Present Laughter," New York Times, November 19, 1996

Jokes form a kind of currency, such that a wise-crack from the most importunate beggar may bring instant reward.
--Max Rodenbeck, Cairo: The City Victorious

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Importunate is derived from Latin importunus, "unsuitable, troublesome, (of character) assertive, insolent, inconsiderate."

/and me thought me mother was being complimentary when she callled me importunate

Post by **Ghost** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 9:04 am

Word of the Day for Tuesday February 8, 2005

dishabille \dis-uh-BEEL\, noun: 1. The state of being carelessly or partially dressed. 2. Casual or lounging attire. 3. An intentionally careless or casual manner.

People meant to be fully clothed lounge around in dishabille.
--John Simon, "Tangled Up in Blue," New York Magazine, March 26, 2001

But, unlike the Black Knights, Princeton . . . was in varying states of dishabille -- some players in warmups, some in uniform, some halfway between.
--Daily Princetonian, December 13, 2000

She was dressed, that is to say, in dishabille, wrapped in a long, warm dressing-gown.
--Alexandre Dumas, Twenty Years After

She imagines the shocked faces of Josiah or her father or her mother were any of them to come around the corner and catch her in her dishabille.
--Anita Shreve, Fortune's Rocks

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Dishabille comes from French dÃ©shabiller, "to undress," from dÃ©s-, "dis-" + habiller, "to clothe, to dress."

/In volleyball with Jack thinking about the first time he saw Sally Sueann this should be an easy WOTD point

Post by **laurie** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:29 am

Sir Spook, have you been cruising the Romance listings for this week's WOTDs?

Post by **Ghost** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:06 am

Word of the Day for Wednesday February 9, 2005

purblind \PUR-blynd\, adjective: 1. Having greatly reduced vision. 2. Lacking in insight or discernment.

Add to this that the work seems unsure of its audience, providing no footnotes or exact references, but concluding with a bizarre parade of bibliographical essays running to 59 pages; that it gives the date only about once every 100 pages (and then not always the right date...) and leaves us feeling as if we were wandering purblind in some deep cave.
--James R. Kincaid, "The Sum Of His Oddities," New York Times, January 13, 1991

Those changes, whose pressing necessity by the end of the 1980s was surely evident to all but the most purblind, would have taken place in any case.
--Bryan Gould, "Mandy," New Statesman, January 29, 1999

But something is fundamentally wrong at Leeds, something that even the most ardent supporters -- and other purblind apologists -- must surely come to recognise.
--Kevin Mitchell, "How Leeds lost it," The Observer, March 10, 2002

On and on the weary litany of purblind negativity proceeds.
--Eric Evans, "The Theory Man." History Today, June 1997

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Purblind derives from Middle English pur blind, "wholly blind," from pur, "pure" + blind. At one time it meant "completely blind," but it came to mean something less than completely blind.

/I saw nothing . . . I saw nothing . . .

Post by **Ghost** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:22 am

Word of the Day for Thursday February 10, 2005

asseverate \uh-SEV-uh-rayt\, transitive verb: To affirm or declare positively or earnestly.

"But of course it is!" asseverates Herman Woodlife.
--Miles Kington, "Child slavery: the half-truth," Independent, June 12, 1998

"Castro's been known to snow people, but he didn't snow me," Mr. Weicker asseverated.
--"Fading Fidel and his gulled groupies," Washington Times, July 6, 2001

Mr. Vidal asseverates that McVeigh is "very, very bright." He writes with "perfect" spelling, punctuation and grammar.
--R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., "When grim opportunity knocks . . .," Washington Times, May 11, 2001

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Asseverate comes from Latin asseverare, "to assert seriously or earnestly," from ad- + severus, "severe, serious."

Post by **Ghost** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 8:56 am

Word of the Day for Friday February 11, 2005

celerity \suh-LAIR-uh-tee\, noun: Rapidity of motion or action; quickness; swiftness.

Though not in the best of physical form, he was capable of moving with celerity.
--Malachy McCourt, A Monk Swimming: A Memoir

Furthermore, as is well known, computer technology grows obsolete with amazing celerity.
--Alan S. Blinder and Richard E. Quandt, "The Computer and the Economy," The Atlantic, December 1997

The lightning celerity of his thought processes took you on a kind of helter-skelter ride of surreal non-sequiturs, sudden accesses of emotion and ribald asides, made all the more bizarre for being uttered in those honeyed tones by the impeccably elegant gent before you.
--"A life full of frolics," The Guardian, May 19, 2001

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Celerity is from Latin celeritas, from celer, "swift." It is related to accelerate.

/that was quick

Post by **Ghost** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:28 am

Word of the Day for Saturday February 12, 2005

nefarious \nuh-FAIR-ee-uhs\, adjective: Wicked in the extreme; iniquitous.

Despite involvement in protection, narcotics, strong-arm debt collecting, strikebreaking, and blackmail, among other nefarious activities, all of them professed to be a cut above mobsters in other lands.
--Robert Whiting, Tokyo Underworld

The liar, however, can become a truly subversive and scandalous figure, whose nefarious influence may extend far more widely than her own individual actions.
--John Forrester, Truth Games

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Nefarious is from Latin nefarius, from nefas, "that which is contrary to divine command; a crime, transgression, sin," from ne-, "not" + fas, "divine command or law."

Post by **Kvetch** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:50 am

I always liked the Asterix character Neferiuspurpus (or similar

)

Post by **laurie** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 1:51 pm

I bet Nefarius is Felonius's middle name.

Post by **Ghost** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 8:43 am

Word of the Day for Sunday February 13, 2005

agitprop \AJ-it-prop\, noun: Propaganda, especially pro-communist political propaganda disseminated through literature, drama, music, or art.

Despite its explicit program, when the symphony was first performed in 1957 a Russian audience always on the lookout for subtexts quickly interpreted it as being about the crushed Hungarian uprising of the previous year. This officially sanctioned work of agitprop was read as an encrypted denunciation of the Soviet regime.
--Justin Davidson, "Musical Explosions, Moving and Martial," Newsday, May 22, 1999

The essay was a farewell to the men of the left, a brilliant, impassioned piece of agitprop that galvanized women in communes, bookstores, hippie coffee houses and underground newspaper offices all over the country.
--"Memoirs by women writers get personal with a host of issues, from politics to pregnancy to parent care," Washington Post, January 14, 2001

Neither writer offers a shred of evidence for her claims, which makes these books second-rate agitprop rather than "first-rate sociology."
--Kim Phillips-Fein, "Feminine Mystiquers," The Nation, March 19, 1999

. . . nationally televised agitprop designed to appear nonpartisan while actually pushing the ideology of the party in power.
--Peter Beinart, "The sleazification of an American ritual," The New Republic, February 3, 1997

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Agitprop comes from Russian, from agitatsiya, "agitation" + propaganda.

Post by **Ghost** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 8:47 am

laurie wrote:I bet Nefarius is Felonius's middle name.

Yeah, I heard his full name is Felonius Nefarius Villainie.

Post by **laurie** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 9:34 pm

Ghost wrote:
laurie wrote:I bet Nefarius is Felonius's middle name.
Yeah, I heard his full name is Felonius Nefarius Villainie.

Gee, I thought his last name was Criminalus.

/Felonius is gonna kill me ...

Post by **Ghost** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 8:58 am

Word of the Day for Monday February 14, 2005

inamorata \in-am-uh-RAH-tuh\, noun: A woman whom one is in love with; a mistress.

Each of the gubernatorial candidates has been vying to prove that he is the least likely to take a state plane to the beach for a date with his inamorata or get involved with a struggle over how to evict his spouse from the governor's mansion.
--Gail Collins, "Uncontested Contests," New York Times, November 2, 1999

There are cynical experts on romanticism who counsel one to switch from one young inamorata to another in the nick of time.
--Paul West, Life With Swan

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Inamorata comes from Italian innamorata, feminine of innamorato, from the past participle of innamorare, "to inspire with love," from in- (from Latin) + amore, "love" (from Latin amor, from amare, "to love"). A man with whom one is in love is an inamorato

/me can hear Dean Martin singing in the distance: amore

amore

felonius · Post by **felonius** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:44 am

Ghost wrote:
laurie wrote:I bet Nefarius is Felonius's middle name.
Yeah, I heard his full name is Felonius Nefarius Villainie.

laurie wrote:Gee, I thought his last name was Criminalus.

/Felonius is gonna kill me ...

You're both in the right ballpark. But the full name is actually Felonius Quasi-Fecundius Scatologicalus.

My folks always did have a soft spot for alliteration I guess...

Post by **Ghost** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:57 am

felonius wrote: You're both in the right ballpark. But the full name is actually Felonius Quasi-Fecundius Scatologicalus.

My folks always did have a soft spot for alliteration I guess...

Fecundius derived from:

feâ€¢cund adj. 1. Capable of producing offspring or vegetation; fruitful. 2. Marked by intellectual productivity. See Synonyms at fertile.

Either one of these would not be to bad.

Scatologicalus derived from:

scaâ€¢tolâ€¢oâ€¢gy noun 1. The study of fecal excrement, as in medicine, paleontology, or biology. 2. An obsession with excrement or excretory functions, or the psychiatric study of such an obsession. 3. Obscene language or literature, especially that dealing pruriently or humorously with excrement and excretory functions.

I let you make up your own mind as to which definition (2 or 3) best fits felonius

(j/k

) .

Post by **laurie** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 1:53 pm

Ghost wrote:/me can hear Dean Martin singing in the distance: amore amore

"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's AMORE ..."

Post by **Kvetch** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:36 pm

inamorata \in-am-uh-RAH-tuh\, noun: A woman whom one is in love with; a mistress.

MUD:

A bold hippopotamus was standing one day,
On the banks of the cool Shalimar.
He gazed at the bottom-as it peacefully lay,
By the light of the evening star.

Away on a hilltop sat combing her hair,
His fair hippopotami maid.
The hippopotamus was no ignoramus,
And sang her this sweet serenade:

Mud, mud, glorious mud,
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood.
So follow me, follow,
Down to the hollow,
And there let us wallow in glorious mud.

The fair hippopotama he aimed to entice,
From her seat on that hilltop above.
As she hadn't got-a-ma to give her advice,
Came tip-toeing down to her love.

Like thunder the forest re-echoed the sound,
Of the song that they sang as they met.
His inamorata adjusted her garter,
And lifted her voice in duet
<etc.>

Post by **laurie** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 3:56 pm

KVETCH:

felonius · Post by **felonius** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 1:52 am

I want to hear the duet.

Post by **Kvetch** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:13 am

I have a copy of the russian text, but my web server is down. I'll try and get it up later.

it sounds like it starts 'glans glans shoobliga glans' if that is of interest

Post by **Ghost** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:00 am

Word of the Day for Tuesday February 15, 2005

diffident \DIF-uh-dunt; -dent\, adjective: 1. Lacking self-confidence; distrustful of one's own powers; timid; bashful. 2. Characterized by modest reserve; unassertive.

He lived naturally in a condition that many greater poets never had, or if they had it, were embarrassed or diffident about it: a total commitment to his own powers of invention, a complete loss of himself in his materials.
--James Dickey, "The Geek of Poetry," New York Times, December 23, 1979

This schism is embodied in Clarence's two sons: cheerful, pushy, book-ignorant Jared, a semicriminal entrepreneur who has caught "the rhythm of America to come" and for whom life is explained in brash epigrams from the trenches, versus slow, diffident Teddy, the town postman, uncomfortable with given notions of manhood, uncompetitive ("yet this seemed the only way to be an American") and disturbed that others misstate "the delicate nature of reality as he needed to grasp it for himself."
--Julian Barnes, "Grand Illusion," New York Times, January 28, 1996

Minny was too delicate and diffident to ask her cousin outright to take her to Europe.
--Brooke Allen, "Borrowed Lives," New York Times, May 16, 1999

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Diffident is from the present participle of Latin diffidere, "to mistrust, to have no confidence," from dis- + fidere, "to trust." The noun form is diffidence.

Post by **Ghost** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 3:11 pm

Word of the Day for Wednesday February 16, 2005

polymath \POL-ee-math\, noun: A person of great or varied learning; one acquainted with various subjects of study.

A century after Aristotle, in 240 B.C., a brilliant polymath, Eratosthenes, is appointed chief librarian of the Museum at Alexandria--the most cosmopolitan city and center of learning in the Mediterranean world.
--Alan Gurney, Below the Convergence

Alan Kay, for instance, one of the wizards of PARC and now an Apple fellow, is a polymath accomplished in math, biology, music, developmental psychology, philosophy, and several other disciplines.
--Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius

Like her literary heroine, George Eliot, Kingsolver is an old-fashioned polymath, curious about all branches of human learning.
--Sarah Kerr, "The Novel As Indictment," New York Times, October 11, 1998

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Polymath is from Greek polymathes, "having learned much," from poly-, "much" + manthanein, "to learn."

felonius · Post by **felonius** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 6:26 pm

One of my own personal favourite polymaths is Michael Ignatieff - he's something else.

Post by **Ghost** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:23 am

Word of the Day for Thursday February 17, 2005

fiduciary \fih-DOO-shee-air-ee\, adjective: Relating to the holding of something in trust for another.

noun: Someone who stands in a special relation of trust, confidence, or responsibility in certain obligations to others; a trustee.

American capitalism relies heavily on the fiduciary duty concept to protect those who entrust their money to large and often distant corporations.
--Senator Susan Collins, Congressional Record, July 11, 2002

Corporate boards, whose members are elected by shareholders, bear the ultimate legal and fiduciary responsibility for the company's performance.
--John Maggs, "Out of the Loop," National Journal, March 9, 2002

Congress is faced with a great challenge in protecting workers who need help, while employing our fiduciary responsibility to guard the taxpayer dollar.
--Representative Jennifer Dunn, The Seattle Times, October 1, 2001

As fiduciaries, investment advisers are expected to be on the client's side of the negotiating table in any deal.
--Robert Barker, "Will the SEC Bless This Masquerade?" Business Week, March 9, 2002

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Fiduciary comes from Latin fiduciarius, from fiducia, "trust," and is related to faith and fidelity.

Post by **Ghost** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:09 am

Word of the Day for Friday February 18, 2005

perspicacity \pur-spuh-KAS-uh-tee\, noun: Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment.

His predictions over the years have mixed unusual aristocratic insight with devastating perspicacity.
--"Why fine titles make exceedingly fine writers," Independent, November 3, 1996

Doubtless these thumbnail sketches, like everything else Stendhal wrote, were intended ultimately to relate to his own notion of himself as a creature of invincible perspicacity and sophistication.
--Jonathan Keates, Stendhal

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Perspicacity comes from Latin perspicax, perspicac-, "sharp-sighted," from perspicere, "to look through," from per, "through" + specere, "to look."

/me knew that