GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Tuesday, December 15, 2009
appellation\ap-uh-LAY-shun\ , noun; 1. The word by which a particular person or thing is called and known; name; title; designation.2.The act of naming.

For as long as Olympia can remember, her mother has been referred to, within her hearing and without, as an invalid -- an appellation that does not seem to distress her mother and indeed appears to be one she herself cultivates.
-- Anita Shreve, Fortune's Rocks

A communist or a revolutionary, for example, would likely readily accept and admit that he is in fact a communist or a revolutionary. Indeed, many would doubtless take particular pride in claiming either of those appellations for themselves.
-- Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism

I feel honored by yet undeserving of the appellation "novelist." I am merely a craftsperson, a cabinetmaker of texts and occasionally, I hope, a witness to our times.
-- Francine Du Plessix Gray, "I Write for Revenge Against Reality", New York Times, September 12, 1982

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Appellation comes from Latin appellatio, from appellare, "to name."

[voralfred]

Considering the fact that Algot Runeman has been the first to write a post using a large fraction of the WOTD in the recent weeks, do we agree that he deserves the appellation of solicitous (in the 4th meaning), and further that the appellation of recalcitrant does not describe him in the least!

[CodeBlower]

Hear, here!

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Wednesday, December 16, 2009

doff\DOF\ , transitive verb; 1. To take off, as an article of clothing. 2. To tip or remove (one's hat). 3. To put aside; to rid oneself of.

After I finished sweeping, I grabbed my check, went to the locker room, and doffed the monkey suit, slipped into my jeans, sneakers and T-shirt and broke camp.
-- Reginald McKnight, White Boys: Stories

Any moment now and Max Linder would ride out from around the corner on a pair of white horses, fire blanks at a passing beauty, and doff his top hat to hide his face from the policeman.
-- Nina Berberova, The Book of Happiness

Benny doffed his cap grandly.
-- Thomas Maier, Dr. Spock: An American Life

And he became as a pillar of fire to superannuated peoples who had but to doff the lethargy of custom to find themselves young.
-- J. F. A. Pyre, "Byron in Our Day", The Atlantic, April 1907

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Doff Middle English doffen, from don off, "to do off," from don, "to do" + off, "off."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Thursday, December 17, 2009

paroxysm\PAIR-uhk-siz-uhm\ , noun; 1. (Medicine) A sudden attack, intensification, or recurrence of a disease. 2. Any sudden and violent emotion or action; an outburst; a fit.

But when he's on target -- and more often than not he is -- he can send you into paroxysms of laughter.
-- William Triplett, "Drawing Laughter from a Well of Family Pain", Washington Post, June 13, 2002

Dickens had a paroxysm of rage: 'Bounding up from his chair, and throwing his knife and fork on his plate (which he smashed to atoms), he exclaimed: "Dolby! your infernal caution will be your ruin one of these days!"'
-- Edmund Wilson, "Dickens: The Two Scrooges", The Atlantic, April/May 1940

Mrs. Bumble, seeing at a glance that the decisive moment had now arrived, and that a blow struck for mastership on one side or another, must necessarily be final and conclusive, dropped into a chair, and with a loud scream that Mr. Bumble was a hard-hearted brute, fell into a paroxysm of tears.
-- Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

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Paroxysm is from Greek paroxusmos, from paroxunein, "to irritate, provoke or excite (literally to sharpen excessively)," from para-, "beyond" + oxunein, "to sharpen, to provoke."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Friday, December 18, 2009

diaphanous\dy-AF-uh-nuhs\ , adjective; 1. Of such fine texture as to allow light to pass through; translucent or transparent.2.Vague; insubstantial.

The curtains are thin, a diaphanous membrane that can't quite contain the light outside.
-- Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian

She needed more than diaphanous hope, more than I could give her.
-- Tej Rae, "One Hand Extended", Washington Post, August 12, 2001

This phantom wore many faces, but it always had golden hair, was enveloped in a diaphanous cloud, and floated airily before his mind's eye in a pleasing chaos of roses, peacocks, white ponies, and blue ribbons.
-- Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

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Diaphanous ultimately derives from Greek diaphanes, "showing through," from diaphainein, "to show through, to be transparent," from dia-, "through" + phainein, "to show, to appear." It is related to phantom, something apparently sensed but having no physical reality.

[voralfred]

I'd like to make a sentence using doff,diaphanous and paroxysm... but I'm afraid anything that comes to my mind using those belong to TVR and not here

Well, I am a Frenchman....

[Algot Runeman]

Well, Voralfred, I for one, shall doff my hat to you, in any case, because you surely could have done it.
It was but a diaphanous dream that such a construction could be completed with decorum.

I'll barely avoid paroxysms of laughter as I wait for the impending Northeast blizzard that has already dealt about two feet of snow on the U.S. Capitol. (I love snow.)

[CodeBlower]

Off-topic: Looks like I'm not the only one that took a couple weeks off .. a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's to all you wordsmiths (and roving punsters) out there.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's to all you ... roving punsters ... out there.

Vansgelijke! (Flemish for "Likewise!" or "Bounced right back at you!")
Anyway, my hopeful wishes to all past, present and future members and lurkers on this forum.
Cheers!

Francis

[Darb]

I'd like to make a sentence using doff,diaphanous and paroxysm... but I'm afraid anything that comes to my mind using those belong to TVR and not here

Methinks my erstwhile Spartan colleagues have grown soft to so ignobly doff their arms and retreat in paroxysms of fear and mediocrity before the diaphanous challenge of skewering a mere three WOTDs together, in family friendly fashion, with a single literary thrust.

Vansgelijke !

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Tuesday, January 05, 2010

atelier\at-l-YAY\ , noun; 1. A workshop; a studio.

A garage in Montparnasse served as Leo's atelier, and there he labored on his huge triptychs, mixing his paints in buckets and applying them with a kitchen mop.
-- Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version

After Groton, he would attend the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School, then settle in Paris, rent an atelier and paint.
-- Benjamin Welles, Sumner Welles: FDR's Global Strategist

His atelier was the headquarters of a lively little cottage industry.
-- Rollene W. Saal, "Listening for Voices That are Muted", New York Times, January 25, 1987

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Atelier comes from French, from Old French astelier, "carpenter's shop," from astele, "splinter," from Late Latin astella, alteration of Latin astula, itself an alteration of assula, "a shaving, a chip," diminutive of assis, "board."

[Algot Runeman]

There is no doubt that the amount of time I spend here, dealing with WotD, Reading Group, Questions, etc. keeps me from spending enough time in my ever so beautiful, low ceilinged, drafty, cold-in-winter/damp-in-summer basement atelier. I owe several woodworking projects to family. Honestly, it isn't that I am afraid of getting a splinter.

Get thee behind me, Forum.

(by the way...we actually call the space a cellar instead of basement which is more common elsewhere. Basements were the name of the place one went to a bathroom in Massachusetts schools.)

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Wednesday, January 06, 2010

flibbertigibbet\FLIB-ur-tee-jib-it\ , noun; 1. A silly, flighty, or scatterbrained person, especially a pert young woman with such qualities.

We discover here not the flibbertigibbet Connolly describes but a serious reader (Goethe, Tolstoy, Proust) who found her cultural ideal in 18th-century France.
-- Martin Stannard, "Enter Shrieking", New York Times, November 28, 1993

He argues persuasively that Millay's reputation has been harmed not only by academics who dread and fear her heartfelt "simplicity," but by the very admirers who wished to promote her as a kind of whimsical flibbertigibbet, a poetical Anne of Green Gables.
-- Liz Rosenberg, "So Young, So Good, So Popular", New York Times, March 15, 1992

That it was the Owenses who had got involved in this nonsense, rather than some flibbertigibbet johnny-come-latelies, counted for a lot, for the Owenses were respectable and respected.
-- Neil Gaiman and Dave Mckean, The Graveyard Book

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Flibbertigibbet is from Middle English flipergebet, which is probably an imitation of the sound of meaningless chatter.

[Algot Runeman]

I always thought that the word flibbertigibbet was a creation of the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein in the musical "The Sound of Music".

I guess we who are scatterbrained do learn something new from time to time, even those of us who are not pert, young, nor female.

[CodeBlower]

pert /pɜrt/
–adjective, -er, -est.
1. boldly forward in speech or behavior; impertinent; saucy.
2. jaunty and stylish; chic; natty.
3. lively; sprightly; in good health.
4. Obsolete. clever.

Hmm ..

[sweetharleygirl]

I like seeing this word in here, I've been called that befor and never knew what it ment and was hopeing it wasn't offensive, now that I see the definition I'd say it's pretty accurate!

[voralfred]

You have been called "flibbertigibbet" before

[sweetharleygirl]

Yes I have, does that surprise you?

[voralfred]

Not that it applies to you!
That someone who is not a member of this forum had ever used that word!

[sweetharleygirl]

Not that it applies to you!
That someone who is not a member of this forum had ever used that word!

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Thursday, January 07, 2010

quotidian\kwoh-TID-ee-uhn\ , adjective; 1. Occurring or returning daily; as, a quotidian fever. 2. Of an everyday character; ordinary; commonplace.

Erasmus thought More's career as a lawyer was a waste of a fine mind, but it was precisely the human insights More derived from his life in the quotidian world that gave him a moral depth Erasmus lacked.
-- "More man than saint", Irish Times, April 4, 1998

She also had a sense of fun that was often drummed out under the dull, quotidian beats of suburban life.
-- Meg Wolitzer, Surrender, Dorothy

In the world of the crematoriums hatred is a reckless and incontinent passion, incompatible with the humdrum nature of the quotidian task.
-- William Styron, Sophie's Choice

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Quotidian is from Latin quotidianus, from quotidie, "daily," from quotus, "how many, as many, so many" + dies, "day."

[Algot Runeman]

Are we contemplating a change to the topic name: Word of the Day?
"Quotidien Word"

Do a quotidien check of the forum and write a witty remark one time in ten.

Be sure you also do quotidien brushing of the teeth so you don't end up with fortnightly visits to the dentist.

Of course, remember to take a bath semi-annually whether you need it or not. Biennially isn't often enough.

[Darb]

... Quotidien Word ...

Quotidian

Spoiler: show

Good thing I spotted that one before Laurie did ... her mallet hits a LOT harder than mine.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day Friday, January 08, 2010

gesticulate\juh-STIK-yuh-layt\ , intransitive verb; 1. To make gestures or motions, especially while speaking or instead of speaking. transitive verb: 1. To indicate or express by gestures.

In between clearing flooded masks or removing our air supplies, we would gesticulate wildly to point out the giant barracuda hovering nearby, its ugly jaws snapping.
-- Gwyn Topham, "Deep space", The Guardian, November 2, 2002

In conversation, Ferry is friendly and animated, frequently rising to his feet to pace and gesticulate as he talks.
-- Barbara Ellen, "The life of Bryan", The Observer, May 13, 2001

South Africa's attack allowed a miserly two runs per over yesterday, apart from Makhaya Ntini who went for 4 and caused the wicketkeeper Boucher to gesticulate his disapproval.
-- David Hopps, "England's luck changes with order of the boot for Smith", The Guardian, August 16, 2003

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Gesticulate is from Latin gesticulatus, past participle of gesticulari, "to gesticulate," from gesticulus, diminutive of gestus, "gesture, action."