GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

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Darb
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Darb »

Did someone pass a law that only aussies can go walkabout when I wasn't looking ?
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Ghost »

Word of the Day Wednesday, February 17, 2010

hypnagogic
\hip-nuh-GOJ-ik; -GOH-jik\ , adjective; 1. Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state of drowsiness preceding sleep.

It is of course precisely in such episodes of mental traveling that writers are known to do good work, sometimes even their best, solving formal problems, getting advice from Beyond, having hypnagogic adventures that with luck can be recovered later on.
-- Thomas Pynchon, "Nearer, My Couch, to Thee", New York Times, June 6, 1993

. . .the phenomenon of hypnagogic hallucinations, or what Mr. Alvarez describes as "the flickering images and voices that well up just before sleep takes over."
-- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "The Faces of Night, Many of Them Scary", New York Times, January 9, 1995

His uncensored and uncensoring subconscious allows him to absorb the world around him and in him, and to spit it out almost undigested, as if he were walking around in a constant hypnagogic state.
-- Susan Bolotin, "Don't Turn Your Back on This Book", New York Times, June 9, 1985

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Hypnagogic (sometimes spelled hypnogogic) ultimately derives from Greek hupnos, "sleep" + agogos, "leading," from agein, "to lead."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Ghost »

Word of the Day Thursday, February 18, 2010

duplicity
\doo-PLIS-i-tee, dyoo-\ , noun; 1. Deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech; also, an instance of deliberate deceptiveness; double-dealing. 2. The quality or state of being twofold or double.

Perhaps Phil was a spy, working at Gagosian but secretly in the employ of White Cube. Actually, now that the idea of duplicity had entered Jeff's mind, it occurred to him that his gallery was having a party to which Jeff had been conspicuously uninvited.
-- Geoff Dyer, Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

Here on the beach under a good sun Hiro-matsu forced himself into a polite bow, hating his own duplicity.
-- James Clavell, Shogun

It didn't occur to him that Laura might have had an ulterior motive in seeking him out. Laura had a direct gaze, such blankly open eyes, such a pure, rounded forehead, that few ever suspected her of duplicity.
-- Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin

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Duplicity comes from Middle English duplicite, from Old French, from Late Latin duplicitās, doubleness, from Latin duplex, duplic-, twofold.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
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E Pericoloso Sporgersi
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

Though concerning the provenance of her furs my grandma was never hypnagogically duplicitous (good turn of phrase to generate bloopers, that), sometimes she was barely borderline, especially with contending rivals.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

The hypnagogic phase of my day is typically very short. My wife says I typically convert from awake to asleep in a few moments after I put my head down intending to sleep. It would be duplicitous to say it always happens that way, of course, and the occasional down side of falling asleep so easily is that a trip to the loo after 2:00 A.M. can result in an hour or more of vain wishing for a similar quick return to slumber.
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E Pericoloso Sporgersi
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

Algot Runeman wrote:... a trip to the loo after 2:00 A.M. can result in an hour or more of vain wishing for a similar quick return to slumber.
Doubtlessly better than the other way around, don't you think?
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Ghost »

Word of the Day Friday, February 19, 2010

gastronome
\GAS-truh-nohm\ , noun; 1. A connoisseur of good food and drink.

If "poultry is for the cook what canvas is for a painter," to quote the 19th-century French gastronome Brillat-Savarin, why paint the same painting over and over again?
-- John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger, "From Poussin to Capon a Chicken in Every Size", New York Times, September 22, 1999

Even though Paris was then considered the culinary capital of Europe, the food at the Cercle was so highly revered that many well-known gastronomes regularly made the trip to Lyon to eat there.
-- Daniel Rogov, "Three culinary tales for Hanukka", Jerusalem Post, December 6, 1996

I am no gastronome at the best; moreover, I have, over the years, eaten in so many unpropitious circumstances and from so many truly awful kitchens that I have come to consider myself almost as much a connoisseur of bad food as other men are of good.
-- James Cameron, "Albania: The Last Marxist Paradise", The Atlantic, June 1963

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Gastronome is ultimately derived from Greek gaster, "stomach" + nomos, "rule, law."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

The regal gastropod was slow to cross the rock near the foam-crashed shore.
He was collected with hundreds of his kin.
Added to water again, then dosed with spices and mixed with wine.
He eventually was eaten by a short gastronome who had a funny peaked hat and beard, who after eating a while, cried out to his brother, the cook, "Gnome! More." so he could get another bowl of steamy, chewy escargots.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

When you pretend to be an international gastronome and you order a cheese dessert in a French or Belgian restaurant, ask for Brillat-Savarin Camembert. You will either most often be denied it or, in rare cases, not.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Darb »

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:When you pretend to be an international gastronome and you order a cheese dessert in a French or Belgian restaurant, ask for Brillat-Savarin Camembert. You will either most often be denied it or, in rare cases, not.
As a real-life gastronome, I can attest to the flagitatious decadence of that particular fromage. Aroma wise, it reeks of noxema face cream, sweaty socks, and mushrooms. Appearance wise, it resembles devonshire clotted cream, surrounded with a moldy white crust. Taste wise ... it is heaven, with just enough reminders of Hell to make it's Heavenliness all the more poignant.

To borrow an oft-misquoted phrase from the late great Brillat-Savarin*, for whom the cheese was named, "Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you who you are."

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* I still owe a review for that book, after having entered and rated it.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

Darb wrote:... that particular fromage. Aroma wise, it reeks of noxema face cream, sweaty socks, and mushrooms. Appearance wise, it resembles devonshire clotted cream, surrounded with a moldy white crust. ...
You forgot to mention 'squaw sweat' and 'toe-jam'. :mrgreen:
Though I agree its taste is magnificent.

You may want to try Herve cheese. It's even much more olfactorally challenging, not to say lethal. But it does clear your sinuses ...
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by CodeBlower »

I wonder if garden gnomes look down on gastronomes the same way that circus clowns despise birthday clowns ..
"Budge up, yeh great lump." -- Hagrid, HP:SS
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Ghost »

Word of the Day Monday, February 22, 2010

fractious
\FRAK-shuhs\ , adjective; 1. Tending to cause trouble; unruly. 2. Irritable; snappish; cranky.

In Marshall's case, the experience of dealing with a clamorous band of younger siblings, earning their affection and respect while holding them to their tasks, proved remarkably useful in later years when dealing with fractious colleagues jealous of their prerogatives.
-- Jean Edward Smith, John Marshall: Definer of a Nation

Marcus frequently took a rod to Ambrose's back--with the predictable result of making the boy even more fractious and slow to obey.
-- Roy Morris Jr., Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company

Fractious heirs drink too much and squabble over dock space for their sailboats.
-- Marilyn Stasio, review of Stormy Weather, by Carl Hiaasen, New York Times, September 3, 1995

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Fractious is from fraction, which formerly had the sense "discord, dissension, disharmony"; it is derived from Latin frangere, "to break."
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

Was Bugs Bunny one of the fractious hares mentioned in one of the word usage quotes?
I'm not actually sure if he owned a yacht, though.

By the way, I've always thought that carrots were the root of his troubles with Elmer Fudd.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

Although the political fractions were quite fractious about my grandma's allegiance, she didn't give a d**n, even when shot at with high-velocity carrots.
To her, politician's speeches and promises were all one cistern of male bovine sh*t.
Only honest furriers and my grandpa could influence her righteous penchants.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Ghost »

Word of the Day Monday, March 01, 2010

pablum
\PAB-luhm\ , noun; 1. Something (as writing or speech) that is trite, insipid, or simplistic. 2. (capitalized) A trademark used for a bland soft cereal for infants.

I imagined his thoughts had been solely of me, that the letter would be filled with love sonnets, that it would gush with the same romantic pablum I devoured from those movie star magazines.
-- Kate Walbert, The Gardens of Kyoto

. . .the mindless pablum of celebrity journalism, the endless stories about self-promoting actors and movie stars who pretend they dislike the press.
-- Richard Stengel, "It Ain't Necessarily Bad That Nobody's Interested in Politics", Time, March 2, 2001

These, apparently, are the true bait-and-switchers of the title, selling vocational succor but offering gibberish and pablum.
-- Alexandra Jacobs, "'Bait and Switch': Corporate Makeover ", New York Times, September 18, 2005

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Pablum comes from Pablum, a trademark used for a bland soft cereal for infants.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

Ghost wrote:pablum\PAB-luhm\ , noun; 1. Something (as writing or speech) that is trite, insipid, or simplistic. ...
Would someone contradict me if I were to say that Ghost has had a well-deserved vacation? (and about time it ended :wink: )
If, on the other hand , I were to allege that Ghost had a week's worth of amorous tryst with my late grandma's spirit, now that would be a furry chimaera and a blatant pablum.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

It came as a surprise to me that Pablum is a trademark. If that is true, do we who write here at WotD or tweet on Twitter, Identi.ca, etc. need to be concerned for violations of copyright and legal trademark actions when we post? Clearly, most of what is typed [by me for sure] is pablum, the half-witty comments not excluded.

If I talk of Cream of Wheat [tm] which I adore, am I in the right ballpark with Pablum? Pablum is for kids, and Cream of Wheat is part of my adult diet along with oatmeal. Then again, shredded wheat may be my favorite cereal. I love crunching up the biscuits in their sleeve before putting them in a bowl. Then of course, comes the brown sugar, slices of banana and wonderful whole milk. YUM! And that for supper, more often than breakfast.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Darb »

I find it somewhat lazy and pablumish to go away for a week, and then only posting the most recent of seven WOTD upon returning.

I feel cheated ! :(
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Ghost »

Word of the Day Tuesday, March 02, 2010

temporize
\TEM-puh-ryz\ , intransitive verb; 1. To be indecisive or evasive in order to gain time or delay action. 2. To comply with the time or occasion; to yield to prevailing opinion or circumstances. 3. To engage in discussions or negotiations so as to gain time (usually followed by 'with'). 4. To come to terms (usually followed by 'with').

But when it comes to paying out claims, too many third-party providers stall, balk and temporize.
-- Stacie Zoe Berg, "Rx for reluctant health insurers", Insight on the News, September 22, 1997

On the big issues, Reagan rejected the importuning of his senior aides. He refused to temporize on the 1981 tax cut that ended Jimmy Carter's stagflation. At Reykjavik in 1985, he turned down State Department advice for an arms deal and stood fast to open the way for the Soviet collapse.
-- Robert Novak, "For the Great Communicator, presidency was about big dreams", Chicago Sun-Times, June 2004

The only alternative policy is to temporize, to make a series of concessions to North Korea as a way to buy time.
-- Charles Krauthammer, "U.S. should appease N. Korea -- temporarily", Deseret News, March 9, 2003

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Temporize derives from Medieval Latin temporizare, "to pass the time," from Latin tempus, tempor-, "time." It is related to temporary.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Darb »

/me watches Ghost temporize about ponying up the 6 WOTDs he owes us (re: Feb 23-28).

Ok, ok, since Ghost seems intent on being a deadbeat {rimshot}, does someone else want to post the missing words ?
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

I was thinking of displaying some random screen-filling text, backing away until I couldn't read the text any more and then throwing 6 darts at my TFT-monitor to pinpoint 6 WotD words.
But after careful consideration, I think I'd better temporise ...
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by CodeBlower »

Darb wrote:/me watches Ghost temporize about ponying up the 6 WOTDs he owes us (re: Feb 23-28).

Ok, ok, since Ghost seems intent on being a deadbeat {rimshot}, does someone else want to post the missing words ?
Since you seem dead set on beating this dead horse, I nominate you, Temper Eyes. :twisted:
"Budge up, yeh great lump." -- Hagrid, HP:SS
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The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

I've been wondering wherefrom Ghost gets the WOTDs.
From conversations with computer and software helpdesks?
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Ghost »

Word of the Day Wednesday, March 03, 2010

eructation
\ih-ruhk-TAY-shuhn\ , noun; 1. The act of belching; a belch.

Ignatius belched, the gassy eructations echoing between the walls of the alley.
-- John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

The explosion, at this distance, sounds like a faint, feeble eructation.
-- Peter Conrad, "Bangs to whimpers", The Observer, March 7, 2004

The presence of a driver's elevated mouth alcohol caused by eructation went directly to the commission of the offence and was capable of amounting to a special reason.
-- "Belch raises special reasons issue", Times, February 7, 2007

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Eructation comes from Latin eructatio, from eructare, from e-, "out" + ructare, "to belch."

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:I've been wondering wherefrom Ghost gets the WOTDs.
From conversations with computer and software helpdesks?
The first post in this thread has the link to the WOTD site I use.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you,
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