The Internet Book Database of Fiction

Algot Runeman wrote:cacoethes

Though the meaning is completely different, I wonder why your cacoethes make me think if cacahuètes?

Does your comment relate to the Howdy Doody TV show?
Buffalo Bob frequently asked about hearing from the "peanut gallery."

Algot Runeman wrote:Does your comment relate to the Howdy Doody TV show?
Buffalo Bob frequently asked about hearing from the "peanut gallery."

Well now, what with "peanut gallery", "negligible cost", "Charles M. Schulz", "apenootjes" (Flemish for ape nuts), "pindakaas" (Dutch for peanut cheese/butter), "The Peanut Institute", etc., peanuts do get around, don't they?

splotch

Pronunciation: /spläCH/
informal
noun
a daub, blot, or smear of something, typically a liquid:a splotch of red in a larger area of yellow

verb
[with object] (usually be splotched)
make a daub, blot, or smear on:a rag splotched with grease

Origin:
early 17th century: perhaps a blend of spot and obsolete plotch 'blotch'



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My painting skill is a combination of spills and splotches. The resulting work is, if nothing else, random.

Algot Runeman wrote:splotch

If you drop several cans of paint from high enough to make them go "splat!" when they land, you'll get a set of splotches good enough to be mistaken for a surreal painting. Rorschach can help naming it.

But if it's all the same to you, I'd rather have a splotch of good Scotch.

clemency

Pronunciation: /ˈklemənsē/

noun
mercy; lenience:an appeal for clemency

Origin:
late Middle English: from Latin clementia, from clemens, clement- 'clement'


Photo Credit: Penn State News

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Clementine clutched her small purse and wrung her handkerchief with white-knuckled fingers. The jurors were filing in from their deliberations. Her son was not looking at them, simply hanging his head, resigned to his fate. Clementine didn't have much hope either. The best she saw ahead was a guilty verdict, but she had hopes the judge would have pity for the boy and offer clemency in his sentencing.

Algot Runeman wrote:clemency...
Clementine clutched her small purse and wrung her handkerchief with white-knuckled fingers. The jurors were filing in from their deliberations. Her son was not looking at them, simply hanging his head, resigned to his fate. Clementine didn't have much hope either. The best she saw ahead was a guilty verdict, but she had hopes the judge would have pity for the boy and offer clemency in his sentencing.

Sorry, I'm too much overwhelmed with pity and compassion for Tom Dooley to think of any comment.
Poor boy, you're bound to die.

oyez

Pronunciation: /ˈōˈyā, ˈōˈyez/
(also oyes)
exclamation
a call given by a court officer, or formerly by public criers, typically repeated two or three times to command silence and attention, as before court is in session.

Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French oiez!, oyez! 'hear!', imperative plural of oir, from Latin audire 'hear'

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"Oyez, oyez! This court is not actually in session. I just like saying that."

Oy vey.

Algot Runeman wrote:oyez

Once I tried opening oysters by calling "Oyez, oyez!" at them.

But they didn't listen, they stubbornly remained firmly closed. Oh yeah.

I had to entice them the hard way.

simony

Pronunciation: /ˈsīmənē, ˈsi-/
noun
chiefly historical
the buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges, for example pardons or benefices.

Origin:
Middle English: from Old French simonie, from late Latin simonia, from Simon Magus (Acts 8:18)

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Simone sat stoicly and remained silent. Though she was in a politician's office, she hoped she might get relief. She was prepared to grease the wheels of justice. She hoped "her" governor might offer simony for her son's transgressions.

Algot Runeman wrote:simony
Simone sat stoicly and remained silent. Though she was in a politician's office, she hoped she might get relief. She was prepared to grease the wheels of justice. She hoped "her" governor might offer simony for her son's transgressions.

After much negotiating and haggling, Simone and "her" governor reached an understanding.

He would grant her son simony if, in exchange, she and/or her son first thoroughly simonized all four of the governor's family's cars.

voluntourism

Pronunciation: /ˌvälənˈto͝orˌizəm/
noun
a form of tourism in which travelers participate in voluntary work, typically for a charity:at the core of voluntourism is the desire to help others [as modifier]:voluntourism programs

Origin:
1990s: blend of volunteer and tourism

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Voluntourism necessitates the desire to leave home. My couch would miss me! It might also help if I had skills.

shebang

Pronunciation: /SHəˈbaNG/

noun
1 [in singular] informal a matter, operation, or set of circumstances:the Mafia boss who’s running the whole shebang
2 North American archaic a rough hut or shelter.

Origin:
mid 19th century: of unknown origin


[Sometimes a shebang screams "MILITARY!"]

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Cindy has always been a little bit reluctant to commit. She has never been involved in more than one-third of a shebang.

Algot Runeman wrote:shebang

She herself was unscathed, but when she saw the havoc hurricane Sandy had wreaked on her house, her car, her carefully tended garden, her greenhouse, on the whole shebang, she wailed like a banshee.

E.P.S. wrote:She wailed like a banshee.

That's a saying I've heard many times, but only today did I check to see its meaning. I wonder how many similar phrases are simply "known" with almost nobody bothering to look them up to learn the details.

Algot Runeman wrote:

E.P.S. wrote:She wailed like a banshee.

That's a saying I've heard many times, but only today did I check to see its meaning. I wonder how many similar phrases are simply "known" with almost nobody bothering to look them up to learn the details.

I knew the expression but I had no idea the banshee is Irish.
I always thought of a djinn or genie or demon, something Arabian anyway.

tombolo

Pronunciation: /ˈtämbəˌlō/
noun (plural tombolos)
a bar of sand or shingle joining an island to the mainland.

Origin:
late 19th century: from Italian, literally 'sand dune'


Photo Credit: ThoWi at Wikimedia Commons

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At low tide, Sam could easily walk across the tombolo to the island. If he was then late to work, he blamed the tide coming in.

Algot Runeman wrote:tombolo

Once when I was on holiday in Spain, the hotel organised a fiesta on the nearby tombolo, with barbecue, Zarzuela, Paella, music and dancing, and Sangria à volonté.

The highlight of the evening was a tombola. But as usual my ticket won nothing, zip, nada. The most modest prize coveted I could write on my belly ...

babymoon

Pronunciation: /ˈbābēˌmo͞on/
noun
informal
a relaxing or romantic vacation taken by parents-to-be before their baby is born:on the eve of my third trimester, we boarded a plane for a week-long babymoon among the quiet canals of Amsterdam
a period of time following the birth of a baby during which the new parents can focus on establishing a bond with their child:a babymoon is regarded as a crucial time for a family to establish itself

Origin:
1990s: blend of baby and honeymoon

☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾

Let's face it, a babymoon vacation is mostly a cute way to say "self gratification" just the way many weddings are just an excuse for a big party.

Algot Runeman wrote:... a relaxing or romantic vacation ... among the quiet canals of Amsterdam ...

Quiet canals? That trip must have been long ago.

Algot Runeman wrote:babymoon

Though I usually just skip any news articles about Kim Kardashian, recently my eye fell on a picture of her babymooning the innocent bystanders with her astonishing baby bump. I was impressed.

Until I realised it was a postnatal image of her rear. Then I was *really* impressed.

Algot Runeman wrote:babymoon

Pronunciation: /ˈbābēˌmo͞on/
noun
informal
a relaxing or romantic vacation taken by parents-to-be before their baby is born:on the eve of my third trimester, we boarded a plane for a week-long babymoon among the quiet canals of Amsterdam
a period of time following the birth of a baby during which the new parents can focus on establishing a bond with their child:a babymoon is regarded as a crucial time for a family to establish itself

Origin:
1990s: blend of baby and honeymoon

☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾+☽-☾

Let's face it, a babymoon vacation is mostly a cute way to say "self gratification" just the way many weddings are just an excuse for a big party.

No woman in her third trimester would fly in a plane unless they really had to

intransigent

Pronunciation: /inˈtransijənt, -zi-/

adjective
unwilling or refusing to change one’s views or to agree about something.

noun
an intransigent person.

Origin:
late 19th century: from French intransigeant, from Spanish los intransigentes (a name adopted by the extreme republicans in the Cortes, 1873–74); based on Latin in- 'not' + transigere 'come to an understanding'

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Charles was in transit to his new assignment. He was unhappy. His boss had been intransigent about giving him a few days off before rushing off again. Work seemed to be just one crisis after another, and he was the guy they always seemed to send the farthest away to deal with the worst of them. Charles was expecting to face the next crisis at home. His wife, Maura, hadn't even looked up from her morning coffee when he rushed out to the taxi.

[ Hey, is this a sexist word? Intransi-gent? ]

Algot Runeman wrote:intransigent

MidasKnight wrote:No woman in her third trimester would fly in a plane unless they really had to

MidasKnight's wives are quite intransigent. When in their third trimester they absolutely refuse to fly in an airplane unless it's urgent.

I didn't know airlines chartered obstetric flights on demand.
Oh! Is that the "express delivery" they advertise?

crepitate

Pronunciation: /ˈkrepəˌtāt/
verb
[no object]

make a crackling sound:the night crepitates with an airy, whistling cacophony (as adjective crepitating)spidery fingers of crepitating electricity

Origin:

early 17th century (in the sense 'break wind'): from Latin crepitat- 'crackled, rustled', from the verb crepitare, from crepare 'to rattle'

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Head beneath the whitewater river's surface, John could hear only the small stones bounce and crepitate. He wasn't aware of up or down. He hoped he figured it out before the sound completely faded away.

abeyance

Pronunciation: /əˈbāəns/

noun
a state of temporary disuse or suspension:matters were held in abeyance pending further inquiries
Law the position of being without, or waiting for, an owner or claimant.

Origin:
late 16th century (in the legal sense): from Old French abeance 'aspiration to a title', from abeer 'aspire after', from a- 'toward' + beer 'to gape'

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The judge determined her best course was to hold the defense lawyer in contempt of court, but at his plea, she held her decision in abeyance until after the trial.