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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:28 am
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
Algot Runeman wrote:avoision
Being British, they weren't targeted by the New York IRS.
So it isn't proven that the Spice Goirls weren't avoirse to tax avoison.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:10 am
by Algot Runeman
bemoan

Pronunciation: /biˈmōn/
verb
[with object] often humorous
express discontent or sorrow over (something):single women bemoaning the absence of men

Origin:
Old English bemǣnan 'complain, lament' The change in the second syllable (16th century) was due to association with moan, to which it is related

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Photo Credit: Leo Reynolds

Ooooh! - Gnash - Wail - Sob! Ooooh! - Gnash - Wail - Sob! Ooooh! - Gnash - Wail - Sob!

You've reached a point
Life's out of joint.
The past is gone.
You're but a pawn.

The up is jigged.
The game is rigged.
Make final vow;
Breath deeply now.

Bemoan your fate.
But it's too late.
The damage done
There's no more fun.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:12 am
by Algot Runeman
vituperation

Pronunciation: /vəˌt(y)o͞opəˈrāSHən, vī-/
noun
bitter and abusive language:no one else attracted such vituperation from him

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Photo Credit: Keith Allison
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Television shows us the interaction between managers and baseball umpires. The use of long range microhones has not been set up as it has in American football. Otherwise we might overhear, "George, I really did NOT like your call. Please consider reversing it so the home team will win. The local fans are paying our salaries, after all." Not so much vituperation as we have been lead to believe by the postures and hand waving we watch.

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Based on the reported usage over time (Google), either the world is getting more friendly or the word vituperation is just not popular any more. Vituperative language need not be full of swearing and even the most genteel can lay on the full measure of scorn.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 11:51 am
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
Algot Runeman wrote:vituperation
I think that these days, sports spectators often have their mouths too full of ice cream, hamburger, hot dog or pop corn to scream vituperations. And in between snacks they use vuvuzelas instead.

Though it looks like the girl with the vuvuzela is sucking instead of blowing ...
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:02 am
by Algot Runeman
pangram

Pronunciation: /ˈpanˌgram/
noun
a sentence or verse that contains all the letters of the alphabet.

Image
Photo Credit: Dennis van Zuijlekom

The quick brown fox... -----------------qwertyuiop----------------------------------------ZZZzzzzz.

Pan Am hosted the grand slam of the cult of the pangram.
On the long distance flight was the grand verbal fight.
When anybody spoke, whether serious or a joke.
Every sentence fit all letters of the alphabet.

["Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow." may be my new pangram favorite. Wikipedia]

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 11:32 am
by Algot Runeman
bloviate

Pronunciation: /ˈblōvēˌāt/
verb
[no object] US informal
talk at length, especially in an inflated or empty way.

Origin:
mid 19th century: perhaps from blow1

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Bloviate? Me? Well, um, let's see now. In consideration of all the facts and without resorting to any distracting discussion or dissimulation, er, ahem, yes, I suppose so.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:35 pm
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
Algot Runeman wrote:bloviate
Your compulsion to bloviate might be countered by "obliviate", but I'm not sure.
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Let's ask Harry Potter, shall we?

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:54 am
by Algot Runeman
dystopia

Pronunciation: /disˈtōpēə/
noun
an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one. Compare with utopia.

Origin:
late 18th century: from dys- 'bad' + utopia

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Photo Credit: Jonathan McIntosh

☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈ - ☈

In last night's Patriots vs. Colts football game, quarterback Andrew Luck lived his worst imaginations of distopia, throwing four interceptions. And Tom Brady for the Patriots didn't throw even one touchdown pass.

[NFL games may have almost as many cameras in play as a modern metropolis.]

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 8:45 am
by Algot Runeman
dandiprat

Pronunciation: /ˈdandēˌprat/
noun
archaic informal
a young or insignificant person.

Origin:
early 16th century (denoting a coin worth three halfpence): of unknown origin

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Photo Credit 150hp

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He didn't wear a hat.
He was just a dandiprat.
He bounced and jounced,
Squirmed and flounced
Even when he sat.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:12 am
by Algot Runeman
doggo

Pronunciation: /ˈdôgō/
adverb
(in phrase lie doggo) informal
remain motionless and quiet to escape detection:a dozen officers had been lying doggo for hours

Origin:
late 19th century: of obscure origin; apparently from dog + -o

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-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-

Joe tried to just lie doggo.
In bag just like a log. Oh,
But then the jacks of lumber
Grabbed him up from deepest slumber.

The whine of the huge chipper
And ears covered, looking hipper,
Masked Joe's screams of terror.
His squirms forstayed grave error.

Joe resolved to do his future eco-activism upright, waving his arms and wearing bright orange overalls.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:41 am
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
Algot Runeman wrote:doggo.
Cleopatra had her loyal slave girls roll her into a soft carpet like a stuffed pancake. While the girls carried and deposited the bundle with her inside in Caesar's quarters, she carefully remained doggo like a sleeping bitch.

Quite intrigued, Caesar unrolled the carpet, thereby exposing her scarcely clothed beauty.

Cleopatra struck a futile fake-modest pose and fully expected to be ravished on the spot.

But alas, at that moment, Julius was overcome by a grand mal seizure and he collapsed on the floor, thus foiling her ploy, doggone it!

Cleo, totally frustrated, returned to her boudoir in a fit of pique, wrapped in a bath towel.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 9:29 am
by Algot Runeman
schlockmeister

Pronunciation: /ˈSHläkˌmīstər/
noun
informal, chiefly North American
a purveyor of cheap or trashy goods.

Origin:
early 20th century: from schlock + German Meister 'master'

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These words from a dictionary (usually ODO) in and of themselves, are not schlock. But some days, I feel like a schlockmeister when preparing my own written use of the word. Not today, though. I'm restraining myself.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:03 am
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
Algot Runeman wrote:schlockmeister
After her second attempt, Cleopatra could hardly have been said to wear any schlockmeister trinkets when she succesfully seduced Caesar.
Except for a pair of Louboutin shoes and a Vuiton clutch, she didn't wear a thread. Lucky lecherous Caesar! (see Cleo post above)
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P.S. Almost 2000 years later, my grandma somewhat took after her, grandpa claimed.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:08 am
by Algot Runeman
teeter

Pronunciation: /ˈtētər
verb
[no object]
1move or balance unsteadily; sway back and forth: she teetered after him in her high-heeled sandals

Origin
mid 19th century: variant of dialect titter, from Old Norse titra 'shake, shiver'.

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Photo Credit: Shayaharony on Wikimedia

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On the Brink

She teetered and quivered.
While walking she shivered.
She sacrificed for fashion.
Seeking to stoke his passion.

He strode along eagerly.
His arm offered rightly.
She clung, nay she hung.
To socially move up a rung.

Her heels tapped and clacked,
Practiced walk, straight tracked.
The dinner was planned
And she'd give him her hand.

Her answer would be quick
To the offered treat and not trick.
If he asked to marry.
To answer she'd not tarry.

The future'd be bright
If after tonight
She was his one love.
His wife - and his one love.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:19 am
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
Algot Runeman wrote:teeter...
She teetered and quivered.
...
He strode along eagerly.
...
She clung, nay she hung.
...
All that teetering, striding and clinging doesn't really appeal to me.

I think I'd prefer Cleopatra's approach if we're going to lie down anyway ...

(see second and fourth previous posts)
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 12:28 pm
by Algot Runeman
Hey, wait!

That photo looks more like Cleocatra to me.

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 6:02 pm
by voralfred
Algot Runeman wrote:

dystopia


Pronunciation: /disˈtōpēə/
noun
an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one. Compare with utopia.

Origin:
late 18th century: from dys- 'bad' + utopia

(...)
(...)

When I was a teen and I read Brave New World it did not seem so much a dystopia than an utopia to me, compared to the world I heard of that existed all around me. Now more than 40 years later, it looks more and more as an utopia, compared to the dystopian world in which hew live now...
Anyone cares to join the discussion group about this great book ?

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 8:03 am
by Algot Runeman
portend

Pronunciation: /pôrˈtend
verb
[with object]
be a sign or warning that (something, especially something momentous or calamitous) is likely to happen: the eclipses portend some major events

Origin
late Middle English: from Latin portendere, based on pro- 'forth' + tendere 'stretch'.

⇨ ♼ - ⇨ ♼ - ⇨ ♼ - ⇨ ♼ - ⇨ ♼ - ⇨ ♼ - ⇨ ♼ - ⇨ ♼ -

A Cycle of Life

Every day portends the next.
There's a cycle to life.
The world goes round.
Our habits follow the spin.

For some the cycle brings joy.
For others it does not.
If you are one of the former,
Engage with the latter.
Make it supportive.

Lend your understanding
Not your advice, no "quick fix."
Be the environment for safe
And experimental development.
Depression isn't simple.
There is no "just do this."

Help isn't judgemental.
Being there may be hard.
Cycles may go on and on and on.
The change may be very slow.
And the heart may break again and again
An occasional, tentative smile may be rare.
Sharing the pain isn't possible, but helping bear it is.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:36 am
by Algot Runeman
bodacious

Pronunciation: /bōˈdāSHəs
adjective
North American • informal

1excellent, admirable, or attractive: the restaurant serves bodacious grilled lobster

1.1US audacious in a way considered admirable: those bodacious dudes have an excellent time playing games with death


Origin
mid 19th century (in sense 'complete, thorough'): perhaps a variant of southwestern English dialect boldacious, blend of bold and audacious.

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Struggling with the bug. Nothing seems bodacious today.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 9:14 am
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
Algot Runeman wrote:bodacious
Have I mentioned that my grandma and Cleopatra were exceptionally bodacious (claimed my grandpa)?

And in private quarters very audacious and naughty too (insisted my grandpa) ...
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P.S. @ Algot: Thanks for the leading WotD.

I also wish you speedy recovery (if I correctly understood you to be down with a cold or flu virus)

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 8:10 am
by Algot Runeman
phooey

Pronunciation: /ˈfo͞oē

• informal
exclamation
(also pfui)
used to express disdain or disbelief: I say phooey to all their money and fine clothes
More example sentences

noun
nonsense: those excuses are a lot of phooey
More example sentences

Origin
1920s: imitative.

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I shall imitate the dictionary and just say "phooey" because the aches remain.

[As to the noun, in my experience, nonsense is a lot of hooey instead of phooey.]

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:22 am
by Algot Runeman
lollop

Pronunciation: /ˈläləp
verb (lollops, lolloping, lolloped)
[no object]
move in an ungainly way in a series of clumsy paces or bounds: the bear lolloped along the path

Origin
mid 18th century: probably from loll, associated with trollop.

-----/\----/-/\-----\\\{............................................

To lollop in the market is something you should stop.
So mother in her wisdom said as we would shop.
Gambol, dance, cavort, okay. Just do not lollop she would say.
The vocabulary of my childhood, too rich in every way.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 1:07 am
by voralfred
Algot Runeman wrote:lollop

Pronunciation: /ˈläləp
verb (lollops, lolloping, lolloped)
[no object]
move in an ungainly way in a series of clumsy paces or bounds: the bear lolloped along the path

Origin
mid 18th century: probably from loll, associated with trollop.

-----/\----/-/\-----\\\{............................................

To lollop in the market is something you should stop.
So mother in her wisdom said as we would shop.
Gambol, dance, cavort, okay. Just do not lollop she would say.
The vocabulary of my childhood, too rich in every way.

Do you mean she disapproved of your representing the Lollopop Guild ?

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:58 am
by Algot Runeman
switcheroo

Pronunciation: /ˌswiCHəˈro͞o

noun
North American • informal
a change, reversal, or exchange, especially a surprising or deceptive one.


Origin
late 20th century: from the noun switch + -eroo, a humorous suffix probably imitative of buckaroo.

Washing Machines on Sale, Today Only, at Historic Low Prices!
Other models also available...
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Photo Credit: Ryan Greenberg

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Sarah pulled the old switcheroo when she pushed forward the book she had been hiding behind her back. Sam thought she was going to give him a chance to see her glamor photo portfolio. Instead she was giving him a book of poetry to read aloud to her. To his surprise, the poetry provided him more pleasure than he might have expected. Sarah became quite romantic not too long after he began to read. Fade to black.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 8:32 am
by Algot Runeman
eupeptic

Pronunciation: /yo͞oˈpeptik

adjective
of or having good digestion or a consequent air of healthy good spirits.

Origin
late 17th century (in the sense 'helping digestion'): from Greek eupeptos, from eu 'well, easily' + peptein 'to digest'.

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After a day and a half of the bug, my wife is on her way back to her eupeptic norm.