Page 305 of 410

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 9:34 am
by Algot Runeman
snowblower

/ˈsnəʊbləʊə/
noun
A machine that clears fallen snow from a pavement, road, or other area by blowing it out to the side.

==========

Saturday night,
Six and a half inches of snow.
Sunday morning,
By snowblower it must go.

More comes,
But not 'till Tuesday
Until then,
Let's have fun and play.

Image

[I checked, of course, to see if the word had been used, but I did not check to see if the illustration was a repeat. It is from a couple of years ago, But I actually did have to go out to do the snow clearing this morning, so I'm running late. This "cheat" seems fair.]

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 8:08 am
by Algot Runeman
jumble

/ˈdʒʌmb(ə)l/
noun
1 An untidy collection or pile of things.
1.1 British mass noun Articles collected for a jumble sale.
verb
[with object]
Mix up in a confused or untidy way.

Origin
Early 16th century: probably symbolic.

==========

A jumble sale in Britain may be called "tag sale", "garage sale", "yard sale" or "white elephant sale", perhaps even among others in the larger scope of US English.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 7:27 am
by Algot Runeman
rouleau


/ˈruːləʊ//ruːˈləʊ/
noun
1 A cylindrical packet of coins.
2 A coil or roll of ribbon, knitted wool, or other material, especially used as trimming.

Origin
Late 17th century: French, from obsolete French roule ‘a roll’.

OOOOOOOOOO

The store clerk cracked the rouleau on the edge of the cash drawer, splitting the paper to get some quarters. She needed more change after Bob bought his Rolo Candy.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:59 am
by Algot Runeman
marline

/ˈmɑːlɪn/
noun
mass noun - Nautical
Light rope made of two strands, used for binding larger ropes.

Origin
Late Middle English: from Middle Low German marling, with the ending influenced by line.

==========

Most of the time, Mark was content to use modern nylon two-strand line, but on the tall ship, he was a stickler, using tarred hemp for all the fine marline work.

ImageImage
Photo source: American Rope and Tar Website

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 6:34 am
by Algot Runeman
outstrip

/aʊtˈstrɪp/
verb
[with object]
1 Move faster than and overtake (someone else)
1.1 Exceed.

==========

Macy outstripped all the other exotic dancers, completing the process of disrobing in less than five seconds. The "gentlemen" in the club didn't tip her very well.

[Sorry, there will be no accurate illustration for today's word in deference to the high moral stature of ALL of the audience.]

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2017 8:47 am
by Algot Runeman
youthquake

/ˈjuːθkweɪk/
noun
A significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people.

Origin
1965: from youth + quake, on the pattern of earthquake. The first recorded use is from the January 1965 edition of the magazine Vogue, describing the upsurge of youth culture in London that occurred in the 1960s, especially as reflected in the changing fashion of the period. The word was apparently coined by Diana Vreeland, then editor-in-chief of Vogue.

=====/_=====

Flower power was a US manifestation of the youthquake begun in the 1960s. It's significance has faded as the generation which spawned it has matured. "Aftershocks" have faded out.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 8:42 am
by Algot Runeman
barometer

/bəˈrɒmɪtə/
noun
1 An instrument measuring atmospheric pressure, used especially in forecasting the weather and determining altitude.
1.1 Something which reflects changes in circumstances or opinions.

Origin
Mid 17th century: from Greek baros ‘weight’ + -meter.

==========

Because approaching low pressure in the atmosphere leads to rising air, clouds and sometimes precipitation, a "falling" barometer indicates the potential for stormy weather.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 4:41 pm
by voralfred
Algot Runeman wrote:outstrip

/aʊtˈstrɪp/
verb
[with object]
1 Move faster than and overtake (someone else)
1.1 Exceed.

==========

Macy outstripped all the other exotic dancers, completing the process of disrobing in less than five seconds. The "gentlemen" in the club didn't tip her very well.

[Sorry, there will be no accurate illustration for today's word in deference to the high moral stature of ALL of the audience.]

Image
ALL the audience ?

Hmmmm... Maybe you did not really check the barometer of the audience...

EPS, maybe we should organise a youthquake errr..an oldthquake in this game...

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:39 am
by Algot Runeman
tovarish
(also tovarich)

/tɒˈvɑːrɪʃ/
noun
(in the former Soviet Union) a comrade (often used as a form of address).

Origin
From Russian tovarishch, from Turkic.

==========

All language carries baggage. Tovarish is the same, of course. Being just a "comrade" of somebody even makes some people twitch when they hear it. Tovarish has not entered American English in a generic way, but still carries a flavor for older Americans of the Soviet Union, the Cold War and the Red Menace. These days, a Millennial may not have a clue what USSR stands/stood for.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2017 2:17 pm
by voralfred
In the late 00's, a strange event occurred in Siberia.
An old derelict prison camp was discovered by happenstance. The guards who had gone home, after their time was up, year after year, were never replaced, but the inmates did not know why, and did not know where to go. So they just eked out a living there with potato plots and vegetable gardens. Most died of old age, and when someone of the outside world got there by pure chance, only three inmates were still there. Of course they were immediately freed and brought back to what is considered as "civilisation" in the backwaters of Siberia.
A lot of journalists rushed to the spot, and started asking questions.
"When and why did you end up there, старик ?", one journalist asked one of the ex-inmates.
"Oh, it was soooooo long ago, I almost forgot. But I believe it was in 1952. I spoke ill of Товарищ Yuri Borisovich Popov"
"What about you, старик ?", another journalist asked a second ex-inmate.
"Oh, it was soooooo long ago, I almost forgot. But I believe it was in 1954. I spoke well of Товарищ Yuri Borisovich Popov"
"And what about you ?" they finally asked the third one.
"Oh, it was soooooooooooo long ago, I completely forgot."
"Oh, come on, try and remember ! If they remembered, why not you ?"
"Wait, wait, it is coming back !! It was... it was, yes, it was in 1953... And believe it or not, I really think that my name was Товарищ Yuri Borisovich Popov".

Curiously, in english one writes "Tovarish" (or "Tovarich"), in french one usually writes "Tovaritch" (which corresponds to how "Tovarich" would be pronounced in english), but nobody takes the time to spell it the way it sounds in Russian, Tovarishch in english and Tovarichtch in french.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:19 am
by Algot Runeman
axilla

/akˈsɪlə/
noun
1 Anatomy - An armpit, or the corresponding part in a bird or other animal.
2 Botany - An axil.

Origin
Early 17th century: from Latin, diminutive of ala ‘wing’.

==========

In a dark, exciting thriller
We watch a charging Godzilla
Mash up cars and buses
In his massive, muscular axillas.

Image
Photograph: Everett Collection/Rex Features via
https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2014/jun/29/posters-godzilla

[Yes, the rhyming yarn is an improbable prospect, but some of these posts are stinkers, after all.]

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 10:03 am
by voralfred
Algot Runeman wrote:axilla

/akˈsɪlə/


(...)

[Yes, the rhyming yarn is an improbable prospect, but some of these posts are stinkers, after all.]
Pun intended ?

Axilla is certainly the armpit of all WOTDs....

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 10:06 am
by Algot Runeman
Pun intended ?
Absolutely!

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 8:33 am
by Algot Runeman
vicariance

/vɪˈkɛːrɪəns//vʌɪˈkɛːrɪəns/
noun
mass noun - Biology
The geographical separation of a population, typically by a physical barrier such as a mountain range or river, resulting in a pair of closely related species.

Origin
1950s: from Latin vicarius ‘substitute’ + -ance.

==========

Vick hopped over the mountains at least once a week in his car or occasionally a helicopter. The little tufted wormeaters on one side were not so mobile. They had not mixed with their relatives on the far side of the range in so many millennia that their tufts were seen as different enough to rate them as different species. Not that Vick noticed. He was a communications engineer, not a biologist who studied vicariance.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 11:26 am
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
Algot Runeman wrote:vicariance
The good vicar had long since noticed that the parishioners of the north bank attended the anglican church, while those of the south visited the catholic chapel.

Oh well, such were the vagaries of vicariance. Neither the pastor nor himself were to blame.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2017 8:47 am
by Algot Runeman
colcannon

/kɒlˈkanən/
noun
mass noun
An Irish and Scottish dish of cabbage and potatoes boiled and mashed together.

Origin
Late 18th century: from cole; the origin of the second element is uncertain but it is said that cannonballs were used to mash such vegetables as spinach.

==========

Charles chewed his mutton and colcannon. Actually, he chewed the mutton. The way his mum prepared the other didn't much require teeth.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:27 am
by Algot Runeman
bandoneon

/banˈdəʊnɪən/
noun
A type of square concertina, especially popular in Argentina.

Origin
Via Spanish from German Bandonion, named after Heinrich Band, the 19th-century German musician who invented it, + -on- (as in Harmonika ‘harmonica’) + -ion (as in Akkordion ‘accordion’).

==========

Bernardo battled with the bass notes on his bandoneon. All the rest were making him happy, but without José on the string bass, the group sounded off.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 7:20 am
by Algot Runeman
babycino
(also babyccino)

/beɪbɪˈtʃiːnəʊ/
noun
Plural babycinos
A drink of hot milk that has been frothed up with pressurized steam, intended for children.

Origin

1990s: blend of baby and cappuccino.

==========

Marcy made babycinos in the morning and Shirley Temples in the evening for her sophisticated children.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 7:45 am
by Algot Runeman
valve

/valv/
noun
1 A device for controlling the passage of fluid or air through a pipe, duct, etc., especially an automatic device allowing movement in one direction only.
1.1 British -short for thermionic valve
1.2 Music A cylindrical mechanism in a brass instrument which, when depressed or turned, admits air into different sections of tubing and so extends the range of available notes.
1.3 Anatomy Zoology A membranous fold in a hollow organ or tubular structure, such as a blood vessel or the digestive tract, which maintains the flow of the contents in one direction by closing in response to any pressure from reverse flow.
2 Zoology
Each of the halves of the hinged shell of a bivalve mollusc or brachiopod, or of the parts of the compound shell of a barnacle.
2.1 Botany Each of the halves or sections into which a dry fruit (especially a pod or capsule) dehisces.

Origin
Late Middle English (denoting a leaf of a folding or double door): from Latin valva.

Every week, Hendrik verified that the building's main water valve was working, though he turned it fully off only once a year during the inspection of the fire marshal.

=====|=====

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 6:07 am
by Algot Runeman
infobahn

/ˈɪnfəʊbɑːn/
noun
informal
A high speed computer network, especially the Internet.

Origin
1990s: blend of information and autobahn.

==========

Dave dropped his micro-blog post into the infobahn and watched it metaphorically disappear as hundreds and then thousands of other such droplets formed the social media stream.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2017 8:46 am
by Algot Runeman
Hippocrene

/ˈhɪpəkriːn/
noun
mass noun - literary
Used to refer to poetic or literary inspiration.

Origin

Early 17th century: via Latin from Greek Hippokrēnē, Hippou krēnē, literally ‘fountain of the horse’ (from hippos ‘horse’ + krēnē ‘fountain’), the name of a fountain on Mount Helicon sacred to the Muses, which according to legend was produced by a stroke of Pegasus' hoof.


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

Sorry, not inspired by the Hippocrene or anything else this morning...oh, wait. Look at those mounds of gifts under that fir tree!

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. Happy Monday off from work to all.

Image

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:10 am
by Algot Runeman
sumptuous

/ˈsʌm(p)tjʊəs/
adjective
Splendid and expensive-looking.

Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense ‘made or produced at great cost’): from Old French somptueux, from Latin sumptuosus, from sumptus ‘expenditure’ (see sumptuary).

==========

Sumptuous supper served,
More than the guests deserved.
They're not enough high classed
To qualify for such a fine repast.

Gruel and mutton the boss averred
Were enough, though tonight he'd swerved.
And set out a feast for his workers
His secretary/wife, these were friends, hers.

Such is the fall of great men.
They succumb to an occasional yen.
Their good sense goes all to hell
Because of a cute minion's smell.

Image

[Note that this post has been corrected to spell the WotD correctly in the rhyme.]

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 11:55 am
by voralfred
Algot Runeman wrote:sumptuous

/ˈsʌm(p)tjʊəs/
adjective
Splendid and expensive-looking.

Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense ‘made or produced at great cost’): from Old French somptueux, from Latin sumptuosus, from sumptus ‘expenditure’ (see sumptuary).

==========

Sumputuous supper served,
More than the guests deserved.
They're not enough high classed
To qualify for such a fine repast.

Gruel and mutton the boss averred
Were enough, though tonight he'd swerved.
And set out a feast for his workers
His secretary/wife, these were friends, hers.

Such is the fall of great men.
They succumb to an occasional yen.
Their good sense goes all to hell
Because of a cute minion's smell.

Image
You just gave us a sumptuous instance of hippocrene inspiration.

But I wonder how you'd feel if your misprint were publicised on the infobahn. But be assured that I'll be the first to put a valve on such a leak.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 12:08 pm
by Algot Runeman
I think I would shrug.

Though, I will immediately go back to correcttt the missssspelliinggg.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 9:35 am
by Algot Runeman
bandura

/banˈduːrə/
noun
A Ukrainian stringed instrument resembling a large asymmetrical lute with many strings, held vertically and plucked like a zither.

Origin
Ukrainian; compare with bandora.

==========

Bohdan was blind, fitting the traditions of dumka music. He skillfully played his bandura whenever he got the chance, singing melancholy songs.

Image

[For the record, ODO gave "dumka" as the word of the day, but the traditional instrument used, seemed easier to illustrate.]