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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 11:57 am
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
Algot Runeman wrote:love apple
...
‘The tomato used to be called the love apple and this is nothing to do with its passionate color or suggestive shape.’
...
Okay, I'll nibble.

Why was the tomato called love apple?

Was it perhaps NOT thrown at, but gratefully offered to performers you loved?

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 4:51 pm
by Algot Runeman
E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:
Algot Runeman wrote:love apple

Okay, I'll nibble.

Why was the tomato called love apple?

Was it perhaps NOT thrown at, but gratefully offered to performers you loved?
Like most dictionaries, Lexico is sparse with its word histories. If I were a true lexicographer, I'd spring for a subscription to O.E.D., but alas, I'm a rank amateur (and cheap!).

The best I was able to find is this link: love apple at etymonline.com

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2020 5:32 am
by Algot Runeman
lucernal

Of or pertaining to a lamp or other artificial light.

==========

There is no night so dark that the cities' lucernal glow cannot be seen from the space station.

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Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDC

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:44 am
by Algot Runeman
pootle

/ˈpuːt(ə)l/
verb
informal British no object, with adverbial of direction
Move or travel in a leisurely manner.

Origin
1970s blend of the verbs poodle and tootle.

==========

Paul and Pat, pootled along on their way to town. They were going to be too early to go straight to the movie theater, though a little too late for supper before the show. Maybe they'd get a cup of coffee and watch the crowd rush by their outdoor seating.

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2020 5:43 am
by Algot Runeman
ashlar

/ˈaʃlə/
noun
mass noun
1 Masonry made of large square-cut stones, used as a facing on walls of brick or stone rubble.
1.1 count noun A stone used in ashlar.

Origin
Middle English from Old French aisselier from Latin axilla, diminutive of axis ‘plank’.

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Actual ashlar walls make a very appealing facade for a building, though they take more work to accomplish than brick.

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:49 am
by Algot Runeman
bonce

/bɒns/
noun
informal British
A person's head.

Origin
Mid 19th century (denoting a large marble): of unknown origin.

==========

It took more than once
Of rapping on his bonce
To wake him from his slumber
To write down today's number.

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2020 5:04 am
by Algot Runeman
vibrant

/ˈvʌɪbr(ə)nt/
adjective
1 Full of energy and life.
1.1 (of color) bright and striking.
1.2 (of sound) strong or resonating.
2 Quivering; pulsating.

Origin
Early 17th century (in the sense ‘moving rapidly, vibrating’): from Latin vibrant- ‘shaking to and fro’, from the verb vibrare (see vibrate).

==========

There are times when being vibrant is also excessive.

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[Please note: this is the August 10th word, posted a day late for purely technical reasons, honest!]

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2020 5:24 am
by Algot Runeman
abseil

/ˈabseɪl/ /ˈabzʌɪl/
verb
[no object] British
Descend a rock face or other near-vertical surface by using a doubled rope coiled round the body and fixed at a higher point.
noun
British
A descent made by abseiling.

Origin
Early 20th century from German abseilen, from ab ‘down’ + Seil ‘rope’.

==========

Jonathan had hopes of being a social climber. The best he could accomplish was an assisted abseil.

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[Please note that this is the word for August 11.]

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2020 7:36 am
by Algot Runeman
exaptation

Pronunciation /ˌɛksapˈteɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
mass noun
1 Biology
The process by which features acquire functions for which they were not originally adapted or selected.
1.1 count noun A character or feature which evolved by the process of exaptation.

Origin
1980s from ex- + aptation as in adaptation.

==========

Every table leg ever made is, in a sense, an exaptation of a tree's strong, woody trunk.

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2020 6:45 am
by Algot Runeman
minibeast

/ˈmɪnibiːst/
noun
informal British
A small invertebrate animal such as an insect or spider.

==========

Marco did not appreciate the presence of minibeasts in his room, though at least one of them was anticipating pleasure.

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 8:49 am
by Algot Runeman
gonfalon

/ˈɡɒnf(ə)lən/
noun
A banner or pennant, especially one with streamers, hung from a crossbar.

Origin
Late 16th century from Italian gonfalone, from a Germanic compound whose second element is related to vane.

==========

There is no need to be shy about it. Proudly display your very own gonfalon.

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 8:13 am
by Algot Runeman
zambuk

/ˈzambʌk/
noun
informal Australian, New Zealand
A first-aider, especially a member of the St John Ambulance.

Origin
Early 20th century the proprietary name of a type of antiseptic ointment.

==========

In a pandemic, we come to realize the importance of every zambuk on the job.

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 10:05 am
by Algot Runeman
chuckheaded

/ˌtʃʌkˈhɛdɪd/
adjective
Unintelligent, dim-witted, stupid.

Origin
Mid 18th century. Probably from chuck + headed, although compare also chuckle-headed.

==========

I've always aspired to eat enough Chuckles to be considered chucleheaded. Sure it's silly, but everyone needs aspirations!

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 9:15 am
by Algot Runeman
loskop

noun
informal South African
Loose head
This is just a humorous excuse, used to explain away forgetful or odd behaviour.

Origin
Afrikaans.

==========

I am such a loskop today. I forgot your jacket at home.

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:40 am
by Algot Runeman
lascivious

/ləˈsɪvɪəs/
adjective
Feeling or revealing an overt sexual interest or desire.

Origin
Late Middle English from late Latin lasciviosus, from Latin lascivia ‘lustfulness’, from lascivus ‘lustful, wanton’.

==========

Larry leered lasciviously at Laura. She grinned back.

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 6:36 am
by Algot Runeman
coulee

/ˈkuːli/
noun
1 A short flow of viscous lava.
2 North American A deep ravine.

Origin
Early 19th century from French coulée ‘(lava) flow’, from couler ‘to flow’, from Latin colare ‘to strain or flow’, from colum ‘strainer’.

==========

Once the ice was gone, the coulee left behind remained. Ain't that grand?
[In the U.S. there is a dam called Grand Coulee .]

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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 1:27 pm
by Algot Runeman
flat

(excerpt from much larger list of definitions)
...
1.1 usually flats - An area of low level ground, especially near water
...
1.3 A shoe with a very low heel or no heel.
...

==========

Maggie meandered in her flats along the flats beside the river.

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[[Editorial Comment: It is with great joy that the opportunity to continue to make posts for this topic is again available. Software issues on the server have been fixed! Thanks admins.]]

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 2:14 pm
by Kvetch
Algot Runeman wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 1:27 pm[[Thanks admins.]]
You might say I've been flattened by the appreciation

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:09 am
by Algot Runeman
indie

Pronunciation /ˈɪndi/
adjective
1 (of a pop group, record label, or film company) not belonging or affiliated to a major record or film company.
1.1 Characteristic of the deliberately unpolished or uncommercialized style of small independent pop groups.
noun
1 A small independent pop group, record label, or film company.
1.1 mass noun Indie music regarded as a genre.

Origin
1920s (first used with reference to film production): abbreviation of independent.

=====

The artwork of the indie record release was considered unprofessional by many.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 5:59 pm
by voralfred
OK, that one is a very weak one but I am a bit rusty :

The illustration you just used for your post on indie is that of a very flat object.



J'essaierai de faire mieux la prochaine fois. (I will try to do better next time)

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:31 pm
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
voralfred wrote: Sat Jan 16, 2021 5:59 pm The illustration you just used for your post on indie is that of a very flat object.
Yep.
It's a very early and primitive model frisbee.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:14 am
by Algot Runeman
caravanette

Pronunciation /karəvaˈnɛt/
noun
British
A motor vehicle with a rear compartment equipped for living in.

In the US, this might be called a recreational vehicle.

Image

[I am informed that in southern England, such a vehicle as my homely illustration is called a "motor home" by a correspondent who is from there, and who is not familiar with the term. A "caravan" is familiar but is a trailer pulled by another vehicle instead of being an integrated setup.]

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:00 pm
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
For some vain people well to do, vanity is not enough.

They buy a mobilhome to appease their caravanity.

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:02 pm
by the grim squeaker
Hello hello! (are the words of the day.) Am a bit rusty here, its been AGES. Just browsing the most recent posts, soz if this isn't within the rules :smash:
I just wanted to say HIYA :banana:

NEARLY 14 YEARS AGO! (when I joined)

Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:39 pm
by E Pericoloso Sporgersi
the grim squeaker wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:02 pm I just wanted to say HIYA :banana:
Okay.
HEY THERE! HIGH!
No need to duck this RBAY.
(Right-Back-At-Ye).