Dawn.
The sun rose on the small North Korean commune, revealing a congerie of congee-eating communist daily communicants who (unbeknownst the government) formed the congenial core of the congregation of the local underground Catholic Church.
GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)
/me checks watch.
The late Mr. McBoo is late with our daily WOTD delivery. I could have completed a congerie of cleverly cogent catechisms by now.
Perhaps he's too busy with his conjugal visits with Mrs. McBoo to notice I've already castigated 'congerie' past the point of continued linguistic conviviality ?
The late Mr. McBoo is late with our daily WOTD delivery. I could have completed a congerie of cleverly cogent catechisms by now.
Perhaps he's too busy with his conjugal visits with Mrs. McBoo to notice I've already castigated 'congerie' past the point of continued linguistic conviviality ?
I apologize for missing Friday’s word, I was in a all day meeting where our engineering support group acknowledged that while we are understaffed and the people we do have do not have all the skills they need to perform all their functions to the proper level, we have to work smarter, faster and harder . . . and of course keep them better informed. They had no real solutions to any of our problems; just work smarter, faster and harder . . .
Word of the Day Archive Friday November 10, 2006
peripatetic \pair-uh-puh-TET-ik\, adjective: 1. Of or pertaining to walking about or traveling from place to place; itinerant. 2. Of or pertaining to the philosophy taught by Aristotle (who gave his instructions while walking in the Lyceum at Athens), or to his followers.
noun: 1. One who walks about; a pedestrian; an itinerant. 2. A follower of Aristotle; an Aristotelian.
Nevertheless, the attachment which in later life he developed towards Charleston suggests that his peripatetic childhood had left unsatisfied his need for a permanent home.
-- Frances Spalding, Duncan Grant: A Biography
I was born in Italy, my sister on the west coast of Canada, because my father was pursuing a peripatetic career as an artist.
-- Anna Shapiro, USA Today, July 13, 2000
He would have a long way to go before he would match his peripatetic father. Nick had now moved five times and lived in four states from Kentucky to California.
-- Allen Barra, Inventing Wyatt Earp
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Peripatetic derives from Greek peripatetikos, from peripatein, "to walk about," from peri-, "around, about" + patein, "to walk."
Word of the Day Monday November 13, 2006
ab ovo \ab-OH-voh\, adverb: From the beginning.
I will begin ab ovo -- at the very beginning.
-- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The performers do not have to discover these techniques and processes ab ovo; they learn them from the previous generation, who learned them from their predecessors, and so on.
-- William L. Benzon, Beethoven's Anvil
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Ab ovo is from Latin, literally, "from the egg."
Word of the Day Archive Friday November 10, 2006
peripatetic \pair-uh-puh-TET-ik\, adjective: 1. Of or pertaining to walking about or traveling from place to place; itinerant. 2. Of or pertaining to the philosophy taught by Aristotle (who gave his instructions while walking in the Lyceum at Athens), or to his followers.
noun: 1. One who walks about; a pedestrian; an itinerant. 2. A follower of Aristotle; an Aristotelian.
Nevertheless, the attachment which in later life he developed towards Charleston suggests that his peripatetic childhood had left unsatisfied his need for a permanent home.
-- Frances Spalding, Duncan Grant: A Biography
I was born in Italy, my sister on the west coast of Canada, because my father was pursuing a peripatetic career as an artist.
-- Anna Shapiro, USA Today, July 13, 2000
He would have a long way to go before he would match his peripatetic father. Nick had now moved five times and lived in four states from Kentucky to California.
-- Allen Barra, Inventing Wyatt Earp
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Peripatetic derives from Greek peripatetikos, from peripatein, "to walk about," from peri-, "around, about" + patein, "to walk."
Word of the Day Monday November 13, 2006
ab ovo \ab-OH-voh\, adverb: From the beginning.
I will begin ab ovo -- at the very beginning.
-- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The performers do not have to discover these techniques and processes ab ovo; they learn them from the previous generation, who learned them from their predecessors, and so on.
-- William L. Benzon, Beethoven's Anvil
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Ab ovo is from Latin, literally, "from the egg."
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,
S Adams
S Adams
GENRE: Spelling Nazi Concentration Campspiphany wrote:er, Brad? It's congeries, singular and plural. 'congerie' isn't a word...
Badspeller: Puhleeze ... I have not eaten in days.
SNGuard1: Silence ! {slaps prisoner)
Badspeller:
SNGuard: You will speak only when spoken to, and even then only if you can spell correctly. No correct spelling, no food or water. Now, 'please' is spelled P-L-E-A-S-E. Say it.
Badspeller: P-U-H ....
SNGuard1: {slaps prisoner} Again !
Badspeller:
SNOfficer: {enters} Spell "Heil" !
SNGuard1: {salutes} H-E-I-L !!
SNOfficer: {returns salute} What have we here ? Give it to me ab ovo, and make sure to omit nothing.
SNGuard1: Sir, we captured this peripathetic bad speller over on the book forum. He was wandering around in the WOTD thread, when officer Spiphany ...
Badspeller: It's spelled "p-e-r-i-p-a-t-e-t-i-c" !
SNGuard1: {slaps prisoner}
Badspeller: {spits out a broken tooth}
SNOfficer: {hands pistol to guard} You know what to do.
SNGuard1: {chambers round} Indeed I do, Sir.
Badspeller: I regret that I have but one life to give for my forum. Go farfugnugen yourself !
Last edited by Darb on Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
INTERN: Master, I beseech you - my sandals are old and worn, my scrolls heavy...might we not SIT, just for once, upon one of the Lyceum's lovely benches, so that I may better transcribe your words? Perhaps even...a little wine? To sooth the dryness of your own throat, of course! A new shipment from Knossos has recently arrrived that is said to be delectable...
ARISTOTLE: Don't piss on peripateticism in my presence. Young, arrogant fool! Do not forget it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
INTERN: I've already accepted it! Now I want YOU to accept it!
ARISTOTLE: (continuing to walk) One swallow does not make a summer...
INTERN: What? I thought you meant BIRDS when you said that before! Besides, it's spring! Can we not drink to Nature's health around us as it blooms ab ovo?
ARISTOTLE: (stopping as if thunderstruck, turns) WHAT did you say?
INTERN: (realizing his deadly mistake) Oh Master, do not be offended - I only attended two of his sessions last season! He's nothing compared to you, nothing...
ARISTOTLE: Weeelllll, if you're quoting that bastard Horace in MY presence, surely SOME of his instruction hit home? (furiously, he rushes to a nearby railing and sweeps up a large bust of PLATO, raising it over his head and advancing with it back toward the INTERN) Now HERE was a man that UNDERSTOOD loyalty! What I do now I do in his name!!!!
INTERN: Noooo!!! Wait Master!! I -
**SMASH**
ARISTOTLE: Don't piss on peripateticism in my presence. Young, arrogant fool! Do not forget it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
INTERN: I've already accepted it! Now I want YOU to accept it!
ARISTOTLE: (continuing to walk) One swallow does not make a summer...
INTERN: What? I thought you meant BIRDS when you said that before! Besides, it's spring! Can we not drink to Nature's health around us as it blooms ab ovo?
ARISTOTLE: (stopping as if thunderstruck, turns) WHAT did you say?
INTERN: (realizing his deadly mistake) Oh Master, do not be offended - I only attended two of his sessions last season! He's nothing compared to you, nothing...
ARISTOTLE: Weeelllll, if you're quoting that bastard Horace in MY presence, surely SOME of his instruction hit home? (furiously, he rushes to a nearby railing and sweeps up a large bust of PLATO, raising it over his head and advancing with it back toward the INTERN) Now HERE was a man that UNDERSTOOD loyalty! What I do now I do in his name!!!!
INTERN: Noooo!!! Wait Master!! I -
**SMASH**
Colourless green ideas sleep furiously
One of the most frightening sounds ever:
A voice from the skies clears his throat, clicks something wooden (a stick?) several times against something solid, maybe a stand or a desk or something, saying: "No, no no. This will not do. Take it ab ovo. This peripatetic wandering through the same themes over and over gets us nowhere; let us try without the monkeys this time.
KEE
A voice from the skies clears his throat, clicks something wooden (a stick?) several times against something solid, maybe a stand or a desk or something, saying: "No, no no. This will not do. Take it ab ovo. This peripatetic wandering through the same themes over and over gets us nowhere; let us try without the monkeys this time.
KEE
It is written.
Word of the Day Tuesday November 14, 2006
gauche \GOHSH\, adjective: Lacking social polish; tactless; awkward; clumsy.
He was largely exempted from the formal socializing he said he found so hard to manage, flustered and gauche in polite company as he had always been.
-- John Sturrock, "Well on the Way to Paranoia", New York Times, July 28, 1991
He was by nature intellectual, shy, even gauche and he always believed he lacked the common touch.
-- "Editor whose legacy was diversity", Irish Times, October 9, 1999
The audience's performance was altogether more gauche, with scores of people in the stalls constantly turning round to gawp at Mick Jagger seated ten rows back.
-- Noreen Taylor, "How was it for him?", Times (London), August 3, 2000
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Gauche is from the French for left, awkward.
gauche \GOHSH\, adjective: Lacking social polish; tactless; awkward; clumsy.
He was largely exempted from the formal socializing he said he found so hard to manage, flustered and gauche in polite company as he had always been.
-- John Sturrock, "Well on the Way to Paranoia", New York Times, July 28, 1991
He was by nature intellectual, shy, even gauche and he always believed he lacked the common touch.
-- "Editor whose legacy was diversity", Irish Times, October 9, 1999
The audience's performance was altogether more gauche, with scores of people in the stalls constantly turning round to gawp at Mick Jagger seated ten rows back.
-- Noreen Taylor, "How was it for him?", Times (London), August 3, 2000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gauche is from the French for left, awkward.
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,
S Adams
S Adams
Fusion-Cuisine Restaurant Menu {warning: extremely gauche & politically incorrect humor, in decidedly poor taste}
Spoiler: show
Word of the Day Wednesday November 15, 2006
inexorable \in-EK-sur-uh-bul; in-EKS-ruh-bul\, adjective: Not to be persuaded or moved by entreaty or prayer; firm; determined; unyielding; unchangeable; inflexible; relentless.
But the idea of providence, whether the biblical version or the Enlightenment's or Marx's, is at bottom a tragic notion, for it implies that individual human choices count for nothing against the weight of an inexorable, overwhelming force, whether benign or cruel, whether known as God, History, Destiny, Progress or DNA.
-- James Carrol, "Laughing Our Way to Defeat", New York Times, February 16, 1986
. . .such notions as the 'logic of the facts', or the 'march of history', which, like the laws of nature (with which they are partly identified), are thought of as, in some sense, 'inexorable', likely to take their course whatever human beings may wish or pray for, an inevitable process to which individuals must adjust themselves.
-- Isaiah Berlin, The Sense of Reality
Confronted again with pictures of flag-draped coffins and mutilated bodies, with the sounds of random gunfire and angry chants, the world had to readjust to the fact that not every problem is solvable, that the global tide of peace is not inexorable, and that progress does not inevitably make civilizations more civilized.
-- "Fires Of Hate", Time, October 23, 2000
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Inexorable comes from Latin inexorabilis, from in-, "not" + exorabilis, "able to be entreated, placable," from exorare, "to entreat successfully, to prevail upon," from ex-, intensive prefix + orare, "to speak; to argue; to pray."
inexorable \in-EK-sur-uh-bul; in-EKS-ruh-bul\, adjective: Not to be persuaded or moved by entreaty or prayer; firm; determined; unyielding; unchangeable; inflexible; relentless.
But the idea of providence, whether the biblical version or the Enlightenment's or Marx's, is at bottom a tragic notion, for it implies that individual human choices count for nothing against the weight of an inexorable, overwhelming force, whether benign or cruel, whether known as God, History, Destiny, Progress or DNA.
-- James Carrol, "Laughing Our Way to Defeat", New York Times, February 16, 1986
. . .such notions as the 'logic of the facts', or the 'march of history', which, like the laws of nature (with which they are partly identified), are thought of as, in some sense, 'inexorable', likely to take their course whatever human beings may wish or pray for, an inevitable process to which individuals must adjust themselves.
-- Isaiah Berlin, The Sense of Reality
Confronted again with pictures of flag-draped coffins and mutilated bodies, with the sounds of random gunfire and angry chants, the world had to readjust to the fact that not every problem is solvable, that the global tide of peace is not inexorable, and that progress does not inevitably make civilizations more civilized.
-- "Fires Of Hate", Time, October 23, 2000
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Inexorable comes from Latin inexorabilis, from in-, "not" + exorabilis, "able to be entreated, placable," from exorare, "to entreat successfully, to prevail upon," from ex-, intensive prefix + orare, "to speak; to argue; to pray."
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,
S Adams
S Adams
As further proof of his inexorable predilection for gauche behavior, OJ Simpson published a new book entitled "If I Did It."
Dawn. Or at least way too early in the morning. I was sitting behind my desk, the desk was sitting in a ratty old office building I couldn't afford the rent to and the office building sat squat in the rainwashed chilly streets of Chicago.
As soon as she entered I knew she would spell trouble. There was just something about that inexorable look in her eyes. Brunette of course.
"Tee, err, oh, you, bee, elle, ee" she said.
Yeah, it was going to be one of those days.
KEE
As soon as she entered I knew she would spell trouble. There was just something about that inexorable look in her eyes. Brunette of course.
"Tee, err, oh, you, bee, elle, ee" she said.
Yeah, it was going to be one of those days.
KEE
It is written.
Word of the Day Thursday November 16, 2006
putative \PYOO-tuh-tiv\, adjective: Commonly thought or deemed; supposed; reputed.
Certainly, to have even a putative ancestor commemorated by Shakespeare is something about which to boast.
-- Frances Spalding, Duncan Grant: A Biography
A report has found that the putative evidence for the paper that started the controversy was fabricated.
-- Margot O'Toole, "The Whistle-Blower and the Train Wreck", New York Times, April 12, 1991
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Putative comes from Late Latin putativus, from Latin putare, "to cleanse, to prune, to clear up, to consider, to reckon, to think." It is related to compute, "to calculate" (from com-, intensive prefix + putare); dispute, "to contend in argument" (from dis-, "apart" + putare); and reputation, "the estimation in which one is held" (from reputatio, from the past participle of reputare, "to think over," from re-, "again" + putare).
putative \PYOO-tuh-tiv\, adjective: Commonly thought or deemed; supposed; reputed.
Certainly, to have even a putative ancestor commemorated by Shakespeare is something about which to boast.
-- Frances Spalding, Duncan Grant: A Biography
A report has found that the putative evidence for the paper that started the controversy was fabricated.
-- Margot O'Toole, "The Whistle-Blower and the Train Wreck", New York Times, April 12, 1991
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Putative comes from Late Latin putativus, from Latin putare, "to cleanse, to prune, to clear up, to consider, to reckon, to think." It is related to compute, "to calculate" (from com-, intensive prefix + putare); dispute, "to contend in argument" (from dis-, "apart" + putare); and reputation, "the estimation in which one is held" (from reputatio, from the past participle of reputare, "to think over," from re-, "again" + putare).
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,
S Adams
S Adams
Word of the Day Friday November 17, 2006
dotage \DOH-tij\, noun: Feebleness of mind due to old age; senility.
Pointing out that Cicero learned Greek in his seventies and Socrates took up playing the lyre in his dotage, Dad liked to say he would indeed someday consider retiring, when and if he finally got old.
-- James Dodson, Final Rounds
It wasn't a good joke, and, in his dotage, he made it far too often, but when I heard it for the first time I remember laughing and thinking, with pleasure, that I was catching on to the tricks adults played with words.
-- Rob Nixon, Dreambirds
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Dotage comes from the verb to dote, "to be weak-minded, silly, or foolish; to have the intellect impaired, especially by old age," from Middle English doten. One who is in his or her dotage is a dotard.
dotage \DOH-tij\, noun: Feebleness of mind due to old age; senility.
Pointing out that Cicero learned Greek in his seventies and Socrates took up playing the lyre in his dotage, Dad liked to say he would indeed someday consider retiring, when and if he finally got old.
-- James Dodson, Final Rounds
It wasn't a good joke, and, in his dotage, he made it far too often, but when I heard it for the first time I remember laughing and thinking, with pleasure, that I was catching on to the tricks adults played with words.
-- Rob Nixon, Dreambirds
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dotage comes from the verb to dote, "to be weak-minded, silly, or foolish; to have the intellect impaired, especially by old age," from Middle English doten. One who is in his or her dotage is a dotard.
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,
S Adams
S Adams
/me looks up from Tollbaby's décolleté
Eh ? Did you say something ?
Let me guess - you were punatively impuning my putative punnery again ?
Anyway, we were discussing my chronic overuse of the elipsis earlier ... I confess to having a tendency towards excess dottage in my dotage. It's probably best to just get used to it, because I'm too old to be re-trained, with or without a railroad ticket.
j/k
Eh ? Did you say something ?
Let me guess - you were punatively impuning my putative punnery again ?
Anyway, we were discussing my chronic overuse of the elipsis earlier ... I confess to having a tendency towards excess dottage in my dotage. It's probably best to just get used to it, because I'm too old to be re-trained, with or without a railroad ticket.
j/k
-
tollbaby
- anything but this ...
- Posts: 6827
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 11:03 am
- Location: Ottawa, Ontario
- Contact:
yay Brenda! I was about to correct his French, but you beat me to it 
I'm so proud
Brad, I'm ashamed of you... a) because you've seen me, and I doubt anybody would be staring at my cleavage... *ever*... and b) for not knowing how to spell a word related to boobs
I'm so proud Brad, I'm ashamed of you... a) because you've seen me, and I doubt anybody would be staring at my cleavage... *ever*... and b) for not knowing how to spell a word related to boobs
And what manner of jackassery must we put up with today? ~ Danae, Non Sequitur
Word of the Day Monday November 20, 2006
exacerbate \ig-ZAS-ur-bayt\, transitive verb: To render more severe, violent, or bitter; to irritate; to aggravate; to make worse.
To reduce the stress that exacerbates my stuttering, I have meditated, done deep-breathing exercises, and floated under a condition of sensory deprivation in a dark, enclosed isolation tank.
-- Marty Jezer, Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words
By the 1920s a stubborn agricultural depression . . . badly exacerbated the problems of the countryside.
-- David M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear
But they decided they did not like the San Francisco weather -- it exacerbated Alan's allergies -- and they moved to Florida at the end of 1986.
-- Sanford J. Ungar, Fresh Blood: The New American Immigrants
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Exacerbate is from Latin exacerbare, "to irritate, to provoke, to aggravate very much," from ex-, intensive prefix + acerbare, "to make bitter, to aggravate," from acerbus, "bitter."
exacerbate \ig-ZAS-ur-bayt\, transitive verb: To render more severe, violent, or bitter; to irritate; to aggravate; to make worse.
To reduce the stress that exacerbates my stuttering, I have meditated, done deep-breathing exercises, and floated under a condition of sensory deprivation in a dark, enclosed isolation tank.
-- Marty Jezer, Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words
By the 1920s a stubborn agricultural depression . . . badly exacerbated the problems of the countryside.
-- David M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear
But they decided they did not like the San Francisco weather -- it exacerbated Alan's allergies -- and they moved to Florida at the end of 1986.
-- Sanford J. Ungar, Fresh Blood: The New American Immigrants
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exacerbate is from Latin exacerbare, "to irritate, to provoke, to aggravate very much," from ex-, intensive prefix + acerbare, "to make bitter, to aggravate," from acerbus, "bitter."
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,
S Adams
S Adams