GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Algot Runeman · Post by **Algot Runeman** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:32 am

In these litigious times, it takes a skilled legal mind, indeed a cognoscente, to con a suer. Insider traders, the ultimate cognoscenti, are not popular with the Securities and Exchange Commission, either.

Wordplay Translation Service:

Spoiler: show

voralfred · Post by **voralfred** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:20 am

Let us not equivocate anymore!
Let us all recognize that through his alacrity at creating sentences using the WOTD, Algot Runeman has demonstrated he is beyond reasonable doubt an efficacious cognoscente.

Algot Runeman

Algot Runeman · Post by **Algot Runeman** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:22 am

Voralfred, you make me BLUSH!

I wouldn't argue if "efficacious cognoscente" were restated as "bloviating know-it-all" with all the negative baggage that description carries.

Post by **Ghost** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:22 am

Word of the Day Thursday, September 24, 2009

assiduous\uh-SIJ-oo-uhs\ , adjective: 1. Constant in application or attention; devoted; attentive. 2. Performed with constant diligence or attention; unremitting; persistent; as, "assiduous labor."

I can scarcely find time to write you even a Love Letter, Samuel Adams, an assiduous committeeman, wrote his wife in early 1776.
-- Pauline Maier, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence

But he was assiduous in visiting the sick and the poor, however remote their farms and cottages.
-- Jan Morris, "With God where the cuckoos sing", Independent, November 23, 1996

But he was a man who by assiduous reading, through his devotion to literature, had become the quintessential successful gentleman, a man who could hold his own with the most cultivated companions.
-- Milton Gould, quoted in "For Cooke, a Lasting Memorial," by Peter Finn and Richard Justice, Washington Post, April 11, 1997

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Assiduous is from Latin assiduus, "constantly sitting near; hence diligent, persistent," from assidere, "to attend to," from ad-, "towards, to" + sedere, "to sit."

voralfred · Post by **voralfred** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:51 am

That one is too easy:

Our indefatigable spectral friend has been as assiduous in posting the WOTD as Algot, once he joined the thread, has been in making sentences with them.

Post by **Ghost** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 8:05 am

Word of the Day Friday, September 25, 2009

cavort\kuh-VORT\ , intransitive verb: 1. To bound or prance about. 2. To have lively or boisterous fun; to behave in a high-spirited, festive manner.

. . .Enkidu, who was seduced by gradual steps to embrace the refinements of civilization, only to regret on his deathbed what he had left behind: a free life cavorting with gazelles.
-- Yi-Fu Tuan, Escapism

But why struggle with a term paper on the elements of foreshadowing in Bleak House when I could be cavorting on the beach.
-- Dani Shapiro, Slow Motion

By 1900, Leo-Chico would have been thirteen years old, and just past his bar mitzvah, or old enough to know better than to cavort with street idlers and gamblers.
-- Simon Louvish, Monkey Business

The men spent the next few weeks there drinking beer, eating hibachi-grilled fish, and cavorting with the young ladies.
-- Robert Whiting, Tokyo Underworld

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Cavort is perhaps an alteration of curvet, "a light leap by a horse" (with the back arched or curved), from Italian corvetta, "a little curve," from Middle French courbette, from courber, "to curve," from Latin curvare, "to bend, to curve," from curvus, "curved, bent."

CodeBlower · Post by **CodeBlower** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:40 am

Why is it that the Word of the Day often makes me think of Brad?

He may, physically, still be recovering .. but cavorting is still a fitting adjective.

Algot Runeman · Post by **Algot Runeman** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 3:17 pm

Attempting to accomplish a regular, if not always normal, contribution to this forum requires an assiduous effort and steady attachment to the Internet, but, to be frank, I would happily cavort through the fields and forests in the morning, build sand castles on the beach at lunch, nap the afternoon away and go to bed early instead.

For good or ill, however, I am not Frank. Sorry.

voralfred · Post by **voralfred** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:35 am

Algot Runeman wrote: For good or ill, however, I am not Frank. Sorry.

I think I missed that joke.
Fancying myself a cognoscente in jokes, I'll cavort meaning #2 and give in to my natural logorrhea by remarking that if ALgot Runeman was lying about his first name, which actually was Frank, but his picture really represented him, then we know what his last name is not.

Spoiler: show

Algot Runeman · Post by **Algot Runeman** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 3:42 pm

Voralfred,

Way too handsome, right?

I am certain Mary S. would have approved of your effort as much as I do.

I believe the originator of E=mc^2 would have liked the play as well. Names are always good fodder for word play, though the owner of a name often suffers from "bet you never heard that one before" guffaws from the teller (the one telling, not the person behind the counter at the bank.)

Post by **Ghost** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:10 am

Word of the Day Monday, September 28, 2009

sinuous\SIN-yoo-uhs\ , adjective: 1. Characterized by many curves or turns; winding. 2. Characterized by graceful curving movements. 3. Not direct; devious.

Long gone are the days when a "robotic movement" meant something jerky, awkward, and stiff: The new robo-fish that have just been unveiled by engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology swim through the water with sinuous grace.
-- Eliza Strickland, Robo-Fish Are Ready to Take to the Seas, Discover Magazine, August 25, 2009

A single tree
With sinuous trunk, boughs exquisitely wreathed,
Grew there; an ash which Winter for himself
Decked out with pride, and with outlandish grace
-- William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book VI, "Cambridge and the Alps"

The final 15 miles featured narrow and sinuous roads made even tighter by huge crowds lining the sides. Crashes seemed inevitable.
-- Samuel Abt, CYCLING; Crashes Jolt the Standings, And Oust a Tour Favorite, New York Times, July 5, 2006

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Sinuous is from Latin sinuōsus, from sinus, curve.

Algot Runeman · Post by **Algot Runeman** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:33 am

Post by **Darb** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:04 pm

Salome's hips gyrated sinuously, permanently scorching a sinusoid pattern of pure SIN into the smouldering retinas of Herod's hot gaze.

His fist slammed the table in time to the beat of her hips, causing wine to slop from his goblet. Gods be damned, he *HAD* to have her ... he could, and would, deny her nothing.

Post by **Darb** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:35 pm

Word of the Day
Wednesday, September 30, 2009

gaucherie\goh-shuh-REE\ , noun:
1.A socially awkward or tactless act.2.Lack of tact; boorishness; awkwardness.

Quotes:
If you find yourself sitting next to an obviously prosperous guest at a dinner party and your host introduces him (it will be a him) as a "successful barrister", you will be guilty of a gaucherie of the crassest kind if you exclaim: "How fascinating! If I promise not to call you Rumpole, will you tell me about your goriest murder trials?"
-- Nick Cohen, "Don't leave justice to the judges", New Statesman, December 13, 1999

Here we see the insecure, unattractive woman who at long last has found someone even more insecure and unattractive than herself, calling attention to her companion's gaucherie in order to feel, for once in her life, like the belle of the ball.
-- Florence King, "Out and About", National Review, November 9, 1998

Origin:
Gaucherie comes from the French, from gauche, "lefthanded; awkward," from Old French, from gauchir, "to turn aside, to swerve, to walk clumsily."

Post by **Darb** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:36 pm

Janice: {answers cell-phone} Hello ?

Lisa: Hi, it's me. So, how'd the blind date with Jeff go ?

Janice: Not so hot. We met at Pomodorino for a drink. He seemed nice and all, and we were having a good time until I comitted a terrible gaucherie.

Lisa: What's a gaucherie ?

Janice: It's kinda like a faux pas, without the two left feet.

Lisa: Ok, spill it. What was the mis-step ?

Janice: I asked him what he did for a living. The room was noisy, and I thought I heard him say he was a barrister, so naturally I gushed about my being a paralegal in the biggest lawfirm in the city, and I went on and on and asked for a resume, because we were upstaffing for a major class action suit against Starbucks ... and he turned beet red. I asked him what was wrong, and he said he wasn't a barrister - he was a barista.

Lisa: OMG

Algot Runeman · Post by **Algot Runeman** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:34 am

Say "Aw," with awe.

Wonderful entry, Darb.

Post by **Ghost** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 8:15 am

Word of the Day Thursday, October 01, 2009

adjuvant\AJ-uh-vuhnt\ , adjective, noun: 1. Serving to help or assist; auxiliary. 2. Assisting in the prevention, amelioration, or cure of disease.
noun: 1. A person or thing that aids or helps. 2. Anything that aids in removing or preventing a disease, esp. a substance added to a prescription to aid the effect of the main ingredient. 3. Immunology. a substance admixed with an immunogen in order to elicit a more marked immune response.

Some people think the benefit of screening is huge, and others say that the reduction in death rates is due primarily to adjuvant therapy, Berry says. No one has known for sure, and although we still don't know for sure, this is the best set of analyses that is possible given the available information.
-- "Decline in Breast Cancer Deaths Explained by Use of Screening and Adjuvant Therapies", M. D. Anderson News Release, October 26, 2005

It's unlikely it will be needed this fall, especially if further tests show that one standard shot is good enough to protect people from the virus. But using adjuvant could prove helpful in future years, or if the flu took a turn for the worst, said Dr. Wilbur Chen, a vaccinologist at the University of Maryland's Center for Vaccine Development, who is leading the NIH-sponsored tests.
-- Kelly Brewington, "Stretching the supply of the swine flu vaccine", The Baltimore Sun, September 14, 2009

The new vaccine is made from a single CMV protein that was combined with an experimental adjuvant, a substance that's added to vaccines to boost their efficacy.
-- Serena Gordon, "Trial Vaccine May Protect Against Serious Viral Infection", U.S. News, March 18, 2009

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Adjuvant comes from Latin adiuvāns, adiuvant-, present participle of adiuvāre, to help.

voralfred · Post by **voralfred** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 7:47 am

With such distinguished WOTDers as Drab and Algot, I feel I am a mere adjuvant here....

Algot Runeman · Post by **Algot Runeman** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:20 am

Does an adjutant generally have an adjuvant or does that only happen in the medical corps of the military?

Post by **Darb** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:13 pm

voralfred wrote:With such distinguished WOTDers as Drab and Algot ....

I greatly miss the deft strokes of our missing senior adjuvant of spelling enforcement, Mistress Laurie.

Mightly Mjolnir, the bane of misspellers, has sadly been gathering dust these past 6+ months, and needs a new bearer.

voralfred · Post by **voralfred** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 1:39 am

voralfred wrote:With such distinguished WOTDers as Drab (...)

looks like I made a gaucherie here

... I'll have to get out of there, sinuously if I must

Darb, don't think I find your contributions drab. Quite the contrary! I remembered your new username is your old one reversed. Now I consider you as such a great poet that I just reversed a slightly different name...

And isn't this a nice illustration of the WOTD for February 26, 2007?

Post by **Darb** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:48 am

Post by **Ghost** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:27 am

Word of the Day Monday, October 05, 2009

esurient\ih-SUR-ee-uhnt; -ZUR-\ , adjective: 1. Hungry; greedy.

The enemy then was an esurient Soviet Union which, having swallowed up Eastern Europe, had imposed a totalitarian system on countries just liberated from Nazism.
-- Arnold Beichman, "As Truman envisioned our role", Washington Times, April 23, 2002

These new censors, the deconstructionists, take the most luscious and delicious apple and show it to a hungry person. They then seal the fruit with plastic wrap and demand that the esurient victim enjoy its flavour.
-- Michael Coren, "Behold the deconstructionist, who liberates literature by confining it to a cult", Alberta Report, April 10, 1995

Whilst Yeats contemplates the lake and its water-fowl, esurient Edward devours huge loin chops, followed by stewed chicken and platesful of curried eggs, for he is suffering terrific qualms of conscience.
-- George Moore, Hail and Farewell

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Esurient comes from the present participle of Latin esurire, "to be hungry, to desire eagerly," from edere, "to eat."

voralfred · Post by **voralfred** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:56 am

I'm always esurient for new words to enrich my vocabulary (I plan to become a cognoscente), and I am cavorting in this thread which, thanks to Ghost's alacrity, is a great adjuvant to my esurience (sp?)

Post by **Ghost** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:16 am

Word of the Day Tuesday, October 06, 2009

burgeon\BUR-juhn\ , verb: 1. To grow or develop quickly; flourish. 2. To begin to grow or blossom.
transitive verb: 1. To put forth, as buds.
noun: 1. A bud; sprout.

They fought aggressively to bring their burgeoning industry under their control; in so doing, they also worked to elevate Cleveland over Pittsburg as a refining center (which they accomplished in 1869).
-- T.J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, April 2, 2009

Avoid plants that will burgeon beyond bounds. The wide range of plants available includes many smaller species and cultivars that have been bred to stay compact.
-- Beth Botts, "A small space is just right for a secret garden", Chicago Tribune, July 5, 2009

Mr. Sprock often brought Novalee seeds and young plants for her garden, which was beginning to burgeon with color.
-- Billie Letts, Where the Heart Is

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Burgeon is from Middle English burgeonen, from Old French borjoner, from burjon, a bud.