GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

apologist

noun
a person who offers an argument in defense of something controversial: an enthusiastic apologist for fascism in the 1920s

Origin:
mid 17th century: from French apologiste, from Greek apologizesthai 'give an account' (see apologize)


NCinDC on Flickr

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It might be that the justices of the Supreme Court in the US are the chief apologists, especially when a decision is closely split. Almost by definition [ho, ho] everything they consider is controversial.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

apologist

Talk about dense! The blonde young man wasn't too bright.
Every minute detail was painstakingly explained to him by the apologist.
Only then did Apollo get the gist of it. Finally!

[Algot Runeman]

trice

noun
(in phrase: in a trice)
in a moment; very quickly.

Origin:
late Middle English trice 'a tug', figuratively 'an instant', from Middle Dutch trīsen 'pull sharply', related to trīse 'pulley'


Lil'El on Flickr

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Calvin named his cigarette boat "Comet" because he didn't want to name it "Trice." While trice describes how quickly the boat moves from here to there, Calvin doesn't feel the word is powerful enough. He can't help thinking of a kid's "trike" when he hears it.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

trice
... Calvin named his cigarette boat "Comet" because he didn't want to name it "Trice."...

Of course not. He didn't want to be jinxed and lose the race rowing to the finish thrice in a row.

[Algot Runeman]

disquisition

noun
a long or elaborate essay or discussion on a particular subject: nothing can kill a radio show quicker than a disquisition on intertextual analysis

Derivatives
disquisitional
Pronunciation:/-SHənl/
adjective
(archaic )

Origin:
late 15th century: via French from Latin disquisitio(n-) 'investigation', based on quaerere 'seek'. The original sense was 'topic for investigation', whence 'discourse in which a subject is investigated' (mid 17th century)


Ian Burt on Flickr

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Though not eager, the crowd awaited his disquisition. It had long been anticipated. It had been forseen. It had been dreaded.
Another day in the lecture hall.

[laurie]

What I always hated was the professor's disquisition turning into an inquisition -- especially at 8:00 am.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

What I always hated was the professor's disquisition turning into an inquisition -- especially at 8:00 am.

Not a problem to me. I usually had a requisition form which allowed me to slip away.

[Algot Runeman]

I hereby requisition as much of this verbal repetition as possible. Let that be our mission without condition.

[Algot Runeman]

dumbsize

verb
[no object] chiefly US
(of a company) reduce staff numbers to levels so low that work can no longer be carried out effectively: make smart changes — don’t dumbsize

Origin:
1990s: humorously, on the pattern of downsize



o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The school district decided to make kindergarten more efficient. They combined seven classes, put them in the old anatomy lecture hall and hired an octogenarian retiree to teach them (at the salary she made when she retired 20 years before). Dumbsize, anyone?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

I hereby requisition as much of this verbal repetition as possible. Let that be our mission without condition.

Someone said "Be fruitful and multiply".
But didn't most of these guys reproduce by fission?

[Algot Runeman]

The lecture crowd was restless...

This photo was accidentally leaked, but it is too late now. The children shown here are actually CLONES. No, not cloves, clones.
They were duplicated last year by a new process, taken from medical students in their first year at Pragalongovia University. The duplicates are now taking their third year med classes in person with their clone originals in spite of being visibly smaller. Their brains cloned at current state instead of needing to develop neuronal synaptic connections the usual "nurture" way. This was an photo from one of their orientation classes for the university life.

[laurie]

If their fine-motor skills are at their photo levels, they'll certainly ace the Prescription Handwriting course!

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... They were duplicated last year by a new process, taken from medical students in their first year at Pragalongovia University. The duplicates are now taking their third year med classes in person with their clone originals in spite of being visibly smaller. Their brains cloned at current state instead of needing to develop neuronal synaptic connections the usual "nurture" way.

There's also some kind of time machine somewhere in there.
How else can the clones and the originals be in the third year med classes if 0 < the clones' age < 2 and if, one year ago, the originals were in their first year med classes.

Maybe the neutrino *is* slightly faster than light.

[Algot Runeman]

bibelot

noun
a small, decorative ornament or trinket: bibelots like snuffboxes and jewelled ostrich feather fans

Origin:
late 19th century: from French, fanciful formation based on bel 'beautiful'


finofilka on Flickr

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Maxim was frustrated. He wanted to craft some bibelots for his closest friends, but his only skills were in woodworking. His massive tools and equally large hands meant the smallest item he could build would be a credenza.

[Algot Runeman]

will-o'-the-wisp

noun
a phosphorescent light seen hovering or floating at night over marshy ground , thought to result from the combustion of natural gases; ignis fatuus.
a person or thing that is difficult or impossible to find, reach, or catch.

Origin:
early 17th century: originally as Will with the wisp, the sense of wisp being 'handful of (lighted) hay'


garann on Flickr

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By setting his camera's focus a little bit off, Larry hoped to capture the string of holiday lights as an image of will-o'-the-wisp. His focus skills were inadequate, clearly demonstrating the second definition of the WotD.

[Algot Runeman]

mariculture

noun
the cultivation of fish or other marine life for food.

Origin:
early 20th century: from mare, mari- 'sea' + culture, on the pattern of words such as agriculture


Alan Grinberg on Flickr

☞☜

Cap'n Bob's business was moving along at a snail's pace until he began to invest in mariculture. Immediately his company grew from being a shrimp in the industry to an oceanic giant, no longer coddling his employees. By now, you're probably urchin me to stop. Somebody out back is yelling, "Give him the hook!" Net result: you'll never catch up.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

mariculture
Cap'n Bob's business was moving along at a snail's pace until he began to invest in mariculture. Immediately his company grew from being a shrimp in the industry to an oceanic giant, no longer coddling his employees. By now, you're probably urchin me to stop. Somebody out back is yelling, "Give him the hook!" Net result: you'll never catch up.

By now Cap'n Bob must be feeling like an oyster in its shell, waiting for a planktoid to swim into its gaping maw.

[Algot Runeman]

acuity

noun
sharpness or keenness of thought, vision, or hearing: intellectual acuity, visual acuity

Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French acuite or medieval Latin acuitas, from Latin acuere 'sharpen' (see acute)


viZZZual.com on Flickr

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Fading visual acuity still allows the posting of the WotD here. There are times, though, that my view of my laptop is similar to the one illustrated above.

[Algot Runeman]

wetware

noun
[humorous] human brain cells or thought processes regarded as analogous to, or in contrast with, computer systems.
(chiefly in science fiction) computer technology in which the brain is linked to artificial systems, or used as a model for artificial systems based on biochemical processes.


Shaheen Lakhan

.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.? 00100000 !.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!.?!

Watson wondered wierdly about wetware. He hoped honestly that he had some. The IBM staff told him every day that he didn't. That daily message was so infrequent that he wasn't sure it was valid.

[Algot Runeman]

bard [definition 2]

noun
a rasher of fat bacon placed on meat or game before roasting.

verb
[with object]
cover (meat or game) with rashers of fat bacon: the venison was barded and marinated


Theresa (Island Vittles)

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Bob, the liege lord, who worked so hard, sat back, well satisfied.
Atop the trencher, no scrap remained, venison dressed in bard, all gone.
Thanks to be given, the soaked sop was on its way to the poor.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

bard
...

Why am I imagining Shakespearean aficionados and thespians spinning, in their grave or alive, like barded boar (sanglier lardé) on a spit?

[Algot Runeman]

All is well, as long as the Bard wasn't bored with barded boar. Maybe he might have liked Thanksgiving turkey leftovers (had he been around at the time of the pilgrims). Reports say he missed the American feast by four years and the width of the Atlantic Ocean.

[Algot Runeman]

stemma

noun (plural stemmata /-mətə/)
a recorded genealogy of a family; a family tree.
a diagram showing the relationship between a text and its various manuscript versions.

Origin:
mid 17th century: via Latin from Greek stemma 'wreath', from stephein 'wreathe, crown'


Charles Roffey

-=-=-=-=-b b b-=-=-=-=-l l l-=-=-=-=-a a a-=-=-=-=-n n n-=-=-=-=-k k k-=-=-=-=-

Steve's stemma was totally blank. There was an ancestry, for sure, but he knew he had been adopted and didn't know it. His adoptive parents were dead and left no records.

[Algot Runeman]

aver

verb (avers, averring, averred)
[reporting verb] formal
state or assert to be the case: [with clause] : he averred that he was innocent of the allegations[with direct speech] : ‘I don’t have to do anything — it’s his problem,’ Rory averred.
[with object] Law: allege as a fact in support of a plea: the defendant does not aver any performance by himself

Origin:
late Middle English (in the sense ‘declare or confirm to be true’): from Old French averer, based on Latin ad 'to' (implying ‘cause to be’) + verus 'true'


Blake Emrys

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"The average child seeks fun in everything, making him or her exceptional," he averred.

Occasionally adults maintain the skill.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

aver

Grandma postively averred she loved furs.
Grandpa did too, provided he could take them off of her.

P.S. @ Algot Runeman:
Is that a schoolmarm with *pants*? (It's NOT my grandma, no way!)