GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

tortie

Pronunciation: /ˈtôrtē
noun
• informal
A tortoiseshell cat: I currently have two torties and a calico as foster cats

Origin
1940s: diminutive of tortoiseshell.


Bill Kuffrey

*****************

Natalie turned forty. She went to adopt a tortie. She had tried to love a toad, but decided he was to warty.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

razz

milord

As a teenager I've so very often heard Édith Piaf's "Ombre de la Rue". Several thousands of times, I'm sure.

After the first couple of hundred times - it must have taken less than a few months - my classmates and I got the urge to razz each time we heard her sing the word "Milord".

Piaf's song is now just as memorable as Marlene Dietrich's "Lili Marlene" aka "Das Mädchen unter der Laterne" ("The Girl under the Lantern").

[Algot Runeman]

gussy

Pronunciation: /ˈgəsē
verb (gussies, gussying, gussied)
[with object] (gussy someone/something up) North American • informal
Make more attractive, especially in a showy or gimmicky way: shopkeepers gussied up their window displays

Origin
1940s: perhaps from Gussie, nickname for the given name Augustus.

-----##-----

Jennifer gussied herself up for the dance. Sally made far less effort, but all the boys turned to stare at her when she entered the gym.

[voralfred]

Bill Kuffrey

This little tortie does not need to gussy himself up to be absolutely adorable.
I'd better not show this picture to my wife, she'll take me Quai de la Mégisserie to get herself one from (and, possibly, sell me second-hand to) one of the many pet shops there.

[Algot Runeman]

historiography

Pronunciation: /hiˌstôrēˈägrəfē, -ˌstär-
noun
1 The study of historical writing.
1.1 The writing of history.

Origin
mid 16th century: via medieval Latin from Greek historiographia, from historia 'narrative, history' + graphia 'writing'.

^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^

Horace honored his great grandfather by compiling the family records into what has become significant historiography.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

historiography

Combine historiography with psychohistory and you get a powerful predictive tool.

[Algot Runeman]

history-ectomy

noun

loss of memory regarding the past, intentional or otherwise

"Satirical wagsters Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver have never been more on the ball, pretending that they've farmed out the writing of their jokes to a 10-year-old Indonesian boy - and pithily encapsulating Britain's collective amnesia regarding past foreign policy blunders with the coinage "history-ectomy". " - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/thea ... rrier.html

Today, no word came from the dictionary delivery system (DDS). I wondered if it might be interesting to explore variations of yesterday's historiography and checked to see if "historyectomy" existed (even if not formally accepted into the official dictionaries). There is apparently a movie with the word as its title: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/thea ... rrier.html and somebody else has made a Hillary Clinton election T-shirt.

I actually thought it might not exist, but do like the meaning we might ascribe to it.

[Algot Runeman]

introjection

Pronunciation: /ˌintrəˈjekSHən
noun
Psychoanalysis
The unconscious adoption of the ideas or attitudes of others.

Origin

mid 19th century: from intro- 'into', on the pattern of projection.


Original silhouette by nicubunu at openclipart.org

-----------------------#------------------------

To successfully integrate into a group, one must go through some level of introjection, though it is best if a solid individual personality remains evident.

[Algot Runeman]

sidle

Pronunciation: /ˈsīdl
verb
[no object]
Walk in a furtive, unobtrusive, or timid manner, especially sideways or obliquely: I sidled up to her
noun
[in singular]
An act or instance of sidling.

Origin
late 17th century: back-formation from sideling (see sidelong).

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

The director of digital dictionaries sidled up to me and surreptitiously slipped me today's word. I subsequently slip sideways to shuffle it to you.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

sidle

My grandma and -pa were having a picnic by the sea, on top of a groyne to avoid sand in the food.

They were reclining on a pair of soft beach towels, sipping white wine, when grandma's eye was caught by a beach denizen. A little North Sea Crab was sidling up to the picnic basket, perhaps hoping to scavenge something tasty.

"That's a female.", said grandpa.

"How can you tell?", asked grandma.

He replied, "Well, these crabs can only walk sideways. But the males sidle to the right and the females to the left, you see? That's the only way a couple can take a walk and stay together. And it keeps them facing each other too."

♫ "Maw, he's making eyes at me!" ♫

[Algot Runeman]

furcula

Pronunciation: /ˈfərkyələ
noun (plural furculae /-ˌlē, -ˌlī/)
Zoology

1 A forked organ or structure, in particular.
1.1 The wishbone of a bird.
1.2 The forked appendage at the end of the abdomen in a springtail, by which the insect jumps.

Origin
mid 19th century: from Latin, diminutive of furca 'fork'.



---------------------\|/----------------------

Fran and Fritz firmly gripped the furcula from last week's chicken dinner. Both felt confident. Fran needed a wish to come true. Fritz always seemed blasé about such things. Fran closed her eyes. Fritz just smiled.

"SNAP!"

The furcular fracture favored Fran this time. Fritz disappeared and, in his place, there was a bewildered Steve McQueen in his prime.

[Algot Runeman]

inimical

Pronunciation: /iˈnimikəl
adjective
1 Tending to obstruct or harm: actions inimical to our interests
1.1 Unfriendly; hostile: an inimical alien power

Origin
early 16th century: from late Latin inimicalis, from Latin inimicus (see enemy).

--------------------------

Being rushed for time is inimical to the development of an effective WotD irreverent usage. Sometimes that's the way it works.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

inimical

I've seen letters and messages concluded with "Sincerely yours", "Regards", "Best wishes", "Most fondly" or "Forever amically" and such.

But has anyone ever ended a letter/message/post with the phrase "As always inimically"?

Conan Doyle's James Moriarty or Count Dooku may have done so, but let's disregard fictitious characters.

So have you ever seen it, or yourself ever had the urge to write, or worse, actually did write it?

[Algot Runeman]

My Dear E.P.S.,

I have never, ever completed a missive with such a horrible, dismissive closing!!!!

Inimically yours,
--Algot

[There, I have now officially remedied the oversight. One never wants to be without his faults.]

[Algot Runeman]

umpteen

Pronunciation: /ˈəm(p)ˌtēn
• informal
number
Indefinitely many; a lot of: you need umpteen pieces of identification to cash a check

Origin
early 20th century: humorous formation based on -teen.



∞ - ∞ - ∞ - ∞ - ∞ - ∞...

Thirteen pre-teen girls came on the scene.
The sheen of their rubied lips was a bit obscene.
It was their goal to make friends green
By getting backstage at the concert by Queen.
Of course that was ages ago.
Now Freddie Mercury and all are "has been."
And the girls are more like age umpteen.

[If there were judges for this forum topic, the umpteen umpires would show their ump ire and rule me out of bounds, for sure.]

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

umpteen
...
And the girls are more like age umpteen.

[If there were judges for this forum topic, the umpteen umpires would show their ump ire and rule me out of bounds, for sure.]

Watch it there!

Be careful with that number in a girly context.

Your umpteen humph-pires and you might get DoSed with a googol pings.

P.S. How many words besides googol does Google reference, I wonder? Surely umpteen by now!

[Algot Runeman]

charlatan

Pronunciation: /ˈSHärlətən, ˈSHärlətn
noun
A person falsely claiming to have a special knowledge or skill; a fraud.

Origin
early 17th century (denoting an itinerant seller of supposed remedies): from French, from Italian ciarlatano, from ciarlare 'to babble'.


Photo Credit: Alex E. Proimos

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

He was a charlatan, no doubt. His remedies were just some cheap wine mixed with a little gelatin to make them thicker. The only thing that was "cured" was the lump at his client's hips, the wallets from which he extracted wads of money.

[Algot Runeman]

liminal

Pronunciation: /ˈlimənl
adjective
• technical
1 Of or relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process.
2 Occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold.

Origin
late 19th century: from Latin limen, limin- 'threshold' + -al.



-------------------@\____/=---------------------------------

During the sub's liminal stage of construction in the dockyard, it is unwise to submerge the submarine because of all the gaps in the hull just at the waterline.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

liminal
...

...

At first I thought it was just a subliminal itch, but then my bulb lit up:

Why was this sub assigned the number pi ?

[Algot Runeman]

Why was this sub assigned the number pi ?

The sub was only liminial, as in just partially done (perhaps also hastily rendered). To identify her, a fractional number seemed appropriate, but 3/4 was not adequate even if written as .75, so the capricious creatures populating my brain determined that a number with a decimal value would work. Pi, itself, was subliminally selected because it was a recognizable number having a decimal component. Maybe there was a vague overflow from the earlier indeterminate value of umpteen since Pi is distinguished by not being like 1/3 as a decimal with a BORING repetition 0.33333333333333333...

Maybe, maybe, maybe...If you ask for certainty, you ask the wrong person. Of that I am, well, fairly sure.

[Algot Runeman]

fantod

Pronunciation: /ˈfanˌtäd
noun
North American • informal
A state or attack of uneasiness or unreasonableness: the mumbo-jumbo gave me the fantods

Origin
mid 19th century: of unknown origin.


Photo Credit: MïK Watson

oooooooooooooOoooooooooooooo

The fantods overtook me. I was suddenly very uncertain that I'd made the right choice. Behind me, the jetty stretched 100 yards to shore. Here, just short of the end, the wind was picking up, spray was buffeting me as the tide rose. Some bets are stupid. Abandoning my bravado, I started walking toward shore on the slippery boards. I never saw the wave which washed me into the bay.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

fantod

Are you todding my fan?

This was an intense WotD in October 2010.

[Algot Runeman]

buttinsky

Pronunciation: /bətˈinskē

noun (plural buttinskies)
North American • informal
A person who habitually butts in; an intruder or meddler.



----------------&...

Mark simply barged in and started talking. He was a classic buttinsky. Sarah, according to her mother, had been more properly trained. In the middle of someone else's sentence, she would begin with "Excuse me, excuse me,...EX-CUSE me." Much less intrusive, she believed.

[Algot Runeman]

repose [definition 2]

Pronunciation:
riˈpōz/
verb
[with object] (repose something in)
Place something, especially one’s confidence or trust, in: we have never betrayed the trust that you have reposed in us

Origin
late Middle English (in the sense 'put back in the same position'): from re- 'again' + the verb pose1, suggested by Latin reponere 'replace', from re- (expressing intensive force) + ponere 'to place'.


Mark Fischer

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Tom reposed his trust in the ancient hammock. Sadly, his trust was misplaced. He suddenly took his repose on the floor.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

repose
...
Origin
late Middle English (in the sense 'put back in the same position'): from re- 'again' + the verb pose1, suggested by Latin reponere 'replace', from re- (expressing intensive force) + ponere 'to place'.
...

So reposed is just about synonymous with reposted.

Also, depending on your point of view, with repossessed.

Right?

I repose my case!