GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

renascent

The words middlescent and renascent confirm that the ODO is obsessed with scents ever since it lost its final R.

[Algot Runeman]

confabulate

Pronunciation: /kənˈfabyəˌlāt /
verb
[no object]
1 formal Engage in conversation; talk: she could be heard on the telephone confabulating with someone
2 Psychiatry Fabricate imaginary experiences as compensation for loss of memory.

Origin
early 17th century: from Latin confabulat- 'chatted together', from the verb confabulari, from con- 'together' + fabulari (from fabula 'fable').



--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--~~--

Sally and Jane confabulated over coffee at the sidewalk table. Sarah and Jeanne confabulated on their cellphones. Minnie and Mary confabulated via texting incessantly. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

confabulate

I could still confabulate (in both meanings) a lot about my grandma.

The problem is that lately the WotD's don't lend themselves to it very well.

[Algot Runeman]

impecunious

Pronunciation: /ˌimpəˈkyo͞onēəs /
adjective
Having little or no money: a titled but impecunious family

Origin
late 16th century: from in-1 'not' + obsolete pecunious 'having money, wealthy' (from Latin pecuniosus, from pecunia 'money').


Yoav Shaoira

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

"Est Pecunia intrá toga?" (or are you just impecunius?)
What a lady of the night might have asked in ancient Rome. No point in entertaining a poor dude.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

impecunious
...

Yoav Shaoira
...

I think the lady is explaining that every membership candidate, impecunious or not, must contribute a sperm donation in the paper cup.

[voralfred]

confabulate

I could still confabulate (in both meanings) a lot about my grandma.

The problem is that lately the WotD's don't lend themselves to it very well.

Really? Didn't your grandma wear scent, either of middle, rena, flave, adole, vitre, phospore, arbore, iride or albe persuasion, under (or without) her furs ?

If you are indeed reminiscent of that time, you must remain acquiescent of this fact.

I, for my part, am fully cognoscent that this post is the ultimate descent into impecuniouscence of imagination in the WoTD thread....

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

confabulate

I could still confabulate (in both meanings) a lot about my grandma.
The problem is that lately the WotD's don't lend themselves to it very well.

Really? Didn't your grandma wear scent, either of middle, rena, flave, adole, vitre, phospore, arbore, iride or albe persuasion, under (or without) her furs ?
If you are indeed reminiscent of that time, you must remain acquiescent of this fact.
I, for my part, am fully cognoscent that this post is the ultimate descent into impecuniouscence of imagination in the WoTD thread....

My Grandmama (you're required to curtsy now) and I remain disdainfullly quiescent to your plebeian and pseudo-cognisant confabulations.

[Algot Runeman]

eventide

Pronunciation: /ˈēvənˌtīd /
noun
archaic or literary
The end of the day; evening: the moon flower opens its white, trumpetlike flowers at eventide

Origin
Old English ǣfentīd (see even2, tide).


Henrico Prins

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

Eventide shadows flowed into the room, slowly draining the sun's light away through the west-facing windows. Evan gently but firmly tied Sarah to the chair. Tonight's "supermoon" was expected to attract millions of amateurs, taking notice of the moon and the coincidental occasion of the Perseid meteor showers. Evan's work was not an attempt to keep Sarah from being a wannabe astronomer. Nothing was that simple. Evan needed to repeat this binding ritual once a month, whether or not the moon was at perigee. Sarah was an obligate lycanthrope. His monthly routine necessitated binding her to the thick-legged, welded iron chair, itself bolted to the floor. She could gaze at the rising moon through the eastern window of the keep without danger to herself or others, though the two dozen composite graphite-titanium straps needed occasional replacement.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

eventide
...
Sarah was an obligate lycanthrope. His monthly routine necessitated binding her to the thick-legged, welded iron chair, itself bolted to the floor. She could gaze at the rising moon through the eastern window of the keep without danger to herself or others, though the two dozen composite graphite-titanium straps needed occasional replacement.

Even tied Sarah didn't give up. She always kept struggling to break the bonds.

[Algot Runeman]

smithereens

Pronunciation: /ˌsmiT͟Həˈrēnz /
noun
informal
Small pieces: a grenade blew him to smithereens

Origin
early 19th century: probably from Irish smidirín.

....................................................

From smithereens, nanobots built grit. From the grit they built grains. Nanobots assembled the grains into houses which they filled with furniture, appliances and everything the world could need to support human life. Of course, because humans had blown themselves to smithereens, it was all for nothing.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

smithereens
...
From smithereens, nanobots built grit. From the grit they built grains. ...

This WotD got me thinking about the size of a single smithereen.
So I googled for "size of a smithereen".

I've found two explanations with plausible deniability:

1. Spherical carbon compounds were named buckminsterfullerenes for the geodesic domes of Buckminster Fuller.
Analogously smithereens were named for an obscure physicist named Smith who often made spelling errors.

2. Smithereens are just a little bit smaller than Joneserenes.

[Algot Runeman]

2. Smithereens are just a little bit smaller than Joneserenes.

There is a competition, of sorts, with the Johnsonereens and Williamsereens for how common they are, however. China might also throw Wángereens into the competition.

I wonder if in Israel the term is hadadereens.

[Algot Runeman]

pish

Pronunciation: /piSH /
exclamation
dated
Used to express annoyance, impatience, or disgust.

Origin
natural utterance: first recorded in English in the late 16th century.

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

"Oh, pish!" shouted Manny as he raced across the pitch. The ball was rolling straight toward the empty goal. He leaped and stretched his arms, seeming to fly low over the grass. His fingertips brushed the ball just enough to deflect it past the post. The time expired with a nil-nil tie. The rovers would advance. That mattered more than a win. Manny would have the chance to shout "Tosh!" in the next match.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

pish

No doubt the British aristocrat, if he used an invective überhaupt, would have remarked "Pish & Tosh!", all the while noticeably raising one eyebrow, dropping the reciprocal monocle and catching it one-handedly in a fake off-handed manner.

The American upper-cruster would have replied, in a, literally, down-to-earth fashion, "Rubbish" or "Hogwash" or even "Bullshit", depending on his level of inebriation. And his spectacles never dropped.

[Algot Runeman]

fastidious

Pronunciation: /faˈstɪdɪəs /
adjective
1 Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail: she dressed with fastidious care
1.1 Very concerned about matters of cleanliness: the child seemed fastidious about getting her fingers dirty

Origin
late Middle English: from Latin fastidiosus, from fastidium 'loathing'. The word originally meant 'disagreeable', later 'disgusted'. Current senses date from the 17th century.



======================================

When ODO offers us "sloven", we decide to be fastidious, instead. We do not wish to irritate the many WotD participants with clear and accurate memories. They would tell us that "sloven" was the word back on September 12, 2011. It would be careless to let a repeat slip through a mere 1071 days later.

For those not interested in becoming fluent with a spreadsheet, it is also possible to do "days between" calculations with online tools.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

fastidious
...

... a mere 1071 days later.
...

Not to be fastidious (and not bothering with actually counting), but ... erm ... shouldn't the first date be excluded from the "days between" count?

In other words, to me "days between" means starting and ending dates excluded, i. e. the period from 09/13/11 to 08/17/14.

The formula in cel a3 should be: a1 minus 1 minus a2 which gives 1070.

[Algot Runeman]

E.P.S., your assertion, gently given, may be so. "Days between" does actually imply that we should not count the first or the last day.

I wonder, though, if counting the first day makes sense, in spite of the "between" description. After all, "sloven" was used on that first day. We avoided grave DUPLICATION by substituting fastidious(ly) today. We have, by that logic, had the 1071 days to ponder sloven, stopping today so we can acknowledge its antonym.

Nonetheless, I like your logic. 1070 is a nicer, rounder number. Let's use it.

The angels on the head of the pin (however many there may be) shout loudly for us to "keep the faith, and treat one another with kindness."

[voralfred]

Not to be fastidious, and though Hebrew is read from right to left, it seems to me that the equivalent of Wángereens in Israel should really be Cohenereens, according to the top of the left-hand side column, rather than according to the 16th entry, at the top of the right-hand side one...

[Algot Runeman]

abjure

Pronunciation: /abˈjo͝or, əbˈjo͝or /
verb
[with object] formal
Solemnly renounce (a belief, cause, or claim): his refusal to abjure the Catholic faith

Origin
late Middle English: from Latin abjurare, from ab- 'away' + jurare 'swear'.



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

I'm not feeling solemn.
That is certain, sure.
Lighthearted, I tell them.
Nothing to abjure.

Tomorrow may be different.
The morning may bring change.
After all I've misspent.
I'll want to rearrange.

[Algot Runeman]

salmanazar

Pronunciation: /ˌsalməˈnazər, -ˈnäzər /
noun
A wine bottle of approximately twelve times the standard size.

Origin
1930s: named after Shalmaneser, a king of Assyria (2 Kings 17–18).


Roland Peschetz
------------------------------------

Sal swirled the glass, gazed at the alcohol adhering to the sides of the glass and slurped. There was no need to simply sip. Sal could safely satisfy his needs. He had purchased salamanazars instead of standard sizes of wine bottles. Sal surmised he'd sip, slurp and sigh for twelve twelves of days in a row with his purchase.

[Algot Runeman]

epyllion

Pronunciation: /əˈpilēən, -ˌän /
noun (plural epyllia /əˈpilēə/)
A narrative poem that resembles an epic poem in style but is notably shorter.

Origin
late 19th century: from Greek epullion, diminutive of epos 'word, song', from eipein 'say'.



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

A heavy dose of depylliontory has been applied to this post, removing all traces of poetry at any length, whether epic, epyllion or ditty, no matter how witty. The world will be grateful, a pity.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

epyllion
...


A heavy dose of depylliontory has been applied to this post, ...

On YouTube there are several musical but fully depyllionated epyllions by smalin.

A magnificent example is this:

(I had a classical organist play this on the church organ as the finale of my wedding ceremony, 41 years ago.)

[Algot Runeman]

That illustrated organ music was awesome! Thank you.

You'll never hear me say "Bach, humbug!" Not even around Christmas.

[Algot Runeman]

inamorata

Pronunciation: /iˌnaməˈrädə /
noun
A person’s female lover.

Origin
mid 17th century: Italian, literally 'enamored', feminine of inamorato (see inamorato).


Clever Monkey
----- ----- ----- ----- -----

She knows disks of IDE or SATA.
With RAID she's a total pro.
She's my inamorata.
A sysop, don't you know.

Tresses to her backside fall.
Her tee shirts generously small.
Everything about her
Keeps me in her thrall.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

That illustrated organ music was awesome! Thank you.

You'll never hear me say "Bach, humbug!" Not even around Christmas.

Bach's composition is impressive, no doubt.

But in this rendition you can see the organist at work (isn't there a better word to describe his performance?) and he's equally impressive.

And then there's this rendition in a church with such overwhelming acoustics and trailing echo that you have to hold on to something or it blows you away.

In my opinion Leopold Stokovski's orchestrated version in Disney's 1940 Fantasia pales in comparison.

P.S.
To fully appreciate the subtle differences, the recordings should be listened to with high quality headphones.