GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

reflet

Pronunciation: /rəˈfleɪ/
noun
[mass noun]
Lustre or iridescence, especially on ceramics.

Origin
French, literally 'reflection'.

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For Jonah, it was much more about the choice of underlying pigments and shape than the glaze alone which determined the success of a piece's reflet.


Klaas Mobach KAMO vase

[voralfred]

(...)

Toni turned her Tee into a stylish garment, at least in her own eyes. She added paillettes in the outline of a heart and proudly went to the party.




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I can imagine how remarkable the second-degree reflet of the light from a disco ball would look on the pailletes of Toni's Tee...

... to say nothing of the effects of a disco ball on the sequins, or apparent absence thereof, of the garment of the girl EPS mentioned above...

[Algot Runeman]

bwana

Pronunciation: /ˈbwɑːnə/
noun
(In East Africa) a boss or master (often used as a title or form of address): he can’t hear you, bwana

Origin
Kiswahili

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With all the super heroes around the movies these days, I fondly remember watching Tarzan swing from one tree to another in a remake cycle that surely out-does the best efforts of Superman/Batman/Spiderman producers combined. And, Bwana, along the way, there was some foreign language acqusition.

[Algot Runeman]

colporteur

Pronunciation: /ˈkɒlˌpɔːtə/
Pronunciation: /ˌkɒlpɔːˈtəː/
noun
1 A person who sells books, newspapers, and similar literature.
1.1 Someone employed by a religious society to distribute bibles and other religious tracts.

Origin
Late 18th century: French, from the verb colporter, probably an alteration of comporter, from Latin comportare 'carry with one'.

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Jake joked with his regular customers. They laughed at some and didn't at others. Still, everyone paid for what they bought. Life as a colporteur was good.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

colporteur

Cole Porter made a living writing music and lyrics.

But I would hardly dare call him a colporteur, ever though the French pronounced his name like that.
Maybe they took his "Anything Goes" too literally?

(The lyrics start at 0:37)

[voralfred]

When I saw the singer with her paillettes, I was expecting a repetition of the sequins' effect but alas...

[Algot Runeman]

malaria

Pronunciation: /məˈlɛːrɪə/
noun
[mass noun]
An intermittent and remittent fever caused by a protozoan parasite which invades the red blood cells and is transmitted by mosquitoes in many tropical and subtropical regions.
The parasite belongs to the genus Plasmodium (phylum Sporozoa) and is transmitted by female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles.

Origin
Mid 18th century: from Italian, from mal'aria, contracted form of mala aria 'bad air'. The term originally denoted the unwholesome atmosphere caused by the exhalations of marshes, to which the disease was formerly attributed.

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Tropics
It has never been hilarious
To endure a plague malarious.
So, friends, do not tarry there,
'Cause you might get malaria.

[Algot Runeman]

wisenheimer

Pronunciation: /ˈwʌɪz(ə)nˌhʌɪmə/
noun
US informal
A person who behaves in an irritatingly smug or arrogant fashion, typically by making clever remarks and displaying their knowledge.

Origin
Early 20th century: from wise1 + the suffix -(n)heimer found in surnames such as Oppenheimer.

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Though I thought I had someone else in mind, I realized during the development of this post, that I am the wisenheimer. I am he. He is I. Me, me, me!

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

wisenheimer

Wisenheimer appears a lot cleaner occupation than the smelly Dutch pappenheimer = person who empties cesspools.

Note that the German Pappenheimer has an entirely different meaning.

Illustration: see my post viewtopic.php?f=63&t=121762#p1895148

[Algot Runeman]

crema

Pronunciation: /ˈkreɪmə/
noun
[mass noun]
A brownish foam that forms on the top of freshly made espresso coffee.

Origin
Italian, literally 'cream'.

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Jake was weird. After slurping off the crema, he did not care to finish his espresso. It was an expensive habit on top of an expensive habit.

[Algot Runeman]

croquembouche

Pronunciation: /ˌkrɒkɒmˈbuːʃ/
noun
A decorative dessert consisting of choux pastry and crystallized fruit or other confectionery items arranged in a cone and held together by a caramel sauce.

Origin
French, literally 'crunch in the mouth'.

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To consume croquembouche
Avoid swoop and swoosh.
Be slow, yes deliberate.
Crunch along and consider it.

If you go in a rush
You'll mash and you'll crush
The delicate comestible
And be seen as detestable.


Williams Sonoma

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

croquembouche

So if I understand correctly, a sumptuous meal ends with a croquembouche and starts with an amuse-gueule.

Note that, through the course of the meal, one evolves from gueule (snout) to bouche (mouth). Though this assumes a civilised meal.

Spoiler: show

No, this is NOT the candle of a dish warmer.

[Algot Runeman]

avaunt

Pronunciation: /əˈvɔːnt/
exclamation
archaic
Go away: avaunt, you worm-faced fellows of the night!

Origin
Late Middle English: from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old French avant, from Latin ab 'from' + ante 'before'.

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The king took no guff. He imperiously pointed to the door of the hall and intoned deeply, "Avaunt, knave. Begone, and ne'er return!"

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

avaunt

People behaving boorishly or uncivilised at dinner, got no croquembouche.
They were sternly told to avaunt. Even forcibly expelled, if needed.

Grandpa claims grandma once did just that. I don't know. I was too young to have witnessed it, probably having been put to bed much earlier.

[Algot Runeman]

vivarium

Pronunciation: /vʌɪˈvɛːrɪəm/
Pronunciation: /vɪˈvɛːrɪəm/
noun (plural vivaria /vʌɪˈvɛːrɪə/ /vɪˈvɛːrɪə/)
An enclosure, container, or structure adapted or prepared for keeping animals under semi-natural conditions for observation or study or as pets; an aquarium or terrarium.

Origin
Early 17th century: from Latin, literally 'warren, fish pond', from vivus 'living', from vivere 'to live'.

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Blaphat carefully observed the vivarium to study the behavior of the tiny organisms thriving inside. His probe was not a danger to the container, though the container before him believed it was, itself, being studied. If Blapaht did his job well, the container should not remember it's time in Beaphat's care. Once returned to the planet below, the container would carry Blaphat's organisms for the rest of its existence. If things worked as well as they usually did, the fresh injection of Kalamah life would continue to grow and reproduce. They would follow their endless life cycle, passing from this container to it's thousands of neighbors. In turn, the Kalamah life would move outward from the initial community to the entire continent.

Blaphat hoped the advances in sea-travel technology and the new spirit of exploration would allow these adaptable vivarium creatures to carry the Kalamah phuzze with them as they explored the wider world below. Blaphat had enjoyed his time here. He was content that he had done his best. After returning the container to the planet below (during its night phase, to avoid too much disturbance), Blaphat would prepare for his jump to the next suitable planet. Seeding this section of the vast galaxy was his pleasurable duty.

[voralfred]

Why do I have the feeling that I am used as a wordarium by some alien creature (Alghat ?) to carry, as a wordtainer, and further propagate throughout my virtual community, strange Kalamah wordanisms ?

[Algot Runeman]

sillage

Pronunciation: /siːˈjɑːʒ/
noun
The degree to which a perfume’s fragrance lingers in the air when worn: neither scent has a very strong sillage [mass noun]: a summer fragrance with good sillage

Origin
French, literally 'wake, trail'.

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Marcy, who was gradually becoming "nose blind", did not realize how much sillage she left in the air as she walked through the room to her office. She wore extra scent because people seemed to avoid riding in the same elevator, and she hoped to mask any smell which she worried was offending.

[Algot Runeman]

galanthophile

Pronunciation: /ɡəˈlanθə(ʊ)fʌɪl/
noun
A person who collects snowdrops: the anonymous bidder bought the highly prized bulb on eBay, beating competition from other galanthophiles

Origin
Late 19th century (as galanthophil): blend of Galanthus (the snowdrop's taxonomic name, from Greek gala, galakt- 'milk' and anthos 'flower') and -phile.

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I understand collectors like today's galanthophiles. My own preference is using my lawn to collect dandelions.


Barbara Friedman

[Algot Runeman]

satori

Pronunciation: /səˈtɔːri/
noun
[mass noun] Buddhism
Sudden enlightenment: the road that leads to satori

Origin
Japanese, literally 'awakening'.

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Henry realized he'd had it wrong all along. Satori washed over him. Sarah loved him. That explained everything.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

satori

For some, satori is the culmination of

Spoiler: show

[Algot Runeman]

mirador
Pronunciation: /ˌmɪrəˈdɔː/
Pronunciation: /ˈmɪrədɔː/
noun
A turret or tower attached to a building and providing an extensive view.

Origin
Late 17th century: from Spanish, from mirar 'to look'.

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In New England, we call it a widow's walk, but we would recognize the purpose of a mirador if we saw one. A sailor in the crow's nest of a frigate would also understand.

[Algot Runeman]

terribilità

Pronunciation: /ˌtɛrɪbɪlɪˈtɑː/
noun
[mass noun]
Awesomeness or emotional intensity of conception and execution in an artist or work of art, originally as a quality attributed to Michelangelo by his contemporaries: Brown has come up with a new brand of terribilità that may be extrapolated into a sense of the sublime

Origin
Italian.

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No illustration can approach the terribilità of an original statue by Michelangelo. At best, this silhouette might be called "Davie" or maybe "Dave", never the original, evocative "David."

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

terribilità

Presented with a replica of Michelangelo's David, Queen Victoria too was overwhelmed with terribilità.

She ordered David's genitals covered with a proportionally large fig leaf.

Spoiler: show

[Algot Runeman]

orectic

Pronunciation: /ɒˈrɛktɪk/
adjective
technical
Of or concerning desire or appetite.

Origin
Late 17th century (as a noun in the sense 'stimulant for the appetite'): from Greek orektikos, from oregein 'stretch out, reach for'. The current sense dates from the late 18th century.

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Juan's gaze rested on her arm and was aroused by the smooth curve of her triceps. It is not that he ignored her other stunning attributes. Juan just found that, today, it was her arm which was the orectic trigger.

[I have my doubts that romance novelists will suddenly start using orectic in descriptions of lust or desire. It has too clinical a sound, as I read it aloud. Besides, it isn't clear just how many romance novelists follow this forum topic...]

A beautiful woman is not one whose legs or arms inspire praise, but one whose overall appearance is so beautiful that it leaves no possibility of admiring the individual parts.

(Lucius Annaeus Seneca)

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

orectic

..., Queen Victoria too was overwhelmed with orectic terribilità.

Now read the rest of my previous post about Victoria's sensibilità. That explains the anti-orectic leaf: viewtopic.php?f=1793&t=1434&p=1895185#p1895182

BTW. The man reminds me of JFK, but who's the woman?