GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

/ləˈbɒtəmi/
noun
A surgical operation involving incision into the prefrontal lobe of the brain, formerly used to treat mental illness.
Compare with leucotomy
mass noun

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My lobotomy didn't take quite as intended. I am just as crazy as before, but now have direct access to the Net. I might be the first to get a "robotomy"!

[Algot Runeman]

/ˈməːmeɪd/
noun
A mythical sea creature with the head and trunk of a woman and the tail of a fish, conventionally depicted as beautiful and with long flowing golden hair.

Origin
Middle English: from mere (in the obsolete sense ‘sea’) + maid.

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Martin maintained, despite the conventional wisdom, that the mermaid he saw did not have long flowing golden hair.

[Algot Runeman]

/ɪmˈbrəʊlɪəʊ/
noun
1 An extremely confused, complicated, or embarrassing situation.
1.1 archaic A confused heap.

Origin
Mid 18th century: Italian, from imbrogliare ‘confuse’; related to embroil.

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It had been a sudden imbroglio. He didn't understand how it happened.

[voralfred]

Let us hope that the imbroglio that Martin has started by maintaining steadfastly that the mermaid he saw did not have long flowing golden hair didn't end by his getting a lobotomy !

[Algot Runeman]

/ˈlɛtdaʊn/
noun
1 A disappointment.
2 mass noun - The release of milk in a nursing mother or lactating animal as a reflex response to suckling or massage.
3 Aeronautics - The descent of an aircraft or spacecraft prior to landing.

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After a very promising let-down during the early part of his landing glide, Bob's final touchdown was a significant let-down.

[voralfred]

In the cattle-transport plane that him and his mother for dairy herd regeneration, the hungry calf felt let-down. Suckling his mother did not produce any let-down of milk, because of the stress caused to her by the final let-down of the plane.

[Algot Runeman]

/ˌɡlɒsəˈleɪlɪə/
noun
mass noun
The phenomenon of (apparently) speaking in an unknown language, especially in religious worship. It is practiced especially by Pentecostal and charismatic Christians.

Origin
Late 19th century: from Greek glōssa ‘language, tongue’ + lalia ‘speech’.

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Marie, in the throes of her passion, called out. Her glossolalia, certain praise of God.

[Algot Runeman]

/ˈspatjʊlət/
adjective
1 Having a broad, rounded end.
1.1 Botany Zoology Broad at the apex and tapered to the base.

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Tom's spathulate fingers made it easy to use his kayak.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

[Algot Runeman]

/ˈrɛprɪmɑːnd/
noun
A formal expression of disapproval.
verb
[with object]
Address a reprimand to.

Origin
Mid 17th century: from French réprimande, via Spanish from Latin reprimenda, ‘things to be held in check’, neuter plural gerundive of reprimere (see repress).

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I narrowly avoided an official reprimand from the masses of WotD players. Today's word, offered by had been used before, TWICE, and shall only get oblique mention today.

[voralfred]

[Algot Runeman]

/əˈvɑːst/
exclamation
Nautical
Stop; cease.

Origin
Early 17th century: from Dutch hou'vast, houd vast ‘hold fast!’.

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"Avast!", yelled the first mate. The mainsail snapped as it filled with the chill north wind, and all the ordinary seamen. turned his way, awaiting their next order. The vast ocean and uncaring sky looked on.

[Algot Runeman]

/ʃlɛp/
(also schlepp)
verb
[with object]North American
informal
1 Haul or carry (something heavy or awkward)
1.1 no object, with adverbial of direction (of a person) go or move reluctantly or with effort.
noun
North American
informal
1 A tedious or difficult journey.
2 another term for schlepper

Origin
Early 20th century (as a verb): from Yiddish shlepn ‘drag’, from Middle High German sleppen.

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Sarah schlepped her groceries home. Luckily, her apartment was only a second floor walk-up and only three blocks from the market.

[Algot Runeman]

1

/ˈbʊli/
noun
A person who habitually seeks to harm or intimidate those whom they perceive as vulnerable.
verb
[with object]
Seek to harm, intimidate, or coerce (someone perceived as vulnerable)

Origin
Mid 16th century: probably from Middle Dutch boele ‘lover’. Original use was as a term of endearment applied to either sex; it later became a familiar form of address to a male friend. The current sense dates from the late 17th century.

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Joe was a bully. That's all there is to say.

[voralfred]

My wife never bullies me into schlepping the groceries for her. I do schlep them, but as a healthy exercise to keep in shape and remain, at almost 65, attractive in her eyes. (As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder....)

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

[Algot Runeman]

/eɪˈsɛntrɪk/
adjective
1 Without a centre; not centralized.
1.1 Genetics (of a chromosome) having no centromere.

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It did not bother Tom in the least that the donut was acentric. It was how donuts had "always" been.

[Algot Runeman]

/ˈfreɪz(ə)l/
(also frazil ice)
noun
mass noun
North American
Soft or amorphous ice formed by the accumulation of ice crystals in water that is too turbulent to freeze solid.

Origin
Late 19th century: from Canadian French frasil ‘snow floating in the water’, from French fraisil ‘cinders’.

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Coming back to the mooring, Tony was glad there was only frazil ice that his boat could pass through. Soon he'd be done for the season, pulling the boat out of the water before the inner harbor froze solid.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

[voralfred]

My favorite frazil is granizado de limon. But since what keeps the water from freezing solid, apart from the constant strirring, is its high content of sugar, I have to keep my intake to a minimum to avoid losing all the benefit of schlepping groceries...

[Algot Runeman]

We also have the "Icee-Freeze" machines in our local "convenience" stores. They don't pretend any quality of beverage like the ones you describe from Europe, just sugary water with "blue raspberry" or grape or cherry flavoring (artificial for sure). Right beside these machines is often a bigger one which delivers carbonated beverages by mixing syrup flavor, water, and carbonation from compressed gas cylinders. The "Big Gulp" at 32 ounces is popular, I've heard. Maybe that size is popular because it comes close to being a liter (doubt it!).

Bigger supermarkets don't cater to the same desires, I guess.

Frazil does not even enter the conversation, in spite of being listed by ODO as a North American term.

[Algot Runeman]

/ˈanədʒi/
noun
mass noun
Medicine
Absence of the normal immune response to a particular antigen or allergen.

Origin
Early 20th century: from German Anergie, from Greek an- ‘not’, on the pattern of Allergie ‘allergy’.

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Sally sallied forth to face the day. It wasn't too long before she wound down because her anergy quickly drained her energy.

[Algot Runeman]

/ˈtɒɡ(ə)l/
noun
1 An electric switch operated by means of a projecting lever that is moved up and down.
2 Computing
another term for toggle

Origin
Mid 18th century (originally in nautical use): of unknown origin.

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I find myself on and off again about toggle switches.



(For the fastidious among you, today's recommendation was a word we had used before. This selection was based on having the illustration at hand.)

[voralfred]

Sometimes, in the fall, after weeks when the leaves just changed colour on the trees, it happens suddenly that all the leaves simultaneously undergo abscission, as if this were activated by a toggle switch.

Wow ! Introducing abscission with your choice of replacement WoTD was even more artificial than last time. I hope this awkwardness will not bring you to feel animadversion against me....

[Algot Runeman]

/ˈɔːɡə/
verb
[no object]augur well/badly/ill
1 (of an event or circumstance) portend a good or bad outcome.
1.1 with object Portend or bode (a specified outcome)
1.2 archaic - with object Foresee or predict.
noun
(in ancient Rome) a religious official who observed natural signs, especially the behaviour of birds, interpreting these as an indication of divine approval or disapproval of a proposed action.

Usage
The spellings augur (a verb meaning ‘portend a good or bad outcome’, as in this augurs well) and auger (a type of tool used for boring) are sometimes confused, but the two words are quite different in both their present meaning and their origins

Origin
Late Middle English (as a noun): from Latin, ‘diviner’.

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Augustus averred that the oracle's pronouncement augured well for the planned making of holes with the auger.