GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[laurie]

What, no cavalcade of quips from the Peanut Gallery today?

The troops must have been enervated yesterday.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Friday April 22, 2005

atavism \AT-uh-viz-uhm\, noun: 1. The reappearance in an organism of characteristics of some remote ancestor after several generations of absence. 2. One that exhibits atavism; a throwback. 3. Reversion to an earlier behavior, outlook, or approach.

Occasionally a modern whale is born having sprouted a leg or two -- a genetic throwback known as an atavism.
--Douglas H. Chadwick, "Evolution of whales," National Geographic, November 2001

Read avidly in Europe and the United States in the 1890s, The Female Offender argues that women criminals are atavisms or throwbacks to earlier evolutionary stages, marked by physical anomalies such as coarse features.
--Nicole Rafter, "Breaking the Codes: Female Criminality in Fin-de-Siecle Paris," The Women's Review of Books, October 1, 1997

The Enlightenment was the movement of thought, starting in the late 17th century and extending as far as the 19th century with political economists such as David Hume, Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, which self-consciously set out to liberate human reason from mediaeval atavism, superstition and error.
-- Melanie Phillips, All Must Have Prizes

Nairn rejected the view of nationalist movements, purveyed by many thinkers on the liberal and Marxist left, as residues of tribal atavism.
--John Gray, "Little Scotlander," New Statesman, January 24, 2000

At best, atavism is a harmless fantasy, not sustainable with any degree of persistent realism under skies crisscrossed by satellites and jet aircraft.
--Shiva Naipaul, "Aborigines: primitive chic in Australia," New Republic, April 22, 1985

Milton obviously invokes vassalage for its suggestion of atavism, back-stepping toward feudal obligation and subjugation of individual liberty.
--Mary C. Fenton, "Hope, land ownership, and Milton's 'Paradise within,'" Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, January 2003

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Atavism comes from French atavisme, from Latin atavus, "ancestor," from atta, "daddy" + avus, "grandfather." The adjective form is atavistic /at-uh-VIS-tik/.

[felonius]

A close cousin of anachronism.

You know - like the Pope.

[Kvetch]

/Me searches for a good line about the old Ultima games.

[Ghost]

/Me searches for a good line about the old Ultima games.

The Avatar's behavior, work ethic and actions were atavistic, well he is an atavism.

[ausfi]

Word of the Day for Saturday April 23, 2005


rara avis \RAIR-uh-AY-vis\, noun;
plural rara avises \RAIR-uh-AY-vuh-suhz\ or rarae aves \RAIR-ee-AY-veez\:
A rare or unique person or thing.

He was, after all, that rara avis, a Jewish Catholic priest with a wife and children.
--Jeremy Sams, "Lorenzo the magnificent," Independent, May 16, 2000

"First of all," Arthur said, "Jack is that rara avis among Ivy League radicals, a birthright member of the proletariat."
--Charles McCarry, Lucky Bastard

Rara avis. You'd have to go far and wide to find someone like that, especially in these times.
--Andrew Holleran, In September, the Light Changes


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Rara avis is Latin for "rare bird."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for rara avis

[laurie]

Yeah, the IBDoF members are rarae aves alright.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Monday April 25, 2005

scintilla \sin-TIL-uh\, noun: A tiny or scarcely detectable amount; the slightest particle; a trace; a spark.

In victory, they must hold on to at least a scintilla of humility, lest they get too cocky -- and ripe for a takedown.
--Bill Breen, "'We are literally trying to stop time,'" Fast Company, May 2000

"I bear her not one scintilla of ill will," he said.
--Sarah Lyall, "That Harriman Book," New York Times, May 4, 1994

There was never a scintilla of doubt, or a hint of equivocation, in Michael about his commitment to the party.
--"Ferris's decency and sense of fun recalled," Irish Times, March 23, 2000

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Scintilla is from Latin scintilla, "a spark, a glimmer, a faint trace." Also from scintilla is the verb scintillate, "to sparkle."

[felonius]

Reminds me of Ham Salad and Chewchilla from that old "Hardware Wars" spoof.

Scintilla? Iota? Myopia? I don't know...I need to go to bed...

[Darb]

Dr. Sciani fondly remembered the halcyon days of his residency, searching for scintilla of cilia, scintillating away in his scintillometer.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Tuesday April 26, 2005

matutinal \muh-TOOT-n-uhl\, adjective: Relating to or occurring in the morning; early.

Get up early and wash your face in the matutinal May Day dew; it will make your skin beautiful and your heart pure.
--Ray Murphy, "Hurray, Hurray the Month of May," Boston Globe, April 28, 1988

We had to rehearse at an hour at which no actor or actress has been out of bed within the memory of man; and we sardonically congratulated one another every morning on our rosy matutinal looks and the improvement wrought by our early rising in our health and characters.
--George Bernard Shaw, "The Author's Apology," Mrs. Warren's Profession

Harry Truman, was -- like Winston Churchill -- known to take a matutinal shot of whisky. He did it after his regular very vigorous early-morning walk.
--R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., "Plainly presidential," The Washington Times, January 18, 2002

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Matutinal is from Late Latin matutinalis, from Latin matutinus, "early in the morning; pertaining to the morning."

[felonius]

The first ten minutes are always really rough for me. Wish I could be one of those people who wake up sans alarm at the same time every day and bound out of bed ready to vacuum.

People like that scare me a little though.

[laurie]

Wish I could be one of those people who wake up sans alarm at the same time every day and bound out of bed ready to vacuum.

Both my parents were like that - up at 6:00 AM every weekday. Mom would have the laundry/housecleaning done by 9:00 AM; then she'd go grocery shopping or do some baking. By noon, she'd have her "work" done and would spend the afternoon reading or visiting friends. Dad would shovel snow or water the garden - sometimes even mow the lawn - before heading off to work at 8:00.

My siblings and I - all night owls - marvel at the vagaries of genetics ...

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Wednesday April 27, 2005

slugabed \SLUHG-uh-bed\, noun: a person who stays in bed until a relatively late hour; one who indulges in lying abed; a sluggard.

``Thomson, who was a notorious slugabed, is peculiarly eloquent on the subject of early rising.'' --Hartley Coleridge, Essays and Marginalia

``I found Oriana, as usual, up before me, for I always was a sad slugabed.'' --W. Hurton, Doomed Ship

``Why Lambe, why Lady, fie you slugabed.'' --Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

``All save Whit elected to sleep in that morning. Whit came back to report that he had spotted the tracks of a doe and a fawn made in the new snow directly beneath my unoccupied stand, and I regretted being a slugabed.'' --``Paying Tribute to Deer in Minnesota Woods,'' New York Times, December 6, 1998

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From slug, which has an old meaning ``to move slowly'' + abed.


Laurie, you were saying !

[clong]

. . . sometimes even mow the lawn - before heading off to work at 8:00.

Bet that was popular with your neighbors!

[felonius]

"Slugabed."

Hmmm - sounds like a personalized anger-management class. "Would you prefer a feather or foam mattress for your slugfest today, sir?"

Located next door to Rent-A-Wreck.

[laurie]

. . . sometimes even mow the lawn - before heading off to work at 8:00.

Bet that was popular with your neighbors!

Yeah, it was - but at least it was weekdays, not Saturday or Sunday. He always waited till later in the morning on weekends.


And yes, Ghost, I am a slugabed. Morning is a four-letter word in my dictionary.

[Aunflin2]

The first ten minutes are always really rough for me. Wish I could be one of those people who wake up sans alarm at the same time every day and bound out of bed ready to vacuum.

People like that scare me a little though.

LOL

So I guess I'd scare you...

I always wake up between 2:15 AM and 2:30 AM without benefit of the alarm, which I set every night--actually, anymore, I can't seem to sleep for longer than five hours a night...

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Monday May 2, 2005

supplicate \SUP-luh-kayt\, intransitive verb: To make a humble and earnest petition; to pray humbly.

transitive verb: 1. To seek or ask for humbly and earnestly. 2. To make a humble petition to; to beseech.

Lehi's list of enemies was long and broad, including not only the British and the Arabs, but respected Jewish leaders like David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir, whom they dismissed as weaklings and compromisers prepared to supplicate before the aristocratic count.
--Tod Hoffman, "Count (Folke) Bernadotte's folly," Queen's Quarterly, December 22, 1996

Their ambassadors would plead, supplicate, cajole, threaten, lobby, or bribe the bureaucrats who were administering the licenses and quotas.
--Zafar U. Ahmed, "India's economic reforms," Competitiveness Review, January 1, 1999

In this formula, practitioners of religion are more or less powerless over the supernatural beings with whom they deal; they can only supplicate those beings for favours and then await their response.
--Ronald Hutton, "Paganism and Polemic," Folklore, April 2000

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Supplicate derives from the past participle of Latin supplicare, from supplex, "entreating for mercy." The noun form is supplication.

[laurie]

Boy, that's a tough one ...

Ghost, I hereby supplicate that you use words that are easier to make jokes about.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Tuesday May 3, 2005

labile \LAY-byl\, adjective: 1. Open to change; apt or likely to change; adaptable. 2. Constantly or readily undergoing chemical, physical, or biological change or breakdown; unstable.

They are too open to the rest of the world, too labile, too prone to foreign influence.
--Robert Hughes, Goya

Mifflin may not have been much more labile than the people around him, but he was undoubtedly more aware of his volatility.
--"Leander, Lorenzo, and Castalio," Early American Literature, January 1, 1998

Faber's prose is an amazingly labile instrument, wry and funny, never pretentious, capable of rendering the muck of a London street and the delicate hummingbird flights of thought with equal ease.
--Lev Grossman, "The Lady Is a Tramp," Time, September 16, 2002

They lock themselves in their studies and from the labile, rocking mass of thoughts and impressions they form books, which immediately become something final, irrevocable, as if frost had cut down the flowers.
--Adam Zagajewski, "History's children," New Republic, December 2, 1991

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Labile derives from Late Latin labilis, from Latin labi, "to slip."


LAURIE: OK, I'm labile.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Tuesday May 4, 2005

traduce \truh-DOOS; -DYOOS\, transitive verb: To expose to contempt or shame by means of false statements or misrepresentation; to represent as blamable; to vilify.

Sir Edward rang twice to stress that he had no business relationship with the family other than his consultancy, but also to vouch for the fact that they were "splendid people" who should not be traduced.
--Ian Jack, "Generous spirits, secretive souls," Independent, October 17, 1998

I sometimes wonder whether those who traduce today's television have any conception just how much is on offer to the growing number of us with multi-channel television.
--Peter Bazalgette, "Golden Age? This is it," The Guardian, November 19, 2001

The only problem is that his corrective arguments tend to traduce rationalism as the exclusive preserve of wild-eyed eggheads who only ever spin webs of marvelously useless deduction.
--Steven Poole, "Et cetera," The Guardian, June 30, 2001

Many of you, Our Leader is absolutely sure, were disgusted at the way Rupert has been traduced in the media.
--A. N. Wilson, "Modern Britain, modern kitchens! New Labour Web site number 11," Daily Telegraph, March 3, 1998

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Traduce derives from Latin traducere, "to lead across, to lead along, to display, to expose to ridicule," from trans-, "across, over" + ducere, "to lead."

[laurie]

GHOST: I didn't attempt a joke using labile because all I could think of was [*insert female body part*], and the dirty old men here (you know who) would have traduced me for it.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Thursday May 5, 2005

claque \KLACK\, noun: 1. A group hired to applaud at a performance. 2. A group of fawning admirers.

He cultivated the "Georgetown set" of leading journalists and columnists and had them cheering for him as if he had hired a claque.
--Theodore Draper, "Little Heinz And Big Henry," New York Times, September 6, 1992

Behind the hacks was the claque. They cheered and whooped in a vague way, like a group of restrained English persons at a Texas rodeo: "Whee! Whoooo! Polite cough!"
--Simon Hoggart, "Yee hah, chaps! It's the manifesto," The Guardian, May 11, 2001

Charles Bukowski suffers from too good a press-- a small but loudly enthusiastic claque.
--Kenneth Rexroth, "There's Poetry in a Ragged Hitch-Hiker," New York Times, July 5, 1964

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Claque comes from French, from claquer, "to clap," ultimately of imitative origin.


LAURIE: That’s a shame, if you would have actually made a joke using labile all the dirty ole men would have acted like your claque.

[laurie]

A claque of dirty old men following me around is NOT my idea of a good time.

HOWEVER ...

... A claque of Hugh Jackman clones would be very nice indeed.