Word of the Day

[D. Allan]

chuck-will's-widow • \chuck-willz-WID-oh\ • noun

: a nightjar (Caprimulgus carolinensis) of the southeastern United States

Example Sentence:

It was a cool, still night, and we could hear a chuck-will's-widow calling from over the hill.

Did you know?

The chuck-will's-widow is a nocturnal bird that can be found in the swamps, rocky uplands, and pine forests of southeastern United States and is often confused with its close relative, the whippoorwill. Like many of our other feathered friends, the chuck-will's-widow got its name through onomatopoeia: "chuck-will's-widow" imitates the sounds of the bird's call. Given that the bird will sometimes repeat its call up to 800 times without stopping, the imitative origin of its name is hardly surprising.

- Merriam-Webster online

for pictures and info. click here

[D. Allan]

ashram • \AHSH-rum\ • noun

1 : a secluded dwelling of a Hindu sage; also : the group of disciples instructed there

*2 : a religious retreat

Example Sentence:

Susan took a semester off from school in order to practice meditation and yoga at an ashram.

Did you know?

"Ashram" first appeared in English in the early 1900s and gained traction after Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi founded his famous ashrams at Sabarmati near Ahmadabad and at Sevagram near Wardha. The word "ashram" derives from a Sanskrit word, "srama," which means "religious exertion." Later in the 20th century, English speakers broadened the term "ashram" to encompass any sort of religious retreat, regardless of denomination. In addition to practicing yoga and mediation, Susan from our example sentence may also receive instruction from a religious teacher and do some type of manual or mental work during her stay at the ashram.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

- Merriam-Webster online

[LynnDel]

Good stuff, D. Allan. I suspect that you use all these terms in your daily life. Tell me, when someone carries on a conversation with you, does communication actually occur? My guess is that the whole transaction might end up being rather transblucent.

(There, do I get an A?)

[D. Allan]

Acually, I have very little daily life. Time flies so fast that life seems to be more weekly or monthly than daily. Then, again, it crawls along so slowly that only the seconds have reality, the minutes and hours so far in the future... let alone the days!!

So you see, I have very little time to be verbal. On a daily basis, that is. Is this obfuscation? Or so pellucid that nothing at all can be seen? :)

[D. Allan]

p.s. you get an a+

[D. Allan]

lenitive • \LEN-uh-tiv\ • adjective

: alleviating pain or harshness : soothing

Example Sentence:

Ryan's mother insisted that a steaming cup of herbal tea would have a lenitive effect on his stomachache.

Did you know?

"Lenitive" first appeared in English in the 15th century. It derived from the Latin verb "lenire" ("to soften or soothe"), which was itself formed from the adjective "lenis," meaning "soft" or "mild." "Lenire" also gave us the adjective "lenient," which usually means "tolerant" or "indulgent" today but in its original sense carried the meaning of "relieving pain or stress." Often found in medical contexts, "lenitive" can also be a noun referring to a treatment (such as a salve) with soothing or healing properties.

[D. Allan]

besmirch • \bih-SMERCH\ • verb

: sully, soil

Example Sentence:

In order to besmirch the reputation of his opponent, Clay made sure to bring up the subject of the senator's tax troubles during their first debate.

Did you know?

Since the prefix "be-" in "besmirch" means "to make or cause to be," when you besmirch something, you cause it to have a smirch. What's a smirch? A smirch is a stain, and "to smirch" is to stain or make dirty. By extension, "to smirch" came to mean "to bring discredit or disgrace on." "Smirch" and "besmirch," then, mean essentially the same thing. We have William Shakespeare to thank for the variation in form. Shakespeare's 1599 use of the term in Henry V is the first known appearance of "besmirch" in English.

- Merriam-Webster online

[D. Allan]

bunbury (BUN-buh-ree) noun

An imaginary person whose name is used as an excuse to some purpose, especially to visit a place.

verb intr.

To use the name of a fictitious person as an excuse.

[From Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of being Earnest where the character Algernon invents an imaginary person named Bunbury as an alibi to escape from relatives. He explains to his friend, "I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose. Bunbury is perfectly invaluable. If it wasn't for Bunbury's extraordinary bad health, for instance, I wouldn't be able to dine with you at Willis's to-night."]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"There are birds who bunbury. One of them is the blackbird."

Jesko Partecke; The Birds Who Bunbury; Deutsche Welle (Germany); May 22, 2007.

X-Bonus

Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right. -Laurens van der Post, explorer and writer (1906-1996)

[D. Allan]

mulct • \MULKT\ • verb

1 : to punish by a fine

2 *a : to defraud especially of money : swindle b : to obtain by fraud, duress, or theft

Example Sentence:

Francis was finally barred from the securities industry when it was discovered he'd been mulcting investors for years.

Did you know?

A fine assessed as a penalty for an infraction is generally considered justifiable. Fraud, on the other hand, is wrong -- it's just the sort of thing that deserves a fine. So in "mulct" we have a unique word, one that means both "to fine" and "to defraud." The "fine" sense came first. "Mulct" was borrowed from the Latin word for a fine, which is "multa" or "mulcta." The "fine" sense is still in use, mostly in legal contexts ("the court mulcted the defendant for punitive damages"), but these days "mulct" is more often used for an illegal act. It has been speculated that the use may have come about by association with the verb "milk," in its sense "to exploit, to coerce profit from" (as in "she was milked by the lawyers for everything she had"), but that speculation has never been proven.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

- Merriam-Webster online

[D. Allan]

victual • \VIT-ul\ • noun

1 : food usable by people

*2 plural : supplies of food : provisions

Example Sentence:

The small grocery on the corner sells meat, bread, fruit, and other victuals at prices that rival those of the big supermarkets.

Did you know?

If you're hungry for the story behind "victual," get ready to dig into a rich and fulfilling history. The word derives via Middle English and Anglo-French from the Latin noun "victus," meaning "nourishment" or "way of living." "Victus" derives from the verb "vivere," which means "to live" and which is the source of a whole smorgasbord of other English words like "vital," "vivid," and "survive." It's also the root of "viand," another English word referring to food. There's also "vittles," a word that sounds like it might be an alteration of the plural "victuals" but which actually entered English a century before "victual."

*Indicates the sense illustrated by the example sentence.

- Merriam Webster online

gobble

noun

1. the characteristic sound made by a turkeycock

verb

1. eat hastily without proper chewing; "Don't bolt your food!"

2. make a gurgling sound, characteristic of turkeys

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

tur·key –noun

1. a large, gallinaceous bird of the family Meleagrididae, esp. Meleagris gallopavo, of America, that typically has green, reddish-brown, and yellowish-brown plumage of a metallic luster and that is domesticated in most parts of the world.

2. the flesh of this bird, used as food.

3. ocellated turkey.

4. Slang. a. a person or thing of little appeal; dud; loser.

b. a naive, stupid, or inept person.

c. a poor and unsuccessful theatrical production; flop.

5. Bowling. three strikes in succession.

—Idiom

6. talk turkey, Informal. to talk frankly; mean business.

[Origin: 1545–55; short for Turkeycock and Turkey hencock and hen of Turkey, first applied to guinea fowl, later confused with the American bird]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

[D. Allan]

postprandial \post-PRAN-dee-uhl\, adjective:

Happening or done after a meal.

A gourmand who zealously avoids all exercise as "seriously damaging to one's health," he had caviar for breakfast and was now having oysters for lunch, whetted with wine, as he fueled himself for a postprandial reading at the Montauk Club in Brooklyn.

-- Mel Gussow, "The Man Who Put Horace Rumpole on the Case", New York Times, April 12, 1995

When I wake up in the morning, I can have my usual breakfast -- a slightly bizarre concoction of three kinds of cold cereal topped with grapes and a cup of decaf -- and then stagger back to bed for a postprandial snooze.

-- Sylvan Fox, "It's Less Hectic Staying Put In One Place", Newsday, April 3, 1994

Postprandial is from post- + prandial, from Latin prandium, "a late breakfast or lunch."

- Dictionary.com

[Nan]

Diabetics will be familiar with postprandial (usually 2 hour) blood glucose measuremnts.

[D. Allan]

Medics have a large vocabulary!

[D. Allan]

an·ti·ma·cas·sar (ān'tĭ-mə-kās'ər) noun:

A protective covering for the backs of chairs and sofas.

[anti- + Macassar, a brand of hair oil.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

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

antimacassar

coined 1852, from anti- + macassar oil, imported hair tonic from Sulawesi. Cloth to protect chair and sofa fabric from people leaning their oily heads back against it.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

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

Ma·cas·sar –noun

a former name of Ujung Pandang.

Also, Makassar, Makasar.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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

Makassar, (Macassar, Mangkasar) is the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the largest city on Sulawesi Island. From 1971 to 1999, the city was formally named Ujung Pandang, after a precolonial fort in the city, and the two names are often used interchangeably. ...

Economy

The city is southern Sulawesi's primary port, with regular domestic and international shipping connections. It is nationally famous as an important port of call for the pinisi boats, sailing ships which are among the last in use for regular long-distance trade.

During the colonial era, the city was famous for being the namesake of Makassar oil, which it exported in great quantity. Makassar ebony is a warm black, streaked with deep red, and highly prized for fine cabinetry and veneers.

-Wikipedia

[D. Allan]

deipnosophist \dyp-NOS-uh-fist\, noun:

Someone who is skilled in table talk.

At the age of six his future as a deipnosophist seemed certain. Guzzling filched apples he loved to prattle. Hogging the pie he invariably piped up and rattled on.

-- Ellis Sharp, "The Bloating of Nellcock"

Deipnosophist comes from the title of a work written by the Greek Athenaeus in about 228 AD, Deipnosophistai, in which a number of wise men sit at a dinner table and discuss a wide range of topics. It is derived from deipnon, "dinner" + sophistas, "a clever or wise man."

Dictionary.com Entry

[D. Allan]

kvetch \KVECH\:

1. To complain habitually.

noun:

1. A complaint.

2. A habitual complainer.

People kvetched when someone else wouldn't relinquish his position.

-- Barry Lopez, "Before the Temple of Fire.", Harper's Magazine, January 1998

They begin to look like malcontents who kvetch about the weather so much that they don't notice the sun coming out.

-- David Shenk, "Slamming Gates", The New Republic, January 26, 1998

Time for my biennial kvetch about the West End theatre.

-- Simon Hoggart, "Hose bans, petrol mania: saying 'don't panic' always triggers chaos", The Guardian, November 4, 2000

He's just a very up person, she says, which is odd, because he is also a big complainer, a class-A kvetch.

-- Penny Wolfson, "Moonrise", The Atlantic, December 2001

He had difficulty getting American publishers for his later novels, partly because of his self-created image by then as a crusty old kvetch.

-- Geoffrey Wheatcroft, "What Kingsley Can Teach Martin", The Atlantic, September 2000

Kvetch comes from Yiddish kvetshn, "to squeeze, to complain," from Middle High German quetzen, quetschen, "to squeeze."

Dictionary.com Entry

[D. Allan]

soi-disant \swah-dee-ZAHN\, adjective:

Self-styled; so-called.

The study exposes most varieties of 'human resource management' as a complete waste ofttimes promoted by soi-disant gurus and self-serving consultants with an eye for a quick buck.

-- "Support for an old-fashioned view", Independent, May 12, 1994

The troupe, soi-disant egalitarians, mostly turn out to be royal phonies.

-- Craig Offman, "Whiz Kid", Time, February 1, 1999

Soi-disant comes from the French, from soi, "oneself" + disant, "saying," present participle of dire, "to say."

Dictionary.com Entry

[D. Allan]

favonian • \fuh-VOH-nee-un\ • adjective

: of or relating to the west wind : mild

Example Sentence:

A favonian wind blew across the plains, a welcome sign of spring's imminent arrival.

Did you know?

In "Ode to the West Wind," poet Percy Bysshe Shelley called the "wild West Wind" the "breath of Autumn's being." But according to Greco-Roman tradition, the west wind was warm and usually gentle. Its Latin name, "Favonius," is the basis for the English adjective "favonian" and derives from roots that are akin to the Latin "fovēre," meaning "to warm." "Zephyros," a Greek name for the west wind, is the ultimate source of "zephyr," meaning "a gentle breeze." In Greco-Roman tradition, it was the north wind, Boreas (aka Aquilo), who was the rude and blustery type.

-Merriam-Webster online

[D. Allan]

algorithm (AL-guh-rith-uhm) noun

A finite sequence of well-defined steps for solving a problem.

[After al Khwarizmi (the [man] of Khwarizm), a nickname of the 9th century Persian astronomer and mathematician Abu Jafar Muhammand ibn Musa, who authored many texts on arithmetic and algebra. He worked in Baghdad and his nickname alludes to his place of origin Khwarizm (Khiva), in present-day Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"If you teach a computer to write a piece of music by feeding it an algorithm, have you composed the resulting piece or has the computer?" Alexander Gelfand; The Sounds of Science; The Walrus (Toronto, Canada); Jun 2007.

[D. Allan]

nuance • \NOO-ahnss\ • noun

*1 : a subtle distinction or variation

2 : a subtle quality : nicety

3 : sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings (as of meaning, feeling, or value)

Example Sentence:

Because she wanted to set her novel in New England, the author spent three months in New Hampshire learning the nuances of the local dialect.

Did you know?

The history of "nuance" starts in Latin with the noun "nubes," meaning "cloud." "Nubes" floated into Middle French as "nue," also meaning "cloud," and "nue" gave rise to "nuer," meaning "to make shades of color." "Nuer" in turn produced "nuance," which in Middle French meant "shade of color." English borrowed "nuance" from French, with the meaning "a subtle distinction or variation," in the late 18th century. That use persists today. Additionally, "nuance" is sometimes used in a specific musical sense, designating a subtle, expressive variation in a musical performance (such as in tempo, dynamic intensity, or timbre) that is not indicated in the score.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

- Merriam Webster online

[D. Allan]

attenuate • \uh-TEN-yuh-wayt\ • verb

1 : to make thin or slender

*2 : to lessen the amount, force, magnitude, or value of : weaken

3 : to reduce the severity, virulence, or vitality of

Example Sentence:

The use of computers, with their quiet keyboards, has greatly attenuated the noise level of the office, but Dee misses the sound of clacking typewriters.

Did you know?

"Attenuate" ultimately comes from a combination of the Latin prefix "ad-," meaning "to" or "toward," and "tenuis," meaning "thin." It has been on the medical scene since the 16th century, when a health treatise recommended eating dried figs to attenuate bodily fluids. That treatment might be outmoded nowadays, but "attenuate" is still used in medicine to refer to procedures that weaken a pathogen or reduce the severity of a disease. Most often, though, "attenuate" implies that something has been reduced or weakened by physical or chemical means. You can attenuate wire by drawing it through successively smaller holes, or attenuate gold by hammering it into thin sheets. You can even attenuate the momentum of a play by including too many costume changes.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

- Merriam-Webster online

[D. Allan]

escapade • \ESS-kuh-payd\ • noun

: a usually adventurous action that runs counter to approved or conventional conduct

Example Sentence:

His latest film is a screwball comedy depicting the calamitous escapades of two men who stow away on a cruise ship.

Did you know?

When it was first used in English, "escapade" referred to an act of escaping or fleeing from confinement or restraint. The relationship between "escape" and "escapade" does not end there. Both words derive from the Vulgar Latin verb "excappare," meaning "to escape," a product of the Latin prefix "ex-" and the Late Latin noun "cappa," meaning "head covering or cloak." While "escape" took its route through Anglo-French and Middle English, however, "escapade" made its way into English by way of the Spanish "escapar" ("to escape") and the French "escapade."

- Merriam-Webster online

[D. Allan]

vilipend (VIL-uh-pend) verb tr.

1. To treat someone with contempt.

2. To disparage.

[From Old French vilipender, from Latin vilipendere, from vilis

(cheap, worthless) + pendere (to consider). The words vilify,

vile, revile, and venal are all cousins of this word.]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"Every month those of us who teach at Columbia (the University) are supposed to be paid, and every month last fall I wasn't. This seems not to have been a value judgment. They say the computer can't find me; I am so random I am inaccessible. Still, if I were a tenant in one of the many hovels owned by the University, and failed for months to pay my rent, you can bet Columbia (the Landlord) would have flopped my disk soon enough.

Most of us are tenants in this society, which is why it is necessary to nathematize and vilipend the landlords, our owners."

John Leonard; In Person; Newsday (New York); Feb 19, 1987.

[D. Allan]

serotine (SER-uh-tin, -tyn) adjective:

Late in occurring, forming, or flowering.

noun:

A small brown bat (Eptesicus serotinus) native of Europe and Asia (named after its habit of appearing late in the evening).

[From Latin serotinus (belated), from serus (late).]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"We passed along, athwart the twilight peering Forward as far as ever eye could stretch Against the sunbeams serotine and lucent." Dante Alighieri; The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow); 1867.

X-Bonus

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)

[D. Allan]

confabulate • \kun-FAB-yuh-layt\ • verb

1 : to talk informally : chat

*2 : to hold a discussion : confer

3 : to fill in gaps in memory by fabrication

Example Sentence:

Before accepting my offer to purchase their handmade quilt, Polly and Linda took a moment to confabulate.

Did you know?

"Confabulate" is a fabulous word for making fantastic fabrications. Given the similarities in spelling and sound, you might guess that "confabulate" and "fabulous" come from the same root, and they do -- the Latin "fabula," which means "conversation, story." Another "fabula" descendant that continues to tell tales in English is "fable." All three words have long histories in English: "fable" first appeared in writing in the 14th century, and "fabulous" followed in the 15th. "Confabulate" is a relative newcomer, appearing at the beginning of the 1600s.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

- Merriam-Webster online