Word of the Day

[D. Allan]

Squamish (SKWOM-ish, SKWAW-mish), noun, plural –mishes, esp. collectively, -mish for 1.

1. a member of a North American Native people of the southwestern coast of British Columbia, Canada, including North and West Vancouver. In their native language the name means “people of sacred drinking water.”

2. the Salishan (nearly extinct) language of the Squamish people.

"The Squamish were a sedentary coastal hunter/gatherer nation that relied heavily on fishing. They were located on Howe Sound and Burrard Inlet north of the mouth of the Fraser River. The Nooksack of Washington separated from the Squamish prior to White arrival." - http://www.fourdir.com/squamish.htm

[Gail]

I grew up in this area. To drive to Deep Cove in Burrard Inlet we had to drive through this First Nations territory.

Chief Dan George, the actor, came from this part of B.C., too.

I like the art! When I think of the coastal people, I immediately think of 2 things- salmon and cedar forests.

[D. Allan]

Chief Dan George in the world premiere of George Ryga's seminal Canadian play, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (1967/68 season) Photo by Mac Parry

Quote:

Birth: Jul. 24, 1899

Death: Sep. 23, 1981

Indian Actor, Tribal Chief, author, humanitarian. A native of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Chief Dan George was Chief of the Squamish Band of the Salish Indian Tribe of Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, and a highly respected actor of both American actors and Canadian actors. - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10211109&pt=Dan%20George

[Gail]

There is also a town of that name which lies up the coast a bit, near Whistler, BC.

[D. Allan]

Cajun (KEY-juhn, KAY- juhn), also Cajan or caijan, noun

–noun

1. a person of a group whose French Catholic ancestors established communities in Louisiana and Maine after being expelled from Acadia in the late 18th century

2. the French dialect of the Cajuns.

3. often a member of a group living in southern Alabama and southeast Mississippi, of mixed white, Black, and Native American ancestry.

–adjective

4. of, or pertaining to Cajuns, esp. of those of Louisiana: Cajun cooking.

[1868, Cagian, dialectic pronunciation of Acadian, from Acadia, former French colony in what is now Canadian Maritimes. Its Fr. setters were dispersed and exiled by the English and thousands made their way to New Orleans in the period 1764-1788. – Online Etymology Dictionary]

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A•ca•di•a

A region and former French colony of eastern Canada, chiefly in Nova Scotia but also including New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton Island, and the coastal area from the St. Lawrence River south into Maine. During the French and Indian War (1755-1763) many Acadians migrated or were deported by the British to southern territories, including Louisiana, where their descendants came to be known as Cajuns. – American Heritage Dictionary

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Cajuns were officially recognized by the U.S. government as a national ethnic group in 1980 per a discrimination lawsuit filed in federal district court. -wikipedia

Laissez les bon temps rouler is a cliché phrase of the local culture, which means "let the good times roll." -wikipedia

http://www.lsu.edu/highlights/052/cajun.html - an article 24 March 2008, LSU offers classes in basic Cajun French.

[Woody]

Quote:

Chief Dan George, the actor, came from this part of B.C., too.

Dan George . Hmmm. There is a Pastor of one of our churches in Oregon by that name. I have some of his sermons. Good Stuff. But I just can't remeber the name of his church.

[D. Allan]

Would that be Pastor Dan George at Hood View SDA, in Boring, Ore.?

http://missionportland.org/Churches/churches_sda.asp

[D. Allan]

Inuit (IN-yoo-it), proper plural noun, also Innuit

the preferred term for a group of people living in the Canadian Arctic of North America and Greenland.

The singular of Inuit is inuk,” human being.” Their language is Inuktitut. They were called “Eskimos” (‘eaters of raw flesh’) by the Algonquians but that name is now considered offensive, especially in Canada. They call themselves as a group, “the Inuit,” ‘the people’. The Inuit should not be confused with the people of northern Alaska who speak Inupiaq, and those of western Alaska and the Siberian Artic who speak Yupik.

“Election for president of Nunatsiavut set for May in Labrador Inuit region: An election for president of the Inuit region of Nunatsiavut in Labrador will be held in May [2008]. Tony Andersen, the community's first minister and acting president, says the election on May 6 will take place in the communities of Nain, Hopedale, Postville, Makkovik, Rigolet, North West River and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. The community's former president, William Andersen III, stepped down in November, citing personal reasons” -found at http://www.itk.ca/ website of the Nation Inuit organization in Canada.

http://www.itk.ca/inuk-mag/index.html site of Inuktitut Magazine [PDF] Giving Voice to the Inuit Experience

[D. Allan]

arcadian (ahr-KAY-dee-uhn)

adjective

1. (used with regard to idealized country life) idyllically rustic; "a country life of arcadian contentment"; "a pleasant bucolic scene"; "charming in its pastoral setting"; "rustic tranquility"

noun

1. an inhabitant of the ancient Greek region of Arcadia

2. the dialect of ancient Greek spoken there

3. one who prefers or lives a simple rural life

" Arcadian tranquility to be really appreciatied should be balanced with urban excitement."

[D. Allan]

skald (skawld, skahld), noun, also spelled

any ancient medieval Scandinavian poet of the Viking period, writing in the complex Old Norse style.

related words:

skaldic , adj. of the skalds or their poetry: also spelled scaldic .

skaldship , noun

Kormákr Ögmundarson

Lausavísur.

1.

Brunnu beggja kinna

björt ljós á mik drósar

(oss hlœgir þat eigi)

eldhúss of við feldan,

en til ökla svanna

ítrvaxins gatk líta

(þrá muna oss of ævi

eldask) hjá þreskeldi.

Kormákr Ögmundarson was a 10th century Icelandic skald . The above stanza as translated by Rory McTurk:

1.

The bright lights of both

her cheeks burned onto me

from the fire-hall’s felled wood;

no cause of mirth for me in that.

By the threshold I gained a glance

at the ankles of this girl

of glorious shape’ yet while I live

that longing will never leave me.

poetry and translation can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korm%C3%A1kr_%C3%96gmundarson

[D. Allan]

Moor proper noun,

1. a Muslim of the mixed Berber and Arab people living in NW Africa; converted to Islam in the 8th century.

2. a member of this group that invaded Spain in the 8th century a.d. and established a civilization in Andalusia that lasted until the late 15th century.

moorish , adjective

The photo is from El Campello, a town on the Costa Blanca (White Coast) of Spain. During October of each year the town holds its Moors and Christians Festival 'Moros y Cristians' - wikipedia

[Gail]

Not "moops" as in the "Bubble Boy" episode of Seinfeld...

[D. Allan]

Ah. I missed that one.

[D. Allan]

At first sight one might suppose this word is a misspelling and mispronunciation of "conventional." It should be word useful for limrick writers, a group probably less numerous, however, than convent dwellers!

conventual (kuhn-VEN-choo-uhl)

-adjective

of, like, or relating to a convent

-noun

1. a member of a convent

2. a member of the Franciscan Order which believes in accumulating and holding property in common

“Conventual life is itself conventional due to the rules and regulations. That is to say it does not happen naturally but requires conventions, rules, orders.” -anon.

“The merits of the conventual life are imaginary, whilst marriage is an honorable state, instituted by God himself.” –Berthold Haller

These days a "convent" almost always refers to a community of women, and a "monastary" to a community of men. Historically, however, they are often interchangeable.

[D. Allan]

behovely (bee-HOVE-lee)

adj. useful

adv. usefully

synonyms: beneficial, necessary, needed

“We love the diffident person for her very diffidence and not because, by being ‘improved’, she will become otherwise. Her diffidence, insofar as it is a fault, is a [color:#33CCFF]behovely fault, a felix culpa, which opens the possibility of a kind of redemption; even if it is the endless promise rather than the achievement of redemption that is most felix, most happy, here.” - Smith, Richard (2002) Self-esteem: the kindly apocalypse, Journal of Philosophy of Education 36.1

“What the therapeutic approach here seems to miss, however, is that these characters are not unambiguously flawed, possessing defects which they would be improved by being cured of in just the same way as they would be better off without haemorrhoids or arthritis. These sins are behovely . Without Timothy’s diffidence there is no laughter for him and Violet. Without Fanny’s shyness Edmund will respect her for her integrity, but his love for her rests partly, we may speculate, on the feelings of care and protectiveness she inspires in him.” -ibid

"Sin is behovely , but all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well" -Saint Julian, 1343-1416

And thow it be more or better for to do goddes wille than only for to knowe it: neuertheles it is behovely first to knowe it and liuen for to fulfille it in dede. -Norwich Castle Manuscript, fol. 1

“Human sinfulness would thereby have to be rethought as the necessary “other” of redemption, preordained by the Maker of the universe. With sin thus becoming necessary and “ behovely ”, in the apt phrase of Juliana of Norwich, historical time would no longer be divided into a “before” and an “after”, nor would salvation be available to some, but not to others. –Horst Hutter, book review

Al was behovely to the man:

For that wherof his wo began

Was after cause of al his welthe,

Whan he which is the welle of helthe,

The hihe creatour of lif,

Upon the nede of such a strif

So wolde for his creature

Take on himself the forsfaiture

And soffre for the mannes sake. -Confessio Amantis, part 9 ("The Lover's Confession") is a 33,000-line Middle-English poem by John Gower.

“We need to tell tales, the terrible tales even of the Holocaust, of the Famine. Anna Freud learned in London's bombing how ' behovely ' it was, how necessary it was, that children tell the tales of their terror, that evil be brought out into cleansing and healing light.” –Journal Gleanings, -http://www.umilta.net/telltale.html

“Now it is behovely [profitable, necessary] to tell which be

deadly sins, that is to say, chieftains of sins; forasmuch as all

they run in one leash, but in diverse manners. Now be they

called chieftains, forasmuch as they be chief, and of them spring

all other sins. The root of these sins, then, is pride, the general

root of all harms.” Geoffrey Chaucer (1340/44-1400), The Parson’s Tale

[Gail]

Oooo- Chaucer! My daughter has quite a bit of Medieval literature. I read the Canterbury Tales a few years back and thought, Hmm- interesting!

[D. Allan]

Chaucer - not boring and dry at all! LOL

Does your daughter have a favorite medieval author or work? Interesting words can be found in medieval writing!

[Gail]

I'd have to ask her...

I remember a literature course program on TV where the prof referred to the Wife of Bath as the Medieval Liz Taylor.

I also remember reading a sort of postscript from Chaucer, an apology for the vulgarity of some of his works (not sure if it was the Canterbury Tales or not), as it sounded like he had regretted writing what he wrote in case his words were an avenue for others to head downward morally.

As I said, Interesting!

[D. Allan]

[color:#33CCFF] haruspex (heh-RUS-pehcs), noun , also haruspice

A Roman priest who divined omens by inspecting the organs of sacrificed animals.

1584, from L. "soothsayer by means of entrails," first element related to L. hernia "rupture," Gk. khorde "gut," Skt. hira "entrails;" second element from L. spic- "beholding, inspecting" The practice is Etruscan.

haruspical (heh-RUS-peh-k’l)

of or acting as or like a haruspex

haruspication noun, also haruspicy

the art or act of divining omens by inspecting the entrails of animals

synonyms: hepatoscopy or hepatomancy, extispicy

haruspicate not in most dictionaries; sometimes used as a verb, adj. or noun.

" To report the behaviour of the sea monster,

Describe the horoscope, [color:#33CCFF]haurispicate or scry,

Observe disease in signatures, evoke

Biography from the wrinkles of the palm

And tragedy from fingers…" T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets, The Dry Savages, V.

"No Haruspex Needed to Demystify the Fiduciary," 24th Annual U. Income tax planning for trust and estate distributions by Barnett, Bernard / The Tax Adviser

“Amidst the sacred but licentious crowd of priests, of inferior ministers, and of female dancers, who were dedicated to the service of the temple, it was the business of the emperor to bring the wood, to blow the fire, to handle the knife, to slaughter the victim, and, thrusting his bloody hands into the bowels of the expiring animal, to draw forth the heart or liver, and to read, with the consummate skill of an haruspex , imaginary signs of future events. The wisest of the Pagans censured this extravagant superstition, which affected to despise the restraints of prudence and decency.” - Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“I wonder how one haruspex can keep from laughing when he sees another.” – Cato

“(…he takecups the communion of sense at the hands of the foregiver of trosstpassers and thereinofter centelinnates that potifex miximhost with haruspical hospedariaty ...).” James Joyce, Finnegans Wake: part 2, Episode 10, page 345

[D. Allan]

hospitate (HAHS-peh-tate), [L. hospitatus, p.p. of hospitari to be a guest, fr. hospes guest.]

1. v.i To receive hospitality; to be a guest. [Obs.] Grew. 1913 Webster’s

2. v. t. To receive with hospitality; to lodge as a guest. [Obs.] Cockeram. 1913 Webster’s

“While visiting in Brazil we hospitated in the home of a hospitable church family for three days.”

“In the Hotel there is also a restaurant (open only for booking) a room for tasting wines, a big meeting room (it can hospitate over 200 people) and other rooms.” - http://hotels.itwg.com/hotel98410?gm=1

[D. Allan]

descry (dih-SKRY), transitive verb:

1. To catch sight of, discern (distant or obscure objects).

2. To discover by observation; to detect.

[OE. descrien, discrien, to espy, prob. from the proclaiming of what was espied, fr. OF. descrier]

The first mate of the ship was standing watch in the crows nest when he descried land in the misty distance.

"The future appears to us neither as impenetrable darkness nor as broad daylight, but rather in a half-light, in which we can descry the rough form of the nearest objects, and vague outlines farther off." -- Robert Conquest, Reflections on a Ravaged Century

Descry comes from Middle English, from Old French descrier, "to cry out, to proclaim." The Middle English word was originally applied to shouting one's discovery of an enemy, of game, or of land.

Synonyms: To see; behold; espy; discover; discern

Related: descrier , noun; one who descrys

-http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/descried

-Dictionary.com

[D. Allan]

orison (AWH-ruh-zuhn / OR-uh-zuhn), noun

prayer to a deity

[Middle English orisoun, from Old French orison, from Late Latin ōrātiō, ōrātiōn.]

Leave me to myself to-night;

For I have need of many orisons. – Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

"The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons be all my sins remember'd" Shakespeare, (Hamlet, "To or not to be" soliloquy, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act III, Scene I).

I sweetly sleep;

And, ere the day unclose his golden eye,

Waking, pour forth my pure heart's orisons;

- Continuation of Ben Jonson’s Sad Shepherd by F. G. Waldron

Lowly they bowed, adoring, and began Their orisons, each morning duly paid. --Milton.

Who’s this? fair Abigail, the rich Jew’s daughter,

Become a nun! her father’s sudden fall

Has humbled her and brought her down to this:

Tut, she were fitter for a tale of love,

Than to be tired out with orisons. – Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta

"God wot," quoth he, "labour'd have I full sore;

And specially for thy salvation

Have I said many a precious orison,

And for mine other friendes, God them bless. –Chaucer, The Sompnour's Tale

Anthem for Doomed Youth

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

-Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle

Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,-

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes

Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.

The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

–Wilfred Owen, KIA, 1918

http://www.wjpbr.com/washvf5.jpg Geo. Washington at prayer

[D. Allan]

Dignity and Impudence, by Sir Edwin Landseer, 1839

I must not here omit the particular Whim of an Impudent Libertine, that

had a little Smattering of Heraldry; and observing how the Genealogies

of great Families were often drawn up in the Shape of Trees, had taken a

Fancy to dispose of his own illegitimate Issue in a Figure of the same

kind. – The Spectator, No. 203. Tuesday, October 23, 1711. Addison.

impudent (IM-pyoo-dent), adjective

c.1386, from L. impudens (gen. impudentis), from in- "not" + pudens (gen. pudentis), prp. of pudere "to cause shame."

1. originally, immodest; shameless

2. shamelessly bold, with contempt or disregard of others; saucy; insolent

Synonyms: Shameless; audacious; brazen; bold-faced; immodest; rude; saucy; impertinent; insolent.

related words:

impudence, noun

impudency, noun

impudicity, noun

impudentness, noun

impudently, adverb

“They both, man and wife, were impudent, speaking their minds thoughtlessly; caring not a shred for the opinion nor the feelings nor even the welfare of anyone besides themselves.” –anon.

“Every single incident in his life bears out what we have learned from

his works. In all his writings he praises lords and gentlemen, and runs

down the citizens and common people, and in his life he spent some

years, a good deal of trouble, and many impudent lies in getting for his

father a grant of arms and recognition as a gentleman--a very pitiful

ambition, but peculiarly English. Shakespeare, one fancies, was a

gentleman by nature, and a good deal more.” – Frank Harris, The Man Shakespeare

“The imbecility of men is always inviting the impudence of power” – Ralph Waldo Emerson,

“Long live impudence. It was my guardian angel in this world.” - Albert Einstein

“The great man ignored Karsh and went on smoking, so the diminutive photographer snatched the cigar from the Prime Minister's mouth and snapped the image of Churchill as Roaring Lion, the very personification of belligerent leadership. … Churchill got over Karsh's impudence and let him take another picture, this time smiling, but steadfastly refused for the rest of his life to grant Karsh a further sitting despite the photographer's many visits to London. “ – Tom Rosenthal, book review in Daily Mail, 07 April 2008

[D. Allan]

“I am surprised, however, that the book at which such an example of the specious misuse of analogy should seem most naturally leveled should have occurred to no reviewer; neither shall I mention the name of the book here, though I should fancy that the hint given will suffice.” Samuel Butler, Erewhon, preface to 2nd edition

specious (SPEE-shuhs), adjective

1. seeming to be good, sound, correct, logical, etc. without really being so; plausible but not genuine.

2. [obsolete] pleasing to the eye, beautiful

[c.1400, "pleasing to the sight, fair," from L. speciosus "good-looking, beautiful," from species "appearance". Meaning "seemingly desirable, reasonable or probable, but not really so" is first recorded 1612. -Online Etymology Dictionary]

speciously, adverb

speciousness, noun

speciosity, noun

synonym: plausible

antonym: genuine

“Avaunt all specious pliancy of mind

In men of low degree, all smooth pretence!

I better like a blunt indifference,

And self-respecting slowness, disinclined

To win me at first sight: . . . “ - William Wordsworth

“. . . so Marlowe puts into the mouth of Barabas the following specious plea in defense of his own practice:

‘It’s no sin to deceive a Christian;

For they themselves hold it a principle:

Faith is not to be kept with heretics. –

But all are heretics that are not Jews.

This follows well.’

- [The Jew of Malta] Act ii. sc. 3.” - Adolphus William Ward, A History of English Dramatic Literature to the Death of Queen Anne, p. 343

“In my opinion, writers have been overexposed, caricatured, asked specious questions to elicit amusing answers, their faces printed on coffee mugs.” – Anne Beatty, Writers on Writing, Vol. 2

“The green emerald, the purple amethyst, and other expensive gems were successfully imitated; a necklace of false stones could be purchased at a Theban jeweller’s, to please the wearer or deceive a stranger, by the appearance of reality; and the feelings of envy might be partially allayed, and the love of show be gratified, by these specious substitutes for real jewels.” - Sir John Gardner Wilkinson, The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 147

“Yet all was coloured with a smooth pretence

Of specious love, and duty to their prince.” - John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel

“As the humor of herbs, when distilled in an alembick, concedes a virtuose quintessence, very subtile, very exquisite; so, natural speciosity [2nd def. ‘beauty ‘ is used in this quote], when digested in a mind inspired by the genius of artifice, will be reproduced in artificial speciosity [‘beauty’] subsimilar to the natural.” -Frederick William Rolfe (1860-1913), Don Renato: An Ideal Content, De Arte Picturae (1907-8, printed 1909 but not published, posthumously published 1963)

[D. Allan]

"In this refulgent summer, it has been a luxury to draw the breath of life. The grass grows, the buds burst, the meadow is spotted with fire and gold in the tint of flowers." -Ralph Waldo Emerson, Address to the seniors of Harvard Divinity School, 1837

fulgent (FUHL-juhnt), adjective

[L. fuglens, p.pr. of fulgere, to flash, reflect, shine]

very bright, radiant

fulgently, adverb

fulgentness, noun

effulgent (ehf-FUHL-juhnt) , adj.

[L. ,ef < ex- forth + fulgere, to flash, reflect, shine]

to shine out from

effulge, verb

effulgence

refulgent (ri-FUHL-juhnt), adj.

[L. < re, back + fulgere, to flash, reflect, shine]

to shine or reflect back very brightly

refulgence, adj

refulgency, refulgentness, nouns

refulgently, adverb

‘Marvelously researched, meticulously annotated, sensitively illustrated and delivered in clear, refulgent prose. Every reader will be stimulated and provoked.’ New Theatre Quarterly, advertising copy for ‘ Lucas Erne’s book , Shakespeare as Literary Dramatist

“Shakespeare was a busy little dramatist, working away on the fringe of the great light cast by the effulgent majesty of Elizabeth.” - Arthur Ransome, Oscar Wilde, A Critical Study, 1912, p.21

‘August Derleth dubbed him "the Grand Viscount of the Grotesque" and applauded his "refulgently fanciful imagination and magical command of the English language." ‘ – from an article on MATTHEW PHIPPS SHIEL (1865-1947), W. Indian Novelist found at http://www.alangullette.com/lit/shiel/family/Shiel_Matthew_Phipps.htm

“The lights of two massive chandeliers throw a bewitching refulgence over a scene at once picturesque and mysterious; and from four tall mirrors secured between the windows, is reflected the forms and movements of the masquers.” – Francis Colburn Adams, An Outcast, chapter VII

“Her voice was a lyric soprano of gorgeous refulgence and limpidity, extending in her early years to the D above the stave.” - From the obituary of Victoria de los Angeles, 17 Jan, 2005, Timesonline.co.uk