Word of the Day

[D. Allan]

At left: Brasserie Jo, Boston, Mass. USA

brasserie (bras-uh-REE; French bras'REE) noun

restaurant or tavern that serves simple food along with drinks, esp. beer

[French, from brasser, to malt, brew, from Old French bracier, from Vulgar Latin braciāre, from Latin brace, malt, of Celtic origin.]

In France, a brasserie typically specializes in beer and Alsatian food; in fact, the word itself is French for beer hall or brewery. Today's brasseries, which tend to focus on wine rather than beer, are enjoying great popularity in Manhattan. –NYTimes, ‘Good Eating; Hoisting Stein or Stem At a Brasserie’ May 27, 2001

. . . a European-American brasserie (sample dishes: Kobe-beef hot dog topped with sauerkraut, Tyrolean “mac and cheese”) opened last fall. . . –Lauren Collins, ‘Klee’, The New Yorker, Apr. 9, 2007

Poste Moderne Brasserie, an upscale contemporary brasserie located in downtown Washington DC, features modern American cuisine emphasizing fresh, local ingredients. - http://www.postebrasserie.com/

Twenty years ago, the difference between a brasserie and a bistro could be reduced to the difference between the heart and the mind -- or so it appeared to a young woman with poetic tendencies and expatriate ambitions. –Molly O’Neill, ‘Come to the Brasserie’ NYTimes, Jan. 14, 1996

The server my friends and I had at Pera Mediterranean Brasserie the other night couldn’t have been friendlier or more helpful. When we wanted a few recommendations, that’s what he gave us: a few recommendations, not an oral recitation of the entire menu, . . . –Frank Bruni, ‘First Impressions: Pera Mediterranean Brasserie’ NYTimes, Dec. 5, 2006

[D. Allan]

escargot (es-kar-GOH), noun

an edible snail

[from Old French escargol, from Old Provençal escaragol, probably from a variant of dialectal escarabol (perhaps influenced by Occitan cagarol, caragol, snail), from Latin scarabaeus, beetle.] –Ame. Heritage Dict.

For one thing, it arrives preëxcavated, which not only deprives you the pleasure of digging but calls attention to the marrow’s texture rather than its flavor, a bad bet with gelatinous foodstuffs (there’s a reason that escargot are more fun when they come with their shells). –Lauren Collins, Tables for Two, ‘Allen & Delancey’, The New Yorker, July 24, 2008

Suddenly Margaret exclaimed triumphantly, "Escargot!" Well, I ordered them, and they looked like little garden snails to me -- tiny shells whose smidgens of meat had to be extracted with a toothpick, a bit bland in a thin pesto sauce. –Francine Russo, ‘From Iron Age to Our Age’, The Atlantic Monthly, Nov. 2000

A woman celebrating her birthday was burned and temporarily blinded by a snail that burst on her plate at a restaurant here, the police said today. The woman, . . . , was about to take a second bite of an order of escargot . . . when one of the snails burst. She was burned around her right eye and blinded for about 90 minutes, the police said. –AP, ‘Woman Injured by Escargot While Dining at a Restaurant, NYTimes, Feb. 28, 1988

A ''duet'' of escargot consisted of a whole escargot on flaky pastry, bathed in a sauce made with liquidized salty duck's egg with a touch of curry powder, then a second escargot wrapped in prosciutto with a creamy asparagus mousse. –Nina Simonds, Choice Tables; In Hong Kong, Home Kitchens With Open Doors,’ NYTimes, August 15, 2004

Escargot Culinary History

“Discarded roasted snail shells found in archeological digs indicate that prehistoric humans enjoyed "escargot". Pliny described Fulvius Hirpinus' snail garden as having varied species of snails and feeding them on wine and cornmeal. Ancient Romans, and later, other Europeans ate snails during festivals, Lent, Mardi Gras and Carnival. There are edible land snails ranging in size from 1/4 inch to giant African snails growing up to 12 inches. The traditional escargot is the common garden-variety snail. Escargot (French for snail) are available fresh, chilled, canned, or frozen.” -http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/escargot.htm

Picture of Giant African Land Snails

[D. Allan]

Chart on the right : economic wonkery

wonk (wongk), noun, disparaging slang term

1. a student without a social life due to obsessive studying.

2. a person who assiduously and excessively studies an issue or topic

[1954, Amer.Eng. student slang, popularized 1993 during Clinton administration in U.S.; perhaps a shortening of Brit. slang wonky "shaky, unreliable" (1919). ] –online etymology dictionary

related words:

wonky, wonkiest adj.

wonkery, wonkiness, wonkdom nouns

Notice that spelled backwards “wonk “is “know. Student : “Prof. says we’ve got to know this stuff frontwards and backwards for the exam.” Witty Student : ( reverses “know” ) “I’ve got to wonk this stuff frontwards and backwards!” (Just my intuition. ) However, that would make it a verb, wouldn't it? Wonking is a rare activity. Anyone who knows all that stuff perfectily is a studious wonk! -dAb

“The clue to its origin may be in that article in Sports Illustrated, in which it is explained that in Harvard slang there was a tripartite classification of students into wonks, preppies, and jocks.” -

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pol1.htm

Remember the titans of "Apollo 13"? Not the astronauts but the wonks back on earth: the guys with slide rules, their spectacle frames as thick as fenders, who tipped a load of rocket junk onto a table and had to brainstorm their way to finding a few more volts for the lost boys, up in space. –Anthony Lane, The Current Cinema, ‘Game Boy’ , The New Yorker, Jan. 7, 2002

And so Eliot [spitzer] —. . .—did not go into the world a trivial man. In fact, it might be said he left home, for Princeton, a teenage wonk. (Today he's an adult wonk, with an attention to detail that seems borderline obsessive. –Sridhar Pappu, ‘The Crusader’, The Atlantic Monthly, Oct. 2004

Mr. Blair hails from the left, Mr. Bush from the right. Mr. Blair is a policy wonk on par with President Clinton, Mr. Bush shows little interest in the details of policy. –Ivo H. Daalder, ‘Books of the Times; Why Blair Took the Risk Of Making War on Iraq,’ NYTImes, Nov. 20, 2003

''A nerd, a geek, an apple-polishing dirt-wonk with an unseemly interest in filth and how to make it go away,'' Soper confronted Mallon in the kitchen of her new employers on Park Avenue, and demanded a feces sample. She chased him out with a carving fork. –Adam Shatz, ‘Employees Must Wash Hands,’ NYTimes, May 13, 2001

[D. Allan]

If this delicacy comes in kosher form, I do not know. My mother used to have in the cupboards a dried salted uncooked beef which came in small glass jars and which she used in making gravy. She used to let me have a taste now and then right from the jar. Delicious. If you want to maintain a kosher diet it will help you to know this word!

prosciutto (proh-SHOO-toh), noun, plural : prosciutti or prosciuttos

an aged, spiced, dried Italian ham, usually sliced paper-thin and served uncooked.

[c.1938, from It., alteration (probably by infl. of prosciugato "dried") of presciutto, from pre-, intensive prefix + -sciutto, from L. exsuctus "lacking juice, dried up," pp. of exsugere "suck out, draw out moisture," from ex- "out" + sugere "to suck"] -Online Etymology Dictionary

“Heat rarely agrees with prosciutto, which is a pork thigh that has been dry-cured with just salt and air. ( Prosciugare means "to dry" in Italian.) When heated, the meat quickly turns rubbery and the loss of moisture makes the natural salt content obtrusive. This is more of a problem with American prosciutto, . . . “ -Corby Kummer, ‘Food; Prosciutto’s Promise’, NYTimes, Nov. 18, 1990

“She wouldn't eat a prosciutto that was cured for less than 18 months, a pig that wasn't killed during a north wind when the temperature was low, or a piece of veal from a calf whose life history she doesn't know.” -Corby Kummer, ‘Older and Wiser’ The Atlantic Monthly, June 11, 1997

“Ham lovers say that after 12 months' aging, the prosciutto begins to lose some of its salty taste and acquires an enticing perfume and meltingly tender texture. They also say that prosciutto di San Daniele doesn't begin to reach its peak until after 16 months. Good butchers will buy the hams from the producer and then hang them in their shops for further aging.” -S. Irene Virbila, ‘Fare of the Country; The Sweet Prosciutto Of San Danieli, Italy’ NYTImes, Jan. 29, 1989

[D. Allan]

amenity (un-MEN-i-tee), pl. amenities

1. pleasantness, attractiveness, or agreeableness

2. a feature that adds to material comfort or convenience

3. amenities social manners and courtesies; (euphemistically: lavatory, bathroom. )

[Middle English , from Old French amenité, from Latin amoenitās, “delightfulness, loveliness” from amoenus, “pleasant.”]

synonyms : facilities, services, conveniences, comforts, features, niceties

[color:#CC6600] An amenity is anything which adds to the enjoyment of life, beyond the mere necessities, thus making life more pleasant. Anything from indoor-plumbing to a friend’s warm and warming smile can fit that definition. -dAb

The amenity of a fine day in its decline surrounded me with a beneficent, a calming influence; I felt it in the silence of the shady lane, in the pure air, in the blue sky. –Joseph Conrad, ‘Chance’

He was provided with a private beach house containing every modern amenity one could want. Including two housekeepers and a cook. –Winn Schwartau, ‘Terminal Compromise’

Like the benign elm again, the good man seemed to wave the canopy of his goodness over that suitor, not in conceited condescension, but with that even amenity of true majesty, which can be kind to any one without stooping to it. –Herman Melville, ‘The Confidence – Man: His Masquerade’

Staying in monasteries and convents is a culturally enriching and cost-effective way to visit Spain and the other countries of Catholic Europe. . . . Standards of comfort and convenience vary, so ask in advance about such amenities as a private bath and telephone. –Francis X. Rocca, ‘The Travel Advisory’, The Atlantic Monthly, March 2008

After praising Lincoln's "uprightness, integrity, cordiality and kindness of heart, amenity of manner and his strict attention not only to the rights, but to the feelings of all," Herndon allowed in passing that Lincoln "was not as broadminded as some other men." -Douglas L. Wilson, ‘Keeping Lincoln’s Secrets,’ The Atlantic Monthly, May 2000

Inquisitive always, alert to the inner truths of life, impatient of the brief destinies of convention, she isolated herself from the petty demands of social amenity. –Martha Hale Shackford, ‘The Poetry of Emily Dickinson,’ The Atlantic Monthly, Jan. 1913

[D. Allan]

locavore (LOW-ka-vor), noun

a person who attempts to eat only foods grown locally -Webster’s New Millennium Dict.

etymology : 2006, used in cooking

“Locavore” was coined two years ago by a group of four women in San Francisco who proposed that local residents should try to eat only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius. . . .some groups refer to themselves as “localvores” rather than “locavores.” However it’s spelled, it’s a word to watch. – Oxford Univ. Press USA, ht tp://blog.oup.com/2007/11/locavore/

This is not the Old South of magnolias and seersucker so much as a modern Appalachia of roots music, locavore food, folk art and hillbilly pride. –Allison Glock, ’36 Hours in Knoxville,’ NYTimes, June 8, 2008

. . . hunters are the original locavores. When I was growing up in Michigan, my family ate three or four deer every year, along with rabbits, squirrel, ducks and grouse that were harvested mostly within eight miles of our house. –Steven Rinella, ‘Locavore, Get Your Gun’, NYTimes, Dec. 14, 2007

The 2007 Word of the Year is (drum-roll please) locavore. –Mike Nizza, ‘Oxford’s Word of the Year, and Runners-Up’, NYTImes, Nov. 13, 2007

<- “Goat sandwich!”

[D. Allan]

Doppler (DOP-ler) noun

The Doppler effect is the shifting in frequency of sound or light from a source moving toward or away from an observer : the shift is to higher frequencies when the source approaches and to lower frequencies when it recedes. The pitch of a train whistle becomes lower as the train passes by you at the crossing.

[ 1871, in reference to Christian Johann Doppler (1803-53), Austrian scientist, who in 1842 explained the effect of relative motion on waves(originally to explain color changes in binary stars). . . –online etymology dictionary]

“How did Slipher calculate the velocities of stars? He used the Doppler shift, which we’ll talk about in class. “ - http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/mdyar/geo104/hw1_redshift/redshift_hw.html

“Republican nominee Jeb Bush, meanwhile, denied Republican anxiety about a Floridian political Doppler shift from red to blue,. . .” –Christopher Buckley, “[size:8pt]Election Day 2008”, The Atlantic, Dec. 2006

“A second guitar introduces difference, coming toward us like an ambulance Dopplering into range. The bass guitar, sounding like someone’s voice, heralds everybody over the hill and into the song. ” -Sasha Frere-Jones, “1979 The year punk died, and was reborn” The New Yorker, Nov. 1, 2004

“Just to refresh: it was televangelist Pat Robertson who predicted “earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly even a meteor” would hit Orlando for inviting gays to Disney World, and Rev. John Hagee who blamed Hurricane Katrina on a vengeful God angered over a gay pride parade in New Orleans. And they did this even without Doppler radar.” -Timothy Egan, Outposts, The New York Times, June 11, 2008

“Older or less-expensive personal locator beacons use Doppler radar to determine the user’s location.. . .” -Dan Mitchell, “Lost? A Personal Locator Beacon Could Save Your Life” NYTimes, July 5, 2007

[D. Allan]

planish (PLAN-ish), verb; rhymes with banish, clannish, famish, mannish, Spanish, vanish

[ from Middle English planishen < Old French planir, “ to flatten” < Latin planus, “smooth”]

1. To toughen, smooth, or polish (metal) by hammering or rolling.

2. To texture a (metal) surface with hammered indentations

planisher, noun

synonyms : to smooth, burnish, flatten, polish, plane

It has a good sound - “planish” - beginning explosively and ending by telling itself - “shhhhhhh.” The word is should be familiar to silversmiths, jewelers, metal workers, auto body refinishers and restorers, but is rarely if ever heard by the rest of us. I was hoping to find some literary usage, but so far – nothing. “The Planished Heart,” - just a phrase going through my head. –dAb

Planishing is the final smoothing of the metal surface. At this point you are only getting the dings out that were made in the surface during the raising process. Planishing is tedious and is achieved by many light hits with a flat faced hammer. - www.ageofarmour.com

This bracelet is formed from a piece of sheet silver by planishing. –of a Planished Bracelet by Terence Warbey

The planish marks formed by the hammer should be small. They should not be more than 2 mm in diameter. Large planish marks are formed by hitting the copper too hard. Each planish mark should touch or very slightly over lap the next. . . . . The small planish marks reflect the light in different directions, giving the work a sparkle. –P. F. Lye, Metalwork Theory: Bk. 3, pp. 34,35 (1966)

Planished silver beaker

Gazan Khan erected a smooth stone or a planished wood near the gate of all villages. On these, the amount of tax that the village had to pay for that year and the following year were written. - Erkan, Aydemir & Elitas, ‘AN ACCOUNTING SYSTEM USED BETWEEN 14TH AND 19TH CENTURIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST: THE MERD&#304;VEN (STAIRS) METHOD’ Afyon Kocatepe University, Turkey

So for the maximum hardness you take the cut sheet and planish it inside out. –‘Hardening Tricks’, http://www.livesteelarmor.com/how/hard.html

He was frantic for months over the disappearance of a particular hammer. It was the "magic hammer," which planished beautifully even in the hands of hopeless clods or southpaws like me.–Thomas M. Sandretto, http://www.silversmithing.com/1hans2.htm

When you go to install a panel keep in mind you can not planish the weld if you do an overlap weld. - http://home.comcast.net/~68c/Metalworking.htm

[D. Allan]

detritus (deh-TRY- tus), noun, plural : detritus

1. loose material resulting from erosion of rock by water or glaciers.

2. parts separated from the original whole; products of disintegration; waste, debris

It’s another word with Latin roots. The past participle of deterere, means “to rub away, to wear out,” and is also connected to detriment, “a rubbing or wearing away.” In French detritus is “waste, trash, refuse,” with the idea of the “erosion” being worn out, making it useless, so that detritus is junk, trash, byproducts. But what of the beautiful sand on the beaches - a detritus made by the action of water upon rocks and shells ? Not trash at all! And gravel, the detritus left behind by glaciers, is quite useful. As the first quotation below reminds us, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Also it may happen that one era’s detritus may be displayed in the museums of another as with pottery shards, arrowheads, etc.

related: detrital, adjective

synonyms : accumulation, backlog, debris, silt, accrual, waste, scraps

Food labels, bottle caps, envelope linings: if it was ephemeral detritus, William Davies King cherished and collected it. . . . . Part memoir and part disquisition on the psychological impulses behind the urge to accumulate, “Collections of Nothing” is a wonderfully frank and engaging look at one man’s detritus-fueled pathology. . . . –Henry Alford, ‘The Curator’, NYTimes / Sunday Book Review, July 27, 2008

The loose detritus of thought, washed down to us through long ages. -H. Rogers, Essays

These purple and gold Mardi Gras beads were just some of the plastic detritus that collects in the home of any family with small children. . . –Peter Sagal, ‘Marooned’, NYTimes Magazine, Jan. 28, 2007

In this process gold-bearing gravel banks are washed away by powerful jets of water directed against them, so that masses of earth and rock are carried off and deposited in the neighboring streams, or, perhaps, on plains below. –THE MINING DETRITUS QUESTION, NYTimes, April 16, 1892

The star is about 470 light years away and, being only about one million to three million years old, is still surrounded by the dusty detritus out of which it formed. –Dennis Overbye, ‘Star’s Dust May Hold Clue to New Planet,’ NYTimes, March 26, 2008

[D. Allan]

gastropodionado noun

an ardent fan and enthusiast of gastropods, esp. snails.

Only one use of this word is all that I have been able to find, -by Franz Lidz, in the 2007 article quoted below. It appears to have been formed by joining the Greek word gastropodia (more about it just below) and the Spanish word, aficionado, a fan or enthusiast (often of bull-fighting). It’s uncertain and perhaps only Mr. Lidz knows for sure. Why the unpopularity of this word? Well, just how often would you have need of it? Of course, you could always work it in when a conversation is proceeding at a snail’s pace!

“Snails, conchs, whelks, and many other similar animals with shells are all called gastropods by scientists. The word gastropod comes from Greek and means "stomach foot," a name that owes its existence to the unusual anatomy of snails. Snails have a broad flat muscular "foot" used for support and for forward movement. This foot runs along the underside of the animal—essentially along its belly. The Greek elements gastro-, "stomach," and -pod, "foot," are found in many other scientific names, such as gastritis (an inflammation of the stomach) and sauropod ("lizard foot," a type of dinosaur).” - The American Heritage® Science Dictionary

“Mr. Gordon-Levitt is something of a gastropodionado. A glass snail figurine — a Hanukkah gift from his mother — dangles from a string around his neck. Two plaster sculptures of snails and a snail lithograph repose in his Lower East Side apartment. And the showpiece of his Web site, www.HitRecord.org, is “Escargots,” a surreal short subject he animated, narrated and performed in. It’s based on a poem by Jacques Prévert.” –Franz Lidz, ‘From Alien Boy to Growing Star in the Indie Universe’, NYTimes, March 25, 2007

[D. Allan]

belvedere (BEL-vi-deer, bel-vi-DEER), noun

1. a building or part of a building especially constructed for a view of the scenery, such as a turret, gallery, gazebo, pavilion, tower, or summerhouse .

2. a type of cigar

[italian, “beautiful view,” < Latin bellus “beautiful” + videre “to see.”]

[color:#CC6600] Each of his three brothers tried to outdo the others, building big houses nearby. But with its towering belvedere, oriel windows and broad verandas, Jedidiah's was the largest and most flamboyant. –Marcelle S. Fischler, ‘Long Island Journal; A Jamesport Grande Dame Gets a Face-Lift,’ NYTimes, Aug. 21, 2005

He led the way up two flights of stairs and then up a shorter one, which landed us upon a belvedere on the house-top. "Be pleased to look around you," he said, as we reached the platform, "and tell me if this is the Boston of the nineteenth century." At my feet lay a great city. –Edward Bellamy, ‘Looking Backward: 2000-1887’

A delightful [bicycle]tour goes from the Père Lachaise cemetery to the trendy Canal St.-Martin, with a stop in the Parc de Belleville, which offers a beautiful view of Paris from its belvedere. –Elaine Sciolino, ‘What’s Doing; In Paris,’ NYTimes, Oct. 10, 2004

Reiman and Ms. Mellors have offices on the upper level, which has one of the house’s most prized features: a belvedere with a spectacular view of the entire valley. –Kimberly Conniff Taber, NYTImes, ‘In France, a House of No Doors and Ample Light,’ July 30, 2008

A home with a belvedere on the roof built near Chicago by William Currier about 1856.

[D. Allan]

docent (DOH - suhnt), noun

1. at some universities a teacher or lecturer not a regular faculty member

2. an knowledgeable person who guides people through a museum or other exhibitions and provides commentary

1639, from L. docentem, from docere "to teach"

At the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida the surrealist paintings began to fascinate us because of the enlightening comments of the docent . Without him we may have never noticed the hidden optical trickery and wizardry of Dali which when once pointed out became magically unforgettable. Other places using docents : botanical gardens, manufacturing plants giving tours (Busch Gardens), United States Congress, The White House, U. S. Supreme Court, Historic Homes, and so on and on and on. -dAb

I had gone to the Huntington Library to speak to their docents. When I got home, I noticed a lot of messages on my voice mail, which seemed strange. I accessed them to find friends congratulating me on having won the Pulitzer Prize in History . . . –Daniel Walker Howe, Oxford University Press blog, April 22, 2008

Living with this self-appointed curator and docent probably isn’t a bed of roses. We’re talking about a man who once collected worn strips of masking tape that he pulled off the floor of a gymnasium, a man who collects the business cards of business card printers, even though he himself carries no business card. –Henry Alford, ‘The Curator’, NYTimes, July 27, 2008

Zermelo had been a docent at Göttingen when Kit was there and, like Russell, had been preoccupied with the set of all sets that are not members of themselves. -Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 1212

To say of a docent that he is a poor teacher is usually to pronounce an academic sentence of death, even if he is the foremost scholar in the world. –Max Weber, ‘Science As a Vocation’

Unlike professors, docents may not actively take part in senior administrative duties, such as heading a department. Furthermore, their stay at the university may be intermittent, whereas professors are permanent. Instead of a monthly salary, lecturing fees and piece wages are usually paid. -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docent

Socrates, and after him Arcesilaus, made their schollers to speak first and then would speake themselves. Obest plerum que iis qui discere vol unt, auctoritas eorum qui docent (Cic. De Nat. i.). 'Most commonly the authoritie of them that teach, hinders them that would learne.' It is therefore meet that he make him first trot-on before him, whereby he may the better judge of his pace, . . . –Montaigne, Essays: Book I

CROSSING BORDERS:BRIDGING CULTURES, TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA : OCTOBER 14 - 17, 2009 http://www.docents.net/ National Docent Symposium Council

[D. Allan]

Cyclist manqué? -

manqué (mahng-KEY, -KAY; Fr. mahn-keh) adjective

having failed, missed, or fallen short, esp. because of circumstances or a defect of character; unsuccessful; unfulfilled or frustrated (usually used postpositively): a poet manqué who never produced a single book of verse. –Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2006

Unfulfilled or frustrated in the realization of one's ambitions or capabilities: an artist manqué; a writer manqué.

[French, from past participle of manquer, to fail, from Old French, from Old Italian mancare, from manco, lacking, from Latin mancus, maimed, infirm; see man- in Indo-European roots.]-Ame. Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed.

[color:#993300] The politician in Mr. Williams has won out over the manic Jonathan Winters manque of ''Mork and Mindy.'' Franz Lidz and Steve Rushin, Arts, ‘Here a Comic Genius, There A Comic Genius,’ NYTImes Jan 30, 2000

The president manqué gives Rielle Hunter, formerly Lisa Druck, more than $114,000 to shoot vain little videos for his Web site (even though she’s a neophyte), one of which is scored with the song “True Reflections” about the Narcissus pool, which goes: “When you look into a mirror, do you like what’s looking at you? Now that you’ve seen your true reflections, what on earth are you gonna do?” –Maureen Dowd, Opinion, NYTimes, Aug. 10, 2008

Odets, who collected art, was also something of a painter manque. When he had insomnia or writers' block, he turned to making small, charged, cartoonishly expressionistic paintings on paper, mostly in combinations of watercolor, ink and gouache. –Roberta Smith, Art Review; ‘Anguish of Many Colors in Paintings by Odets,’ NYTImes, April 26, 1996

A book critic accumulates a serious library. But an architecture critic? There is architectural drawing, but it has always seemed so much art manque. That's why I began to collect tiny toy buildings -- what other way short of investing in real estate is there to build a collection of architecture? -Paul Boldberger, ‘Endpaper/Life and Times,’ NYTimes, Sept. 12, 1993

With Graham, it was always difficult to tell where the spy novelist left off and the spy manque began. From time to time they came together--as in 1977, when Graham turned up in Washington in the guise of a Panamanian diplomat… -Michael Korda, ‘Life and Letters; about writer Graham Greene, The Third Man,’ The New Yorker, March 25, 1996

[D. Allan]

sublimate (SUHB-luh-meyt) verb , noun, adj.

transitive verb:

1. Chemistry : To transform directly from the solid to the gaseous state or from the gaseous to the solid state without becoming a liquid.

2. Psychology : To modify the natural expression or divert the energy associated with an unacceptable impulse or drive into a personally and socially acceptable activity.

3. To make nobler or purer

intransitive verb: to undergo sublimation

noun: Chemistry : the product of the process of sublimation.

adjective: purified, transformed to a higher state, exalted

[Latin subl&#299;m&#257;re, subl&#299;m&#257;t-, “to elevate,” from “subl&#299;mis,” uplifted.]

Related forms:

sublimable (SHUB-luh-muh-buhl), adjective

sublimableness, noun

sublimation, noun

sublimational, adjective

[color:#996633] In the occasional Martian heat wave, when the temperature is near freezing, the sunlight is enough to cause ice on the sunny side to sublimate, or turn directly to a gas. –Henry Fountain, ‘Safely rooted on Earth, Scientists Solve and Icy Martian Puzzle,’ NYTimes, March 30, 2004

We are -- and I say this with only love and respect for my family and my in-laws -- uptight, priggish and determined either to sublimate our anxieties with vigorous physical activity in the fresh air or drown them in a steady stream of gin and tonics. –Jennifer Haigh, ‘The Cost of Silence,’ The Washington Post, July 13, 2008

Comparative assay of the constituents from the sublimate of smoked cannabis with that from ordinary cannabis -Dr. C. MIRAS & Dr. S. SIMOS ,J. KIBURIS ,Biochemical Research Laboratory, Therapeutics Clinic, University of Athens

“The whole function of dreaming and of art is to express, vicariously and without danger, the suppressed side of our natures, to sublimate this unconsciousness which, turned back on ourselves, makes morbid people of us. … True Art is essentially ethical. Art should create an imaginary world in which this repressed side of our natures cannot only find expression, but cause it to rise up and be revalued. –Everett Dean Martin (of the People’s Institute), ‘Written on the Screen; With the National Board,’ NYTimes, Jan. 26, 1919

''We are as ugly as animals in our fashion, and unless we deal with the ugliness in ourselves, unless we deal with the violence in ourselves, the brutality in ourselves, and find some way to sublimate it, just to use Freud's term, into something slightly higher, we're never going to get anywhere with anything,'' he said. – Norman Mailier, quoted by Bernard Weinraub, ‘Mailer Tells a Lot,’ NYTimes, Oct. 4, 2000

Below: “Dry Ice,” solid co2, sublimates to it's gaseous state without entering a liquid state

[D. Allan]

haptic (HAP-tic), adjective

relating to touch and the sense of touch

[Greek haptikos, from haptesthai, to grasp, touch.]

related:

Haptics : a branch of psychology dealing with the sense of touch

haptical : adjective

[color:#996633] “Sighted blindfolded children and children with early-onset low vision and early-onset blindness copied raised-line drawings (using only the haptic modality).” – Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness

A specialist in haptics, the study of the human sense of touch, has invented a device that transforms a computer mouse into a conduit through which a user can feel the physical shapes and textures of objects on the screen. –Business Digest, NYTimes, Feb 9, 1998

The Instinct's most gimmicky enhancement is a so-called haptic touch screen, which means that the whole thing vibrates a little each time you tap it. –David Pogue, ‘State Of The Art; An Imitator That Rivals The iPhone,’ NYTimes, June 12, 2008

He envisions using embedded electronics to sharply increase the human capacity for thought and developing so-called haptic systems that would enable one person to physically experience the sensations of someone else. –Barnaby J. Feder, ‘Intriguing possibilities in sensors, an on-ramp for electronics and biotechnology’ , NYTimes, Oct. 7, 2002

''Our critical language is 'haptic poor','' . . . . ''The touchable nature of fiber art throws off most art critics [ who are ] only comfortable with the optic, granting tactile values a very low position on the esthetic totem pole.'' -ibid

[LynnDel]

I love this word, now that I've learned about it. Thanks for the new knowledge!

[D. Allan]

Young children may be more aware of their haptic sensations. My little grandaughter has always loved smooth little items. She used to carry around with her tiny pieces of sponge, and especially loved makeup sponges. Her favorite words are 'bubbles,' and 'squishy!'

A hug, a kiss, a caress - all interpersonal haptic experiences.

A haptic professional? - a masseur.

Planish is a recent word and a favorite of mine - a lovely sounding one.

/dAb

[D. Allan]

illustration at right : A plantigrade bear foot by Leonardo da Vinci

plantigrade

1. adj. walking on the whole sole or palm of the foot

2. noun a plantigrade animal : rabbits, raccoons, bears, humans, mice, skunks

[Latin planta, sole, + gradior, to walk]

[color:#996633] “Mr. Minot also complains, in connection with our feet, that we are plantigrade – which is evidently a terrible thing, and inevitably adapted to destroy our self-respect. Perhaps it not too late for us to try to develop hoofs, and if we make the attempt in earnest we may succeed in eliminating the human toe and in providing our descendants with handsome serviceable hoofs, cloven or otherwise; but whether we can become centigrade rather than plantigrade is more than doubtful, and until this is done we must be content to know that we have been made a little lower than the pigs, not to mention horses and cows. . . .“ -‘The Really Lower Animal,’ NYTimes, June 16, 1882

[D. Allan]

unguligrade (ung-gyoo-lee-grahd)

1. adj. walking on hooves

2. noun an unguligrade animal : horse, cow, sheep, goat, deer, bison, pig, giraffes, rhinoceroses,

[Latin ungula hoof + gradi to walk.]

[color:#996633] “Thus we may see,” say Captain Hayes, “that the horse is an animal which moves on the tips of his fingers and toes (unguligrade); and that he has only one toe (or finger) to each leg.” - “The Veterinarian,” Our Animal Friends: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, p. 20 (1895)

Because the weight of the animal is borne by two toes, this is referred to as a paraxonic foot, and the posture is unguligrade. The artiodactyls (pigs, deer, bison, elk, etc.) all have this type of foot, balancing on the last bone of the toe, much like a ballet dancer. –Renn Tumlison, ‘Nature Trivia,’ www.hsu.edu

Comes with satyr lower body skin, goat horns, satyr tail, prim hair, unguligrade legs, and hooves. –from a costume advertisement

I've been working on a secondary incarnation of that satyr/faun costume I mentioned before. I'm leaving off the stilts this time - the physical risks are too severe and it far exceeds my budget. That said, I may have found a viable option for digitigrade/ unguligrade leg design that's going to be vastly more comfortable, safe (especially in child-ridden areas), requisite of far less physical training for operation, and still visually effective,. . . –ofthewood, at Livejournal.com, Dec. 19, 2007

The Draenei are taxonomically similar to the Protoss in Blizzard's Starcraft storyline. Both races are blue skinned with blue tinted blood, and both employ bipedal unguligrade locomotion. - http://www.wowwiki.com/Exodar_draenei

[D. Allan]

digitigrade

1. adj. walking on the toes, as most four-legged animals do.

2. noun, a digitigrade animal : cats, dogs, horses, birds, bipedal dinosaurs

[Latin digitus, toe; see digit + Latin gradus, step]

[color:#996633]

“But the digitigrade modification necessitated a change of structural plan, to the extent of raising the wrist and ankle joints off the ground, so as to make the quadruped walk on its fingers and toes. We meet with an interesting case of this transition in the existing hare, which while at rest supports itself on the whole hind foot after the manner of a plantigrade animal, but when running does so upon the ends of its toes, after the manner of a digitigrade animal.” –George John Romanes, Darwin and After Darwin, p. 182, (1910)

A high-falutin’ Tiny Tim, he no longer walks on “tiptoes”, instead he walks digitigrade “through the tulips.”

Werewolves will often find it hard to wear high heels, despite the natural ability to walk digitigrade. Besides, a Werewolf in high heels would look silly! -wikihow.com, ‘How to Get the Werewolf Look’

The only digitigrade primate species is the human female ballet dancer. –‘Grimm’s Law’ http://www.prismnet.com/~dierdorf/ww-42.html

[D. Allan]

instantiate (in-STAN-she-ate)

1. to support or explain a concept by a real or tangible example. An apple instantiates the concept of “redness.”

2. to find or produce an instance of

[Mid-20th century. <instance]

instantiation, noun

instantiative, a dj.

[color:#996633] . . . heroes instantiate ideals — W. J. Bennett

Dodd usefully distinguishes between questions about when properties such as being a son of Lincoln can be instantiated, and questions about whether such properties exist when they cannot be instantiated. –Franklin Bruno, from a review of “Works of Music: An Essay in Ontology,” by Julian Dodd, pub. 2007

Existence is not a property (in, say, the way that being red is a property of an apple). Rather it is a precondition for the instantiation of properties in the following sense: it is not possible for a non-existent thing to instantiate any properties because there is nothing to instantiate which, so to speak, a property can stick. Nothing has no qualities whatsoever. –‘The Ontological Argument, Kant's Criticism: Is Existence a Perfection?’ http://www.iep.utm.edu/o/ont-arg.htm

Crane’s poems instantiate a form of private experience that can be concealed no more than it can be revealed. - from Tim Dean, "Hart Crane’s Poetics of Privacy," American Literary History 8:1 (Spring 1996)

If I am driving and a moose runs out in front of my car, I have the mental event of shock. According to the MacDonalds, my mental event of shock is a co-instantiation of the physical property shock and the mental property shock. – Kathy Fazekas, ‘Commentary on Can Non-Reductive Materialism Escape from the Jaws of Epiphenomenalism?’, by Erica Shumener

In spite of the growing literature on the neural bases of emotion, we still know very little about the precise functions of key brain regions in the affective brain that instantiatethe emotional lives of humans. –Dr. Tor Wager, ‘Neuroimaging of Emotion’, Columbia University

The picture documents an instantiation of the concept, “taking a nap .” Photo by Salvatore Mele

[D. Allan]

simulacrum (sim-yuh-LEY-kruhm), noun, plural : simulacra

1. a merely superficial, vague or unreal semblance

2. an image or representation

[Latin simul&#257;crum from simul&#257;re, “to simulate” + -crum, n. suff.]

late 16th century, used to describe a representation of another thing, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god; by the late 19th century, it had gathered a secondary association of inferiority: an image without the substance or qualities of the original. -wikipedia

simulacral , (sim-yuh-LEY-kruhl) adjective

simulacre, (SIM-yuh-ley-ker) Archaic noun

[color:#996633] Talk story about schoolchildren climbing a simulacrum Mt. Everest at the Rubin Museum. “The weird thing,” one of the guides said, “is that this feels and sounds exactly like base camp at Everest.” -Adam Gopnik, ‘Sherpa Sleepover’, The New Yorker, June 26, 2006

The popularity of reality television, with its contrived conflicts and hokey simulacra, demonstrates a conscious enjoyment of the unmistakably fake. –Rebecca Mead, ‘Letter From South Padre Island; Endless Spring,’ The New Yorker, Apr. 1, 2002

His correspondence with the Queen continued, and he appeared from time to time at Court; but he was a mere simulacrum of his former self; "the dream," wrote Victoria, "is past." -Lytton Strachey (1880-1932), ‘Queen Victoria’

''Las Vegas is a realization of the kingdom of God on earth,'' said Mark C. Taylor, who teaches philosophy and religion at Williams College, in Massachusetts, and is both a plenary speaker here and the creator of a philosophical video game set in Las Vegas. ''The culture of simulacra has become both all-encompassing and inescapable.'' -Sam Howe Verhovek, ‘Deep Thoughts in a City Better Known for Slots,’ NYTimes, March 13, 2001

Hanson’s eye-fooling simulacra of lumpen American folks—a janitor, a jogger, a pair of hefty tourists—are scattered throughout the museum, reliably triggering double and triple takes. –Peter Schjeldahl, ‘The Art World; England Swings’, The New Yorker, March 1, 2004

During the depressing simulacrum of an election campaign, Medvedev has been promoted assiduously on state television as a loyal and competent young man who will respond reliably to his master’s voice . . . –David Remnick, ‘Smoke on the Water,’ The New Yorker, March 10, 2008

Nietzsche addresses the concept of simulacrum in The Twilight of the Idols, suggesting that most philosophers, by ignoring the reliable input of their senses and resorting to the constructs of language and reason, arrive at a distorted copy of reality. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulacrum

Faith, as blind simulacrum of certainty that things eagerly awaited for will actually happen and as conviction of facts that cannot be seen, is the powerful vector causing the coagulated blood to dissolve. –Lyslei de Souza Nascimento, ‘My Soul Is an Empty Inkwell’

[D. Allan]

deconstruction (dee-kuhn-STRUHK- shuhn), noun

A theory of literary criticism and also a philosophical movement questioning the usual assumptions about “certainty”, “identity” and “truth”, which maintains that words can only refer to more words, and statements about a text subvert their own meaning. –abtracted. from The Ame. Heritage Dictionary

“…questions all traditional assumptions about the ability of language to represent reality and emphasizes that a text has no stable reference or identification because words essentially only refer to other words and therefore a reader must approach a text by eliminating any metaphysical or ethnocentric assumptions through an active role of defining meaning, sometimes by a reliance on new word construction, etymology, puns, and other word play.” –from Random House Unabridged

“A method of analyzing texts based on the ideas that language is inherently unstable and shifting and that the reader rather than the author is central in determining meaning. It was introduced by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida in the late 1960s.” –Encarta Dictionary

related words:

deconstructive, adj.

deconstructionism, noun

deconstructionist, noun and adj.

A common conclusion was that the most appropriate response was to investigate the person of Jesus using all the newly-found analytical tools of the Enlightenment. This was best done by deconstructing the Bible as a literary source of data. - http://homepages.which.net/~radical.faith/thought/schweitzer.htm

Derrida’s style, then, enacts the deconstructive point that meaning is always elsewhere, a point also insisted upon over and over again by those religious thinkers (like St. Augustine) who warn us against the almost inevitable sin of idolatry, the sin of mistaking a historical, limited, partial meaning for the true meaning which always escapes and exceeds its momentary instantiations. –Stanley Fish, ‘Think Again,’ NYTimes, April 20, 2008

Deconstruction literally means 'taking apart' and should not be confused with destruction! I suggest that textual deconstruction involves examining a text contextually, bearing in mind the time and culture in which it was written, and the purpose for which it was written. –Derek Gillard

"Needless to say, one more time, deconstruction, if there is such a thing, takes place as the experience of the impossible." -Jaques Derrida, Paper presented at Cardozo School of Law, N.Y. 1993

But if deconstructive and postmodernist arguments don’t have the negative effects cited by their detractors, neither do they have the positive effects celebrated by their champions. They do not for example lead us to be less dogmatic because in hearkening to them “we acquire a ‘soft’ stance on what we believe to be ‘true.’ We stop believing that our truth is THE truth and so we are always open for dialogue.” –Stanley Fish, ‘Think Again,’ NYTimes, April 20, 2008

"In deconstruction, the critic claims there is no meaning to be found in the actual text, but only in the various, often mutually irreconcilable, 'virtual texts' constructed by readers in their search for meaning" -Rebecca Goldstein

Mr. Derrida was known as the father of deconstruction, the method of inquiry that asserted that all writing was full of confusion and contradiction, and that the author's intent could not overcome the inherent contradictions of language itself, robbing texts - whether literature, history or philosophy - of truthfulness, absolute meaning and permanence. –Jonathan Kandell, ‘Jacques Derrida, Abstruse Theorist, Dies at 74,’ NYTimes, Oct. 10, 2004

"Many otherwise unmalicious people have in fact been guilty of wishing for deconstruction's demise - if only to relieve themselves of the burden of trying to understand it." -Mitchell Stephens, NYTimes, 1994

We can deconstruct the use of language to discover the conceptual oppositions on which the text rests. –Daniel Saunders, March 24, 2008

“…deconstructive epistemology (or hermeneutics) calls for humility within the search for knowledge.” -LeRon Shults, 21 Feb. 2007, http://leronshults.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/02/deconstructive_.html

[D. Allan]

pixilated, (PIC-suh-ley-tid) adj.

1. Behaving as if mentally unbalanced; very eccentric.

2. Whimsical; prankish; amusingly silly.

3. Slang Intoxicated; very drunk.

["mildly insane, bewildered, tipsy," 1848, from pixie (q.v.) + -lated, as in titillated, etc., perhaps influenced by or a variant of pixie-led. A New England dialect word popularized by 1936 by movie "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town." –online etymological dictionary ]

related: pixilation, pixilator, pixie nouns

pixilate, verb

synonyms : besotted,

“No; pixilation has been kicking around the language for a half-century to describe a technique of cinematographers and stage managers to make human performers appear to move as if artificially animated. Using a stop-frame camera, the pixilator can distort and speed up the motion of actors, thereby making Mr. Jagger, perhaps growing lethargic with the years, look more frantically animated than ever. Based on that noun, the modern verb pixilate invites confusion with an earlier pixilated: "bemused, fey, whimsical" or "slightly and happily drunk." This is formed from the noun pixie, a mischievous sprite or fairy, who is pictured with a pointed, conical hat; it is not known if the pixie got his name from the pixie cap or vice versa. In coining the modern verb, did cinematographers intend the jerky movements of the subjects to reflect the older meaning connoting whimsy and tipsiness? This is like asking what came first, the pixie or the pixie cap. The solution to the confusion is this: Spell pixilated from the sprite, meaning "intoxicated," with an i after the x, and spell pixelate derived from the photographic technique with an e after the x. –William Safire, ‘On Language; Modem, I’m Odem’, NYTimes, 02 Apr 1995

He is pixilated on his own fairy dust, and the trail of grace notes that verge on the hyperbolic are his shout out to sanity; he's clearing his head and his lungs. –Elvis Mitchell, ‘Requiem for A Dream (2000),’ NYTimes, 06 Oct 2000

Ms. Deschanel, who alone is one of the best reasons to go to the movies these days, takes her few lines and sprinkles them through her scenes like fairy dust. This makes sense, because she's intensely pixilated -- a devil doll with a hunger for mischief. –Elvis Mitchell, ‘The Good Girl’, NYTimes, 07 Aug 2002

pixellated, or pixelated , adjective

A pixellated image is made up of pixels (= extremely small dots on a computer screen that viewed together make an image).

related: pixellation, pixel, nouns

pixelate, verb

Hence the notion of our own reality as an illusory projection of some flatlanders’ membrane world. It’s as though the pixilated [sic] people we see on television are real and the actors are only secondary manifestations. –George Johnson, ‘The Theory That Ate the World,’ NYTimes, 22 Aug 2008

[Gail]

As we wait for the return of D.Allan...

I found this word of the day:

ameliorate or meliorate

Think of Amelia...

Ameliorate means "To make better" The word in French is the same, "améliorer" and I use it frequently.