Word of the Day

[phkrause]

Interesting word DAllan. :)

[D. Allan]

Yes it is, PK. And I'm old enough to wish for a neotonus body!

[D. Allan]

Effective language is "winged," traveling with a purpose like an arrow that hits the target, linking speaker and intended audient. ... –R. Rehm, The Play of Space: Spatial Transformation in Greek Tragedy

audient

adjective listening; paying attention

noun a hearer

origin: from Latin audiens pres. part. of audire, to hear...

... born in that audient hour before daylight broke on the nation… Rachel Manley, Thoughts on Writing from Exile

Praise be to God, the ruler of all creation, the eradicator of all iniquity, the prideful against injustice, the ever-lasting, the audient of all complaints and the detector of all misfortune. Abu Hamzah al-Muhajir

You will explore the place and purpose of music in contemporary society, relating your aesthetic responses to the creative triangle of composer-performer-audient. –Sample Course Syllabus, MUS 101 Music Appreciation Distance Course, OUS Extended Campus

And, as we sate, we felt the old earth spin,

And all the starry turbulence of worlds

Swing round us in their audient circles, till

If that same golden moon were overhead

Or if beneath our feet, we did not know. – Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Ninth Book” from Aurora Leigh

[D. Allan]

Here are two words for the price of one so to speak. You will see that they go together like a horse and carriage, like a needle and thread, like a cake and it's frosting…..

acclivity noun

an upward slope, as the side of a hill considered as ascending

acclivitous adjective

As the men moved forward up the acclivity, the rebels, who in the meantime had rallied, charged upon us,… “From The Rappahannock; The Late Brilliant Affair at Kelly’s Ford.” The New York Times, 20 March 1863

Even the swans seemed not insensible to the efforts made for the general entertainment, -- floating up to the banks at the foot of the acclivity where the musicians sat enthroned, they curved their long necks and stretched them up the hill, if haply they might catch a few crumbs of the sweet sounds. –“The Central Park; Seventh Citizens’ Concert…,” The New York Times, 09 Oct 1860

The acclivity is steep and the altitude great. About 2 o'clock the brigade swept boldly up the slope, through a heavy fire from the batteries, until they reached the crest,… -“Gen. Grant’s Army.; No Fighting on Saturday and Sunday.” The New York Times, 01 Dec. 1863

declivity noun

a slope considered as descending

declivitous adjective

I recall a sign near Boulogne which warns drivers (in English) of an approaching “dangerous declivity”. Reaching for a dictionary is made all the more difficult by the steep and winding descent that follows shortly... –The Times (UK), “Steep learning curve,” 16 Dec. 2008

The Yangtze has its Tiger Leaping Gorge, a terrifying declivity in Sichuan now tamed for package tourists; … Simon Winchester, “Exploration: Mad About the Mekong by John Keay,” The Times (UK), 27 Feb 2005

The horse rebelled as young HIll was driving slowly, down Summit Avenue and dashed down the steep declivity at a break-neck speed. ... – “J. J. Hill’s Son In Runaway;…” The New York Times, 18 March 1904

Wayne Koestenbaum, in his essay ''A Brief History of Cleavage,'' rhapsodizes about cleavage as a ''dark declivity,'' ''a gift.'' -Daphne Merkin, “The Great Divide,” The New York Times, 28 August 2005

[Gail]

Quote:

I recall a sign near Boulogne which warns drivers (in English) of an approaching “dangerous declivity”. Reaching for a dictionary is made all the more difficult by the steep and winding descent that follows shortly... –The Times (UK), “Steep learning curve,” 16 Dec. 2008

LOL

[D. Allan]

:)

[D. Allan]

But the pursuit of holiness as so much personal adornment is a very subtile snare. I have been humbled by the detection of it. All such detections pain and lancinate the soul. –John Duncan, William Angus Knight, Colloquia Peripateticva- Deep Sea Soundings: being notes of conversations, 1907

lancinate

1. verb to stab or pierce; to tear; lacerate

2. adj. painful as if caused by something sharp; pierced

lancination noun

Origin? My guess is that it is related to "lance," a piercing weapon of war. And the verb: "The Doctor lanced the painful boil."

… the cold oozed up through the soles of the shoes, lancinating cold of the approach of winter that grips hold of your belly and squeezes it tight. –Angela Carter, “The Erl-King”

Very poignant, yes, they lancinate his little heart, they seldom fail to oblige. –Samuel Beckett, Dream of Fair to Middling Women

He complained piteously of paroxysms of severe lancinating pain down the back of both legs extending from the buttocks to the ankles. – Gibbon on Sciatica, College journal of medical science, Cinn. Ohio, Eclectic Medical Institute, 1866

Does the German conscript believe in the efficacy of his leaders…. Does no doubt ever lancinate him? The New York Times Current History of the European war, Vol.1, 1915

Cymophanous depilation

Deletory cogitation

Together lancinate and thrill like sonants cleaving surds

So abstain from imperceptions,

Coarctation, and deception

And, no matter what you have to say, don’t use big words. –W. H. Hills, Psalm of Life; Curiosities of Verse-Quaint and Singular

And friend, your lancinate answers pierced me with poison. –John Wheelwright, Collected Poems of John Wheelwright

Badly as M. Masson pinks the husband, still worse does he lancinate the spouse. Like the galant homme that he is, he makes mere galantine of the lady! -George Leo de St. M. Watson, A Polish Exile with Napoleon: Embodying the Letters of Captain Piontkowski, 1912

[D. Allan]

aft adverb and adjective

at, near, or towards the stern of a ship or tail of an aircraft –Compact Oxford English Dictionary

Origin: O.E. æftan "behind, farthest back," from superl. of O.E. æf, af, of "off" –Online Etymology Dictionary

I was not surprised to see someone sitting aft, on the deck, with his legs dangling over the mud. –Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”

A man writes us that most Connecticut auto licenses have a letter of the alphabet on them. The one appearing fore and aft on a prominent Connecticut undertaker's hearse reads, with simple dignity: U.-2… -G. H. Schade, James Thurber, Harold Ross, “The Talk of the Town,” The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 1933

Then, after the plane’s door has shut, he [ex-president Jimmy Carter] stands up and walks aft, shaking hands, posing for pictures, learning all the children’s names. “It saves me a lot of headaches,” he explained last week. “It saves me from having them come up to see me during the flight.” –Nick Paumgarten, “Jimmy Carter Aloft,” The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2006

(Rubens, owing to moral constraints of the time, rarely worked from nude female models, and many of his women are what they look like: male models imaginatively plumped and upholstered, fore and aft.) –Peter Schjeldahl, “Rubenessence,” The New Yorker, 07 Feb. 2005

…a mid-engined car puts it behind the driver but ahead of the rear axle line; while a rear engine is placed aft of that line. –“The knowledge:Engine position,” The Times (UK), 16 March 2003

We reefed the foresail and set him, we hauled aft the foresheet; the helm was hard aweather. The ship wore bravely. J. Swift, “Gullivers Travels”

[D. Allan]

eldritch adjective

weird and sinister or ghostly -Compact Oxford English Dictionary

strange or unearthly, eerie [/color]- American Heritage Dictionary

origins: c.1500, apparently somehow from elf (cf. Scottish variant elphrish), an explanation OED finds "suitable;" Watkins connects its elements with O.E. el- "else, otherwise" and rice "realm." -Online Etymology Dictionary

He knows which of the frilled, blotched, rotted fungi are fit to eat; he understands their eldritch ways, how they spring up overnight in lightless places and thrive on dead things. –Angela Carter, The Erl-King

...small ghouls and ghosts will be bobbing up and down on our doorsteps, demanding chocolates with menaces and shrieking with eldritch laughter. -Amanda Craig recommends maggical and macabre children’s books for Hollowe’en, The Times (UK), 24 Oct. 2008

…What you hear is the crackling of trampled undergrowth, a lot of confused squeaking and yelping; a good deal of the eerie, eldritch sound, part scream, part hoot, part yodel, which is the huntsman encouraging his hounds: -“ Eleu, leu in, leu... –And in my dream, there came a pony, The Times (UK), 20 March 2006

First, the cellist Rohan de Saram cooly despatched the swarm of guttural cries and eldritch shrieks of Kottos - missing something of the fury of the piece in the process, perhaps, but not dropping a stitch. –Neil Fisher, Aldeburgh Festival Roundup at various venues, Suffolk ; The Times (UK), 24 June 2008

In life, you reach a certain eldritch age where one’s friends suddenly take it upon themselves to splash out on luxurious weekend breaks in Scottish country... –Allan Brown, Just ring for room disservice, The Sunday Times (UK), 24 Nov. 2002

[D. Allan]

estuary noun

the part of a large river where it flows into the sea.

Origin: 1530s, from L. aestuarium "a tidal marsh or opening," from aestus "boiling (of the sea), tide, heat," from PIE *aidh- "to burn" -Online Etymology Dictionary

estuarine adjective

The Government of Abu Dhabi has stepped in to help to fund the world’s biggest offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary after the withdrawal of Royal Dutch Shell from the project. –Robin Pagnamenta, The Times (UK), 17 Oct. 2008

Ms. Hills also spoke of the dance’s African-Argentine roots among the local mulattos and immigrants, principally in the Rio de la Plata region, a swath of land including areas of Argentina and Uruguay near the estuary of the same name. –Alastair Macaulay, “Hurling Thunderbolts From the Floor,”The New York Times, 10 Aug. 2010

In the Gulf of Mexico, estuarine-dependent species dominate the large and valuable commercial and recreational catches… -by The Editors, “What the Spill Means for Offshore Drilling,” The New York Times, 29 April 2010

The study area is a complex system of ocean fronting shorelines, barrier islands, tidal inlets, estuaries and backbay mainland areas. –City Room, The New York Times, 04 Dec. 2009

[D. Allan]

recrudescence noun

a new outbreak after a period of abatement or inactivity, especially of something dangerous and unpleasant such as trouble and disease.

1721, from L. recrudescere "re-open" (of wounds), lit. "become raw again," … Online Etymology Dictionary

Post-polio syndrome is a recrudescence in later life of the earlier paralysis suffered in the acute stage of polio,… -Dr. Thomas Stuttaford, “The MS message,” The Times (UK), 30 Sept. 2004

Yet so seductive is the lure of the ring that he still feels an inexplicable recrudescence of adrenaline, instilling a bizarre confidence ... –Joyce Carol Oates, “Their Bodies, Their Selves,” The New York Times – Book Review Section, 04 June 1995

Having written, and spoken out, against the new manifestations of the oldest hatred, I am on my guard for any recrudescence of judaeophobia. –Michael Gove, “Hollywood indulges every passion save for one,” The Times (UK), 24 Feb. 2004

The prospects of peace negotiations still remain unsettled on account of the recrudescence of warlike fervor over Manchuria. –“Russians Still Skeptical,…” The New York Times, 15 June 1905

[D. Allan]

starboard noun/adj.

the side of a ship or airplane that is on the right when one is facing forward; the left side is called port.

Origin: O.E. steorbord, lit. "side on which a vessel was steered," from steor- "rudder, steering paddle" + bord "ship's side." -Online Etymology Dictionary

Why do aircraft carriers invariably have their superstructure situated on the starboard side? -The Times (of London) 04 Feb. 2004

THE HULL of the Lusitania lies 310 ft. down off Old Head of Kinsale. She rests on her starboard side in sand, a black mountain of crippled metal. –The Times (of London) 29 April 2006

We were tilting to starboard. Severely. The thickening swells, in fact, were almost touching the worn wooden rail that arced around the ship. –Matt Gross, “Sailing the Caribbean, the Frugal Way,” The New York Times, Nov. 15, 2009

Soon, the wind died down, and a faint smell of oil-on-tuna settled in as the boat continued, past warehouses to port and the occasional slow-moving barge at starboard. –Ben McGrath, “At Sea,” The New Yorker, Oct 17, 2005

[phkrause]

Why do aircraft carriers invariably have their superstructure situated on the starboard side?

Now you got me wondering, why do they?

[D. Allan]

beats me, PK! accidental tradition?

[D. Allan]

melismatic adjective

1. (music) of, relating to, or being a melisma; the style of singing several notes to one syllable of text - an attribute of some Islamic and Gregorian chants. –Wiktionary

2. (music) being melodically embellished

melisma - noun A melisma is a passage of several notes sung to a single syllable. It is a nearly universal musical gesture -- heard in everything from Gregorian chant to Indian raga to the Muslim muezzin's trilling call to prayer -- and a fixture of many of the genres that nourished American pop, in particular the gospel music that Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin and others carried out of the black church and recast as secular soul and R & B. –Jody Rosen, “Television/Radio; The State of American Singing as Heard on ‘I-I-I-I-I-Idol,’ “ The New York Times, May 18 2003

Origins: 1880, from Gk. melisma "song, air, melody “

Her melismatic “aah” is a long held sigh over exotic intervals and against the most delicate feathery orchestration... –“

Most potent of all was Davies’s Leopardi Fragments, Italianate not just in its words but in the melismatic writing and extravagant gestures of a composer who in 1961 was already a master dramatist. –Geoff Brown, “BCMG/Knussen at the Wigmore Hall, The Times (London), 27 Jan. 2010

…Katherine Manley’s beautifully sung Venus gave vent to her grief via one of the greatest melismatic outbursts in Baroque music… -Richard Morrison, “Venus and Adonis at Wilton’s Music Hall, E1” The Times (London), 13 Feb. 2009

The ensemble's Mostly Mozart programs include folk music from eastern Georgia, in which two melismatic voices sing over a moving drone bass ... –“Music In Georgia, Sacred Chants Reverberate Once Again,” The New York Times,

Ms. Angela deploys pipes of military strength. She’s a melisma Merman, with her own steamroller charisma. –Ben Brantley, “Hopeful Divas Back Where It All Began,” The New York Times, Nov.23, 2009

[Gail]

Eldritch... sounds like witch... I think I can remember that one.

[D. Allan]

akimbo adverb

with hands on hips and elbow turned outwards

origin: c.1400, in kenebowe, perhaps from phrase in keen bow "at a sharp angle," or from a Scandinavian word akin to Icelandic kengboginn "bow-bent." Many languages use a teapot metaphor for this, such as French faire le pot a deux anses "to play the pot with two handles." –Online Etymology Dictionary

McEnroe stood, arms akimbo, staring at the spot where he felt the ball had landed. –Neil Harman “Pete Sampras holds off McEnroe in London return, The Times (London), 04 Dec 2008

…I sat next to Madonna once. She was tiny, almost fragile, but managed to take up all the available space: arms akimbo, legs sprawled apart like a man. –Sally Brampton, “The Power of Fifty,” The Sunday Times (London), 13 April 2008

Arms akimbo means hands on hips with elbows out, and legs akimbo refers to a sitting position, legs bent, knees pointing away from the body. –Elizabeth Fuller, Readers comments, The New York Times, Jan. 6,2010

The university recently sold a Rembrandt - "Man with Arms Akimbo" - for a sum reported to be more than a million dollars. –Geoffrey T. Hellman, “The Talk of the Town,” The New Yorker, March 31, 1975

Now the President was tumbling in electronic poll space, arms and legs akimbo in an approval freefall.... –Richard Liebmann-Smith, Fiction, “Cyberprez,” The New Yorker, March 9 1992

[D. Allan]

askance (also askant) adverb

1. with an attitude or look of suspicion or disapproval

2. with a sideways glance; obliquely

Evangelicals look askance at superstition, ballroom dancing, unmarried motherhood and lots of the other sins of which I am guilty. – Ruth Gledhill, “At Your Service,” The Times (London), Oct. 4, 2003

When I was 25, I looked askance at the little boys who picked up sticks by the creek where I walked and started "shooting" pow, pow, pow! ... –Readers’ Comments, “Little Boys and Violence,” The New York Times, Aug. 30, 2010

All that has many people looking askance at the eggs in the supermarket and wondering what is safe. William Neuman, “Fried, Scrambled, Infected,” The New York Times, Sept. 25, 2010

North Carolina wants everyone to know that despite our shared last name, we've looked askance at lower Carolina for years. ... –Dave T., Readers’ Comments, “Palmetto Political Passions,” by Gail Collins, June 3, 2010

[Gail]

Do some people sometimes look at YOU askance?

[D. Allan]

I'm sure that has happened... I've done some strange things during the years.

[Gail]

OOooooo! Now I'm curious! :)

[D. Allan]

Hah! I'll never tell ! :)

[Gail]

[D. Allan]

induction noun

logic: a principle of reasoning to a conclusion about all members of a class from examination of only a few members of the class. Reasoning from the particular to the general.

origins: late 14c., from Fr. induction (14c.), from L. inductionem (nom. inductio), noun of action from inducere "to lead". As a term in logic ( 1550s) is from Cicero's use of inductio to translate Gk. epagoge "leading to" in Aristotle

But truth is of so great consequence that ought not disdaine any induction that may bring us unto it. Reason hath so many shapes that know not which to take hold of. Experience hath as many. –Montaigne’s Essays

For he that shall attentively observe how the mind doth gather this excellent dew of knowledge, like unto that which the poet speaketh of,…distilling and contriving it out of particulars natural and artificial, as the flowers of the field and garden, shall find that the mind of herself by nature doth manage and act an induction much better than they describe it. –Francis Bacon, “Second Book of the Proficience and Advancement of Learing Divine and Human”

The second part is the famous “Novum Organum,” or “New Instrument”; a description of the method of induction based on observation and experiment, by which he believed future progress was to be made. –Introductory Note to Essays, Civil and Moral by Francis Bacon ( 1561-1626)

To this I answer that there is not any one phenomenon explained on that supposition which may not as

well be explained without it, as might easily be made appear by an induction of particulars. –George Berkeley, “A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge.” 1710

[D. Allan]

frowsty adjective

having a stale or musty smell; a stale and stuffy atmosphere

"having an unpleasant smell," 1865, of unknown origin; perhaps related to O.Fr. frouste "ruinous, decayed," or to O.E. þroh "rancid;" both of which also are of uncertain origin. –Online Entymology Dictionary

frowstiness noun

This outfit looks as though it’s been scraped off a frowsty bedroom floor before being chucked on in between a bowl of Cheerios and some early morning e-mailing. –Jeremy Langmead and Sarah Vine, “Can Money Buy You Style,” The Times (London) Sept. 19 2003

The ladies drowsed sleepily in the warm sunlight, their necks sinking slowly into soft, frowsty ruffs. – Rachel Campbell-Johnston, Arts Notebook, The Times (London) –Mar. 31, 2005

Anyway, you get the picture: loads of secret competitiveness and recondite malice, decently veiled in the frowsty draperies of intellectual otherworldliness. –Jane Shilling, “A natural habitat,” The Times (London), June 6, 2003

When I knew my grandfather he had long been a widower. He dreamt of champion greyhounds and hobbled up Clonliffe Road to a public bench, where he talked slowly with other patriarchs, other countrymen displaced. I didn't know why my mother feared him. He ate bull's-eyes and read The Saint thrillers. He would say to me from his frowsty bed, "Hand me over those trousers." He'd fumble in the pocket and give me pennies. –Nuala O’Faolain, “Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman”