‘Do I see a Penitent, or a Criminal?’ She said at length; ‘Are those hands raised in contrition for your crimes, or in fear of meeting their punishment? Do those tears acknowledge the justice of your doom, or only solicit mitigation of your sufferings? I fear me, ’tis the latter!’
I'm reading Ben Franklin's autobiography, and some of these words have cropped up. So instead of my normal practice, which is writing them down with definitions, I figured I'd start a list here.
Spelling bee, sixth grade. Just me and one other person dueling it out. He gets "cookware." I get "passable" - and spell it p-a-s-s-I-b-l-e. "Passable" is my least favorite word because it's haunted me for years in its silvery gleam.
The silver, if you haven't caught on, signifies my being runner-up in the spelling bee, something I cannot stand for some nine years later.
"He grew by degrees less civil, put on more of the Master, frequently found fault, was captious and seem'd ready for an Out-breaking." - Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of B.F. (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2003), p. 110.
a beverage whose delicious taste lingers beyond the quenching point and thus forces its drinker to alternate between sipping it and setting it down until it is exhausted
1 : disappointment resulting from the sight of the bottom of the interior of a coffee cup; esp. after coffee was recently consumed 2 : disappointment resulting from the near-weightlessness of an empty coffee cup 3 : the act of defenestrating a container of decaffeinated coffee because it is decaffeinated
It's truly a shame nobody really uses filipendulous anymore. (As I type this, the word is underlined in red.) Perhaps revivification of this archaic term can serve delightful and useful purposes.
Comments by logophile
logophile commented on the word vote getter
Seriously... no one can think of a better term during elections?
August 3, 2009
logophile commented on the word equanimity
wajo22: Did you mean invective?
October 1, 2008
logophile commented on the word anagnorisis
What a wonderful word. Taught to me by my Shakespeare professor.
October 1, 2008
logophile commented on the word vecordious
Flows right off the tongue & has a gothic feel. From the rare noun vecordy, "madness, trouble of mind, folly, doting."
March 31, 2008
logophile commented on the word pulchritude
Asativum: how about antiaurosemantonym?
February 9, 2008
logophile commented on the word contrition
‘Do I see a Penitent, or a Criminal?’ She said at length; ‘Are those hands raised in contrition for your crimes, or in fear of meeting their punishment? Do those tears acknowledge the justice of your doom, or only solicit mitigation of your sufferings? I fear me, ’tis the latter!’
-The Prioress in Lewis' The Monk
February 9, 2008
logophile commented on the word mansuetude
as if your "manner" is falling into "desuetude"
January 28, 2008
logophile commented on the word lucubration
Would a devoted researcher for K-Y Jelly do "lubrication lucubration?"
October 24, 2007
logophile commented on the list newspaper-names
I'm at Rutgers too (in Camden). Here it's the Gleaner.
What an excellent list.
October 24, 2007
logophile commented on the word egregious
It means "conspicuously bad or offensive."
October 24, 2007
logophile commented on the word polysyndeton
Reminds me of Vonnegut.
October 23, 2007
logophile commented on the word sublime
not, as one might incline, a verdant citrus fruit of substandard quality
October 23, 2007
logophile commented on the word vituperative
What a wonderful word with a horribly pretentious connotation.
October 23, 2007
logophile commented on the word mesnoxian
The word is mesonoxian, meaning "pertaining to midnight."
October 23, 2007
logophile commented on the word obsessive-compulsive drink
No: I was thinking either the whole term as it is (which can also be called "OCD") or a one-word miracle I have yet to conjure.
October 23, 2007
logophile commented on the word dunch
or... to eat dunch (v)
October 22, 2007
logophile commented on the word obsessive-compulsive drink
yeah, i tried, but nothing so far... let me know if you coin something
October 22, 2007
logophile commented on the user logophile
Well, yes. Logs are among my life's passions. But it is words that strike a key in my heart.
October 21, 2007
logophile commented on the list words-that-shall-remain-on-this-list-until-i-have-ensnared-them-in-my-cerebrum
I'm reading Ben Franklin's autobiography, and some of these words have cropped up. So instead of my normal practice, which is writing them down with definitions, I figured I'd start a list here.
October 21, 2007
logophile commented on the word passable
Spelling bee, sixth grade. Just me and one other person dueling it out. He gets "cookware." I get "passable" - and spell it p-a-s-s-I-b-l-e. "Passable" is my least favorite word because it's haunted me for years in its silvery gleam.
The silver, if you haven't caught on, signifies my being runner-up in the spelling bee, something I cannot stand for some nine years later.
October 21, 2007
logophile commented on the word captious
"He grew by degrees less civil, put on more of the Master, frequently found fault, was captious and seem'd ready for an Out-breaking." - Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of B.F. (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2003), p. 110.
October 21, 2007
logophile commented on the word obsessive-compulsive drink
a beverage whose delicious taste lingers beyond the quenching point and thus forces its drinker to alternate between sipping it and setting it down until it is exhausted
October 20, 2007
logophile commented on the word scissor
(n): half a pair of scissors; KNIFE
October 20, 2007
logophile commented on the word fumptious
exceedingly gaudy or tacky
October 20, 2007
logophile commented on the word dunch
an intermediary meal between lunch and dinner that replaces both
October 20, 2007
logophile commented on the word didasciurid
a squirrel usu. residing on a college campus that has become acclimated to human presence; esp. one that readily approaches food-bearing humans
October 20, 2007
logophile commented on the word decafejection
1 : disappointment resulting from the sight of the bottom of the interior of a coffee cup; esp. after coffee was recently consumed 2 : disappointment resulting from the near-weightlessness of an empty coffee cup 3 : the act of defenestrating a container of decaffeinated coffee because it is decaffeinated
October 20, 2007
logophile commented on the word coffeelation
sudden bliss due to the discovery of a misplaced cup of coffee or the notion that a cup of coffee previously deemed empty is actually part full
October 20, 2007
logophile commented on the word antiquaroma
the delightful smell of old books; esp. their yellowed pages
October 20, 2007
logophile commented on the word circumventeer
a customer who cuts in front of his waiting-line precursors to a newly opened register
October 20, 2007
logophile commented on the word filipendulous
It's truly a shame nobody really uses filipendulous anymore. (As I type this, the word is underlined in red.) Perhaps revivification of this archaic term can serve delightful and useful purposes.
October 20, 2007
logophile commented on the word features
I see a link to Blogger in my profile editor... but no Wordpress!
October 20, 2007