Obs. n. or adj., A fossil or extant foraminiferan of the genus Nummulites (now sometimes included in the genus Camerina) or a related genus, having a calcareous skeleton typically in the form of a flat spiral resembling a disc, numerous in certain Tertiary strata; of or relating to nummulites; (of a deposit) containing nummulites; nummulitic.
I certainly didn't expect this to mean what it does! OED says it's from Portuguese pequeno, small — the word is evidently one of those diffused around the Atlantic coasts through the Portuguese-based pidgins associated with trade (and esp. the slave trade) in the 17th century.
A French poetic movement of the early twentieth century which emphasized the submersion of the poet in group consciousness and was characterized by simple diction, absence of rhyme, and strongly accented rhythms.
Ooh. It appears gangerh's guesstimation-faculties are twice as capacious as other participants'! (—Intimidating! Though I do still hope I'm around for the next one, no matter who it entails badly losing against! :>)
Also wallydrag, wallidrag, -draggle, -dragle, -tragle, warydraggel, -draggle, etc. (Cf. drag, draggle)
1808 J. Jamieson, An etymological dictionary of the Scottish language — n., A feeble, ill-grown person or animal; a worthless, slovenly person, esp. a woman.
"It appears primarily to signify the youngest of a family, who is often the feeblest. It is sometimes used to denote the youngest bird in a nest."
1826 J. Galt, Last of the Lairds — "It's just like a cuckoo dabbing a wallydraigle out o' the nest."
1873 W. Alexander, Johnny Gibb — "Yon bit pernicketty wallydraggle!"
Oh yes! I have a longstanding love for Cat Power particularly; What Would the Community Think is one of those rare albums I love straight through, but: her first through You Are Free all see a good amount of play around here, and pieces of the Covers record—her "Bathysphere" and "Red Apples" were my (glowing) introduction to Smog.
I wasn't expecting anyone would ask that. :) Hooray for.. "slowcorist"s? and their appreciators.
Phone-posting from the car to say that I am in fact gone now (see above)! Shine on, you crazy diamonds! (Christ that took forever to type; I`m getting used to a newfangled QWERTYboard.)
Yes, that'd bound to be ridiculous! Though, in the case of non-actions, if it went that way, I guessed people would add universally _____d things rather than "hurr, baseballs :D"
Oh? ...Oh.—Oh! Ha!—An uninvited h! "Thruthfully" indeed! Of course. Hellothere.
Iii wonder where the word for 'words taking that stealthy turn to nonsense-soup as things get more and more sleepy and not-sleeping' went; it'd be useful.
' "Now one can breathe more easily," said the Knight, putting back his shaggy hair with both hands, and turning his gentle face and large mild eyes to Alice. She thought she had never seen such a strange-looking soldier in all her life. '
'Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. "They've a temper, some of them— particularly verbs, they're the proudest—adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs—however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!"
"Would you tell me, please," said Alice "what that means?"
"Now you talk like a reasonable child," said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. "I meant by 'impenetrability' that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life."
"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone.
"When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."'
'So they walked on together though the wood, Alice with her arms clasped lovingly round the soft neck of the Fawn, till they came out into another open field, and here the Fawn gave a sudden bound into the air, and shook itself free from Alice's arms. "I'm a Fawn!" it cried out in a voice of delight, "and, dear me! you're a human child!" A sudden look of alarm came into its beautiful brown eyes, and in another moment it had darted away at full speed.'
'"Crawling at your feet," said the Gnat (Alice drew her feet back in some alarm), "you may observe a Bread-and-Butterfly. Its wings are thin slices of Bread-and-butter, its body is a crust, and its head is a lump of sugar."
"And what does it live on?"
"Weak tea with cream in it."
A new difficulty came into Alice's head. "Supposing it couldn't find any?" she suggested.
"Then it would die, of course."
"But that must happen very often," Alice remarked thoughtfully.
'"Look on the branch above your head," said the Gnat, "and there you'll find a snap-dragon-fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding, its wings of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin burning in brandy."
"And what does it live on?"
"Frumenty and mince pie," the Gnat replied; "and it makes its nest in a Christmas box."'
' "Half way up that bush, you'll see a Rocking-horse-fly, if you look. It's made entirely of wood, and gets about by swinging itself from branch to branch."
"What does it live on?" Alice asked, with great curiosity.
Alice looked up at the Rocking-horse-fly with great interest, and made up her mind that it must have been just repainted, it looked so bright and sticky. '
"What sort of insects do you rejoice in, where you come from?" the Gnat inquired. ("I don't rejoice in insects at all," Alice explained, "because I'm rather afraid of them—")
'In another moment she felt the carriage rise straight up into the air, and in her fright she caught at the thing nearest to her hand, which happened to be the Goat's beard.
* * *
But the beard seemed to melt away as she touched it, and she found herself sitting quietly under a tree—while the Gnat (for that was the insect she had been talking to) was balancing itself on a twig just over her head, and fanning her with its wings.'
From the last bit of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
'Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make THEIR eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.'
'"They were learning to draw," the Dormouse went on, yawning and rubbing its eyes, for it was getting very sleepy; "and they drew all manner of things—everything that begins with an M—"
The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going off into a doze; but, on being pinched by the Hatter, it woke up again with a little shriek, and went on: "—that begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness— you know you say things are 'much of a muchness'—did you ever see such a thing as a drawing of a muchness?"'
'The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured, she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.
"Cheshire Puss," she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider.'
'As there seemed to be no chance of getting her hands up to her head, she tried to get her head down to them, and was delighted to find that her neck would bend about easily in any direction, like a serpent. She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: a large pigeon had flown into her face, and was beating her violently with its wings.
"I'm not a serpent!" said Alice indignantly. "Let me alone!"
"Serpent, I say again!" repeated the Pigeon, but in a more subdued tone, and added with a kind of sob, "I've tried every way, and nothing seems to suit them!"
"I haven't the least idea what you're talking about," said Alice.'
Lewis Carroll uses it often in dealing with Alice's growing and shrinking:
"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English); "now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!"
'Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. "Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!" (Dinah was the cat.) "I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?" And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, "Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?" and sometimes, "Do bats eat cats?" for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it.'
In her Adventures in Wonderland, Alice mixes what would've been a clever use of this word up with 'antipathy,' falling down the rabbit-hole:
"I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) (...)
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) "—but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?"
I don't think we see this as a verb applied to sentient things often enough: "—but the Queen was no longer at her side—she had suddenly dwindled down to the size of a little doll, and was now on the table, merrily running round and round after her own shawl(...)"
Alice, near wakening in Through the Looking-Glass, in reaction to a newly doll-sized Red Queen:
At any other time, Alice would have felt surprised at this, but she was far too much excited to be surprised at anything now. "As for you," she repeated, catching hold of the little creature in the very act of jumping over a bottle which had just lighted upon the table, "I'll shake you into a kitten, that I will!"
Wordie's going all 500 Application Error on me when I add a word to a list (of mine, or anyone else's). Listing isn't unsuccessful; it just won't show anything but an error until the page is refreshed. Curious!
Alice, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "What else had you to learn?"
"Well, there was Mystery," the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flappers, "—Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography: then Drawling—the Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week: He taught us Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils."
"Well, outgrabing is something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle: however, you'll hear it done, maybe—down in the wood yonder—and when you've once heard it you'll be quite content."
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, a rath is a sort of green pig: but mome I'm not certain about. I think it's short for 'from home'—meaning that they'd lost their way, you know."
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, slithy means 'lithe and slimy.' 'Lithe' is the same as 'active.' You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word."
"I see it now," Alice remarked thoughtfully: "and what are toves?"
"That's enough to begin with," Humpty Dumpty interrupted: "there are plenty of hard words there. Brillig means four o'clock in the afternoon—the time when you begin broiling things for dinner."
Intriguing, qroqqa! Poplollies and Bellibones: A Celebration of Lost Words, where I found welkin, states (This was simplified in the book's glossary to what I posted below): "From the Saxon words wealcan 'to roll,' and wolke 'a cloud.' It is also connected to the German word wolle 'wool,' used to describe the wooly quality of clouds. Shakespeare wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream,
The starry welkin cover thee anon
With drooping fog as black as Alcheron"
You may very well be right, but it's one author's (informed?) opinion. I don't find myself leaning in either direction in particular.
I didn't really foresee wanting this, but the ability to block certain words whose comments you'd rather not see on the front page when you're logged in would be dandy.
I have a ukulele! Please throw ukulele-heavy songs in my direction. (I have Tiny Tim, Beirut's Postcards from Italy etc., Josephine Foster's Little Life..)
Linking seventy-five pounds of raisins for context. Or lofty date-baskets! Or yes. You'll get the hang of it! (Be the raisins; do not simply have the raisins, grasshoppah.)
You forgot flow/wolf! (If your name is Eve, Bob, Hannah, Anna, Ava, Elle, Iggi, Lil, Otto, or Viv Wolf, I've noticed, it forms in reverse the lovely Flow Eve, Bob, Hannah, Anna, Ava, Elle, Iggi, Lil, Otto, or Viv, respectively.)
Going the Latin route, it would be fumus (smoke) + trahere (to draw, attract), but I don't know enough to properly piece them together (and fumitractor sounds silly).
Didn't see this comment earlier, but yes, I'm going back and deleting redundancies (I left them initially to fill the presumed want of on-page definitions).
Unless you've gotten all tricksy and changed your first and last name in the last week, we are most likely not siblings! But give my compliments to your sister on her word selection. (Is there a linguistic term for using an existing noun as a verb? Hm.)
Envious, covetous person. Originally referred to a species of hawk that feeds on mice and hovers greedily, almost motionless, in the air over its prey. (Chapman used the term to criticize Ben Johnson in the preface to his Iliad, saying, "There is a certain envious wind-sucker that hovers up and down, laboriously ingrossing sic all the air with his luxurious ambition.")
Affected by juxtaposed feelings of potent happiness and sadness at once; the phenomenon itself; an affected person; things having an anolagous effect (e.g., alcohol).
(Not to be confused with bittersweet, which implies a blending of less acute emotions that were often predictable)
Easter Monday in 1800s Lancashire, where it was custom on that day for men to lift up and kiss each woman they met. On Easter Tuesday, women could do likewise for the men. (The custom was stopped due to the disturbances it caused. For shame!)
A derogatory term for a knight who achieved more on the floor of a lady's boudoir than in battle; the Knights of the Carpet, so called to distinguish them from those who served in battle.
I started using this after noticing a definition of frail: "the weight of a frail (basket) full of fruit, esp. raisins or figs (between 50 and 75 pounds)."
All the implications of frail (mental, moral, or physical—'fragile, easily destroyed or broken, weak, insubstantial'; slightly offensive slang term for 'girl/woman'), fruit, and basket(case) can be rolled into this expression. Especially well-suited for women who've made themselves crazy (or physically weak) with dieting. Or thin, crazy women in general.
For variety, when you're feeling particularly spunky, the number can be anywhere from 50 to 75, and 'raisins' is interchanegable with 'figs,' 'dates,' 'fruit,' or any kind of fruit that might be dried and stored in a basket.
Sionnach, I'd like to say that I know exactly what film you were referring to, and if you weren't making any references, I said nothing and have no idea what any of you are talking about.
Come to think of it, our tappen is onomatopoeic—it is the sound they'd happen to make if you stood, say, at the base of the wrong mountain, and they all rained down on your uniquely unfortunate head.
Well, it's born of not wanting to make it harder for anyone else to enjoy the site, and if I'm adding words too quickly for anyone to possibly keep up (I like the sharing as much as the list-building), it doesn't really seem like the best way to go about things. But I'd certainly have no problem going to town if there were some way for the people it might bother to control the noise, if they like, and better digest things. (I'm also beginning to think it would be a nice idea to have a little c_b sitting on my shoulder during the day. "You can do it! Go on. They're just playa-hatin'.")
Oh, I do like pre-1940s schlock! And 1940s schlock (mostly Betty Grable musicals). She was just the product of deciding against using anything I might get tired of and going for the first word I half-wondered may not've been taken. I'm sure there are all sorts of nice little words wandering around with no claimants..
/Lazes about in a rockingchair (Shouldn't there be a verb 'to rock in a rockingchair'? I think so.), silently but for the crrrrrick,.. crrrvb,.. crrriick..
Thank you for all the warm welcomings and your general garrulousness! Got a new word-book today (Oh yes. Oh dear). It's good to be among fellowfeelers. Unfortunately, I'm again torn between resuming my previous nuts-goings or remaining slightly more reticent.
Frogapplause—how unusually fun to say!—my desks (..and shelves, tables, and occasionally my bed) are never big enough!
I feel you, sinnonach, on specific lists being more interesting; my intention was always to eventually pull things from this list into themed lists, but because there are so many words, any one of which could be valuable to someone, I wanted to throw them all out there now, rather than having it wait on organizing them all at my leisure (which always means it will take a very, very long time, as it's a perfect opportunity to luxuriate in fastidiousness—something I enjoy so much, just the thought has me cooing, almost). It makes a nice starting point, anyhow.
I always have to strain against personal feelings to spell this word correctly. Gauge looks like gouge sounds, and deep inside, I've always wished it were guage, which feels truer to sound and reminds me of things like suede.
I think it's really one of the most useful self-serving lists to make—I'm digging all the way back to gradeschool (There are words left to add! but I'm pacing myself).. As George Santayana (Google tells me) said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And now I have this handy reference going.
I had a thought, just now, on a way to possibly arm ourselves when navigating the front page—What if we had the (functional rather than social; I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks "friend"ing usually amounts to fluff) ability to mark "familiar users," that we could see, unsee, or isolate (as a group) when browsing? That is, marking as "familiar" the people you see most often (those repeatedly Wordiest, in particular, and anyone you'd like to keep track of) would let you: temporarily ignore new lists, words, and comments of theirs in recent activity (solving the issue of congestion caused by one person adding hundreds of words in one day! which I am guilty of, but would love to be able to do again without feeling guilty)—leaving only those of all the users not on that list, making it easier to spot things which you might have otherwise missed; or, temporarily view new lists, words, and comments only from "familiar" users (useful for chatching up after you've been browsing with those users filtered out, and a quicker way of getting up-to-date, if you've been away). The logical default would be set to showing everyone's recent activity, "familiar" and not, and those with no interest in using any filters wouldn't have to.
So yes, filtering. Is this doable—? And appealing? (Seems to me, especially as the site grows, that some sort of filtery feature would work in the interest of general Wordie-sanity.)
Of all the banshees to not yet exist, why'd the ban she banshees have to be all timely and decide to cross the threshold? I'm keeping my eyes peeled! (Do give a heads-up if you hear any wailing.)
The appellation matches the drapes, I'm afraid— Wait. I mean to say, she's a she (one of those), well and truly, through and through-ly. But, it isn't so bad, really! Just predictable.
Perfectly, perfectly reasonable, Prolagus. I hadn't noticed all the congestion (head in the tag-clouds?)— It'd be no trouble to start intermittently replacing Wordie with Notepad to calm the flooding; at worst, it might create suspense. Until our next installment..!
(Perhaps it's She with an Excitable Fondness for List-building! or She Who Prompts Wordie to Say Grammatical ("10 Hours Ago, She Said:") and Ungrammatical ("She's Lists") Things, to the Amusement of Some)
It seems as if in the early days this was very uncomfortable, as the plethysmograph was described as "a rigid airtight container enclosing the subject entirely except for (the) head and neck."
From the name of Sardanapalus, the last kind of Nineveh, who was supposed to have lived in outrageous luxury. (Beseiged by the Medes for two years, his favorite concubine induced him to put himself on a funeral pyre; she set fire to it herself, and it consumed the place along with his entire court. The legend of Sardanapalus cannot be connected with any Assyrian king known through archaeology.)
n., the well-being of all (from Sanskrit sarva, 'all' and udaya, 'uplift.') Used by Mohandas Ghandi to mean a new social order without caste, based on nonviolence and service.
adj., having feet large enough to shelter the whole body when used as an umbrella (From a Greek word meaning 'shadow foot.' The Sciapodes, who had these feet, were supposed to live in Libya.)
n., someone who tires another person with walking. (According to most young children, this applies to parents. Also good for reluctant hikers to huff at hiking partners.)
Correct pronunciation and enunciation, giving every word its correct accent, moderation, and measure. (From a Latin word meaning 'little voice;' vocule is the faint final sound heard when pronouncing certain consonants.)
A medical condition in which blood flows from some part of a woman's body at a different place than (but at the same time as, and replacing) her regular menses. Also called vicarious menstruation. From Greek words meaning 'strange' and 'menses.'
A term used by the Gnostics (from the Greek word for 'dust'), who believed the visible body was made up of two parts: a "subtle element" they called the hylic body, and a "sheath of gross earthly matter" they called the choical body.
n., someone who kills/injures both friend and foe. From the name of a blustering, bragging character in George Villiers' burlesque play The Rehearsal, who in the last scene is made to enter a battle and kill all the combatants on both sides. (His name might be intended to suggest drawing a can of liquor, as there are references to his drinking capacity in the fourth act.)
The name given to an egg-hatching machine invented in 1839 by a W. Bucknell, supposedly the sentence "I evoke life" written as one Greek word. (Later used in the figurative sense for things analogous to an egg-hatching machine.)
A kind of apraxia in which the sufferer understands a request to perform an action or movement, and still has the physical ability, but is unable to do so when asked. (This might be a good technical name for the common phenomenom of being able to perform astounding feats, except when anyone is watching)
adj., keen-sighted. From a Greek word meaning 'twilight,' from roots meaning 'wolf' and 'light,' which was misunderstood as 'having keen sight, like a wolf.'
adj., in the artificial and overly formal style of foreign-language phrase books. From the name of Heinrich Gottfried Ollendorff (1803-1865), a German grammarian and educator.
Famous examples of such language include: "Unhand me Sir, for my husband, who is an Australian, awaits without." Perhaps the most absurd phrasebook is English as She is Spoke: The new guide of the conversation in Portugeuse and English in two parts (1855), by Pedro Caroline and Hose de Fonseca, which includes this nearly incomprehensible sentence in its introduction: "We expect then, who the little book (for the care what we wrote him, and for her typographical correction) that may be worth the expectation of the studious persons, and especially of the Youth, at which we dedicate him particularly."
Coined by author Simon Winchester; 'the trail of grey water invariably left behind on the floor when someone in gumboots comes into a warm kitchen from the snowy outside world.' (A loose mixture of drip and midden -- the former suggesting wetness and cold, the latter dirt and greyness)
allexperts.com clarifies: "The tappen forms inside the body and plugs the anus during hibernation. A bear does not place moss up its backside, nor does it place a rock there, which was one of my earlier questions. The tappen prevents faecal material leaking out of the bear's body and soiling its home during hibernation. Apart from hygiene, the smell of faeces could attract enemies during a vulnerable period for the bear. The tappen is not produced to stop small animals going up the bear's backside, but its presence helps to prevent it. Whether ants would naturally want to go up a bear's backside is another question!"
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) uses this word to describe the heart as a "viduous mansion" for rent after the loved one is gone, going on to say that the new tenant finds a portrait of the first love hidden away somewhere within it.
Dancing; used figuratively to mean 'triumphant, exultant.' (The tripudium was a ritual dance of ancient Rome, done by armed priests. The dance involved three steps - tripudium means 'three feet' - and included banging on shields with rods or spears.)
adj., concerned with the recording of shadows, especially the shadow of the sun as a means for telling time (From the Greek for sundial, literally 'shadow-catcher')
The now-defunct Linnean classification pulveratores (Latin pulvereus dusty + -ator, pl) comprised birds so named for their habit of rolling around in the dust to dislodge little bugs stuck in their feathers. Pulveratricious carries 'dust-colored, 'dust-covered,' etc. specifically through meaning 'like birds that roll themselves in dust.'
I take great pleasure in being able to slip 'bird-like by association' into any one-word description!
n., someone who makes excessive use of the letter i (Originally, the changing of the pronunciation of other Greek vowels to more resemble that of the vowel iota)
A slang term for a heavy overcoat trimmed with fur, supposedly from "The Shoreditch Toff," a popular song circa 1868, in which there are the lines "I fancy I'm a toff, From top to toe I really think I looks--Immensikoff." The singer of the song, Arthur Lloyd, wore such an overcoat.
A darling term for that little dent at the end of your sternum (hyphenated likely because it might otherwise read heart's poon, which isn't at all the intended image).
Comments by she
Show previous 200 comments...
she commented on the word nummularian
Obs. rare A money-changer (cf. nummulary).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nummuline
Obs. n. or adj., A fossil or extant foraminiferan of the genus Nummulites (now sometimes included in the genus Camerina) or a related genus, having a calcareous skeleton typically in the form of a flat spiral resembling a disc, numerous in certain Tertiary strata; of or relating to nummulites; (of a deposit) containing nummulites; nummulitic.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nummus
A Roman coin of the standard denomination (roughly analogous to the Greek stater); a monetary unit based on this.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word omen-animal
An animal whose behavior or body parts are used as a way of divining future events.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word onomamancy
Divination from a name or names, esp. the letters of a personal name; onomancy.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word peneomnipotent
Semi-omnipotent (pene- nearly, almost, all but + omnipotent).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word penny-commons
Obs. n., A meal supplied from a college buttery or kitchen, costing a penny.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word pinkaninny
Obs. rare An alteration of pinkany after piccaninny; sweetheart. Used in the work of Thomas D'Urfey (1676, 1721).
"Dear Pinkaninny,
If half a Guiny,
To love will win ye,
I lay it here down."
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word pinkany
A small, narrow, blinking, or peering eye; (affectionately) a dear little eye; darling, sweetheart, pet (cf. pigsney). Rare after 17th century.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word piccaninny
I certainly didn't expect this to mean what it does! OED says it's from Portuguese pequeno, small — the word is evidently one of those diffused around the Atlantic coasts through the Portuguese-based pidgins associated with trade (and esp. the slave trade) in the 17th century.
At least we still have pinkaninny, piccalilli, and piccadilly. :(
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word picrammonium
Obs. n., one derivate of picric acid.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word platinammonium
Obs. n., a hypothetical ion consisting of an amide of tetravalent platinum, now known to be an ammine group occurring in platinum complexes
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word portmanmoot
Hist. n., The assembly of the portmen of a borough or town; a court or common council of citizens (cf. portmoot).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word semi-penniform
Somewhat resembling a feather.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word seminant
Obs. n., a sower of seed; applied allusively to a seminary priest (cf. seedman)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tenmanland
A local name in East Anglia, in 12th and 13th c., for an aggregate of ten holdings, containing 120 acres; a carucate.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tiemannite
A mineral.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tinnient
Obs. adj., ringing; resonant (adapt. of L. tinnient-em, pr. pple. of tinnīre to ring, tinkle)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word trim-tram man
Obs. One who uses a trim-tram—a shrimp-net having a triangular wooden frame resting on the ground in front of the beam—in shrimping.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tunning mell
Obs. In tunning or storing liquor, a mell (mallet) used to knock in the bung of a tun (cask).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word unanemned
Obs. adj., unnamed; indescribable (OE. ánemnan to declare)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word unanimism
A French poetic movement of the early twentieth century which emphasized the submersion of the poet in group consciousness and was characterized by simple diction, absence of rhyme, and strongly accented rhythms.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word yminne
Obs. v., to mention (y- + min, an obs. trans. v., 'to remind')
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word monomoy
Or Monomoy surfboat — a type of surfboat used as a lifeboat by the U.S. Coastguard; named after Monomoy Point, a peninsula in Massachusetts.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word aeschynomenous
Obs. adj., sensitive (said of plants; fr. Gr. for 'ashamed, bashful' + -ous). Also æschynomenous.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the list identify-the-wordie-2
Ooh. It appears gangerh's guesstimation-faculties are twice as capacious as other participants'! (—Intimidating! Though I do still hope I'm around for the next one, no matter who it entails badly losing against! :>)
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word pudú
World's teensiest deer!
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word wallydraigle
Now with 90% more OED™!
Also wallydrag, wallidrag, -draggle, -dragle, -tragle, warydraggel, -draggle, etc. (Cf. drag, draggle)
1808 J. Jamieson, An etymological dictionary of the Scottish language — n., A feeble, ill-grown person or animal; a worthless, slovenly person, esp. a woman.
"It appears primarily to signify the youngest of a family, who is often the feeblest. It is sometimes used to denote the youngest bird in a nest."
1826 J. Galt, Last of the Lairds — "It's just like a cuckoo dabbing a wallydraigle out o' the nest."
1873 W. Alexander, Johnny Gibb — "Yon bit pernicketty wallydraggle!"
August 2, 2008
she commented on the user whichbe
Oh yes! I have a longstanding love for Cat Power particularly; What Would the Community Think is one of those rare albums I love straight through, but: her first through You Are Free all see a good amount of play around here, and pieces of the Covers record—her "Bathysphere" and "Red Apples" were my (glowing) introduction to Smog.
I wasn't expecting anyone would ask that. :) Hooray for.. "slowcorist"s? and their appreciators.
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word waggle dance
Of honey bees and waggle-dancing
Translated from German schwänzeltanz in 1923.
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word wacken porphyry
Geol., fr. wacke (sandstone-like rock) + porphyry (any igneous rock embedded with crystals).
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-z
Z is for ZILLAH who drank too much gin
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-y
Y is for YORICK whose head was knocked in
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-x
X is for XERXES devoured by mice
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-w
W is for WINNIE embedded in ice
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-v
V is for VICTOR squashed under a train
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-u
U is for UNA who slipped down a drain
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-t
T is for TITUS who flew into bits
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-s
S is for SUSAN who perished of fits
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-r
R is for RHODA consumed by a fire
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-q
Q is for QUENTIN who sank in a mire
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-p
P is for PRUE trampled flat in a brawl
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-o
O is for OLIVE run through with an awl
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-n
N is for NEVILLE who died of ennui
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-m
M is for MAUD who was swept out to sea
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-l
L is for LEO who swallowed some tacks
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-k
K is for KATE who was struck with an axe
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-j
J is for JAMES who took lye by mistake
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-i
I is for IDA who drowned in a lake
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-h
H is for HECTOR done in by a thug
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-g
G is for GEORGE smothered under a rug
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-f
F is for FANNY sucked dry by a leech
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-e
E is for ERNEST who choked on a peach
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-d
D is for DESMOND thrown out of a sleigh
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-c
C is for CLARA who wasted away
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-b
B is for BASIL assaulted by bears
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
Naughty bears!
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-a
A is for AMY who fell down the stairs
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word xiphiplastron
Each of the fourth or hindmost pair of lateral plates in the plastron of a turtle. (Also xiphoplastron; plural xiphiplastra)
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word pulviscle
Obs. n., A fine powder; a speck of dust (fr. classical Latin pulvisculus dust, powder).
August 1, 2008
she commented on the word meh
For the record, this is my least favorite word, but I feel it's been laughing at me from its perch in my profile (you will not prevail!).
August 1, 2008
she commented on the word coitus-à-la-vache-qui-rit
SHE!! *She* is really Satan!! *deep breath*
I beg your pardon! :o
August 1, 2008
she commented on the user she
Home! Finally! *inhales living-spaces*
Nine hours in a car and I haven't slept, but can't..! Also fandangled my way into a month of OED online. These are not unrelated.
So much catching-up to do! Oh help.
August 1, 2008
she commented on the user she
Oh oh: to answer your question, bilby, I liken my mind to a kind of overintricate cuckoo clock?
July 21, 2008
she commented on the user she
Phone-posting from the car to say that I am in fact gone now (see above)! Shine on, you crazy diamonds! (Christ that took forever to type; I`m getting used to a newfangled QWERTYboard.)
July 21, 2008
she commented on the list stuffie-love
Yes, that'd bound to be ridiculous! Though, in the case of non-actions, if it went that way, I guessed people would add universally _____d things rather than "hurr, baseballs :D"
July 19, 2008
she commented on the list stuffie-love
That's what I thought. :> (Taking a peek at the masterlist, most of them seemed to do the former instead, so I wanted to check.)
July 19, 2008
she commented on the list stuffie-love
I've never stuffied before—do you mean this to be for loved things, or the rest of words/phrases that "love" is a part of?
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word data mist
I can't put my finger on why, but this term is just so lovely.
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word flehmen
I clicked on this word because it looked familiar; am now frightened, wondering what I must have been reading!
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word undecillion
Also quite silly!
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word dweomer
And similarly, dweomercraeft is witchcraft.
July 19, 2008
she commented on the list too-numerous-to-mention
In the way of undecillion, the ascending scale of big, silly -illions:
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (duodecillion, 39 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (tredecillion, 42 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (quattuordecillion, 45 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (quindecillion, 48 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (sexdecillion, 51 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (septendecillion, 54 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (octodecillion, 57 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (novemdecillion, 60 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (vigintillion, 63 zeros)
...and a centillion, with 303 zeros.
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word sixty googols and nine
Obscene!
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word surprise butt sex
That looks like a walrus-tree smoking an enormous tree-pipe!
I've mentally smushed buttsex into one word—surprise buttsex is a particularly quick thing; we've no luxury of pausing for spaces!
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word undecillion
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000: a big, silly number.
July 19, 2008
she commented on the list lions-and-i-tigers-i-andawell-just-lions-truthfully
Oh? ...Oh.—Oh! Ha!—An uninvited h! "Thruthfully" indeed! Of course. Hellothere.
Iii wonder where the word for 'words taking that stealthy turn to nonsense-soup as things get more and more sleepy and not-sleeping' went; it'd be useful.
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word mooncurser
One who imports or exports without paying duties; smuggler.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word knismolagnia
Sexual gratification from the act of tickling (Wikipedia: Tickling fetishism).
I've no idea how anyone manages.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word knismogenic
Causing a tickling sensation.
Origin: G. Knismos, 'tickling,' + -gen, 'production' (Online Medical Dictionary)
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word phoenicopter
Flamingo.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word vaginella depressa
I am in awe.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word perspiry
"No—I love that handkerchief and I'm not going to get it all perspiry."
(Franny and Zooey)
July 18, 2008
she commented on the user mercy
Ooh, does this make me a cryptid?
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word comic book
Would "graphic novel" solve this?
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word cumbrian facial pack
I read "cumbrian facial tick" on the first pass. This is much less perplexing!
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word ascii snail
Well! That was.. endearing.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word mild
' "Now one can breathe more easily," said the Knight, putting back his shaggy hair with both hands, and turning his gentle face and large mild eyes to Alice. She thought she had never seen such a strange-looking soldier in all her life. '
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word suety
' "What impertinence!" said the Pudding. "I wonder how you'd like it, if I were to cut a slice out of you, you creature!"
It spoke in a thick, suety sort of voice, and Alice hadn't a word to say in reply: she could only sit and look at it and gasp.
"Make a remark," said the Red Queen: "it's ridiculous to leave all the conversation to the pudding!" '
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word phantomwise
At the end of Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There:
A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July—
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear—
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream—
Lingering in the golden gleam—
Life, what is it but a dream?
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word impenetrability
'Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. "They've a temper, some of them— particularly verbs, they're the proudest—adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs—however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!"
"Would you tell me, please," said Alice "what that means?"
"Now you talk like a reasonable child," said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. "I meant by 'impenetrability' that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life."
"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone.
"When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word turk
In Through the Looking-Glass: 'Humpty Dumpty was sitting with his legs crossed, like a Turk, on the top of a high wall—'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word fawn
'So they walked on together though the wood, Alice with her arms clasped lovingly round the soft neck of the Fawn, till they came out into another open field, and here the Fawn gave a sudden bound into the air, and shook itself free from Alice's arms. "I'm a Fawn!" it cried out in a voice of delight, "and, dear me! you're a human child!" A sudden look of alarm came into its beautiful brown eyes, and in another moment it had darted away at full speed.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word bread-and-butterfly
'"Crawling at your feet," said the Gnat (Alice drew her feet back in some alarm), "you may observe a Bread-and-Butterfly. Its wings are thin slices of Bread-and-butter, its body is a crust, and its head is a lump of sugar."
"And what does it live on?"
"Weak tea with cream in it."
A new difficulty came into Alice's head. "Supposing it couldn't find any?" she suggested.
"Then it would die, of course."
"But that must happen very often," Alice remarked thoughtfully.
"It always happens," said the Gnat.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word snap-dragon-fly
'"Look on the branch above your head," said the Gnat, "and there you'll find a snap-dragon-fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding, its wings of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin burning in brandy."
"And what does it live on?"
"Frumenty and mince pie," the Gnat replied; "and it makes its nest in a Christmas box."'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word rocking-horse-fly
' "Half way up that bush, you'll see a Rocking-horse-fly, if you look. It's made entirely of wood, and gets about by swinging itself from branch to branch."
"What does it live on?" Alice asked, with great curiosity.
"Sap and sawdust," said the Gnat. (...)
Alice looked up at the Rocking-horse-fly with great interest, and made up her mind that it must have been just repainted, it looked so bright and sticky. '
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word rejoice
An amusing piece of Through the Looking-Glass:
"What sort of insects do you rejoice in, where you come from?" the Gnat inquired. ("I don't rejoice in insects at all," Alice explained, "because I'm rather afraid of them—")
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word goat's beard
'In another moment she felt the carriage rise straight up into the air, and in her fright she caught at the thing nearest to her hand, which happened to be the Goat's beard.
* * *
But the beard seemed to melt away as she touched it, and she found herself sitting quietly under a tree—while the Gnat (for that was the insect she had been talking to) was balancing itself on a twig just over her head, and fanning her with its wings.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word child-life
From the last bit of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
'Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make THEIR eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word stretching
The Mock Turtle's "Sketching."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word seaography
The Mock Turtle's "Geography."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word fainting in coils
"Painting in Oils" in Mock Turtle-speak.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word muchness
'"They were learning to draw," the Dormouse went on, yawning and rubbing its eyes, for it was getting very sleepy; "and they drew all manner of things—everything that begins with an M—"
"Why with an M?" said Alice.
"Why not?" said the March Hare.
Alice was silent.
The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going off into a doze; but, on being pinched by the Hatter, it woke up again with a little shriek, and went on: "—that begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness— you know you say things are 'much of a muchness'—did you ever see such a thing as a drawing of a muchness?"'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word cheshire puss
'The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured, she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.
"Cheshire Puss," she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word serpent
'As there seemed to be no chance of getting her hands up to her head, she tried to get her head down to them, and was delighted to find that her neck would bend about easily in any direction, like a serpent. She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: a large pigeon had flown into her face, and was beating her violently with its wings.
"Serpent!" screamed the Pigeon.
"I'm not a serpent!" said Alice indignantly. "Let me alone!"
"Serpent, I say again!" repeated the Pigeon, but in a more subdued tone, and added with a kind of sob, "I've tried every way, and nothing seems to suit them!"
"I haven't the least idea what you're talking about," said Alice.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word telescope
Lewis Carroll uses it often in dealing with Alice's growing and shrinking:
"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English); "now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word dinah
'Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. "Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!" (Dinah was the cat.) "I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?" And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, "Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?" and sometimes, "Do bats eat cats?" for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word antipode
In her Adventures in Wonderland, Alice mixes what would've been a clever use of this word up with 'antipathy,' falling down the rabbit-hole:
"I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) (...)
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word antipathy
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) "—but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?"
The word Alice was looking for was antipode.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word dwindled
I don't think we see this as a verb applied to sentient things often enough: "—but the Queen was no longer at her side—she had suddenly dwindled down to the size of a little doll, and was now on the table, merrily running round and round after her own shawl(...)"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word kitten
Alice, near wakening in Through the Looking-Glass, in reaction to a newly doll-sized Red Queen:
At any other time, Alice would have felt surprised at this, but she was far too much excited to be surprised at anything now. "As for you," she repeated, catching hold of the little creature in the very act of jumping over a bottle which had just lighted upon the table, "I'll shake you into a kitten, that I will!"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the list i-alice-s-adventures-in-wonderland-i-and-i-through-the-looking-glass-and-what-alice-found-there-i
I searched beforehand and found nothing, to my amazement! (Just returned from an appointment; many citations to go. :>)
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word acersecomic
Is that like the mythical penisbone?
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word bugs
Wordie's going all 500 Application Error on me when I add a word to a list (of mine, or anyone else's). Listing isn't unsuccessful; it just won't show anything but an error until the page is refreshed. Curious!
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word drawling
Alice, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "What else had you to learn?"
"Well, there was Mystery," the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flappers, "—Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography: then Drawling—the Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week: He taught us Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word uglification
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
"I never heard of Uglification," Alice ventured to say. "What is it?"
The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. "What! Never heard of uglifying!" it exclaimed. "You know what to beautify is, I suppose?"
"Yes," said Alice doubtfully: "it means—to—make—anything—prettier."
"Well, then," the Gryphon went on, "if you don't know what to uglify is, you are a simpleton."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word reeling and writhing
The Mock Turtle, on the Gryphon's and his schooling:
"Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with," the Mock Turtle replied; "and then the different branches of Arithmetic— Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word esquire
"And how funny it'll seem, sending presents to one's own feet! And how odd the directions will look!
ALICE's RIGHT FOOT, ESQ.
HEARTH-RUG,
NEAR THE FENDER,
(WITH ALICE's LOVE).
"- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word outgrabe
Humpty Dumpty, in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, outgrabing is something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle: however, you'll hear it done, maybe—down in the wood yonder—and when you've once heard it you'll be quite content."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word mome
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, a rath is a sort of green pig: but mome I'm not certain about. I think it's short for 'from home'—meaning that they'd lost their way, you know."
"And what does outgrabe mean?"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word raths
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"And then mome raths?» said Alice. "I'm afraid I'm giving you a great deal of trouble."
«Well, a rath is a sort of green pig: but mome(...)"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word borogoves
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"...And a borogove is a thin, shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round—something like a live mop."
"And then mome raths?"...
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word mimsy
Humpty Dumpty, in Through the Looking-Glass:
"...Well, then, mimsy is 'flimsy and miserable' (there's another portmanteau for you). And a borogove is..." borogoves'>See borogoves
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word wabe
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"And the wabe is the grass-plot round a sun-dial, I suppose?" said Alice, surprised at her own ingenuity.
"Of course it is. It's called wabe, you know, because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it—"
"And a long way beyond it on each side," Alice added.
"Exactly so. Well then, mimsy is..."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word gimble
Humpty Dumpty, in Through the Looking-Glass:
"To gyre is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To gimble is to make holes like a gimlet."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word gyre
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"And what's the gyre and to gimble?"
"To gyre is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To gimble is to make holes like a gimlet."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word toves
A conversation with Alice in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, toves are something like badgers—they're something like lizards—and they're something like corkscrews."
"They must be very curious looking creatures."
"They are that," said Humpty Dumpty: "also they make their nests under sun-dials—also they live on cheese."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word slithy
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, slithy means 'lithe and slimy.' 'Lithe' is the same as 'active.' You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word."
"I see it now," Alice remarked thoughtfully: "and what are toves?"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word brillig
"You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir," said Alice. "Would you kindly tell me the meaning of the poem called Jabberwocky?"
"Let's hear it," said Humpty Dumpty. "I can explain all the poems that were ever invented—and a good many that haven't been invented just yet."
This sounded very hopeful, so Alice repeated the first verse.
"That's enough to begin with," Humpty Dumpty interrupted: "there are plenty of hard words there. Brillig means four o'clock in the afternoon—the time when you begin broiling things for dinner."
"That'll do very well," said Alice: and slithy?"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the list fishful-thinking
Jellyfish-doughnuts?
July 18, 2008
she commented on the list 91-classified-93
There's a wealth of them on Wikipedia:
List of military operations by codename
List of Rainbow Codes
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word welkin
Intriguing, qroqqa! Poplollies and Bellibones: A Celebration of Lost Words, where I found welkin, states (This was simplified in the book's glossary to what I posted below): "From the Saxon words wealcan 'to roll,' and wolke 'a cloud.' It is also connected to the German word wolle 'wool,' used to describe the wooly quality of clouds. Shakespeare wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream,
The starry welkin cover thee anon
With drooping fog as black as Alcheron"
You may very well be right, but it's one author's (informed?) opinion. I don't find myself leaning in either direction in particular.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word acersecomic
I imagine this is both a noun and an adjective. (I've been through months-long acersecomic spells—my hair is presently nearing my tailbone.)
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word yonic
Yonic symbols have to rely on detail more than silhouette, I think. Georgia O'Keefe's work and orchids come to mind.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
Tappen is Middle English for bunghole-plug! Imagine.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyodigitalophagist
But, but fish don't have fingers!
Unless they're fishfingers in the way chicken makes chickenfingers.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word colonel dirtyfishydishcloth
"Rain and snow, our engines have been receiving your eager call
There's Colonel Dirtyfishydishcloth; he'll distract her good
Don't worry so"
-Tori Amos, Space Dog
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word neither fish nor fowl
Having no specific character or conviction; neither one nor the other.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word pisciform
Fish-shaped.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyophagy
The practice of eating or subsisting on fish.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyophagist
One who practices ichthyophagy.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word expiscatory
See expiscate.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word expiscate
To fish out.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word fish ladder
Series of ascending pools providing a passage for salmon to swim upstream past a dam.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word fishloaf
Flaked fish baked in a loaf with bread crumbs and various seasonings.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyotomist
One skilled in ichthyotomy.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyohemotoxism
Poisoning caused by the ingestion of fish whose blood contains an ichthyohemotoxin (cf. ichthyosarcotoxism).
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyosarcotoxism
Poisoning caused by the ingestion of fish whose flesh contains an ichthyosarcotoxin (cf. ichthyohemotoxism).
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyohemotoxin
Poison found in the blood of poisonous fishes; causes ichthyohemotoxism.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyic
Piscine
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyotomy
The anatomy or dissection of fishes.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyolitic
Resembling ichthyolites (fossilized fish).
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyocoprolite
Fossilized dung of fish.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyofauna
A region's indigenous fish.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyotoxism
Poisoning from fish (also ichthyoacanthotoxism, ichthyosarcotoxism, ichthyohemotoxism).
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyoacanthotoxism
Ichthyotoxism resulting from a wound inflicted by a venomous fish.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyomania
Passion for fish!
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyomancy
Divination by the heads or the entrails of fishes.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word fish doctor
Hilarious inexplicable name for an Arctic eelpout.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word vergüenza ajena
"Other's shame," also called Spanish shame — embarrassment felt on someone else's behalf.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word galère
A coterie of undesirable people.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word fishnet stockings
..I'm not entirely sure that's worksafe!
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word stythe
See chokedamp, blackdamp, afterdamp
July 16, 2008
she commented on the list not-quite-as-awful-as-they-sound
I'd add pandanus!
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word derworth
adj., precious, "dearworth" (obsolete; from Piers Plowman, a 14th century poem by William Langland)
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word schnockered
Variant of snockered.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word fencibles
Reference.com
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ostentanious
Er, ostentatiously instantaneous? Quality arguable.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word pants rabbit
I hope WWI-era lice were not as big as rabbits. :/
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word wreckless
Who's got the crack? ('s reckless)
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word abortifacient
Oh dear. This word has rather mischievous potential!
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word shipper
Plethora, I'd go with tiresome.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word features
I didn't really foresee wanting this, but the ability to block certain words whose comments you'd rather not see on the front page when you're logged in would be dandy.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word suave serpens
Just when you think you're safe from Harry Potter-related arguments..!
:<
July 16, 2008
she commented on the user mercy
Word on the street is you're looking to get some aptronym.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word blisters
Can't; they're all bandaged. *whistles*
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word hottentottententententoonstelling
Exposition of Hottentot tents. (Playful Dutch word; Hottentotten + tenten + tentoonstelling.)
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word a wide grin three inches too low
A slit throat.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word blisters
Result of too much listing.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word she in bolshevik
Also in all these.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word djibouti
That's a shame. :( I hope you got some bouti.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word fun in fundamentalist
No one does this.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word it's time for bed
Well-spotted! I'd missed.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word ukulele
I have a ukulele! Please throw ukulele-heavy songs in my direction. (I have Tiny Tim, Beirut's Postcards from Italy etc., Josephine Foster's Little Life..)
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word abilify
Ha, yes! Immediate woe at the commercials—'People are going to start using this word!'
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word my mind
Waaay out in the water, I saw it swimming.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word bijou
Also French, 'jewel'
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word djibouti
Djibouti so fine.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word stumblet
Aw. Like one of Sthumbleina's?
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word death will be their acquisition
"Trapped in purgatory—a lifeless object, alive
awaiting reprisal, and death..
I said, she said..
death will be their acquisition"
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word too bad the burial was premature
"Hello, Mr. Zebra, can I have your sweater?
'Cause it's cold, cold, cold
In my hole, hole, hole
Ratatouille Strychnine, sometimes she's a friend of mine
With a gigantic whirlpool that will blow your mind
Hello, Mr. Zebra
Ran into some confusion with a Mrs. Crocodile
Furry mussels marching on; she thinks she's Kaiser Wilhelm
Or a civilised syllabub, to blow your mind
Figure it out; she's a good-time fella
She got a little fund to fight for Moneypenny's rights
Figure it out; she's a good-time fella
'Too bad the burial was premature,' she said,
And smilied"
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word you can move it up and down and when i'm sleeping run some wire through that rose and wind the swan
"And long ago, she said, 'I must be leaving,
Ah, but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down, and when I'm sleeping
Run some wire through that rose and wind the swan'"
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word she knew what my books did not
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word i know what it's like to be dead
"She said, 'I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it is to be said'
and she's making me feel like I've never been born"
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word i killed a man, t. i've got to stay hidden in this abbey
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word seventy-five pounds of raisins
That's the spirit!
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word laughter in manslaughter
Ha, sorry! Fresh out of murderous humor (please check back at opening tomorrow).
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word shipper
I think they dwell in internet-enabled lighthouses.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word laughter in manslaughter
Yes, it's terrible and I don't agree. But, thoroughgoings! etc.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word dogslice
One who is both homedog and homeslice.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word flesh air
The sweet smell of friendly flesh!
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word i've gone 75 lbs of raisins!
Linking seventy-five pounds of raisins for context. Or lofty date-baskets! Or yes. You'll get the hang of it! (Be the raisins; do not simply have the raisins, grasshoppah.)
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word shipper
Augh yes. Do we really need to be reminded of this word? Or any of those in fanfiction? (Yes, I'll shush.)
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word i'iwi
It kind of looks like two highly non-objectionable emoticons all smooshed together; is decidedly adorable! I'll take three.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the user she
Oh yes please! And several extras.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word taximeter cabriolet
Taximeter cabriolet = taxicab.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word the game
Damns.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word shlemazl
Unlucky person who suffers from overall haplessness. (Yiddish)
Differs from the also-unlucky, but clumsy shlemiel—"A shlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup; a shlemazl is the person the soup lands on."
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word meester
Master.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word medeleven
Condolence.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word loofbos
Deciduous forest.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word leesteken
Punctuation mark.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word heksenketel
Witch's cauldron.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word edelgesteente
Precious stone.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word bevelhebber
Commander.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word beschermer
Protector, guardian.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word hartaanval
Heart attack.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word fumifugist
And I would like to volunteer bilby.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the list dyslexic-s-dread
You forgot flow/wolf! (If your name is Eve, Bob, Hannah, Anna, Ava, Elle, Iggi, Lil, Otto, or Viv Wolf, I've noticed, it forms in reverse the lovely Flow Eve, Bob, Hannah, Anna, Ava, Elle, Iggi, Lil, Otto, or Viv, respectively.)
sionnach, that was beautiful.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the list pretty-dots-all-in-a-row
Could you catch one and mail him to me, acoustics? For research purposes.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word it's all right. take anything you want from me, anything
"It's all right, she says, it's all right
Take anything you want from me
Anything, anything"
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word please stay a while, with ice cream floats and dreams
"Cindy smiles in overcoats
She says, please stay a while, with ice cream floats and dreams
and I will fill your heart with boats and bells and beams and candy-appled everythings"
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word one plus one is two, but henry said that it was three, so it was. here i am
"Ran into the henchman that severed Anne Boleyn
He did it right quickly, a merciful man
She said, .."
July 14, 2008
she commented on the user mollusque
Happy 10,000th! (Sheesh, you're old.)
July 14, 2008
she commented on the list behr-paint-colors
Oooh I love that you did this.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word ludibrious
(obsolete) adj., sportive; ridiculous; wanton. Shares origin of Latin ludere, 'to play' with ludicrous.
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word nittiness
adj., full of small air bubbles (as wine)
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word salebrosity
No, no, I—they represented the same pronunciation, the same sounds, but were spelled out all nonstandardlike. Nothing to miss.
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word deturpate
v., to defile; disfigure; make ugly or foul
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word delassation
(fatigue)
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word ban she banshee
Credited to the illustrious and slightly frightening bilby!
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word rhyparographer
Why, it happens to be a painter of sordid subjects.
July 13, 2008
she commented on the list she-she-she
!
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word fisheye
I'm right in the middle. :3
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word fumifugist
Going the Latin route, it would be fumus (smoke) + trahere (to draw, attract), but I don't know enough to properly piece them together (and fumitractor sounds silly).
But, off my noggintop—fumibait?
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word salebrosity
In the interest of looking slightly less foolish, I'd like to stress that these were the book's madeupical pronunciations rather than my own!
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word rhyparographer
Didn't see this comment earlier, but yes, I'm going back and deleting redundancies (I left them initially to fill the presumed want of on-page definitions).
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word cleistogamous
Has dizzying potential for figurative use.
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word acceptance that you can't possibly list all words
:<
July 13, 2008
she commented on the user bilby
Oh hello! I'm glad you were glad I was around when I wasn't quite. It's 9:36pm here.
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word verbification
How nice and simple (and a teensy bit embarrassing)!
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word prickmedainty
(Not to be confused with prickmedaintily)
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word gravida
primigravida: a woman in her first pregnancy (gravida I),
secundigravida: a woman in her second (gravida II),
tertigravida: a woman in her third (gravida III)
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word disgustipated
No mysteries here! Likely a play on Disney-born twitterpated (Bambi).
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word numinous
It took a second to realize this word was not numnums.
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word auburn-brown
I guess auburn-brown just can't hang with crazy-cool-sexy-hot-cute-smart-beautiful.
July 12, 2008
she commented on the user mollusque
Unless you've gotten all tricksy and changed your first and last name in the last week, we are most likely not siblings! But give my compliments to your sister on her word selection. (Is there a linguistic term for using an existing noun as a verb? Hm.)
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word bombycinous
Pale yellow, like a silkworm; silken (from Latin bombycinus).
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word jenticulate
According to the book, jenticulate is the verb form of jentation/jenticulation (which makes sense, as jentacular seems to be the adjective).
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word astrobleme
Beautiful etymological underpinnings: Greek ástron + blêma, "starwound"
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word phonendoscope
An instrument for amplifying small sounds of the human body. From Greek words meaning 'voice' and 'within.'
July 12, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
Ooh, you wordies and your labyrinthine reference-makings
July 12, 2008
she commented on the user she
Hey now, the tag started as 'cutest goddamned words in the universe' but it felt funny on the individual wordpages. And yes, it is!
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word umbilici
Bees?
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word knosp
Someone needs a nacket.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word cockshut
Wow. "I'm sure finding it hard to wait for cocklight!" (another: twitterlight)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word elcrooked
I'd be very tempted to turn that into lol, if not for the strong aversion!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word eyebite
Certainly!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mulligrubs
E'er they be grumbly, and e'er they be mumbly..
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wind-sucker
Hmn, it seems unlikely that going down the path of windfucking would really get you anywhere..
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word ribble
Ha! Oh dear, resurfaced childhood jingles! Every one is like opening a window to the most useless and impervious room in my mind.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
Nowhere did we specify the bears were wearing teacup-hats!!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word yeresyeve
Gift given upon the new year.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word yuky
(pronounced yooky) Itchy.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wood
See also woodness.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word woodness
Madness; insanity. From Old English wood, 'out of one's mind.'
In 1374, Chaucer wrote in Troilus, "They call love a woodness or folly."
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wink-a-peeps
Eeeyeballsapeepsyes; eyes.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wind-sucker
Envious, covetous person. Originally referred to a species of hawk that feeds on mice and hovers greedily, almost motionless, in the air over its prey. (Chapman used the term to criticize Ben Johnson in the preface to his Iliad, saying, "There is a certain envious wind-sucker that hovers up and down, laboriously ingrossing sic all the air with his luxurious ambition.")
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wheeple
I envision a sign, somewhere: 'Home for People who Wheeple'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wolke
Saxon 'cloud'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word welkin
"Sky with wooly clouds" from Saxon wealcan 'to roll,' wolke 'cloud,' and German wolle 'wool.'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wang-tooth
A molar (from Old English wang, 'to the side')
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wallydraigle
A worthless, slovenly woman.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word walking mort
Highly insulting term used against old, unmarried whores who often posed as widows. "Walking death."
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word verme
A legendary Ganges fish capable of seizing and destroying elephants. (The very picture of piscine badassery.)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word velvethead
A term of contempt for a softheaded person (from the velvet that covers the horns of young deer).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word upsy
In the style/manner of. (The example given: upsy-English, 'English-style.')
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tisty-tosty
A nosegay of flowers. See tuzzy-muzzy.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tutmouthed
Having protruding lips or a projecting lower jaw.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tushes
Tusks.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tirliry-puffkin
A light-headed, flighty woman. (Similar: featherhead, velvethead)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word whifling
A wholly insignificant person.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tenterbelly
Distended belly; a glutton
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word squint-a-pipes
Slang for a squinting person.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word sloomy
Lazy, dull, sleepy~
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word shittle
Unstable, inconstant (from Old English sceotan, 'to run hastily')
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word ribble
A wrinkle, furrow.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word quop
To throb, palpitate.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word prick-song
A song in which the notes were written (pricked) down, as opposed to a plain-song, which was not recorded; also harmony (each prick was a note).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word prickmedainty
A dandy; a person of either sex who is finicky about their dress. From one meaning of prick, 'to pin up' (thus, to dress up elaborately).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word pissabed
Also dandelions, so named for the diuretic effect (who knew?).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word pingle
To eat with very little appetite.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word orlings
Teeth of a comb.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word open-tide
Early spring, when the flowerbuds open.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word ongle
Ornamental claw
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word teenful
adj., causing annoyance and vexation; from teen, 'annoyance and vexation.'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word okselle
Armpit! (also oxter)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word oddwoman
A female umpire or arbitrator.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word nesh
Fresh, delicate, soft (Applied to fruit, vegetables, and foliage—though there's no need to count people out)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mulligrubs
Perhaps it was in tribute to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness? (see melancholy, mubblefubbles, blue devils)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mubblefubbles
(See also blue devils, mulligrubs)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word merry-go-down
Affected by juxtaposed feelings of potent happiness and sadness at once; the phenomenon itself; an affected person; things having an anolagous effect (e.g., alcohol).
(Not to be confused with bittersweet, which implies a blending of less acute emotions that were often predictable)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word merry-gall
A sore produced by chafing (of what and where remains ambiguous)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word melpomenish
Tragic. (See Melpomene, Greek muse of tragedy.)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word lulibub
Early form of lollipop.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word lifting monday
Easter Monday in 1800s Lancashire, where it was custom on that day for men to lift up and kiss each woman they met. On Easter Tuesday, women could do likewise for the men. (The custom was stopped due to the disturbances it caused. For shame!)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word knosp
An architectural ornament in the form of a bud or knob.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word kissing-comfits
Sweets that make the breath pleasant.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tidliwink
A tavern (also kidliwink); possibly the birthplace of the game tidliwinks.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word kidliwink
A tavern, beer-shop. Also tidliwink.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word kexy
adj., dry, juiceless (Not very sexy.)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word kerchief-of-pleasance
An embroidered cloth presented by a lady to her knight, who was bound by the code of honor to put it on his helmet to wear for her sake.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word iqueme
Pleasing, agreeable.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word hum
Also a term for pleasantly strong liquor; a mixture of ale or beer, and spirits.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word hufty-tufty
A braggart or conceited boor (also huff-muff, huff-snuff, huff-nose).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word hadivist
An expression meaning "had I known," used to express regret at making a mistake or missing an opportunity.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word greedigut
A glutton.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word flesh-spades
Fingernails
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word firefanged
Scorched (through overcooking or exposure to flame), producing a singed taste or smell.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word fellowfeel
To sympathize; to feel the same.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word featherhead
Silly, featherheaded person.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word fearbabe
A thing designed to scare babies.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word fardry
The act of painting the face white.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word fairhead
Ahem— n., beauty (adj. fairheaded).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word eyebite
To bewitch with the eye; or, to ward off the evil eye by spitting over your shoulder.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word elcrooked
L-shaped!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word dweomercraeft
(accent on o) Juggling; the magic arts (witchcraft).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word downsteepy
Steeply descending; precipitous.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word devilshine
Demonic power or skill.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word dentiscalp
A toothpick. From Latin dens, 'tooth' and scalpere, 'to scratch.'
..This word makes me very uncomfortable.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word crush-room
A room or hall in a theatre in which the audience could stroll and mingle between acts; lobby.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word coverslut
An apron (to conceal slovenly underclothes), or an architectural decoration to cover ugliness or deformity.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word cosh
Also, a hut, or small cottage.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word carpet-knight
A derogatory term for a knight who achieved more on the floor of a lady's boudoir than in battle; the Knights of the Carpet, so called to distinguish them from those who served in battle.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word belepharon
Greek, 'eyelid'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word calliblephary
(accent on bleph) A coloring for eyelids. From Greek kallos, 'beauty' and belepharon, 'eyelid.'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word bubble-bow
A lady's tweezerbox or pocketbook. Perhaps originally a misspelling of bauble-buoy, 'a container for baubles.'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word spousebreak
An unfaithful marriage partner (see bedswerver).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word beek
To bask in the presence of the sun or a fire
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word bawdreaming
Bawdy misbehavior.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word assything
(accent on syth, pronounced sithe) Something given as compensation for an offense; reparations.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word afterling
An inferior.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word adam's ale
The only drink available to Adam and Eve: water! Can be extended to disparage watery alcoholic beverages.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word acclumsid
Numbed, paralyzed, clumsy. From Old English clumsen 'to be stiff, numb'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tipsycakes
Cakes saturated in wine or liquor, stuck with almonds, and served with custard.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word whistersnefet
A blow to the ear.
One Tyler Durden in a certain film might've said, "Ow! Christ. Why a whistersnefet, man?"
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list lispers-nemeses
I'd thay ith's a litht worthy of Thylvethter J. Puthycat himthelf.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word onomatopoeia
Personally, onomatopoeia became very easy to spell once I imagined it as
O no, 'mato! Poe-i-a
(has a hellomoto sort of ring to it; 'mato as in tomato, Poe as in Edgar Allen-)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the user chained_bear
All right, c_b, there's no use pretending your onomatopoeia isn't tappen anymore.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word seventy-five pounds of raisins
As in, "I've gone 75 lbs of raisins!"
I started using this after noticing a definition of frail: "the weight of a frail (basket) full of fruit, esp. raisins or figs (between 50 and 75 pounds)."
All the implications of frail (mental, moral, or physical—'fragile, easily destroyed or broken, weak, insubstantial'; slightly offensive slang term for 'girl/woman'), fruit, and basket(case) can be rolled into this expression. Especially well-suited for women who've made themselves crazy (or physically weak) with dieting. Or thin, crazy women in general.
For variety, when you're feeling particularly spunky, the number can be anywhere from 50 to 75, and 'raisins' is interchanegable with 'figs,' 'dates,' 'fruit,' or any kind of fruit that might be dried and stored in a basket.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list lispers-nemeses
Ooh, oh! felicific/infelicific, lasciviousness (or lasciviousnesses, for cruelty's sake), disputatiousness, disperses/dispersers, spinthariscopes, essences, pseudosciences, setaceous, subsidiaries
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word eelpout
Also the perfect word for making something like this face.
edit: bilby! Funny meeting youuu here.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list pretty-dots-all-in-a-row
I haven't yet, but I think I bumped into a Norwegian.
If my parents were Netherlanders, my name probably would have been Katelijne. *eelpout*
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mjau
Norwegian meow.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word umbilici
Bellybuttons!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word nihilities
Nothingnessnes, nonexistences (what?).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word bijzin
Dutch (grammar), 'subordinate clause'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list pretty-dots-all-in-a-row
Apologies for the flood of Dutch (although this illustrates perfectly why I love the language).
edit: How I wish I could answer 'yes!' It's been on my to-do list for a few years.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wij
Dutch, 'we'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word zij
Dutch, 'she/they'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word jij
Dutch, 'you'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mijzelf
Dutch, 'myself'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word jijzelf
Dutch, 'yourself'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mijn
Dutch, 'my'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tholeiitic
adj., tholeiite-related
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word supahman dat ho
Fun fact: the 'chorus' of this song and eeny meeny miny moe have the same melody.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word clamor
It never ends!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the user she
Naturally, I'm crushed.
edit: Oh, Mercy!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word shaken baby syndrome
Sionnach, I'd like to say that I know exactly what film you were referring to, and if you weren't making any references, I said nothing and have no idea what any of you are talking about.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
Typing that sort of felt like I was being translated in gibberish against my will.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
Tappens happen. (Tappen happens?)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list fabulous-usernames
I'm quite taken with knitandpurl.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
Come to think of it, our tappen is onomatopoeic—it is the sound they'd happen to make if you stood, say, at the base of the wrong mountain, and they all rained down on your uniquely unfortunate head.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list end-in-kin
Oo, oo: kipskin, scarfskin (nifty term for 'epidermis!'), mutchkin, redskin (offensive, but I've never heard it used derisively. also the name of our local NFL? team), pekin (breed of duck), nankin, calkin, punkin?, capeskin, devikin ('little devil'), takin (boat), unakin? ('unrelated'), boomkin, spillikin, pannikin..
More -skins: swanskin, moleskin, foxskin, sharkskin, wineskin, cowskin, deerskin, doeskin, goatskin, lambskin, woolskin
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word hork
Or trichobezoar. 'Horking the trichobezoars again!'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
I have new empathy for bears! Thanks, posting a word on the internet.
Also, it's amazing how many people Google can find proudly proclaiming his or her last name to be Tappen.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word shellfish
I'm allergic to shellfish. :<
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word she
Mmn, schlocklist sounds like it has some relation to chocolate. (Dontcry, eerie that you'd say that now!)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word shellfish
The word to use if you'd like to call someone selfish as cutely as possible.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word paperblanks
As in, "It's advisable to buy more than one Paperblanks book at a time; you can write in the other while the one you've salivated all over is drying."
Also, possibly a good term for the result of fruitless writing.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word features
Well, it's born of not wanting to make it harder for anyone else to enjoy the site, and if I'm adding words too quickly for anyone to possibly keep up (I like the sharing as much as the list-building), it doesn't really seem like the best way to go about things. But I'd certainly have no problem going to town if there were some way for the people it might bother to control the noise, if they like, and better digest things. (I'm also beginning to think it would be a nice idea to have a little c_b sitting on my shoulder during the day. "You can do it! Go on. They're just playa-hatin'.")
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
I didn't see your comment in that way at all. :) Seems to me that people have just been expounding on the topic, not arguing.
(Ha! Well, the italics were emphasizing typo-correction.)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word she
Oh, I do like pre-1940s schlock! And 1940s schlock (mostly Betty Grable musicals). She was just the product of deciding against using anything I might get tired of and going for the first word I half-wondered may not've been taken. I'm sure there are all sorts of nice little words wandering around with no claimants..
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word the porch
/Lazes about in a rockingchair (Shouldn't there be a verb 'to rock in a rockingchair'? I think so.), silently but for the crrrrrick,.. crrrvb,.. crrriick..
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
Thank you for all the warm welcomings and your general garrulousness! Got a new word-book today (Oh yes. Oh dear). It's good to be among fellowfeelers. Unfortunately, I'm again torn between resuming my previous nuts-goings or remaining slightly more reticent.
Frogapplause—how unusually fun to say!—my desks (..and shelves, tables, and occasionally my bed) are never big enough!
I feel you, sinnonach, on specific lists being more interesting; my intention was always to eventually pull things from this list into themed lists, but because there are so many words, any one of which could be valuable to someone, I wanted to throw them all out there now, rather than having it wait on organizing them all at my leisure (which always means it will take a very, very long time, as it's a perfect opportunity to luxuriate in fastidiousness—something I enjoy so much, just the thought has me cooing, almost). It makes a nice starting point, anyhow.
Ooh, also: you (general you) may be interested in the features suggestion I posted.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
'It's not she's list that's the issue. It's citations/new words ripping down the front page faster than a drowsy bear can unplug its fart flugelhorn.'
Hi. I've just choked on my tea.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word publicly
Damn you, -ally reflex!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word embarrassment
Yes. Embarrassment sounds like someone saying 'embarassment' with a piratey accent.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word gauge
I always have to strain against personal feelings to spell this word correctly. Gauge looks like gouge sounds, and deep inside, I've always wished it were guage, which feels truer to sound and reminds me of things like suede.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list words-i-assumed-i-had-not-been-misspelling-until-greeted-somewhere-by-the-fact-of-my-wrongness
Why thank you, miss.
I think it's really one of the most useful self-serving lists to make—I'm digging all the way back to gradeschool (There are words left to add! but I'm pacing myself).. As George Santayana (Google tells me) said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And now I have this handy reference going.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word features
I had a thought, just now, on a way to possibly arm ourselves when navigating the front page—What if we had the (functional rather than social; I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks "friend"ing usually amounts to fluff) ability to mark "familiar users," that we could see, unsee, or isolate (as a group) when browsing? That is, marking as "familiar" the people you see most often (those repeatedly Wordiest, in particular, and anyone you'd like to keep track of) would let you: temporarily ignore new lists, words, and comments of theirs in recent activity (solving the issue of congestion caused by one person adding hundreds of words in one day! which I am guilty of, but would love to be able to do again without feeling guilty)—leaving only those of all the users not on that list, making it easier to spot things which you might have otherwise missed; or, temporarily view new lists, words, and comments only from "familiar" users (useful for chatching up after you've been browsing with those users filtered out, and a quicker way of getting up-to-date, if you've been away). The logical default would be set to showing everyone's recent activity, "familiar" and not, and those with no interest in using any filters wouldn't have to.
So yes, filtering. Is this doable—? And appealing? (Seems to me, especially as the site grows, that some sort of filtery feature would work in the interest of general Wordie-sanity.)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word syphilis
"Grandgore" just sounds so proud to be syphilis. :D
July 10, 2008
she commented on the word ophthalmoblennorhea
..Oh, ewww.
July 10, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
Oh hufsh Prolagus. Proalgaelollyagus etc. when she hasn't slept. Mints for everyone! And algae is very soft, bilby; you should like it.
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user chained_bear
My sincerest apologies for bringing up tappens (and others' enjoyment in discussing tappens). Tappen. Tappa-tappa tappen..
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tappen, As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tappen, at my chamber door-- Only this, and nothing more."
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user yarb
There's something very cheery about that long line of Biff!s to the right. Selfsame list, but
Biff!
Biff!
Biff!
Biff!
Biff!
..
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user bilby
How sweet of you to find the name of my bane. :<
Of all the banshees to not yet exist, why'd the ban she banshees have to be all timely and decide to cross the threshold? I'm keeping my eyes peeled! (Do give a heads-up if you hear any wailing.)
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user whichbe
Oho, please help yourself to my heapings (hopefully, those whichbe-pleasing)!
July 10, 2008
she commented on the word he
Nullibiquitous is He (Is there a character minimum for usernames here? I wonder if He's even Possible.)
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user Prolagus
The appellation matches the drapes, I'm afraid— Wait. I mean to say, she's a she (one of those), well and truly, through and through-ly. But, it isn't so bad, really! Just predictable.
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user she
You are a userbase possessed! I think I like this place.
..Yes, it took me this long to view my profile.
July 10, 2008
she commented on the word she
She is, she is (a she. Is me)! Such a sticky nickname (stickinick? ..baskets?) from such a little pronoun.
July 10, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
Perfectly, perfectly reasonable, Prolagus. I hadn't noticed all the congestion (head in the tag-clouds?)— It'd be no trouble to start intermittently replacing Wordie with Notepad to calm the flooding; at worst, it might create suspense. Until our next installment..!
(Perhaps it's She with an Excitable Fondness for List-building! or She Who Prompts Wordie to Say Grammatical ("10 Hours Ago, She Said:") and Ungrammatical ("She's Lists") Things, to the Amusement of Some)
July 10, 2008
she commented on the word plongeur
Oh yes! Listen to qroqqa. I'm only referencing little well-meaning but indeterminate wordbooks.
July 10, 2008
she commented on the word phonascetics
n., treatment for improving or strengthening the voice (From a Greek word meaning 'one who exercises the voice')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word phoenendoscope
Whoops!
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word plethysmograph
It seems as if in the early days this was very uncomfortable, as the plethysmograph was described as "a rigid airtight container enclosing the subject entirely except for (the) head and neck."
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word plevisable
adj., able to be bailed out (From French word meaning 'to warrant')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word plongeur
Pronounced ‹plahn·zhoor›
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word pneobiognosis
A test used to prove whether a child was born alive or dead, based on the presence or absence of air in the lungs. (Medico-legal term)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word pococurantish
See pococurante
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word pug-nozzle
v., to move the nostrils and upper lip in the manner of a pug dog
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word quaresimal
adj., having the qualities of Lenten fare; meager, austere
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word quatervois
n., crossroads, a place where four ways meet (from French)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word rackensak
A native of Arkansas (from the name of the Arkansas Folklore Society?)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word relexification
e.g., "I am très impressed" incorporates relexification of the French "très" into English.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word rememble
v., to remember falsely (Possibly a blend of 'fumble' and 'remember.' Coined by Elan Cole, who suggested it on the radio show The Next Big Thing)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word ribazuba
Walrus ivory (From Russian words meaning 'fish' and 'tooth')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word rockoon
A rocket fired from a balloon, or a balloon carrying a rocket.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word rosicler
n., the rosy light of dawn
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word sabaism
Worship of the stars. Sabians, simply mentioned in the Qu'ran, were thought in the Middle Ages to have been star-worshippers.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word samentale
n., agreement. It seems to come from the phrase 'of the same tale.'
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word sarcinarious
adj., able to carry loads or burdens (From a Latin word meaning 'bundle')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word sardanapalian
adj., luxuriously effeminate.
From the name of Sardanapalus, the last kind of Nineveh, who was supposed to have lived in outrageous luxury. (Beseiged by the Medes for two years, his favorite concubine induced him to put himself on a funeral pyre; she set fire to it herself, and it consumed the place along with his entire court. The legend of Sardanapalus cannot be connected with any Assyrian king known through archaeology.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word sarvodaya
n., the well-being of all (from Sanskrit sarva, 'all' and udaya, 'uplift.') Used by Mohandas Ghandi to mean a new social order without caste, based on nonviolence and service.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word satispassion
n., atonement by adequate suffering (On the model of satisfaction; from Latin words for 'enough' and 'suffering')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word scacchic
adj., pertaining to chess (From an Italian word for chess)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word scelestic
adj., wicked (From a Latin word with the same meaning; also, scelestious)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word scelestious
adj., wicked (From a Latin word with the same meaning; also, scelestic)
This has the benefit of sounding a lot like "celestious" (celestial), 'heavenly,' if you like a touch of polysemy.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word scevity
n., unluckiness (From a Latin word meaning 'left-sided, awkward')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word sciapodous
adj., having feet large enough to shelter the whole body when used as an umbrella (From a Greek word meaning 'shadow foot.' The Sciapodes, who had these feet, were supposed to live in Libya.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word scolecophagous
adj., worm-eating
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word scriniary
An archivist
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word scriptitation
n., continuous writing (obsolete; from a Latin word meaning 'to write')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word scripitation
Whoops! Typo'd scriptitation
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word semihiant
adj., (of lips) half-open. Much, much nicer than agape or slack-jawed.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word sengilbond
n., an encircling band
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word solfeggist
One who uses the solfege technique of sight-singing, with solfege syllables: do (or ut), re, mi, fa, sol, la, and si (or ti).
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word surfle
v., to embroider (From a Latin word meaning 'thread on top')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word surbater
n., someone who tires another person with walking. (According to most young children, this applies to parents. Also good for reluctant hikers to huff at hiking partners.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word a sursaut
"All of a sudden" (see sursaut)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word swasivious
I love it when words mean exactly what they sound like.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word testudineous
Or, as slow as a tortoise.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word theoplasm
The stuff of which gods are made.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word trichechine
..or a manatee! (It comes from the modern Latin name of a genus that included the manatee and walrus.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word tutoyant
adj., intimate, affectionate (Tutoyer means 'to use the familiar pronoun tu or thou' or 'to tu or thou someone.')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word uliginous
(and swampy, slimy, oozy)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word umbratile
See umbratic
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word uranography
A description of heaven (not, as it sounds, of urine.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word verticordious
adj., turning the heart from evil (From a Latin word meaning 'turner of hearts,' used as an epithet for Venus.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word viron
v., to go around, circle, make the circuit (From an Old French word meaning 'to turn')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word visagiste
n., makeup artist (from French)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word visceration
n., a portion of raw flesh, esp. one distributed at the death of a rich man (presumably of an animal, and not of the man. Related to the word viscera)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word viscerotonic
adj., having a sociable, easy-going, comfort-seeking personality (usually associated with an endomorphic body type)
Inoffensive term for a fun, fat friend.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word voculation
Correct pronunciation and enunciation, giving every word its correct accent, moderation, and measure. (From a Latin word meaning 'little voice;' vocule is the faint final sound heard when pronouncing certain consonants.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word volacious
adj., suitable for flying (From Latin word meaning 'to fly;' see also: volitorial)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word volitorial
adj., having the power of flight (see also: volacious)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word whelve
v., to turn something over and bury something beneath it; to bury something (To whelve over is to overwhelm.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word whistness
'Silence!' (Of onomatopoeic origin, related to hush! and hist!)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word xenomenia
A medical condition in which blood flows from some part of a woman's body at a different place than (but at the same time as, and replacing) her regular menses. Also called vicarious menstruation. From Greek words meaning 'strange' and 'menses.'
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word yemeles
adj., careless, negligent (To take yeme is to observe or be careful.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word yesterfang
n., things caught or taken yesterday
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word sudorific
Sounds much, much more exciting than what it defines.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word gidget-fair
An exhibition of servant girls for sale
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word piqueur
Servant who runs before a carriage to clear the road.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word kavass
n., an armed courier (esp. in Turkey)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word cubicular
n., bedchamber attendant
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word nullibiquitous
adj., not existing anywhere (see nullibicity)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word bumblepuppist
Is too, is too!
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word atonomasia
Oh, typos.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word bucculent
adj., wide-mouthed (From a Latin word meaning 'cheek')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word buchette
n., piece of firewood
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word camstairy
adj., perverse, willful, or obstinate (Scots; possibly related to cam, 'crooked')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word chessom
adj., without stones or grit (Desirable in oysters and spinach)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word choical
A term used by the Gnostics (from the Greek word for 'dust'), who believed the visible body was made up of two parts: a "subtle element" they called the hylic body, and a "sheath of gross earthly matter" they called the choical body.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word cryptaesthesia
n., any kind of supernatural perception, including clairvoyance and telepathy (From crypto- and a Greek word meaning 'perception')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word cultrivorous
adj., knife-swallowing! (From Latin words meaning 'knife' and 'to devour')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word cunctipotent
An ill-sounding (see also cunctitenent) synonym for omnipotent; all-powerful
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word cunctitenent
adj., having all things (in the same way cunctipotent means 'all-powerful')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word cymbocephalic
Obsolete adj., having a boat-shaped (esp. from above -- i.e., long and narrow) skull
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word draisine
The earliest kind of bicycle, named after its inventor, Baron von Drais of Sauerbrun. (He called it a swiftwalker; others called it a dandy-horse)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word drawcansir
n., someone who kills/injures both friend and foe. From the name of a blustering, bragging character in George Villiers' burlesque play The Rehearsal, who in the last scene is made to enter a battle and kill all the combatants on both sides. (His name might be intended to suggest drawing a can of liquor, as there are references to his drinking capacity in the fourth act.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word dretch
v., 'to trouble in sleep' and 'to be troubled in sleep' (from Old English)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word druxy
adj., having rotten spots concealed by healthy wood
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word eccaleobion
The name given to an egg-hatching machine invented in 1839 by a W. Bucknell, supposedly the sentence "I evoke life" written as one Greek word. (Later used in the figurative sense for things analogous to an egg-hatching machine.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word echopraxia
n., the meaningless imitation of the movements of others (From echo and the Greek word for 'action')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word emmetropia
That is, 20/20 vision.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word epithymy
n., desire, lust
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word 'slidikins
Shortened exclamation; "By God's eyelids!"
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word 'snails
Shortened exclamation; "By God's nails!"
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word fiant
v., to cast excrement (Used especially of badgers and foxes)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word finifugal
adj., shunning the end (Such as at bedtime, or that of a particularly good book)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word fistical
See fistic, fistiana
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word flaffer
v., to rustle when moving, to flutter
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word flambuginous
adj., deceptive, fictitious, sham (Related to the flam- of flimflam and flamfew and a Latin word meaning 'a bubble, a lie')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word flamfew
n., a gewgaw, flimflam (from a Latin word meaning 'a bubble, a lie')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word flaskisable
adj., capricious, changeable (From an Old French word meaning 'to bend;' used mostly about people, this is a nice way of saying 'flaky')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word flosculous
adj., like a flower, flowery (see floscule)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word floscule
n., 'something shaped like a little flower' (flosculous), or 'a flowery speech' (see flosculation). From Latin word meaning 'little flower'
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word flosculation
n., speaking in a flowery way (see floscule, flosculous)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word genizah
Plural: genizot
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word gilly-gaupus
n., an awkward, silly or foolish person
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word chrisom
Or, a silly person (gilly-gaupus, gawpus, dotterel)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word dotterel
Or, a silly person (gilly-gaupus, gawpus, chrisom)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word gleimous
adj., full of phlegm or mucus
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word engleimous
adj., both slimy and venemous, rather than simply gleimous
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word make gloze
v. phrase, 'to talk smoothly or flatteringly' (From Greek word for 'tongue')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word hautain
adj., proud, arrogant; or (of the voice) raised, loud
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word inorthography
(Frequent misspellers could be called inorthographists.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word hibernacle
n., A winter retreat, or home of a hibernating animal (from a Latin word meaning 'wintry').
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word holagogue
n., a medicine supposed to get rid of all 'morbid humours'
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word icterical
adj., tinged with yellow (as is luteolous)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word luteolous
adj., tinged with yellow (as is icterical)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word flavescate
v., to make yellow
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word ideokinetic
A kind of apraxia in which the sufferer understands a request to perform an action or movement, and still has the physical ability, but is unable to do so when asked. (This might be a good technical name for the common phenomenom of being able to perform astounding feats, except when anyone is watching)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word ignotism
n., a mistake due to ignorance
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word illecebrous
adj., Attractive, alluring (from Latin illecebra, charm, lure, enticement).
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word furze-pig
Hedgehog (also ilspile, echinus, herisson, hotchi witchu, hurcheon, irchepil, irspile, il/ile, tiggy, irchon/irchin/urchin)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word imberbic
adj., beardless (From im- plus the Latin barba, 'beard')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word imbriferous
adj., rainy, rain-bringing (From Latin word meaning 'shower')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word impluvious
adj., Wet with rain.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word incontunded
adj., not bruised or pounded; without contusions (Most often used for spices and fruit; hopefully applicable to most people)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word infelicific
adj., 'making unhappy'
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word inficete
One OED citation, from Thomas Love Peacock's novel Crotchet Castle (1831), is this exchange:
Mr. E: "Sir, you are very facetious at my expense."
Dr. F: "Sir, you have been very unfacetious, very infecete at mine."
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word influous
adj., shedding astral influence
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word infucate
Or, to use makeup (in the sense 'to paint the face, to color artificially'); noun infucation
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word isangelous
adj., equal to the angels
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word jenticulate
v., to breakfast
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word jollop
v., to gobble, make turkey-noises
n., the cry of a turkey
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word jollux
n., a fat person (slang, obsolete)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word kalokagathia
Kalos kai agathos, the singular balance of the good and the beautiful
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word knabble
v., bite or nibble
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word lambdacism
Also, pronouncing the letter r as l (or lallation).
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word leathwake
adj., having flexible joints; lithe (from Old English words meaning 'limb' and 'soft')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word leggiadrous
adj., graceful, elegant (From an Italian word meaning 'sprightly')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word lethiferous
Literally, 'deathbringing'
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word limitanean
adj., on the border (from limitanei/limitatenses, border units in the armies of the late Roman Empire)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word loranthaceous
adj., related to loranthaceae, the mistletoe family
An accurate descriptor for certain kisses!
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word lordswike
n., one who deceives their lord; a traitor (from Old English)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word luculence
See luculent
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word lycophosed
adj., keen-sighted. From a Greek word meaning 'twilight,' from roots meaning 'wolf' and 'light,' which was misunderstood as 'having keen sight, like a wolf.'
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word macrosmatic
adj., having well-developed olfactory organs (macro- plus a Greek word meaning 'smell')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word magirologist
n., an expert cook; magirist (From a Greek word meaning 'cook;' see also: magirology, magirological)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word magirist
n., an expert cook; magirologist (From a Greek word meaning 'cook;' see also: magirology, magirological)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word magirology
n., the art or science of cooking (From a Greek word meaning 'cook;' see also: magirist/magirologist, magirological)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word magirological
adj., skilled in cooking (From a Greek word meaning 'cook;' see: magirology, magirist/magirologist)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word magnoperate
v., to work on one's magnum opus (Used in a letter by Lord Byron: "That is right, keep to your magnum opus—magnoperate away.")
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word momurdotes
Wellll, maresydotes, and momurdotes.. (and little lambs-e'divey)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word motatorious
adj., in constant motion.
Used most often in reference to.. the legs of insects :<
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word muculency
n., snottiness
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word multatitious
adj., acquired by fine or forfeit
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word murgeon
plural n., grimaces
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word nabocklish
Irish interjection meaning 'Nevermind! Leave that alone!' (literally, 'don't meddle with it')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word nacket
or, a rude and impertinent boy (from French words meaning 'the tennis court keeper's boy')
The two definitions should be easy to keep straight (unless you're a cannibal, in which case there is a pleasant congruence).
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word naevose
adj., spotted, freckled
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word nanity
n., the condition of having any abnormal deficiency (from the Greek word for 'dwarf;' see nanism)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word naufragate
v., to cause naufrage (shipwreck). See also naufragous, naufrageous
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word naufrageous
adj., in danger of naufrage (shipwreck). See also: naufragous, naufragate
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word nidulation
n., nesting or nest-making; nidification
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word nidification
n., nesting or nest-making, nidulation (verbs: nidify, nidificate)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word nocency
n., guilt (antonym of innocence)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word noceur
n., one who stays up late at night; also, a rake or libertine
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word nodcrafty
adj., able to nod with an air of great wisdom
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word obambulatory
adj., habitually walking around (that is, obambulating; see obambulate. From a Latin word meaning 'to walk')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word ollendorffian
adj., in the artificial and overly formal style of foreign-language phrase books. From the name of Heinrich Gottfried Ollendorff (1803-1865), a German grammarian and educator.
Famous examples of such language include: "Unhand me Sir, for my husband, who is an Australian, awaits without." Perhaps the most absurd phrasebook is English as She is Spoke: The new guide of the conversation in Portugeuse and English in two parts (1855), by Pedro Caroline and Hose de Fonseca, which includes this nearly incomprehensible sentence in its introduction: "We expect then, who the little book (for the care what we wrote him, and for her typographical correction) that may be worth the expectation of the studious persons, and especially of the Youth, at which we dedicate him particularly."
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word ombrifuge
A rain shelter (from Greek word meaning 'rainshower')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word paravent
A shelter from the wind.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word oneirocritical
adj., expert in the interpretation of dreams
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word opsophagist
n., eater of delicacies, esp. fish; one who opsophagizes
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word opsophagize
v., to eat delicacies, especially fish (From a Greek word of the same meaning, as is the agent noun opsophagist)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word oryzivorous
adj., rice-eating!
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word ostent
n., a sign or wonder, a portent (From Latin word meaning 'something shown;' see also: ostentiferous)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word pactitous
adj., characterized by being agreed upon or specified in a contract
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word peramene
adj., very pleasant
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word perculsion
n., severe shock, consternation (From Latin verb meanig 'to upset' -- something that's perculsive gives you a shock.)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word philocomal
adj., characterized by love of or attention to the hair (Loaned from Greek philo- 'loving' and Latin coma, 'hair')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word bumblepuppist
n., player of bumblepuppy (that is, whist)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word nuppence
No money.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word gyesite
n., someone who accepts money for spiritual things (esp. where considered a sin)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word exonumist
Collector of exonumia.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word fumifugist
n., one who drives away smoke (and possibly, smokers)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word inadvertist
n., one who habitually fails to take notice
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word querulist
n., one who complains (esp. frequently)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word heterophemist
n., someone who says something other than what he or she meant to say
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word diablerist
n., one who paints or draws pictures in which devils appear
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word energumenist
n., one who is possessed by a demon (or a fanatical enthusiast of something)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word blottesque
First used by John Ruskin to criticize modern painting.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word blive
(pronounced bleev) adv., before long, soon
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word blennorrhea
An unusually large secretion of mucus
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word baithe
v., to agree, to consent (From an Old Norse word meaning 'to beg')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word agogic
Obsolete: of or about the making of wax models
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word aginator
n., seller of small things (see aginate)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word aginate
v., to sell small things
The OED citation gives the gloss 'he who retaileth,' from 1626. From a Latin word for a part of a scale.
Aginator would be a nice term for some who use eBay or Etsy.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word ageustia
Loss or impairment of the sense of taste (also ageusia)
Begs for figurative use!
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word drimmens
Coined by author Simon Winchester; 'the trail of grey water invariably left behind on the floor when someone in gumboots comes into a warm kitchen from the snowy outside world.' (A loose mixture of drip and midden -- the former suggesting wetness and cold, the latter dirt and greyness)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word pinguefying
adj., fattening (From Latin pinguis, fat)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word spumescence
See spumescent
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word florisugent
adj., honey-sucking (from flowers; used of birds and insects)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word alexiteric
Also alexipharmic
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word emacity
n., a fondness for buying things (Shopping edacity?)
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word limicolous
Syn. limicoline
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word macilent
An adjective meaning both 'thin' (as in weight) and 'lacking in substance' (as in worth), ideal for ambiguous compliments.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word monarsenous
Oho. Either sense may be right, in certain situations.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word mouton enragé
Literally, 'furious sheep.' Term for an angry person who is usually calm.
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word theopneust
See theopneustic
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word vapulatory
adj., related to flogging (Unsurprisingly, it comes from a Latin word meaning 'to be beaten.')
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
chained_bear, I'm sure it's voluntary!
allexperts.com clarifies: "The tappen forms inside the body and plugs the anus during hibernation. A bear does not place moss up its backside, nor does it place a rock there, which was one of my earlier questions. The tappen prevents faecal material leaking out of the bear's body and soiling its home during hibernation. Apart from hygiene, the smell of faeces could attract enemies during a vulnerable period for the bear. The tappen is not produced to stop small animals going up the bear's backside, but its presence helps to prevent it. Whether ants would naturally want to go up a bear's backside is another question!"
July 9, 2008
she commented on the word amusia
n., loss of a musical ability
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word ziraleet
An expression of joy by a group of women in Aleppo, consisting of the words "Lillé, Lillé, Lillé" repeated as often as possible in one breath.
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word vindemy
n., the taking of honey from beehives (From Latin for 'fruit-gathering')
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word viliority
n., the fact of being cheaper or of less value (From a Latin root meaning 'to make viler')
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word viduous
adj., empty
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) uses this word to describe the heart as a "viduous mansion" for rent after the loved one is gone, going on to say that the new tenant finds a portrait of the first love hidden away somewhere within it.
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word veilleuse
n., small and highly decorated nightlight
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word vease
n., a run before a leap
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word utraquism
See utraquist
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word ubiation
n., the act of occupying a new place. From Latin word meaning 'where.' (See also: ubity, ubication)
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word ubication
n., the condition of being in a certain place. From Latin word meaning 'where.' (See also: ubity, ubiation)
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word ubity
n., place. From Latin word meaning 'where.' (See also: ubication, ubiation)
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word typocrat
One who rules by controlling the press.
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word twitter-light
Twilight (also twitterlight)
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word twitterlight
Twilight (also twitter-light, twatter-light).
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word turngiddy
adj., dizzy from spinning around (Exactly as it sounds!)
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word tripudiant
Dancing; used figuratively to mean 'triumphant, exultant.' (The tripudium was a ritual dance of ancient Rome, done by armed priests. The dance involved three steps - tripudium means 'three feet' - and included banging on shields with rods or spears.)
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word tripotage
n., pawing, handling, or fingering (especially of people)
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
The plug by which the rectum of a bear is closed during hibernation, composed of pine leaves and things scratched out from ants' nests.
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word tendsome
adj., requiring much tending/attention
A neat little word existing perhaps only in Webster's (1847 and 1864) and the Century Dictionary (1891).
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word superbious
adj., proud and overbearing (From Latin for 'proud or magnificent,' as is superb)
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word sericipary
adj., Silk-producing (fr. Latin sēricum, silken + -parus, -bearing).
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word sciatherical
adj., concerned with the recording of shadows, especially the shadow of the sun as a means for telling time (From the Greek for sundial, literally 'shadow-catcher')
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word scamander
v., to wander about (From Skamandros, the name of a river in Homer's Iliad -- and synonym to meander, taken from the Menderes/Maiandros, also a river)
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word retroition
n., re-entrance
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word pulveratricious
Oh, but but.
The now-defunct Linnean classification pulveratores (Latin pulvereus dusty + -ator, pl) comprised birds so named for their habit of rolling around in the dust to dislodge little bugs stuck in their feathers. Pulveratricious carries 'dust-colored, 'dust-covered,' etc. specifically through meaning 'like birds that roll themselves in dust.'
I take great pleasure in being able to slip 'bird-like by association' into any one-word description!
July 8, 2008
she commented on the word pulsative
adj., played by percussion (as an instrument); able to throb or pulse (as a heart)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word possident
n., posessor (viz. someone who owns something)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word pooking-fork
A tool with a large prong and a cross handle, used in haymaking to push the hay into pooks, or stacks.
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word pluviculture
n., the science of rain-making (From Latin for 'rain,' on the model of agriculture)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word pluteus
Also: a shelf for books, small statues, etc. (Latin pluteus was originally 'a light barrier between columns')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word planeticose
adj., Liking to wander (from Latin planeticus, wandering).
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word piscation
n., fishing!
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word pinguescent
adj., fat (From Latin pinguis; see pinguescence)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word pinguescence
n., the process of becoming fat (From Latin pinguis, fat; see also pinguescent, pinguefying)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word pilliver
n., pillowcase (From Old English for 'pillow' and 'cover')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word pettitoes
Cooked pig's-hoof!
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word masty
adj., fat (Said of a pig well-fed on mast)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word aprine
adj., 'of wild swine'
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word suillary
adj., 'of swine'
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word paedotrophist
n., a particularly capable parent; one who practices paedotrophy (child-raising)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word panmixis
n., a population in which random mating takes place (Mostly applied to animals, but equally well-suited to any large city or college campus)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word obliquangled
adj., (an obsolete form of) 'oblique-angled'; can be used figuratively to mean 'messy, awkward, questionable'
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word nychthemeral
adj., day-to-night ('occuring with a variation that matches night and day,' to do with a nychthemeron)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word ninguid
adj., Snow-covered (fr. Latin ninguidus).
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word nighwhat
adv., 'nearly, almost'
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word nidor
n., the smell of burning fat (or any strong flesh-cooking smell)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word nexility
n., speed or pithiness of speech
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word monarsenous
adj., having only one male for several females
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word milce-witter
adj., merciful (Literally, 'knowing mercy')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word meliturgy
n., honey-making or bee-keeping (From Greek for 'bee-keeping')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word marcescible
adj., tending or likely to wither or fade (From Latin for 'to be faint')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word barology
n., the study of weight
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word anatripsology
n., the study of the uses of friction
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word iotacist
n., someone who makes excessive use of the letter i (Originally, the changing of the pronunciation of other Greek vowels to more resemble that of the vowel iota)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word immensikoff
A slang term for a heavy overcoat trimmed with fur, supposedly from "The Shoreditch Toff," a popular song circa 1868, in which there are the lines "I fancy I'm a toff, From top to toe I really think I looks--Immensikoff." The singer of the song, Arthur Lloyd, wore such an overcoat.
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word meseling
adj., leprous
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word fever-lurden
'The disease of laziness'
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word miryachit
A disease in which the sufferer mimics everything said or done by another, of Siberian origin.
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word decubiture
The "correct" form of the irregularly formed decumbiture, 'the act of going to bed when sick,' from Latin.
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word ignicolist
n., fire-worshipper
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word idolothyte
n., a sacrifice (to an idol)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word iconomach
n., 'one who is hostile to images'
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyarchy
n., the domain of the fishes, the fish-world. A lovely nonce-word used in 1853.
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word hippotomist
n., an accomplished horse-dissector
(From Greek hippo-, 'horse' and -tomy, 'cut')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word grandgore
Smashing term for syphilis!
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word anaphroditus
adj., without sexual desire
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word algoagnia
n., sadomasochism (being both masochistic and sadistic)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word feuillemorte
adj., having the color of a dead or faded leaf (i.e., brown or yellowish-brown); French for 'dead leaf'
(Also filemot, philemort, phillimot)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word festucaceous
adj., like a stalk (From Latin for 'stalk')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word festuceous
adj., straw-like
From a Latin root meaning 'stalk' (see also festucaceous, 'like a stalk')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word expergefaction
n., waking-up (From Latin for 'make awake')
This is the effect an expergefactor has.
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word elaqueate
v., to free from a noose or other entanglement
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word cockyolly bird
Term of endearment meaning 'dear little bird.'
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word calamistrate
v., to curl the hair (from Latin calamistratus 'curled')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word blesiloquent
adj., speaking with a lisp or stammer (from Latin words meaning 'lisping, stammering' and 'speaking')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word bibesia
A Latin word of Plautus for 'the land of drinks'/'the drinkland' (that is, alcoholic drinks)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word leighster
n., a female liar
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word chaterestre
n., a talkative woman
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word bablatrice
n., a female babbler
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word autoptic
adj., eyewitness, based on personal observation (Usually used in legal contexts, as in autoptic testimony)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word autogeneal
adj., self-produced, made by oneself (From Greek word of the same meaning)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word aucupate
v., to go bird-catching! (Also, figuratively, 'to lie in wait for or hunt.') From Latin words meaning 'bird' and 'catch.'
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word asseclist
n., an attendant or follower (from a Latin word meaning 'to follow after')
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word aspheterism
Synonym for communism; the belief that there should be no private propery. From a Greek word meaning 'nothing of one's own.'
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word paraprosexia
n., the inability to pay attention to any one thing, caused by a constant state of distraction.
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word hyperprosexia
n., concentration on one thing to the exclusion of everything else.
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word heart-spoon
A darling term for that little dent at the end of your sternum (hyphenated likely because it might otherwise read heart's poon, which isn't at all the intended image).
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word sparlire
n., calf (the bodypart, that is.)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word angletouch
A worm used as bait in fishing (syn angletwitch)
July 7, 2008
she commented on the word dearworth
adj., precious (also derworth; obsolete; from Piers Plowman, a 14th century poem by William Langland)
June 29, 2008
she commented on the word niefling
n., niece or nephew (gender-neutral)
Coined by Susan Parker Martin of New York, says Weird and Wonderful Words.
Beyond useful! (but I'm a little biased—I've been an aunt since I was six years old.)
June 29, 2008
she commented on the word fascinatrix
n., pl. -natrices
a fascinating woman (also fascinatrice)
June 29, 2008
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