Comments by she

  • Obs. n., A history or narrative (fr. OE boc, book + spell, story).

    October 22, 2008

  • A fabulous serpent (adapted from Old Norse lyngormr ‘heatherworm;’ cf. Danish/Swedish lindworm). No relation to bookworms/linguistics!

    October 12, 2008

  • Obs. n., A medical plaster (apparently fr. Latin spasma, a healing powder + French drap, cloth).

    "He a friar carried divers pills, spasmadraps, cordials, and drops for his adult patients." –Horace Smith, 1826

    October 6, 2008

  • v., To fly or be flung out with sudden impetus (cf. fly, lunge).

    Hellooo; am still out-of-town 'til Monday.

    September 28, 2008

  • (tinny speakers) Hello! This is your She speaking. Am regretfully away, again, until the 25th!

    September 15, 2008

  • Anglo-Indian name for a cupboard, cabinet, press, wardrobe, or chest of drawers.

    September 12, 2008

  • The New Zealand grey warbler, Gerygone igata, a small wren-like bird.

    September 12, 2008

  • It should be <s> </s> or <strike> </strike>, but I don't think it works on Wordie. :(

    September 11, 2008

  • fr. Wikipedia: Atanua (or Atanea), in Polynesian mythology, is the goddess of the dawn; she created the seas, after having a miscarriage, by filling the oceans with her amniotic fluid.

    September 11, 2008

  • How else is one supposed to browse Wordie and eat sushi!? :(

    September 11, 2008

  • I'd like to take a moment to depreciate trying to manipulate chopsticks and move a mouse consecutively with one hand. This really isn't going so well.

    September 11, 2008

  • I'll help you if I can, if you're feeling down.

    September 10, 2008

  • n., Walrus hide (ultimately fr. Icelandic hrosshvalr, 'horse-whale').

    September 10, 2008

  • Ha! I was going to amend that comment:

    or "Words that have flourished magnificently into Queen or Beatles songs"

    September 10, 2008

  • Why are some of the prettiest words the ones I'll never, ever-ever-ever find occasion to use? *weeps*

    September 10, 2008

  • n., An 'animal bud' differing and separated from the compound/colonial animal organism from which it originated (allo-, other, different + zooid); cf. isozooid.

    September 10, 2008

  • (Botany) adj., Forming a complete spiral.

    September 10, 2008

  • Hot diggity damn!

    September 10, 2008

  • Admittedly, the name Wordie did surprise me at first — but only because the site itself immediately inspired, deep within me, what I believe bilby has termed a glow-worm symphony of delightedness..

    It is a little "web 2.0," but it's cute, memorable, and to-the-point as well — it certainly didn't bother me enough to write, publish, edit, re-edit, and finally delete, when teased about – a blog post.

    September 10, 2008

  • Well! That's it, guys — time to find a clerver name for ourselves!

    September 10, 2008

  • "And then she smoked her own fish! In front of everyone!"

    September 9, 2008

  • *wonders if anyone has made a list for "Words that have degenerated into Queen or Beatles songs" yet*

    September 9, 2008

  • I assumed it was 'my,' in the way of 'reclaiming ownership.'

    September 9, 2008

  • Ain't no shame in the game!

    ahem, edit: Oh, hello, yarb! That was directed at c_b.

    September 9, 2008

  • Criticker (my profile) is great for this!

    They are with movies a bit like we are with words; you can rank things, or just save them for later, and get (useful!) recommendations — plus, you can give your rankings names, which they call quips, and instead of friends, you have kumpels!* ..All in all, rather satisfying and dorky.

    *German for "comrade!"

    September 9, 2008

  • Oh yes! I wasn't serious.

    It seems to me, though, that woman is the sort of word you don't see as implying anything (like so many words in English used daily, remaining oblivious to their roots) until it's specifically brought to your attention. (Funny how, in focusing on the implications of the word woman, one could also choose to disregard the products of intentional misspelling being considered almost universally silly!)

    And, by that logic (though faulty — woman is from wífman, a compound where wíf (wife) meant woman, and man meant human being), wife — which, for a time, after originally meaning "woman," meant "woman of lowly rank or employment" — should be just as reprehensible, yes?

    September 9, 2008

  • Nomen confusum's a taxon based on a mixture of more than one species mistaken as one.

    See also: nomen actionis, nomen agentis, nomen ambiguum, nomen conservandum, nomen dubium, nomen illegitimum, nomen novum, nomen nudum, nomen oblitum, nomen rejiciendum

    Wouldn't that fall under stupefy? :> (I can't believe I remembered that!)

    September 9, 2008

  • I've never understood this one. "Yes! We will distinguish ourselves by spelling like popstars."

    September 9, 2008

  • It would be really glorious(ly convenient) to have some sort of program to read through everything I've wordied and just tell me what my history's been with everything you mention, 'be..

    But yes. I love them, too — Reining them in by hand is time-consuming and kind of overwhelming (in scope and interestingness and usurious number of possibilities..), but I suspect it's really the most thorough way for me to try to answer the bibliophagists' (or this bibliophagist's) question-of-all-questions: "Why do I love what I love, and what do I love that I don't know I do yet?"

    And thanks, Prolagus; I still have a few thousand words yet to look at..!

    September 9, 2008

  • Is this pronounced "out-a-ways?"

    September 9, 2008

  • Temporary absence of, or space between, a flap or flaps?

    September 9, 2008

  • But deplore is seven letters! :o

    September 9, 2008

  • Obs. n., An error or slip in writing or copying (fr. Greek, 'to err').

    September 9, 2008

  • I have absolutely no problem with what it entails (or seeing it in print! My mind says "sep-i-a," to appease me)— but it's not a word I enjoy hearing.

    I'm sorry, sepia. :(

    September 7, 2008

  • I think Izzy was the name of my childhood friend's iguana, come to think of it.

    But yes, it's a cute nickname, and I like how Izi and Isidore have that little extra something without sounding wacky or misguided ("This is my daughter, Annavanessica! With a Q."). Who knows; if no Isidores turn up on reality television in the next ten or twenty years, I may report back with news of so-named spawn!

    September 6, 2008

  • n.¹, An impediment or obstacle; a mental barrier.

    n.², (Anatomy) A small, crescentic fold of white matter that covers the inferior angle of the floor of the fourth ventricle.

    September 6, 2008

  • Also, the white or Arctic fox (Canis lagopus), named by J. G. Gmelin, 1760, Canis isatis.

    September 6, 2008

  • Isidore/Isadore has got to be the prettiest male name I've ever heard—completely out-melliflues the feminine alternatives.

    September 6, 2008

  • Just a bookseller, really. (Really! See bibliopole.)

    September 5, 2008

  • The title of an official formerly recognized by the University of Cambridge, apparently the head of the grammar school or schools (Latin: Magister Glomeriæ). Cf. glomerel.

    September 5, 2008

  • A term formerly in use in the University of Cambridge to denote a pupil in grammar school (fr. med. Latin glomeria, likely fr. Anglo-French glomerie/gramarie, grammar); cf. Master of Glomery.

    September 5, 2008

  • Yes, yarb! And, on behalf of being utterly-wrong enough to call for rolig's esteemed correction — you're welcome. :)

    September 5, 2008

  • Was this your 12,000th word, c_b? (Hooray, 12,000!)

    September 5, 2008

  • Ooh!

    (I am mistress of the mint, I think, when nummulating choice desserts..)

    September 5, 2008

  • I am (predictably) very fond of this!

    September 5, 2008

  • HA! I could've sworn this said "queer as a duck's hatband" when I saw it on the front page. (It was much more convincing than my usual misreadings—! A duck's hatband would be pretty queer-looking, I imagined, and left it at that.)

    September 5, 2008

  • After pondering it for a bit, I decided c, m, and e were likely to blame for my suddenly finding "c'mere" to be very nice-looking (pronunciation aside), and I happened to be investigating this when I decided to finally start adding these lists to Wordie. There's a whole mess of other noted letters and sounds—some of which are already overlapping with (or closely related to) words I have on this list. And I'll probably end up pruning a few others, when I go back to edit for quality (ideally, I want words whose look/sounds I love, not just words that qualify). Bah—I'll figure it out eventually!

    September 5, 2008

  • Whoops!

    Ahem. *quietly brushes word into neighboring pile*

    (What's more, this most likely isn't the only neat word I've accidentally put here while browsing for candidates..)

    September 5, 2008

  • I stand corrected! (Who was the Wordie posting Melvillean quotes all over the place? He should be pleased with this.)

    September 5, 2008

  • SMERSH: Smert' Shpionam, lit. "death to spies."

    September 5, 2008

  • n., Smoke; thick vapor (alt. of smick); in modern dialogue: fine dust; stench (cf. smeek).

    v., (tr.) To send off smoke, vapour, or the like; to smoke; (intr.) to perfume or scent.

    September 5, 2008

  • adj., Extravagantly enthusiastic; infatuated. See schwärmerei, schwärm.

    September 5, 2008

  • n., A woodwind instrument capable of playing several tones at once, designed to imitate the sounds of orchestral instruments. It was invented by German shoe-maker J. Weinrich (1793-1855) and patented in 1828.

    September 5, 2008

  • Obs. (Legal) adj., Pregnant without the fact being (yet) known or apparent.

    September 5, 2008

  • Google, but a little more happy inside.

    September 5, 2008

  • Why, yes. (Someone whose 'mental (hoho) American History wing is a bit less drafty may've even been able to tell you without Googling!)

    September 5, 2008

  • Obs. (nonce) adj., Rapidly-growing.

    "The hugest and softest nimblecomequick turnip you ever saw."

    – C. Kingsley, The Water-babies: a fairy-tale, 1863

    September 5, 2008

  • adj., Belonging or relating to the group Nemocera (now the suborder Nematocera) of dipteran flies; nematoceran, nematocerous.

    September 5, 2008

  • n., A declaration or vote of general agreement; a statement that something has been passed nemine contradicente, '(with) no one speaking against.'

    September 5, 2008

  • adj., Of or relating to nemesism, frustration and aggression directed against oneself.

    September 5, 2008

  • adj., Belonging to or characteristic of the family Myrtaceae, a large family of aromatic shrubs and trees which includes the myrtles and the eucalypts.

    September 5, 2008

  • As myronic acid: a sulphur-containing acidic glycoside of which sinigrin, obtained from the plant black mustard, is the potassium salt.

    September 5, 2008

  • adj., Of or belonging to the subfamily Myrmicinae of stinging ants. Also, more generally: of or relating to ants (myrmecic).

    September 5, 2008

  • Other antsy words: myrmecology, myrmecic, myrmicine..

    September 5, 2008

  • "Aand the most wonderful thing about Myrmecobius is Iii'm the only one! — Left. :("

    September 5, 2008

  • Somehow, I pictured numbat as more of a sloth (relating numbness to slowness).

    September 5, 2008

  • Ooo — adj., Relating to or obtained from ants; antlike.

    September 5, 2008

  • A chest for safe-keeping archival documents (see muniment).

    September 5, 2008

  • adj., Muonic (fr. slightly earlier mu-mesonic): of, relating to, or involving a muon; (of an atom) having a muon orbiting the nucleus.

    September 5, 2008

  • adj., Relating to the care of mules; also: a farrier. (See mule-medicine.)

    September 5, 2008

  • Obs. n., Farriery; also mulemedicinal: relating to farriery (cf. mulomedic).

    September 5, 2008

  • A type of white-work embroidery characterized by raised surfaces and originating in Mountmellick, a town in County Laois in the Republic of Ireland.

    September 5, 2008

  • Var. of mootah (US slang).

    September 5, 2008

  • I did not realize Baltimore, Maryland had such a grand-sounding nickname (in reference to DC's* Washington Monument being built in Baltimore).

    *Ahem, or: "not at all in reference to DC's.."

    September 5, 2008

  • Happened again as I added mons mercurii (also, when I manually searched for the word afterwards, it took me to word, which appears to've happened before). Curious!

    September 5, 2008

  • n., The (part of the palm at the) base of the little finger. See mons.

    September 5, 2008

  • Fun fact! Before it meant what it does today, mons Veneris was used in Palmistry to mean the ball of the thumb (and mons to refer to that, or the corresponding part of the palm beneath a finger), giving us also:

    mons Jovis: the base of the forefinger,

    mons Mercurii: the base of the pinky finger,

    mons Saturni: the base of the middle finger, and

    mons Solis: the base of the ring finger.

    September 5, 2008

  • n., Chorea (a convulsive disorder) of a single part of the body, such as an arm.

    September 5, 2008

  • adj., Of, relating to, or characteristic of Giuseppe Mezzofanti; displaying extraordinary linguistic range.

    September 5, 2008

  • In opera: the quality of being intermediate in style or tone between seriousness and comedy; also, (a singer suited to playing) a character having this quality. (Italian, 'half character'. Cf. earlier demi-caractère.)

    September 5, 2008

  • The herb spignel, Meum athamanticum. Now chiefly (in form Meum): the monospecific genus of the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) containing this herb.

    Also, in phrase meum and tuum: (the distinction between) what is mine (one's own) and what is yours (another's) – the principle that a person has sole rights only to his or her own property.

    September 5, 2008

  • An obs. instrument for measuring colors — It employed three transparent wedges or prisms filled respectively with blue, red, and yellow liquids, each carrying a graduated scale; these were combined to match any given color.

    September 5, 2008

  • Obs. n., A syringe, often in the form of a metal cylinder attached to a curved tube, used for injections into the uterus; (also:) the content of such an injection.

    AAHHH.

    September 5, 2008

  • The Metonic cycle is a cycle of 19 tropical years – conventionally equated to 235 synodic months – in which the moon returns to almost the same apparent position relative to the sun, so that new and full moons occur at the same dates in the corresponding year of each cycle.

    It was widely adopted in eastern lunisolar calendars, and was the basis of the early Christian calculation of the date of Easter.

    September 5, 2008

  • Hush now; you know I usually don't mean the things I say in German.

    Da, da, da.

    September 4, 2008

  • Ich lieb dich nicht, du liebst mich nicht. Uhuh.

    September 4, 2008

  • I respectfully love and despise you all for playing into the hands of spam and putting this godawful thing all over the front page!

    (It's mostly love, but really: I felt actual contempt for this list when I saw it. Spam popping up in places I'm attached to is incredibly bothersome, and the prospect of a gaping spam-hole on Wordie scares me; leaving cute comments instead of deleting it does absolutely nothing to discourage it — it's an eyesore, and a mindsore, and and, and.. help.)

    September 4, 2008

  • I love(!) the idea of notes, particularly for saving reminders (as opposed to being secretive)—but right now, they're a little.. out-of-the-way for that? I'm afraid I won't be able to remember where I've left them. :(

    Also, I move that cell-stretching full urls be forbidden in lists and lickspittle spammers be banished (spamished?)

    September 3, 2008

  • ..was born, and died, in Bangladesh; remains a song.

    September 3, 2008

  • Of one who is doubting and pouting, hence doubtful and poutful, or doubtful, hence pouting, or poutful, hence doubting–

    September 3, 2008

  • A domestic pigeon of a breed characterized by a greatly inflatable crop.

    September 3, 2008

  • —was she being lazy as she got to thinking of 'sleeping out' vs. sleeping in and entering that instead of sleep-out (veranda-for-sleeping-in); whoops.

    September 3, 2008

  •       &#9312;

          &#9313;

          &#9314;

          &#9315;

          &#9316;

          &#9317;

          &#9318;

          &#9319;

          &#9320;

          &#9321;

          &#9322;

          &#9323;

          &#9324;

          &#9325;

          &#9326;

          &#9327;

          &#9328;

          &#9329;

          &#9330;

          &#9331;

    September 3, 2008

  • See Monovocalics.

    September 3, 2008

  • n.¹, (Greek antiquity:) a judicial inquiry (esp. at Athens) into the character and antecedents of aspirants for public office or citizenship.

    n.², The art or practice of assaying metallic ores, i.e., of separating the metallic substance from foreign admixture, and determining the nature and quantity of constituent metal.

    n.³, The art of ascertaining the properties and purity of drugs; also, of determining by physiological tests whether a child has been born alive or not.

    September 3, 2008

  • Oh this is delightful.

    Obs. adj., Transgressive (fr. classical Latin perfractus, past ppl. of perfringere to break through, to break (laws)).

    September 3, 2008

  • Are you in Dubai? (–looking for reesetee)

    (in Dubai, it was already Wednesday)

    September 3, 2008

  • Scot. Dizziness, vertigo, light-headedness (in the mirligoes: in a state of dizziness; light-headed, dazed); (with pl. concord:) flights of fancy.

    September 3, 2008

  • Obs. To read through (a text). See perlection.

    (Indistinguishable in sound from "pearly gate–")

    September 3, 2008

  • n., The action of reading through a text; a reading (classical Latin, fr. perlegere, to read through; cf. later perlegate).

    The Latin prefix per- can be given significance here—its most common senses are ‘through, in space or time; throughout, all over’ (as in vbs. pervade, perforate) and ‘thoroughly, completely, to completion, to the end’ (as in vbs. perfect, permute, perturb), which I think lend perlection the neat implication of 'reading a text from beginning to end.' I like it. :)

    September 3, 2008

  • Obs. To comply with; yield to; obey. Cf. obsequious.

    September 3, 2008

  • Obscurum per obscurius is very similar: "the unclear by means of the more unclear" (rather than 'unknown').

    September 3, 2008

  • When I was looking for places to eat near the airport in Albany, the decision between "Diner" and "Professor Java's Coffee Sanctuary" was not a difficult one.

    (If you ask me, we have too many Huts, Places, Rooms, Shacks and Houses, and far too few Sanctuaries..)

    September 3, 2008

  • (Zool.) A color, marking, or other attribute serving to warn or alarm, and thus repel the attacks of enemies (fr. aposematic).

    September 3, 2008

  • (Linguistics) A meaningful unit of body movement or gesture made in non-vocal communication.

    September 3, 2008

  • adj., (Of a plant:) living in or tolerant of an environment containing high levels of heavy metals; (obs.:) That worships or reveres metals (fr. Latin metallum, metal + -cola, worshipping).

    Suitable for humorously extending to fans of the musical genre.

    September 3, 2008

  • That depends. Do you live in Dubai?

    September 3, 2008

  • Obs. adj., Mournful, sad (fr. classical Latin maestus, sad, mournful, cognate with maerere, to be sad, mourn); cf. slightly later mestful, mestifical.

    September 3, 2008

  • Which sounds sort of like the scaly Illuminati. :D

    September 3, 2008

  • Reesetee is two people? :o

    September 3, 2008

  • I fear I am one of those people.

    September 3, 2008

  • n., Something interposed, serving to connect or reconcile antithetical agencies or principles (fr. Greek for 'middle' and 'setting, placing;' see thesis).

    September 3, 2008

  • Hm, trying to add mesothesis, I got the url http://wordie.orgword/?added=mesothesis instead of http://wordie.org/word/.. (which worked? but I had to manually visit the word afterwards).

    edit: Aha! It's happening when I add a word from the "No one is listing.." search results page rather than directly into the box at the top of a list.

    September 3, 2008

  • Obs. adj., Occupying a middle position (fr. mesothesis; cf. antithesis/antithetic, prothesis/prothetic).

    September 3, 2008

  • adj., Belonging to, characteristic of, or designating the suborder Mesosuchia of extinct crocodiles known from Jurassic and Cretaceous fossil remains (also n.).

    September 3, 2008

  • (Later also more widely: an intermediate variety in any speech continuum.)

    September 3, 2008

  • adj., Designating an egg or egg cell having a moderately large yolk.

    September 3, 2008

  • n., An enclosed and essentially self-sufficient (but not necessarily isolated) experimental environment or ecosystem that is on a larger scale than a laboratory microcosm.

    September 3, 2008

  • Or mese (obs.): a piece of land or the dwelling built on it (fr. Anglo-Norman mees, mes, meis, mis, mise, 'house, estate, farm, messuage, holding,' Old French mes; see manse, mansion).

    September 3, 2008

  • Obs. adj., Gifted with the power of speech (nonce word from ancient Greek μ�?ροψ, speaking articulately).

    September 3, 2008

  • (And the property's called meromixis!)

    September 3, 2008

  • Methinks we've just uncovered another of the several stages of Wordie addiction.

    September 3, 2008

  • A lovely word that is unfortunately an obsolete medical term for "femoral hernia" (harumph).

    September 3, 2008

  • In reference to the neatly-named Seleucus I Nicator's Seleucid Empire.

    September 3, 2008

  • Something I'm encountering more often lately: "Ooh, what's that!

    ..

    Oh! I added it."

    September 3, 2008

  • Ooh, forgive me! I was lost in a list.*

    But now: Nummulated foodstuffs, ahoy!

    *where I am technically still

    September 2, 2008

  • n., Any chemical obtained from part of a tree.

    September 2, 2008

  • n., Harem; seraglio; zenana; the part of a Muslim dwelling-house appropriated to the women, constructed so to give utmost seclusion and privacy (harem + Turkish lik, place).

    September 2, 2008

  • n., Zinc oxide in the form of a white flocculent powder, esp. as resulting from the burning of zinc. Alt. of philosophers' wool (—but I like this one, for being able to refashion it to tie into woolgathering).

    September 2, 2008

  • A person who is abnormally attracted by sickness or disease.

    September 2, 2008

  • This should mean "recently eaten and found to be tasty," but is really related to moneycoin-words (fr. Latin nummulus, a coin): nummularian, nummulary, nummular, nummiform, nummary..

    September 1, 2008

  • The word's meaning is obscure, but this is too good to pass up:

    "Out, you babliaminy, you unfeathered cremitoried quean, you cullisance of scabiosity." –Thomas Middleton, A Tricke to Catch the Old-One, 1608

    September 1, 2008

  • (Zoology:) n., The (physical) rattle of the rattlesnake. Latin, 'rattle.'

    September 1, 2008

  • Ooh: ha! I completely misread this as being unique to pterodactyl's family! (Here I was, imagining someone sitting Great Uncle Ptero down in his childhood: "Alright. Here's what we're gonna do—")

    September 1, 2008

  • n., A non-Inuit person; (spec.) a person of European descent. Collectively, kabloonat. Cf. later Qallunaaq/Qallunaat.

    September 1, 2008

  • n., A non-Inuit person, (spec.) a person of European descent; plural Qallunaat. Cf. kabloona.

    & adj., Non-Inuit.

    September 1, 2008

  • I am normally not very excited about broken capillaries, but the word is so damn cute: "Piteeekial–!" (See: petechial, petechia.)

    September 1, 2008

  • This word is my fondest (only?) memory of CSI!

    'Petechial hemorrhaging' is one of the world's most enjoyable phrases.

    September 1, 2008

  • adj., Brackish (cf. halinous).

    September 1, 2008

  • adj., Containing or consisting of salt; saline (fr. Greek ἅλινος, of salt + -ous).

    September 1, 2008

  • adj., Middle-European; of, relating to, or characteristic of central Europe or its people (fr. German; cf. Mittel-European, Mitteleuropa).

    September 1, 2008

  • Oho! So do I.

    September 1, 2008

  • It's good to know that Sophia Loren was never so jaded by her own bazungas that her eyes wouldn't follow ridiculous necklines (—although that one appears to be nearing a 'ribsline').

    September 1, 2008

  • D'aw. Haha, how on earth did that get started? ..I think I'm going to have to tell the friend I address almost exclusively as Rabbits (named Robert) about this.

    Bilby—how are you faring against the distractive powers of all their twitchy little noses?

    September 1, 2008

  • "Of shells was built the ouphant throne." –John Thelwall, 1787

    adj., Elfin; elf-like. See ouphe (pronounced 'auf').

    September 1, 2008

  • adj., Characteristic or suggestive of the novels of Ouida, the pen name of the English novelist Marie Louise de la Ramée (1839-1908);

    (Specifically, of a male character:) impossibly perfect; handsome and accomplished to an implausible extent.

    September 1, 2008

  • n.¹, A private possession; that which a particular individual owns or has been allocated; the particular concern of an individual (plural peculia).

    n.², (in Roman law:) The property allowed by the paterfamilias to a family member, or a master to his slave, to hold and administer, and, within limits, to alienate, as though it were his or her own.

    September 1, 2008

  • Yee, I love this word (pl. n.): Treasures, things held in store as valuable (med. Latin cimelia, cimilia, adapt. of Greek κειμήλια, treasures).

    September 1, 2008

  • See chœnix.

    September 1, 2008

  • A dry measure of ancient Greece (variously estimated in imperial measure at one quart, and 1½ pints).

    September 1, 2008

  • Rare, obs. medical term: A red blood cell that's lost all or part of its hemoglobin.

    (Tehe. Phantom corpuscle.)

    September 1, 2008

  • adj., Surrounding the world (fr. Latin mundus, world + circum-).

    September 1, 2008

  • n., The skin of an animal (usually a fawn), esp. as worn by Dionysus and his votaries (either fr. classical Latin nebris, a fawn-skin worn by Bacchus and his votaries, or its etymon in ancient Greek).

    September 1, 2008

  • adj., Funereal; sepulchral; subdued (fr. classical Latin nec-, nex, death, cognate with Greek necro-).

    September 1, 2008

  • Obs. adj., That may be buried (Latin sepelībilis; fr. sepelīre, to bury— as are sepelition n., sepelite v., sepult v./adj., and sepulchre n.).

    September 1, 2008

  • I do not like you, seepy-uh. You sound like inky seepage.

    September 1, 2008

  • v., Originally among homosexual men (Polari slang): to make more stylish or smart; to enliven, make more exciting. Often zhoosh up. - OED

    A word I've heard countless times (most often on television, as things were being done to hair with mousse), and had no idea how to spell; today, zhoosh (IPA: /ʒʊʃ/) appears more often under variant spellings, for the very same reason— See: zhuzh, tszuj, zhoozh..

    August 31, 2008

  • tr. v., To elicit a zipping sound from.

    August 31, 2008

  • (..) Her father, faithful keeper, fed me well,

    but she came daily with my special bowl

    barefoot into my cage (..)

    Until today: an icy spectre, sheathed

    in silk, minced to my side on pointed feet.

    I ripped the scented veil from its unreal

    head (..) A ghost has bones, and meat!

    Come soon, my love, my bride, and share this meal.

    - Gwen Harwood, The Lion's Bride

    August 31, 2008

  • This is adorable.

    August 31, 2008

  • Oh dear! Beaten by a long shot! (But, since this list is intended to be more personal/specific, I'm going to pretend I still have enough reason to indulge myself. Hooray!)

    August 31, 2008

  • If it's any help, all the special character jumblies seemed to coincide with the new notes feature (which is very nifty!); it feels like I noticed one within minutes of the other.

    I'm also using Firefox, but things're displaying fine on other sites, so it seems to be a Wordie issue. What browser are you using, pleth?

    August 31, 2008

  • Thank you, kind bubblies!

    August 30, 2008

  • Myeeess?

    August 30, 2008

  • Ahaha, oh dear. I wonder about the implications of being called a word freak on a site full of logophiles..

    August 30, 2008

  • We'll see who's hee-heeing when you have weirdly strong soup cravings* and it's too humid for soup! Boy could I go for some soup. :(

    *I can't decide on the most appropriate phrase, but I know it has "somethin' fierce" somewhere in it

    August 30, 2008

  • I could email you a list of all the palaeontological words in the OED, if you like! There are 597.

    August 30, 2008

  • Ooh, my misreadings are getting more topical! I thought this said drunkasaurus.

    August 30, 2008

  • Thanks, freakish nighttime humidity! I had no idea I could come so close to fainting in a lukewarm shower, bathroom windows wide open. Boy golly!

    Our weathery sensormabob (one of those silly man-gadgets, in this case a clock) is reading 99% humidity; it's 70 degrees outside, and I'm blasting the air conditioning. PLEASE TO BE MAKE WITH THE RAINING SOON THIS IS RIDICULOUS THANK YOU.

    August 30, 2008

  • Masculine equivalent of damsel in Old French: "A young man of gentle birth, not yet made a knight."

    August 30, 2008

  • Oh my fluffs!

    August 28, 2008

  • Nevermind the name; tzatziki is so delicious hllglhg

    August 28, 2008

  • Beetles living under rocks? That's just lapidicolous.

    August 28, 2008

  • Yesyes. OED lists only chantepleure.

    August 28, 2008

  • Oh, correction here! This is the spelling that appeared in Poplollies & Bellibones, but it appears the word is actually chantepleure.

    August 28, 2008

  • Aw, haha! This reminds me of Beaker.

    August 26, 2008

  • Ooh. You're making me very curious to see the illustrations!

    August 26, 2008

  • Obs. adj., Having many eyes or ommatidia; of an optical instrument: having more than one eyepiece.

    August 25, 2008

  • adj., Having large eyes, or resembling a large eye.

    August 25, 2008

  • adj., Having the eyes widely separated (used in Zoology of certain dipterous insects).

    August 25, 2008

  • adj., Hundred-eyed.

    August 25, 2008

  • adj., Ox-eyed.

    August 25, 2008

  • A cat with four (!) ears! Wonderful.

    August 25, 2008

  • :D

    I love sproingy rhinophores, evidently. (You wouldn't happen to be a hypothetical nudibranch, would you, mollusque?)

    August 25, 2008

  • It seems more likely due to our tendency to favor clustering comments wherever the discussion happened to be started for the sake of continuity (my reason for leaving a comment on this page rather than your list's)— I personally feel no attachment to the fact of being American (Who does, really? Most American Wordies seem critical of America), nor pleasure in deprecating those who aren't. I don't see anyone else celebrating putting others down, here.

    We're not trying to erase them; we're simply questioning your regard for them. No one is insisting they have "magical powers" (Think you could lay off the hyperbole for a moment?), but that they have meaning— and some meanings fall below what a lot of people here consider worth dignifying. I don't see the point of playing Abrasive Internet Tough Guy.

    And with that, She: exeunt!

    August 25, 2008

  • Obs. adj., Unable (present participle of Latin nequīre, to be unable).

    August 24, 2008

  • adj., Adolescent (designating, in Zoology, the stages of an animal's growth in which it acquires adult characteristics).

    August 24, 2008

  • adj., Inured or trained to war (fr. 17th c. French aguerrir, to accustom to war).

    August 24, 2008

  • I would argue there's nothing clever about this sort of name-calling, as it's something we were all capable of in grade school. (I have no real problem with cunt, but I don't like the sound of it at all. In the United States, its meaning hasn't been watered down; it's one of those words that still sounds particularly awful when you mean it.)

    Muslims experience racial prejudice for being or appearing Middle Eastern. Would you call Bible-thumper an "ethnic" slur?

    Honestly, runumeratedfrog, this entire list strikes me as tasteless and childish. I don't believe it's wrong; I won't say that you shouldn't be able to, only: You may enjoy collecting words like "nigress," but don't expect many people here to share your enthusiasm. These are insipid words.

    August 24, 2008

  • n., The addition of a word or words to convey more clearly the meaning implied, or the specific sense intended, in a preceding word or sentence; a word or words added for this purpose.

    August 23, 2008

  • n., The chief harpooner, who also directs in cutting up the speck, or blubber (so called among whalers).

    August 23, 2008

  • Mama mia, let-me-go!

    August 23, 2008

  • Inflammation; hence phlogosed, 'inflamed.'

    August 23, 2008

  • Desire to act. Cf. esurience (hunger).

    August 23, 2008

  • I prefer to think of it as Transmarginal inhibition.

    August 22, 2008

  • adj., Of or pertaining to flute-players (auletes) or flutes.

    August 22, 2008

  • "Brekekekex" was Aristophanes' ribbit, evidently. (I'm not sure it fits, but this seems as good a place as any to leave this tidbit— Oooh. Tidbit?)

    August 22, 2008

  • A coach, carriage. Also whirlecole.

    August 22, 2008

  • Calcium oxalate, occurring in colorless or white monoclinic crystals.

    August 22, 2008

  • *picks up all the fallen chain-links and little pieces of bear*

    August 22, 2008

  • It's healthy, regurgitating unwanted advertisements. Cleanse! Cleanse!

    August 22, 2008

  • O, nudibranchs! Dream-spun mollusks!

    You look like flowers, and forests! And psychedelic bonnets! Like hippopotamus gardens, and—and this! With sproingy things!

    You lay egg-spirals. You masquerade as the world's teensiest whales! I would build for us a house with walls made out of fishtanks..!

    But I have garden slugs. :<

    August 22, 2008

  • A disease of the tomato plant, produced by the fungus Alternaria solani.

    August 22, 2008

  • An inferior kind of port wine; also, a mixture of rum and treacle taken as a beverage.

    August 22, 2008

  • n., Blackmail; an illegal tribute.

    August 22, 2008

  • n., A night-spell recited to conjure up evil spirits or devils. See paternoster.

    August 22, 2008

  • Formerly (Scottish, obs.): a person charged with democratic sympathies at the time of the French Revolution.

    August 22, 2008

  • "When..there is no possibility of catching a salmon except by that engine of death, the ‘Black Doctor’—the three big hooks tied back to back and dragged along the floor of a pool." – Westminster Gazette, Oct. 22, 1909

    August 22, 2008

  • Haha! Yes, bilby, I cannot comment, for fear of what might happen to Wordie. (Never invite me over, John, for safety's sake— All would be well, until I'm gnawing on the cables or something)

    August 22, 2008

  • adj., Having the testes concealed within the body, as members of the order Cetacea.

    August 21, 2008

  • I've ruined it now, but:

    August 21, 2008

  • Obs. n., A kind of starched collar worn in Spain. Spanish golilla (French golille), dim. of gola, throat (fr. Latin gula).

    August 21, 2008

  • Somewhat of a cousin of cabin fever, from Deolali, a town in India, and Sanskrit tapa, 'heat or torment.' See World Wide Words.

    August 21, 2008

  • The name of a character in a children's book of the same name by Heinrich Hoffmann (1809-1894), used attrib. to designate a person with long, thick, and unkempt hair. Hence Struwwelpeterdom (of hair): the condition of being thick and untidy. Cf. synonymous shockheaded Peter.

    This is me on mornings after particularly tumbly sleeps.

    August 21, 2008

  • They must be very cute knife-fights.

    August 21, 2008

  • Logos, I agree that we should be able to express our distaste for a word — but, in keeping with the spirit of Wordie, it's reasonable to expect we do this tactfully, without stooping to personal insults. (And, while I can't speak for the lists, it's worth noting that the bulk of these comments have nothing to do with 42.)

    August 21, 2008

  • I admire this word's ability to pass for something very serious and not at all to do with ostriches: "Did you enjoy the play?" – "Why, it was positively struthious!"

    (Also: struthious truthiness? Struthiness.)

    August 19, 2008

  • See Wikipedia.

    August 19, 2008

  • Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Æsop (Aesop), a semi-legendary Greek fabulist of the sixth century B.C.;

    In relation to Russian and (Soviet) Communist literature: using a style or language that has hidden or ambiguous meaning, esp. as a device to disguise dissident political writing in allegorical form and so avoid official censorship.

    August 19, 2008

  • The Roman god of medicine; hence, figuratively: a physician.

    August 19, 2008

  • adj., Of plants: sensitive (fr. Greek for 'ashamed, bashful').

    August 19, 2008

  • A protein mixture obtained from the jellyfish Æquorea æquorea that luminesces with a blue light in the presence of calcium ions, and is used for detecting these ions in living tissue.

    August 19, 2008

  • adj., Marine, oceanic (fr. Latin æquore-us, fr. æquor, sea).

    August 19, 2008

  • A genus of extinct gigantic struthious birds known from remains discovered in Madagascar; elephant birds.

    August 19, 2008

  • Change of electrical, optical, or other physical qualities consequent upon change of position, as when the refractive property of a transparent body is not the same in all directions (fr. Greek for 'changeful' + 'turning'); anistrophy. The opposite of isotropy.

    August 19, 2008

  • A pretender to inspiration or spiritual regeneration (from Latin Æolus, god of winds). J. Swift, 1704 – "The learned Æolists maintain the original cause of all things to be wind."

    August 19, 2008

  • A pneumatic instrument or toy, illustrating the force with which vapor generated by heat in a closed vessel rushes out by a narrow aperture. (It is said to have been invented by Hero of Alexandria, and has had many forms and applications, but is now arranged to illustrate the reaction of the air upon the issuing stream of steam, producing circular motion.)

    (French æolipyle, fr. Latin Æoli pylæ, the doorway of Æolus, god of wind; the vapor bursting from an orifice like the winds from the opened door of the cave of Æolus.)

    August 19, 2008

  • adj., Of Æolus, the mythic god of the winds; hence of, produced by, or borne on the wind, or by currents of air; aerial; in Geology: of formations produced or deposited by the action of wind.

    Æolian harp: a stringed instrument adapted to produce musical sounds on exposure to a current of air.

    August 19, 2008

  • adj., Belonging to, or having the characters of, the division Æluroidea of Carnivora, comprising the feline and allied families;

    n., An animal of this division.

    August 19, 2008

  • n., A sick person, an invalid. See æger.

    August 19, 2008

  • n., A tremulous resonance of the voice, like the bleating of a kid, occurring in cases of pleurisy.

    August 19, 2008

  • adj., Having a formation of palate/jaw characteristic of the family Ægithognathæ (perching birds, woodpeckers, swifts).

    August 19, 2008

  • See aegis.

    August 19, 2008

  • Latin, "sick" (prev. used at universities in excusing absence on account of illness; hence, a note certifying that a student is 'æger,' or sick).

    August 19, 2008

  • Obs. n., Luxury (adapt. Old Norse á-gæti excellence, glory).

    August 19, 2008

  • v., To evoke or revive (an emotion, a memory, or the like) by means of a stimulus.

    August 19, 2008

  • Obs. n., River; a running body of water (OE. , é, ǽ; cognate with Latin aqua, OFris. â, ê, OS./OHG. aha, Goth. ahwa).

    Obs. n., Law, especially the law of nature, or of God (OE. æ, æw); hence, legal custom, rite, marriage — and eaubruche (OE. æ + bruche, a breaking), adultery.

    August 19, 2008

  • Cf. batshit, apeshit. Specifically useful for feline or feline-induced crazies? and perhaps by those with some form of the name Katherine.

    Have: returned from matrimonial weekend shindig; a tummyache.

    August 19, 2008

  • I feel all validated.

    August 15, 2008

  • Obs. adv./adj., On, of, or relating to the day after tomorrow. Cf. nudiustertian.

    August 15, 2008

  • Ooh, oh! Overmorrow.

    August 15, 2008

  • Obs. adj., Partially blind, dim-sighted (fr. Latin cæcūtient-, pr. ppl. stem of cæcūtīre, to be blind, fr. cæcus, blind).

    August 14, 2008

  • See bilby on bumptious.

    August 14, 2008

  • Haha—here; I won't unseat you.

    August 13, 2008

  • Salacious and seafaring?

    August 13, 2008

  • The bittersweet apple.

    Romeo and Juliet: "Thy wit is a very Bitter-sweeting, It is a most sharpe sawce."

    August 13, 2008

  • What! Now, who would ghost this word?

    August 13, 2008

  • Obs. n., Heap, accumulation (French comble, fr. Latin cumul-um, heap, heap over and above a measure, summit, apex, etc.);

    Obs. v., To oppress, deprive of power; esp. to stiffen or benumb (acumble) with cold (French comble-r, to load, fr. Latin cumul�?re). Cf. cumber.

    August 13, 2008

  • 'An obsolete term of contempt.'

    Citation in the OED: "Those graybeard huddle-duddles and crusty cum-twangs were stroke with such stinging remorse." – Thomas Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, 1599

    August 13, 2008

  • I suppose it was too much to hope this would be in the OED. However, it lead me to cum-twang!

    August 13, 2008

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