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xe.ri.scap.ing [zeer-i-skey-ping,]
–noun
environmental design of residential and park land using various methods for minimizing the need for water use.
Also, xe.ri.scape
[Origin: 1980–85; xer(ic) + (land)scaping]
xeriscape. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
Example:
Bob spent a lot of time and money xeriscaping he was quite pleased with himself for saving water and having a beautiful garden. Perhaps he wouldn't have to spend so much on overhead tarps and heat lamps if he lived in an arid climate like Texas, rather than in the temperate rain forest outside Seattle.
–noun
environmental design of residential and park land using various methods for minimizing the need for water use.
Also, xe.ri.scape
[Origin: 1980–85; xer(ic) + (land)scaping]
xeriscape. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
Example:
Bob spent a lot of time and money xeriscaping he was quite pleased with himself for saving water and having a beautiful garden. Perhaps he wouldn't have to spend so much on overhead tarps and heat lamps if he lived in an arid climate like Texas, rather than in the temperate rain forest outside Seattle.
Bacchanalian
[BOCK-uh-nail-LeAnn ] –adjective-
Dictionary.com entry for Bacchanalian
given to reveling, evocative of the greek god St Bacchus
drunken manner of merrymaking
Also used as a noun:
A drunken reveler
might be referred to as " a Baccahanlian"
The kittens-at-play portion of
Susan Olsen's KITTENS IN PERIL
reminded me of this Thursday's word,
Bacchanalian
Online Etymology Dictionary entry for Bacchanal
1536, from L. bacchanalis "having to do with Bacchus" (Gk. Bakkhos), god of wine and revelry. His name is perhaps related to L. bacca "berry." Meaning "riotous, drunken roistering; orgy" is from 1711; Bacchanalia in this sense is from 1633, from the name of the Roman festival held in honor of Bacchus. Bacchae "female attendants of Bacchus" is from Gk. Bakkhai, pl. of Bakkhe.
- Mood:Happy
irenic \eye-REN-ik; -REE-nik\, adjective:
Tending to promote peace; conciliatory.
Irenic comes from Greek eirenikos, from eirene, "peace."
With an irenic spirit they join the debate, at times ugly and vicious, about the historicity of the Bible (by which they mean the Hebrew Scriptures, also known as the Old Testament).
-- Phyllis Trible, "God's Ghostwriters", New York Times, February 4, 2001
Sorry I missed last Sunday. I was coming home from vacation and kind of--well, completely--forgot to update. But enjoy this Sunday's word!
solecism / sol-uh-siz-uhm
noun
1. a nonstandard or ungrammatical usage.
2. a breach of good manners or etiquette.
3. any error, impropriety, or inconsistency.
Example: The heated debate started cooling down as Lara cinched her argument. After Lara articulated her next point, Mike was at a loss for words. In desperation, he cried out this solecism: "That's irregardless!" With that, Lara knew she had won.
Origin: 1570–80; < L soloecismus < Gk soloikismós, equiv. to sóloik(os) (Sólo(i) a city in Cilicia where a corrupt form of Attic Greek was spoken + -ikos -ic) + -ismos -ism
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
* Hopefully my example works; I just wanted to talk about my intense dislike for the word(?) 'irregardless.' :P
solecism / sol-uh-siz-uhm
noun
1. a nonstandard or ungrammatical usage.
2. a breach of good manners or etiquette.
3. any error, impropriety, or inconsistency.
Example: The heated debate started cooling down as Lara cinched her argument. After Lara articulated her next point, Mike was at a loss for words. In desperation, he cried out this solecism: "That's irregardless!" With that, Lara knew she had won.
Origin: 1570–80; < L soloecismus < Gk soloikismós, equiv. to sóloik(os) (Sólo(i) a city in Cilicia where a corrupt form of Attic Greek was spoken + -ikos -ic) + -ismos -ism
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
* Hopefully my example works; I just wanted to talk about my intense dislike for the word(?) 'irregardless.' :P
quad.ra.ge.nar.i.an [kwod-ruh-juh-nair-ee-uh n]
–adjective
1. 40 years of age.
2. between the ages of 40 and 50.
–noun
3. a person who is 40 years old or whose age falls between 40 and 50.
[Origin: 1830–40; < L quadrāgénāri(us) consisting of forty (quādrāgén(ī) forty each + -ārius -ary) + -an]
Quadragenarian. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
Example:
Wednesday I was 39 but Thursday was my birthday so I am now a quadragenarian; yet no one has taught me the secret handshake!
–adjective
1. 40 years of age.
2. between the ages of 40 and 50.
–noun
3. a person who is 40 years old or whose age falls between 40 and 50.
[Origin: 1830–40; < L quadrāgénāri(us) consisting of forty (quādrāgén(ī) forty each + -ārius -ary) + -an]
Quadragenarian. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
Example:
Wednesday I was 39 but Thursday was my birthday so I am now a quadragenarian; yet no one has taught me the secret handshake!
dilatory
[DILL-uh-tore-ree ] –adjective-
1. tending to delay or procrastinate; slow; tardy.
2. intended to cause delay, gain time, or defer decision
Dictionary.com entry for dilatory
Though the hour of today's entry may seem dilatory,
it is, in this Midwestern time zone, still Thursday :-)
Have a great weekend everyone!
Online Etymology Dictionary entry for dilatory
1535, from L. dilatorius, from dilator "procrastinator," from dilatus, serving as pp. of differe "delay."
eidetic [ahy-det-ik]
adjective
of, pertaining to, or constituting visual imagery vividly experienced and readily reproducible with great accuracy and in great detail.
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
Some might think that the only eidetic things humans know are pictures and videos, but there are actually many persons who have been known to have eidetic memory; that is, photographic memory.
adjective
of, pertaining to, or constituting visual imagery vividly experienced and readily reproducible with great accuracy and in great detail.
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
Some might think that the only eidetic things humans know are pictures and videos, but there are actually many persons who have been known to have eidetic memory; that is, photographic memory.
- Mood:
thoughtful
cupidity \kyoo-PID-uh-tee\, noun:
Eager or excessive desire, especially for wealth; greed; avarice.
Cupidity ultimately comes from Latin cupiditas, from cupidus, "desirous," from cupere, "to desire." It is related to Cupid, the Roman god of love.
Myself, I have always believed that BMWs achieve their presence (and their grip on the collective imagination and cupidity of the middle classes) because they combine an athletic, masculine bulk and stance with feminine details and lines.
-- Stephen Bayley, "The evolution of the curve", Independent, October 22, 1998
Honorificabilitudinitatibus [Hono-rifica-bili-tudi-nita-tibus]
Noun: the state of being able to achieve honors
[Ablative Pl of Medieval Latin: honorificabilitudinitas]
Honorificabilitudinitatibus. wikipedia.org.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorifica
Example:
O, they have lived long on the alms-basket of words.
I marvel thy master hath not eaten thee for a word;
for thou art not so long by the head as
honorificabilitudinitatibus: thou art easier
swallowed than a flap-dragon."
- Costard, Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 1 (William Shakespeare)
This word has only appeared once in all of Shakespeare's works; it is a hapex legomenon.
Sorry about missing last week, I was too busy celebrating the 4th and started celebrating way too early.
Noun: the state of being able to achieve honors
[Ablative Pl of Medieval Latin: honorificabilitudinitas]
Honorificabilitudinitatibus. wikipedia.org.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorifica
Example:
O, they have lived long on the alms-basket of words.
I marvel thy master hath not eaten thee for a word;
for thou art not so long by the head as
honorificabilitudinitatibus: thou art easier
swallowed than a flap-dragon."
- Costard, Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 1 (William Shakespeare)
This word has only appeared once in all of Shakespeare's works; it is a hapex legomenon.
Sorry about missing last week, I was too busy celebrating the 4th and started celebrating way too early.
beadle
[bee-dull] –noun-
Parish official formerly employed in English churches to usher and keep order at services.
Dictionary.com entry for beadle
My friends enjoy the right to legally marry, and they wanted to include
their gay and lesbian friends, so they asked us to beadle at their wedding.
Online Etymology Dictionary entry for beadle
O.E. bydel "herald, messenger from an authority," from beodan "to proclaim" (see bid). Sense of "warrant officer, tipstaff" was in late O.E.; that of "petty parish officer," which has given the job a bad reputation, is from 1594.
abscond [ab-skond]
verb
to depart in a sudden and secret manner, esp. to avoid capture and legal prosecution.
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
"Your father the king would never approve our marriage!" Giacomo lamented to his lover, Princess Gwendolyn. "Then we must abscond tonight, before he can discover our secret love!" replied Gwendolyn, much in earnest.
verb
to depart in a sudden and secret manner, esp. to avoid capture and legal prosecution.
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
"Your father the king would never approve our marriage!" Giacomo lamented to his lover, Princess Gwendolyn. "Then we must abscond tonight, before he can discover our secret love!" replied Gwendolyn, much in earnest.
- Mood:
tired
apotheosis / uh-poth-ee-oh-sis, ap-uh-thee-uh-sis
noun
1. the elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god.
2. the ideal example; epitome; quintessence.
Example: George Washington has been elevated to apotheosis from his own time all the way to today. There is even a painting called The Apotheosis of Washington.
Origin: 1570–80; < LL < Gk
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
noun
1. the elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god.
2. the ideal example; epitome; quintessence.
Example: George Washington has been elevated to apotheosis from his own time all the way to today. There is even a painting called The Apotheosis of Washington.
Origin: 1570–80; < LL < Gk
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
Semiotics
[sem-ee-AH-tix] –noun-
1. the study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior;
the analysis of systems of communication, as language, gestures, or clothing.
2. a general theory of signs and symbolism,
usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics.
Dictionary.com entry for semiotics
Over the past three decades the semiotics of men's athletic wear has been puzzling.
Back in the 1900s, when I was a kid, their basketball shorts and swim trunks were as short
as the day is long. God Bless America.
Online Etymology Dictionary entry for semiotics
study of signs and symbols with special regard to function and origin, 1880, from Gk. semeiotikos "observant of signs," adj. form of semeiosis "indication," from semeioun "to signal," from sema "sign."
Contrarians-- Everyone is already aware of what all is wrong with everything under the sun -- make good use of yourself and come up with a better example sentence for that word, and /or explain to me what the parachute-dimension of men's shorts is all about, as a communicative gesture of the past several years... please and thanks!
- Mood:communicative
raiment- noun [rey-muh
nt]
clothing; apparel; attire.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/r
She was very upset that after going on the hike, all her raiments were ruined. Now what was she going to wear?
nt]clothing; apparel; attire.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/r
She was very upset that after going on the hike, all her raiments were ruined. Now what was she going to wear?
pogonotrophy
noun
1. cultivation of a beard; beard-growing.
2. the growing of facial hair; i.e, beardedness
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/weird-w
http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Fa
Try as he might, Ryan could simply not master the art of pogonotrophy, and his roommates always laughed hysterically when he made his hopeful routine check in the mirror for any sign of peach fuzz.
I wanted to post a word my teacher used in math class, but I couldn't find it anywhere and concluded that it probably only referred to mathematics after all. And I do have a friend named Ryan who can't seem to grasp pogonotrophy. Is facial hair manly or something?
noun
1. cultivation of a beard; beard-growing.
2. the growing of facial hair; i.e, beardedness
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/weird-w
http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Fa
Try as he might, Ryan could simply not master the art of pogonotrophy, and his roommates always laughed hysterically when he made his hopeful routine check in the mirror for any sign of peach fuzz.
I wanted to post a word my teacher used in math class, but I couldn't find it anywhere and concluded that it probably only referred to mathematics after all. And I do have a friend named Ryan who can't seem to grasp pogonotrophy. Is facial hair manly or something?
- Mood:
morose
bravura \bruh-VYUR-uh; brah-; -VUR-\, noun:
1. A florid, brilliant style of music that emphasizes the technical force and skill of a performer; virtuoso music.
2. A showy or brilliant display.
Bravura comes from the Italian, from bravo, "brave, excellent."
The straightforward narrative account is set down with old-fashioned punctilio in prose of classic distinction, singularly free of bravura, and marked by the hard clarity of outline that is one of Waugh's several manners.
-- Charles A. Brady, "Figure of Grace", New York Times, January 24, 1960
vespertine / ves-per-tin, -tahyn
adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or occurring in the evening: vespertine stillness.
2. Botany. opening or expanding in the evening, as certain flowers.
3. Zoology. appearing or flying in the early evening; crepuscular.
Example: The campers moved closer to the fire as a vespertine chill settled over the woods.
Origin: 1495–1505; < L vespertīnus, equiv. to vesper vesper + -tīnus adj. suffix
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or occurring in the evening: vespertine stillness.
2. Botany. opening or expanding in the evening, as certain flowers.
3. Zoology. appearing or flying in the early evening; crepuscular.
Example: The campers moved closer to the fire as a vespertine chill settled over the woods.
Origin: 1495–1505; < L vespertīnus, equiv. to vesper vesper + -tīnus adj. suffix
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
hap·ax le·go·me·non [hap-aks li-gom-uh-non, hey-paks]
–noun, plural hap·ax le·go·me·na [hap-aks li-gom-uh-nuh, hey-paks]
a word or phrase that appears only once in a manuscript, document, or particular area of literature.
[Origin: 1880–85; < Gk hápax legómenon (thing) once said]
hapax legomenon. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
Example:
This is the first and only time this word has appeared in this community; it is itself a hapax legomenon. While there are multiple hapax legomena to be found here, many words have been used more than once.
–noun, plural hap·ax le·go·me·na [hap-aks li-gom-uh-nuh, hey-paks]
a word or phrase that appears only once in a manuscript, document, or particular area of literature.
[Origin: 1880–85; < Gk hápax legómenon (thing) once said]
hapax legomenon. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
Example:
This is the first and only time this word has appeared in this community; it is itself a hapax legomenon. While there are multiple hapax legomena to be found here, many words have been used more than once.
Inchoate
[in-KO-it] –adjective-
just begun; incomplete; incipient
Dictionary.com entry for Inchoate
My article for the newsletter is due tomorrow,
but what I've written so far is inchoate, at best.
Online Etymology Dictionary entry for Inchoate
1534, from L. inchoatus, pp. of inchoare, alteration of incohare "to begin,"
originally "to hitch up," from in- "on" + cohum "strap fastened to the oxen's yoke."
- Mood:Inchoalicious
lachrymose [lak-ruh-mohs]
adjective
1. suggestive of or tending to cause tears; mournful.
2. given to shedding tears readily; tearful.
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
While one might say that a funeral is generally a lachrymose event, it could also be said that chopping onions is a very lachrymose activity indeed.
My apologies; this word isn't nearly as fun as last Tuesday's. If they were all that long, life would be far too complicated and wordy, and we'd all probably flush language down the toilet altogether, making communication rather boring and difficult.
adjective
1. suggestive of or tending to cause tears; mournful.
2. given to shedding tears readily; tearful.
http://dictionary.reference.com/bro
While one might say that a funeral is generally a lachrymose event, it could also be said that chopping onions is a very lachrymose activity indeed.
My apologies; this word isn't nearly as fun as last Tuesday's. If they were all that long, life would be far too complicated and wordy, and we'd all probably flush language down the toilet altogether, making communication rather boring and difficult.
- Mood: lachrymose
Page Summary
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
sea_gaagii : Jul. 25th 2008 - Xeriscaping [+4] - pipetti : (no subject) [+1]
- karmic_serenity : (no subject) [+1]
- aokugi : (no subject) [+2]
- sea_gaagii : Jul.18th 2008 - Quadragenarian [+2]
- pipetti : (no subject) [+0]
- rainbow_yarn : T is for cookie, which make themselves on Tuesday [+4]
- karmic_serenity : (no subject) [+1]
- sea_gaagii : Jul. 11th 2008 - Honorificabilitudinitatibus [+3]
- pipetti : sorry the example is a noun used as a verb-- what's the term for that? [+0]
- rainbow_yarn : My imagination is running low Tuesday [+1]
- aokugi : (no subject) [+1]
- pipetti : (no subject) [+7]
- flaming_tyger : (no subject) [+0]
- rainbow_yarn : It's sort of empty and strange Tuesday [+5]
- karmic_serenity : (no subject) [+1]
- aokugi : (no subject) [+5]
- sea_gaagii : Jun. 27th 2008 - Hapax Legomenon [+13]
- pipetti : (no subject) [+0]
- rainbow_yarn : It's rainy Tuesday here, is it rainy Tuesday there? [+11]
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