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#94983 02/08/03 07:56 PM
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I found an edu site with a long list of unusual words. I'll put a sampling of them here each day.
aba: garment of camel or goat hair; camel or goat-hair fabric
abditive: remote; secret; hidden
ablepsia: blindness
aboideau: tide gate
abraid: to awaken or rouse
abthane: monastic region of the old Irish church
aby: to make amends; atone; pay a penalty
acatour: provisioner; quartermaster
accentor: songbird



#94984 02/08/03 08:47 PM
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These are lovely words, wwh...some of them.

What would the purpose of a tide gate be...the 'aboideau'?

And the songbird, the 'accentor'--that's lovely. It makes me think of the verb 'to record' in one use: to practice a song, as in a songbird recording its song


#94985 02/08/03 08:48 PM
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abraid: to awaken or rouse

Related to and/or a milder form of upbraid?

upbraid: 1. to criticize severely; find fault with 2. to reproach severely; scold vehemently



#94986 02/08/03 09:27 PM
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Dear WO'N: :Upbraid is to address abrasively.


#94987 02/08/03 09:34 PM
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Dear Dr. Bill: That's right out of Webster's:

Main Entry: up·braid
Pronunciation: "&p-'brAd
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English upbreyden, from Old English upbregdan, probably from up up + bregdan to snatch, move suddenly -- more at BRAID
Date: 14th century
1 : to criticize severely : find fault with
2 : to reproach severely : scold vehemently
synonym see SCOLD
- up·braid·er noun


#94988 02/08/03 10:16 PM
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Dear WO'N: to "upbraid" is to dress down.


#94989 02/08/03 10:17 PM
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accidie: sloth; physical torpor
accite: to cite; to summon
accosted: in heraldry, two figures placed side by side
accrementition: increase or growth by adding similar material
aceldama: site or scene of violence or bloodshed
acersecomic: one whose hair has never been cut
acinaceous: full of kernels
acock: defiantly
acoria: pathologically great appetite
acre-breadth: old unit of length of 22 yards
acromegaly: glandular disorder causing gigantism of extremities
actinism: action of solar radiation causing chemical change
aculeiform: shaped like a thorn



#94990 02/08/03 10:51 PM
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From J-u-a-n's paste:

bregdan to snatch, move suddenly -- more at BRAID


I'll tell you one thing. Wheb my mother used to braid my hair, she sure as hell snatched it horribly--nearly pulled it out by the roots. Felt like unbraiding her for braiding me so harshly, but, hey, she was my mom and I loved her.


#94991 02/08/03 10:58 PM
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Dear WW: I finally found "aboideau" in forthright's phrontistery. It means "tide gate".
Venice for instance has spent millions for a tide gate to minimize destructive effects of
extra high tides. In some places in France, they now have gates to hold high tide from
going out, to make it generate electricity. Original meaning was "dike", but somehow
different from usual dikes, couldn't find details.
Today we have Watergates, to flush out rascals.


#94992 02/08/03 11:58 PM
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Dear WO'N: to "upbraid" is to dress down.

Pretty cool, Dr. Bill. I think you may have created a new form here! 'Cause it's not actually a pun, although it plays off the word in a like manner with a twinkle of humor. BUT, it is also a spot-on definition. A tough dichotomy to pull off. Is there a term for this, tsuwm? Or should we christen it a Dr.Billonym?


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