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A.Word.A.Day--viperine Pronunciation: WAV or RealAudio viperine (VY-puhr-in, -puh-ryn) adjective Of, pertaining to, or resembling a viper; venomous. [Middle English vipere, from Old French, from Latin vipera, snake, contraction of *vivipera : vivus, alive + parere, to give birth.] "Within months, a national firestorm erupted over Anita Hill's treatment by a Senate Judiciary Committee consisting of fourteen white men--viperine Republicans and gutless Democrats." Marie Shear, Wake-up caller, Women's Review of Books, May 2000. This week's theme: animal-related words that are used metaphorically. X-Bonus What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

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