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Quote without comment:
From Anu's weekly newsletter -
[qupte] From: Peirce Hammond (peirceiii yahoo.com)
Subject: Proem
There is a little known category of words that get confused with the words that get confused with well known words. So today's word, proem is readily confused with poem. But consider the word preom,[E.A.] easily taken to be a typo when one surely intended to write proem. That, however, would be an error when one was referring to the technique of rapid free association to clear one's mind just prior to meditation -- preom.
Peirce Hammond, Bethesda, Maryland [/quote]
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Bohemian
PRONUNCIATION: (bo-HEE-mee-uhn)
MEANING:
adjective:
1. Relating to Bohemia, its people, or languages.
2. Living an unconventional life.
3. Leading a wandering life.
noun:
1. A person (such as a writer or an artist) who lives an unconventional life.
2. A vagabond or wanderer.
3. A native or inhabitant of Bohemia.
4. The Czech dialects spoken in Bohemia.
ETYMOLOGY:
From French bohémien (Gypsy, vagabond), because Gypsies were believed to come from Bohemia or entered through Bohemia. Bohemia is a region in central Europe, now a part of the Czech Republic. Earliest documented use: 1579.
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BOHERMIAN - a hippie chick
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old hand
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BOHEMAN – A rugged guy named Derek.
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BOHEMANIA - when everybody goes crazy over Derek.
live in the moment
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BOTHEMIAN - a bazr who plays two word games and occasionally transposes the rules of both 
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Carpal Tunnel
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BOHEMIANU - Wordsmith the Gypsy
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BOPEMIAN - a discordant style jazz played by latter-day bohemians
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Carpal Tunnel
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DAMSON
PRONUNCIATION: (DAM-zuhn, -suhn)
MEANING: noun:
1. A variety of small plum (Prunus insititia) or its fruit.
2. A dark purple color.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin Prunum Damascenum (plum of Damascus), perhaps because it was first cultivated in Damascus or because it was introduced into Europe from Syria. Two other words coined after Damascus are damask and damascene. Earliest documented use: 1398.
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DRAMSON - a little something you ask your friendly barkeeper to pour
JAMSON - let's BOOGIE !
DAMSOX - the expected September fold came in July this year
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DAMSOON - the horrific deluge after the dam breaks
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Gretna Green
PRONUNCIATION: (GRET-nuh green)
MEANING:
noun:
1. A place where couples elope to to get married.
2. Such a wedding.
ETYMOLOGY:
After Gretna Green, a village in Scotland on the English border. English couples who had not reached the age of majority eloped to Gretna Green where such a wedding was permitted. A wedding was typically performed by a blacksmith in his shop. Earliest documented use: 1813.
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GRETNA GREED - a fishhouse just ouside the Union County line in Mississippi where calculating young ladies can marry rich old men without being designated "gold diggers".
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AETNA GREEN - insurance company scrip
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CRETNA GREEN - A place where couples go to get divorced and have a wild time.
live in the moment
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GREATNAOGREEN - thegreensatnao.com
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Whitehall PRONUNCIATION: (HWYT-hawl) MEANING: noun: The British government or the British Civil Service. ETYMOLOGY: From Whitehall, a street in London, on which many government offices are located. The street gets its name from the Palace of Whitehall. Earliest documented use: 1827. _________________________________________________________ WHITEHAIL - Nazi salute  SHITEHALL - "Whitehall" as termed by guest fanatics.
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WHITEWALL - the perfect spot for graffiti.
live in the moment
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WHITHEHALL - an obsolete expostulation, generally rendered in our enlightened time as "WTF"
WHITEBALL - Ping-Pong
WHITEHALF - Yin (Blackhalf is Yang)
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WHITECALL - a Caucasian lost in the wild and desperate to get out.
live in the moment
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rounceval or rouncival
PRONUNCIATION: (ROUN-si-vuhl)
MEANING:
adjective: Big or strong.
noun: Someone or something that is large.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Roncesvalles, a town at the foot of the Pyrenees. It was the site of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 in which Roland, a commander of Charlemagne's army, was defeated by the Basques. Over time the story turned into a legend and giant bones of prehistoric animals discovered there were claimed to be those of heroes slain at the battle. Earliest documented use: 1570.
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rouncivil - behaving civil in a rounabout way
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ROUNDEVAL - what the players do at the Duplicate Bridge tournament while waiting for the next board to arrive at the table
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BOUNCEVAL - a rounceval that is really excited.
live in the moment
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harbinger
PRONUNCIATION: (HAHR-bin-juhr)
MEANING:
noun: One that foreshadows the approach of something.
verb tr.: To signal the arrival of something.
ETYMOLOGY:
Originally, a harbinger was a host, a person who provided lodging. With time the sense changed to a person sent in advance to find lodging for an army. From Old French herbergier (to provide lodging for), from herberge (lodging). Ultimately from the Indo-European root koro- (war, host, army) which also gave us harbor, herald, harness, hurry, harangue, and harry. Earliest documented use: 1175.
USAGE:
"It is hard to elude the suspicion that it is a harbinger of further things to come."
Colby Cosh; Trigger Warnings are Easy to Ridicule; Maclean's (Toronto, Canada); Jun 2, 2014.
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HARBINDER - a harbinger past that binds future thinking
(see below)
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We are social creatures to the inmost centre of our being. The notion that one can begin anything at all from scratch, free from the past, or unindebted to others, could not conceivably be more wrong. -Karl Popper, philosopher and a professor (1902-1994)
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HARBUNGER - the war cry of the Koomananga tribe.
live in the moment
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obsequious
PRONUNCIATION: (ob-SEE-kwee-uhs, uhb-)
MEANING:
adjective: Behaving in an ingratiating or servile manner.
ETYMOLOGY:
Earlier the word meant obedient or dutiful, with no connotations of fawning. Over time it has taken a negative turn. From Latin obsequiosus (compliant), from obsequi (to comply), from ob- (to) + sequi (follow), which also gave us obsequy. Earliest documented use: 1447.
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OBSEXQUIOUS - adjective: Behaving in an ingratiating sexual manner with no accompanying connotations of fawning.
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restive
PRONUNCIATION: (RES-tiv)
MEANING: adjective: Restless, uneasy.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Middle French rester (to remain), from Latin restare (to remain standing). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sta- (to stand), which is also the source of stay, stage, stable, instant, establish, static, system, stet and nihil obstat. Earliest documented use: 1549.
NOTES:
Earlier the word meant refusing to go forward, as in a restive horse. Over time the word shifted in meaning and now it means the opposite. Instead of "unable to advance", now it means "unable to remain still".
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FESTIVE - today's "restive".
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garble
PRONUNCIATION: (GAHR-buhl)
MEANING:
verb tr.: To distort a message, document, transmission, etc.
noun: An instance of garbling.
ETYMOLOGY:
Originally the word meant to sift, for example to remove refuse from spices. With time its meaning became distorted to what it is now. From Old Italian garbellare (to sift), from Arabic gharbala (to select). Earliest documented use: 1483.
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GARBILE - angry words so vile they are unintelligible
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pabulum
PRONUNCIATION: (PAB-yuh-luhm)
MEANING:
noun: Bland intellectual fare: insipid or simplistic ideas, entertainment, writing, etc.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin pabulum (food, fuel, fodder), from pascere (to feed). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pa- (to protect or feed), which also gave us food, foster, fodder, forage, pasture, pantry, and companion. Earliest documented use: 1661.
NOTES:
Originally pabulum was something that nourished. During the 1920s, three Canadian pediatricians developed a bland, soft infant formula that was later marketed under the brand name Pablum and eventually the words pabulum/pablum came to refer to things simplistic or banal.
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PABALUME - a seemingly bland thought that under closer examination reveals great illumination
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PUBULUM - a few beers and you will call a pub anything.
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stalagmite PRONUNCIATION: (stuh-LAG-myt, STAL-uhg-myt) MEANING: noun: A conical column on the floor of a cave, formed by minerals in dripping water. ETYMOLOGY: From Greek stalaktos (dripping), from stalassein (to drip). Earliest documented use: 1681. NOTES: A similar tapering structure hanging from the roof of a cave is called a stalactite. It's easy to remember which is which. Ground: stalaGmite; Ceiling: stalaCtite. ---------------------------------------------------- STALAGMIT9 - a special underground Hell where the National Spleological Society sends careless people who break off stalagmites and stalactites. * Been there, done that. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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STALAGMINE - my personal rat race
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stroppy
PRONUNCIATION: STROP-ee)
MEANING:
adjective: Bad-tempered, belligerent, or touchy.
ETYMOLOGY:
Possibly from shortening of obstreperous. Earliest documented use: 1951.
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ASTROPPY - the theory that all the dark matter in the Universe has entropyzed. Some say that this assumption is self-evident because our inability to detect dark matter proves that all of it is gone.
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STROPHY - an ancient Greek athletic honor, sung by the losing contestants as they move from right to left
STOPPY - wail of despair uttered by a three-year-old as he watches his little red wagon plunge down the hill unattended
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pettifogger
PRONUNCIATION: (PET-ee-fog-uhr)
MEANING:
noun:
1. A petty, unscrupulous lawyer.
2. One who quibbles over trivial matters.
ETYMOLOGY:
From petty (small) + fogger, perhaps after Fuggers, a Bavarian family of merchants in the 15th and 16th centuries. Earliest documented use: 1564.
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PETRIFOGGER - a student who manipulates the findings found in a Petri Dish simply to gain favor with his biology teacher who is a jerk.
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PETTIFOLGER - a very small Latte (var. PETITFOLGER)
PETTIFORGER - a counterfeit crinoline
PESTIFOGGER - sprayer for mosquito control
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PETTIFLOGGER - is what I am.
Wofahulicdoc is the master flogger and he's back so don't turn your back.
PETTILOGGER - a lumberjack with a flat tire and no jack.
PETTILAGER - heavy beer misbrewed
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PHILADELPHIA LAYWER
PRONUNCIATION: ((fil-uh-DEL-fee-uh LOI-yuhr)
MEANING: noun: A shrewd lawyer, one who is adept at exploiting legal technicalities.
ETYMOLOGY: The term is said to have been inspired by Philadelphia-based Andrew Hamilton's successful defense of the New York printer John Peter Zenger from libel charges. This decision helped establish the idea that truth is a defense in a libel accusation and affirmed the freedom of the press in America. Though the incident took place in 1735, the earliest documented use unearthed so far is from 1788.
. . .
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: No amount of belief makes something a fact.
- James Randi, magician and skeptic (b. 1928)
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PHILASELPHIA LAWYER - an egotistical attorney
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PHILADELPHIA LAYWEAR - what you wear in when stuck in Philadelphia.
W.C.Fields: "I spent a year in Philadelphia once...yes, I'll never forget it...it was on a Sunday".
Last edited by jenny jenny; 08/07/2014 5:43 PM. Reason: Oops! Lawyer doesn't transmute into Laywear but I'll leave because I like the joke.
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PHILABELPHIA LAYWER - the philadelphia lawyer who cracked the bell.
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PHILADELPHIA LAYER – A hen that produces cracked eggs.
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bailiwick
PRONUNCIATION: (BAY-luh-wik, -lee-)
MEANING:
noun: A person's area of expertise or interest.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Middle English bailliwik, from bailie (bailiff), from bail (custody), from Latin baiulare (to serve as porter) + Middle English wick (dairy farm or village), from Old English wic (house or village), from Latin vicus (neighborhood). Ultimately from the Indo-European root weik- (clan), which is also the forebear of vicinity, village, villa, and villain (originally, a villain was a farm servant, one who lived in a villa or a country house), ecumenical, and ecesis. Earliest documented use: 1460.
USAGE:
"Ms. Sarah Palin took the extraordinary step Tuesday of filing an ethics complaint against herself, making the matter fall within the bailiwick of the personnel board. Her lawyer Mr. Van Flein then asked the Legislature to drop its inquiry."
Peter S. Goodman and Michael Moss; Alaska Lawmakers to Seek Subpoenas in Palin Inquiry; The New York Times; Sep 6, 2008.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY
Pick a flower on earth and you move the farthest star. -Paul Dirac, theoretical physicist (1902-1984)
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JAILIWICK - city jail for malapropists
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BALLIWICK - the Game of Cricket, after Madison Avenue gets done with it
BRAILIWICK - a kerosene lantern for use by the blind
BASILIWICK - where to get information about a fantastic snakelike monster with venomous fangs and a petrifying stare
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