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PUDENCY

PRONUNCIATION: (PYOOD-n-see)

MEANING: noun: Modesty, bashfulness.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin pudentia, from pudere (to make or be ashamed), which also gave us pudendum, impudent, pudibund (prudish), and pudeur (a sense of shame) Earliest documented use: before 1616.
____________________________

PRUDENCY - an attitude adopted to protect one's sense of pudency

LUDENCY - cough-suppressing

PUCENCY - reddish-purple-coloring-mixed-with-gray-or-brown-ness.

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MENSTRUUM

PRONUNCIATION: (MEN-stroo-uhm)

MEANING: noun: A solvent.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin menstruum (menses). Earliest documented use: 1398.
______________________________

MENSTRUM - playing a big ol' bass guitar

MENSTRAUM - old Teutonic quarters reserved for menstruating women

MENSRUUM - public place where men go

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TITTER

PRONUNCIATION: (TIT-uhr)

MEANING: verb intr.: To laugh in a nervous, restrained manner.
noun: A nervous, restrained laugh.

ETYMOLOGY: Of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1625.
________________________________

TRITTER - one who amplifies everything threefold

TUTTER - one given to apostrophes of mild disapproval

TITSTER - an expert in small birds

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CUNCTITIVE

PRONUNCIATION: (KUNGK-tuh-tiv)

MEANING: adjective: Delaying; slow.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin cunctari (to hesitate, delay). Earliest documented use: 1617
_________________________________

CUNECTITIVE - pertaining to the Nutmeg State

FUNCTITIVE - useful

PUNCTITIVE - devoted to the proper use of the apostrophe, semicolon, and ellipsis

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ACAROPHOBIA

PRONUNCIATION: (ak-uh-ruh-FOE-bee-uh)

MEANING: noun:
1. An extreme fear of small insects.
2. A delusion that one’s skin is infested with bugs.
3. A fear of itching.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek acarus (mite) + -phobia (fear). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sker- (to cut), which is also the source of words such as skirt, sharp, scrape, screw, shard, shears, carnage, curt, carnivorous, excoriate, scrobiculate, hardscrabble, and incarnadine.
____________________________

CAROPHOBIA - fear of caring for something (not necessarily an automobile)

AJAROPHOBIA - terror if in a room with the door open; the inverse of CLAUSTROPHOBIA

SCAROPHOBIA - afraid of being afraid

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EXCLOSURE

PRONUNCIATION: (ik-SKLO-zuhr)

MEANING: noun: A fenced area, especially in a wide open area, to keep unwanted animals out.

ETYMOLOGY: An enclosure keeps wanted animals in, an exclosure keeps unwanted animals out. The word is modeled after the word enclosure, from ex- (out) + closure (barrier), from Latin claudere (to close). Earliest documented use: 1920.
__________________________________

EXCLOTURE - after the filibuster is stopped

EXCELOSURE - Of course I use Microsoft's spreadsheet

HEXCLOSURE - 1. the raging storm at Saturn's North Pole
2. any fastener requiring an Allen wrench

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UNTRACK

PRONUNCIATION: (uhn-TRAK)

MEANING: verb tr.: To remove from a track; change course.

ETYMOLOGY: From Middle English un- (a reversal) + Middle French trac (track). Earliest documented use: 1889.
_________________________________

SUNTRACK - an analemma

UNBRACK - desalinate

UNURACK - set up the fifteen numbered balls for the former Premier of Burma

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MISE EN ABYME

PRONUNCIATION: (mee-zan-nah-BEEM)

MEANING: noun: Self-reflection in a literary work, a work of art, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: From French mise en abyme/abîme (placed into abyss). Originally, the term applied to heraldic shields in which a smaller shield was put into the center of the shield. Earliest documented use: 1968.

NOTES: Some examples are play within a play (Hamlet), story within a story, film within a film, dream within a dream, the placement of a small copy of a work within itself, infinite reflection between two facing mirrors, etc.
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MISE EN ABYSME - thrown into the depths and abandoned (see "a pit in Dothan")

MUSE EN ABYME - Melpomeme, who was in charge of Tragic Poetry

MA SEEN A "BY-ME" - My mother watched her card-playing friends Pass. And she doesn't use very good grammar, either.

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ZETETIC

PRONUNCIATION: (zuh-TET-ik)

MEANING: adjective: Proceeding by inquiry, search, or investigation.
noun: A skeptic or inquirer.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek zetein (to seek or inquire). Earliest documented use: 1645.

NOTES: Samuel Rowbotham (1816-1884), a flat Earther, wrote a book called Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe in 1881. Yesterday’s flat Earthers are today’s climate change denialists.
________________________________

E-ZETETIC - promoting effortless weight loss

CETETIC - 1. waxy; 2. from a whale

ZITETIC - acne-inducing

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KLEPTOMANIA

PRONUNCIATION: (klep-tuh-MAY-nee-uh)

MEANING: noun: An obsessive urge to steal, driven by emotional disturbance rather than material need.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek klepto- (theft) + -mania (madness). Earliest documented use: 1830.
___________________________

KLEPTOMARIA - theft of religious icons

SLEPTOMANIA - malignant narcolepsy, e.g. a typical teenager

LEPTOMANIA - crazy thinking as a symptom of Weil's Disease (Leptospirosis)

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STENOPHAGOUS

PRONUNCIATION: (stuh-NOF-uh-guhs)

MEANING: adjective: Feeding on a limited variety of food.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek steno- (narrow, small) + -phagous (feeding on). Earliest documented use: 1926.
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STERNOPHAGOUS - 1. a whale that chomps off the back of pursuing harpoon boats
2. consumer of chafing-dish heaters

STENOPHAGOUT - the shorthand scribe can't write because of her painful hand joints...

STENOPRAGOUS - the capital of the Czech Republic is becoming quite sparse

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PANTOPHOBIA

PRONUNCIATION: (pan-tuh-FO-bee-uh)

MEANING: noun: A fear of everything.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek panto- (all) + -phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1807.
__________________________

CANTOPHOBIA - fear of singing

SPANTOPHOBIA - fear of bridges

PANTOPHONIA - speaking in short, gasping breaths

PANTSOPHOBIA - fear of having to take charge and make decisions

PANTHOPHOBIA - "...when called by a panther, / Don't anther! " - Ogden Nash

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HAGIOLOGY

PRONUNCIATION: (hag-ee-OL-uh-jee, hay-jee-)

MEANING: noun: Literature dealing with the lives of saints or other venerated figures.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek hagio- (holy) + -logy (study). Earliest documented use: 1807.
______________________________

HOAGIOLOGY - the study of Philadelphian hero sandwiches (see here)

(which leads us to...)
PHAGIOLOGY - the study of swallowing


HAGIO LOY - son of Myrna

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ENDOGENOUS

PRONUNCIATION: (en-DOJ-uh-nuhs)

MEANING: adjective: Originating from within.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek endo- (inside, within) + -genous (producing). Earliest documented use: 1830. The opposite is exogenous.
_______________________

ENIDOGENOUS - Bagnold's brainchild

ENDOGENORUS - beginning o' stingy

ENDOGDENOUS - Nashing


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MIMSY

PRONUNCIATION: (MIM-zee)

MEANING: adjective: Prim; feeble; affected.

ETYMOLOGY: Coined by Lewis Carroll in 1855 in a poem he published in his periodical Mischmasch. An extended version of this poem appeared as Jabberwocky in his novel Through the Looking-Glass in 1871. A blend of miserable + flimsy.
________________________

WIMSY - Dorothy Sayrs' fictional detctive

MIMOSY - like the aromatic Persian Silk tree Albizia julibrissin

MMSY - irresistably delicious

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SCARE QUOTE

PRONUNCIATION: (SKAIR kwoht)

MEANING: noun: The quotation marks used to indicate that the quoted word or phrase is incorrect, nonstandard, or ironic.

ETYMOLOGY: Coined by the philosopher G.E.M. Anscombe in 1956. The equivalent term in spoken communication is air quotes.

NOTES: Scare quotes are used to indicate the writer’s disagreement or disapproval of the use of the term.
Example: Some consider Trump to be the “greatest” president ever.
__________________________

SCARE QUOTA - maximum allowed level of frightfulness

SCALE QUOTE - what Union members are getting paid

SCAR QUOTE - "Yeah, but you should see the other guy!"

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PROXEMICS

PRONUNCIATION: (prok-SEE-miks)

MEANING: noun: The study of physical proximity between people, for example, typical space between two friends.

ETYMOLOGY: Coined by the anthropologist Edward T. Hall (1914-2009). From proximity (nearness), from French proximité from Latin proximitas, from proximus (nearest), superlative of prope (near). Ultimately from the Indo-European root per- (forward, through), which also gave us paramount, prime, proton, prow, probity, German Frau (woman), and Hindi purana (old). Earliest documented use: 1963.
________________________

PROLEMICS - how to deliver long tiresome screeds in favor of something

PROTEMICS - procedure whereby VPOTUS presides over the Senate

PAROXEMICS - the study of spasms

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MUPPET

PRONUNCIATION: (MUHP-it)

MEANING: noun: A stupid person; a fool.

ETYMOLOGY: Coined by Jim Henson (1936-1990) in 1955 to describe puppets he created for children’s television shows.
____________________________

M. UPSET - distressed Parisian gentleman

MU-PIPET - used for delivering liquids in micro-liter quantities

MUMPET - 1. small swelling in the parotid glands; 2. my dog won't make a sound

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BAFFLEGAB

PRONUNCIATION: (BA-fuhl-gab)

MEANING: noun: Obscure, pompous, or incomprehensible language, such as bureaucratic jargon.

ETYMOLOGY: Coined by Milton A. Smith, assistant general counsel for the US Chamber of Commerce, in 1952. From baffle, perhaps from Scots bauchle (to denounce) + gab, perhaps of imitative origin.
___________________________

WAFFLEGAB - breakfast conversation at IHOP

B.A. FILE GAB - inane side-comments about my college transcript

BAFFLE GARB - a costume intended to puzzle, confuse, or conceal

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RAF flegab- British class system within its military

That's about as far as I could get creatively. Though I would have liked to incorporate Roald Dahl, somehow.

P.S. omg, I'm losing my luster...school makes me feel biffsquiggled.

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WEGOTISM

PRONUNCIATION: (WEE-guh-tiz-uhm)

MEANING: noun: The habit of using “we” when referring to oneself.

ETYMOLOGY: A blend of we + egotism. Earliest documented use: 1797. Also see nosism, royal we, and illeist.
______________________

WEGOT'IM - gleeful cry of a cop after catching the perp who's running away

WERGOTISM - prior habit of using jargon and slang (past tense of ARGOTISM)

WE GOT RISM - ...and some of us got music; who could ask for anything more?

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FREEMIUM

PRONUNCIATION: (FREE-mi-uhm)

MEANING: noun: A pricing model in which the basic product or service is free, but extra features must be paid for.
adjective: Relating to such a model.

ETYMOLOGY: A blend of free + premium. Earliest documented use: 1994.

USAGE: NOTES: A.Word.A.Day uses a freemium model. The free version includes sponsors’ messages, premium version doesn’t.
______________________________________

FEEMIUM - "postage and handling"

FLEEMIUM - what you give the guard to look the other way while you escape

FREEMUM - seasonal plants available at no charge

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MEDIOCRACY

PRONUNCIATION: (mee-dee-OK-ruh-see)

MEANING: noun: Rule by the mediocre.

ETYMOLOGY: A blend of mediocre + -ocracy (rule). Earliest documented use: 1845.
__________________________

MADIOCRACY - rule by the insane

MEDIACRACY - rule by newspapers and radio and TV and social networks on the web

MIDIOCRACY - rule by the South of France

MEDIOCRACK - cocaine that's only so-so

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wegotisms- a resource list for survival of the wittiest acolytes
freezium- a therapeutic device that stops hesitation cold
mediochracy- a middle of the road color used for decorative impact
chililaxⓇ- used in the management of chronic idiopathic constipation

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Tee-hee ! -)

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CHILLAX

PRONUNCIATION: (chi-LAKS)

MEANING: verb intr.: To calm down and relax.

ETYMOLOGY: A blend of chill + relax. Earliest documented use: 1999.
______________________________

ACHILLAX - the ultimate Greek hero, with the best qualities of both Achilles and Ajax

CHILLEX - calm down one's former spouse

CHILLAY - West Coast of southern South America

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Placktivism- proponents for healthy teeth and gums

Stacktivism- proponents against politics and for IHOP

Lacktivism- rebels without a cause

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SLACKTIVISM

PRONUNCIATION: (SLAK-tuh-viz-uhm)

MEANING: noun: Activism that requires minimal effort.

ETYMOLOGY: A blend of slack + activism. Earliest documented use: 1995.

NOTES: Some examples of slacktivism are forwarding messages, clicking Like buttons, etc. Slacktivism by itself is not bad, but it can prevent people from taking any further action if they feel that by filling out an online petition they have done their part. The term clicktivism is also used.
______________________________________

SACKTIVISM - boosting the local Hacky-Sack team

SHACKTIVISM - pushing for better housing

SLACKTVISM - doesn't like the looseness of television programming

ALACKTIVISM - objects to the status quo but does nothing except complain theatrically about it

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PERNOCTATE

PRONUNCIATION: (puhr-NAHK-tayt)

MEANING: verb intr.:
1. To stay up all night.
2. To pass the night somewhere.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin pernoctare (to spend the night), from per- (through) + nox (night). Earliest documented use: 1623.
____________________________

PERINOCTATE - crepuscular

PERNICTATE - by blinking

PERIOCTATE - seven to nine

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DESACRALIZE

PRONUNCIATION: (dee-SAY-kruh-lyz, -SAK-ruh-)

MEANING: verb tr.: To deprive of hallowed status.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin de- (away from) + sacer (sacred). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sak- (to sanctify), which also gave us saint, consecrate, sacred, execrable, execrate, sacerdotal, and sacrilegious. Earliest documented use: 1911.
____________________________


RESACRALIZE - restore the lower back

DESUCRALIZE - remove all sugar

DESACKRALIZE - exempt the quarterback from being hit before he throws the football

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NUNCUPATE

PRONUNCIATION: (NUHN-kyuh-payt)

MEANING: verb tr.:
1. To solemnly pronounce.
2. To declare a will orally.

ETYMOLOGY From Latin nuncupare (to declare or dedicate), from nomen (name) + capere (to seize). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kap- (to grasp), which is also the root of captive, capsule, capable, capture, cable, chassis, occupy, deceive, caitiff, captious, emancipate, percipient, and sashay. Earliest documented use: 1550.
_______________________________

NUNCUPITE - inhabitant of he city of Nuncup

NUNC UP ANTE - the price of poker in Old Rome just increased

NUN COUP ATE - before-dinner mutiny in the convent


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REEVE

PRONUNCIATION: (reev)

MEANING: verb tr.: To pass (a rope or the like) through.
noun: A local official.

ETYMOLOGY: For verb: Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1600.
For noun: From Old English gerefa (high official). Earliest documented use: before 12th century.
___________________________

PRE-EVE - late afternoon

REEVER - what the Rio Grande is, in accented English

ROE VE - a short but well-known Supreme Court case (1973) dealing with abortion rights

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SENESCE

PRONUNCIATION: (suh-NES)

MEANING: verb intr.: To grow old or decay.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin senescere (to grow old), from senex (old). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sen- (old), which is also the ancestor of senior, senate, senile, Spanish se sir, sire, and surly (which is an alteration of sirly, as in sir-ly). Earliest documented use: 1656.
___________________________

OENESCE - to become wine

NENESCE - to turn into a Hawaiian goose

SEN'ENCE - a string of words with a subject and a verb (and usually a meaning), uttered by a drunk

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GRIMGRIBBER

PRONUNCIATION: (GRIM-gri-buhr)

MEANING: noun: Jargon of a trade.

ETYMOLOGY: From Grimgribber, an imaginary estate, discussed in the play Conscious Lovers (1722) by Richard Steele (1672-1729). Earliest documented use: 1722.
_______________________________________

GRIM, G. ROBBER - "Stop, thief!" shouted George Grim after him.

GRIM GRUBBER - has to tease out the ugly parts of everything (see also GRIMGRABBER)

GRIEG-RIBBER - Edvard was teased about how silly The Hall of the Mountain King sounded

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ECOTOPIA

PRONUNCIATION: (EE-ko-to-pee-uh, EK-o-)

MEANING: noun: An ecologically ideal place.

ETYMOLOGY: From Ecotopia (1975), the title of a novel by Ernest Callenbach. In the book, the word is used to describe the Pacific coast of the US. A blend of eco- + utopia, which itself is the title of Thomas More’s 1516 book. Earliest documented use: 1975.
_____________________________

ECOOPIA - raise chickens electronically !

ECO-NOPIA - boycott

SECOTOPIA - a perfectly dry community

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RURITANIAN

PRONUNCIATION: (roor-i-TAY-nee-uhn)

MEANING: adjective: Relating to an imaginary place characterized by romance, adventure, and intrigue.

ETYMOLOGY: After Ruritania, a fictional Central European kingdom, in the novel The Prisoner of Zenda (1894) by Anthony Hope. Earliest documented use: 1894.
___________________________

PURITANIAN - the culture the Mayflower colonists hoped to establlish

RARITANIAN - a New Jerseyite

RURITALIAN - native to the Italian countryside, avoiding Rome and Florence and Naples and Venice and such

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EDENIC

PRONUNCIATION: (ee-DEN-ik)

MEANING: adjective: Like a paradise: filled with happiness, beauty, innocence, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: After Eden, the garden where the biblical characters Adam and Eve lived. From Hebrew eden (delight). Earliest documented use: 1850.
_____________________________

EDENTIC - my baby teeth fell out

'EDONIC - a Cockney's flagrantly self-indulgent pleasures

EDENIN - Anais' sibling

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(and this is one of those other days)
___________________________

STEPFORD

PRONUNCIATION: (STEP-furd)

MEANING: adjective: Robotic, compliant, submissive; lacking in individuality.

ETYMOLOGY: After the fictional suburb of Stepford, Connecticut, in Ira Levin’s 1972 novel, The Stepford Wives, later made into movies (in 1975 and 2004). In the story, men of this seemingly ideal town have replaced their wives with attractive robotic dolls devoid of emotion or thought. Earliest documented use: 1972.
___________________________

STEEPFORD - It's tough to cross the river just there; the banks are too sharply angled

STEPFOOD - eat right, before you run a Marathon

STOP FOR D - good defense brings the game to a halt

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Step F-word- swear words in the safe zone

Stop Ford- Jimmy Carter's nutty campaign slogan

Step-Lord- the lord not ascribed to you at birth.

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PARBOIL

PRONUNCIATION: (PAHR-boil)

MEANING: verb tr.: To boil partially; to cook partly by boiling.

ETYMOLOGY: From Anglo-Norman parboillir/perboillir (to cook partially by boiling, to cook thoroughly by boiling), from Latin perbullire (to boil thoroughly), from per- (thoroughly) + bullire (to boil). From misinterpretation of par- with part, the meaning of the word changed from “to boil thoroughly” to “to boil partially”. Earliest documented use: 1381.
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PART-OIL - used to make hair controllable (if slick) - see MACASSAR (more to the point, see ANTI-MACASSAR)

PART-B-OIL - makes doctors' payments for Medicare go more smoothly

P-ART-OIL - used by painters who can't get ortho-oil or meta-oil

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