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GERENT
PRONUNCIATION: (JIR-ent)
MEANING: noun: A ruler or manager.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin gerent, present participle of gerere (to manage). Earliest documented use: 1576.
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IGERENT - manager of Disney Enterprises
DERENT - 1. remove from the rolls of available dwellings; 2. sew up
GERENTI - more than one gerentus
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HYPERBOREAN
PRONUNCIATION: (hy-puhr-BOR-ee-uhn)
MEANING: noun: An inhabitant of the extreme north.
adjective: 1. Relating to the extreme north. 2. Very cold.
ETYMOLOGY: In Greek mythology, Hyperboreans were people living in a land of perpetual sunshine, beyond the reaches of north wind. The word is from Greek hyper- (beyond) + Boreas (the god of the north wind). Earliest documented use: 1601.
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HYPARBOREAN - living above the treetops
HYPERBOLEAN - 1. living above the treetrunks; 2. exaggerated
HYPER-BORE-FAN - one who likes especially dull people
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DEASILPRONUNCIATION: (DEE-zuhl) MEANING: adverb: In a clockwise direction.+ ETYMOLOGY: From Scottish Gaelic deiseil (righthandwise), from Middle Irish dessel, from Old Irish dess (right, south) + sel (turn). Earliest documented use: 1771.+ _________________________________________ DEA-SHIL - a patsy used by the Drug Enforcement Agency to entrap the unsuspecting D,EASILY - when you're going to pass the course, but only by the skin of your teeth TEASIL - how you make a measle grow (see Sneezles, here, about half-way down)
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TANTIVY
PRONUNCIATION: (tan-TIV-ee)
MEANING: adverb: At full gallop; at full speed.
noun: A fast gallop; rush.
adjective: Swift.
interjection: A hunting cry by a hunter riding a horse at full speed.
ETYMOLOGY: Of obscure origin, perhaps from the sound of a galloping horse’s hooves. Earliest documented use: 1648.
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TANTIFY - to give testimony that is inconclusive but intriguing
T'AINT IVY - disparaging dismissal of Stanford or Amherst or any number of other excellent schools because they're not Harvard or Princeton or Yale
TANT IV - the fourth member of the Tant dynasty
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FAIN
PRONUNCIATION: (fayn)
MEANING:
adverb: 1. Willingly; gladly.
2. Rather.
adjective: 1. Pleased.
2. Obliged.
3. Eager.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old English faegen (glad). Earliest documented use: 888.
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AIN - (dial.) one
FLAIN - escaping (cf. fled, flown)
FARIN - (verb) makin one's way
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PIECEMEAL
PRONUNCIATION: (PEES-meel)
MEANING: adverb: One part at a time; gradually.
adjective: Done in stages.
ETYMOLOGY: From Middle English pecemeale, from pece (piece) + mele, from Old English mael (fixed time). Earliest documented use: 1325.
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PIERCEMEAL - what usually happens when you try to poke a rat in your flour bin
PIECEMETAL - 1. what you make armor out of; 2. a very coarse Nobel Prize
NIECEMEAL - luncheon with your sister's daughter
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WIDDERSHINS
PRONUNCIATION: (WID-uhr-shinz)
MEANING: adverb: In a counterclockwise, left-handed, or wrong direction.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old High German widar (back, against) + sin (direction). Earliest documented use: 1513. Also see deasil.
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WIEDERSHINS - the back of the shins, i.e. the calves
BIDDERSHINS - what you kick when your partner is your competition at an auction
WIDDERSHINE - you might take this to a woman whose husband has died
WIDERSHINS - why you really have to wear bell-bottomed trousers
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EXPERGEFACTION
PRONUNCIATION: (ek-spuhr-juh-FAK-shuhn)
MEANING: noun:
1. Awakening or arousing.
2. The state of being awakened or aroused.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin expergefacere (to awaken), from expergisci (to become awake) + facere (to make or do). Earliest documented use: 1639.
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EXPURGEFACTION - removing all traces of your former spouse
DEXPERGEFACTION - emphasizing all things right-leaning (compare "levo-pergefaction")
EXPERGEFICTION - Bowdlerization or censorship of a literary work
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VAQUERO
PRONUNCIATION: (vah-KER-o)
MEANING: noun: A livestock herder: a cowboy.
ETYMOLOGY: From Spanish vaquero (cowboy), from vaca (cow), from Latin vacca. Earliest documented use: 1826.
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VAQIUERO - I want you to leave!
VAQUERY - Where is Richmond?
VAQUESO - goat-cheese
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AZYMOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (AZI-muhs)
MEANING: adjective: Unleavened; unfermented.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin azymus (unleavened, uncorrupted), Greek azumos (unleavened). Earliest documented use: 1728.
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LAZYMOUS - Mickey's slothful cousin
AZYMOUV - orthographically-challenged science-fiction writer
AZYGOUS - 1. without germ cells; 2. unary; not part of a pair [YCLIU!]
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WHIPJACK
PRONUNCIATION: (HWIP-jak)
MEANING: noun: A beggar who pretends to be an out-of-luck sailor.
ETYMOLOGY: Apparently from whip (to flog) + jack (man, worker). Earliest documented use: 1556.
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SHIPJACK - the pennant or flag flown from a vessel's tallest mast to indicate its allegiance (e.g., the Union Jack for Britain)
WHIPJOCK - a rider who habitually beats the horse to try to make it go faster
WHIPLACK - what makes Indiana Jones powerless
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VENDIBLE
PRONUNCIATION: (VEN-duh-buhl)
MEANING: adjective: Salable; marketable.
noun: Something that can be sold.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin vendere, from venum (sale). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wes- (to buy), which is also the source of vend, bazaar, vilify, venal, and monopsony. Earliest documented use: 1384.
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(Good that this is a Friday word, i.e. "Vendredi" ! )
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VENDIBULE - a kiosk in the forecourt
ENDIBLE - unlike most Beethoven symphonies
VERDIBLE - capable of being made into an opera
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SCOFFLAW
PRONUNCIATION: (SKOF-law)
MEANING: noun: One who displays contempt for the law, especially in minor violations, such as failure to pay parking tickets.
ETYMOLOGY: A combination of scoff (to mock), from Middle English scof + law, from Old English lagu, from Old Norse (lagu), plural of lag (something laid or fixed). Earliest documented use: 1924.
NOTES: It’s not often that a word coined as a result of a competition becomes part of the language, but scofflaw did. In 1924, during Prohibition, banker Delcevare King of Quincy, Massachusetts announced a contest to coin a word to describe “a lawless drinker”. The prize was $200 in gold (about $5,000 today). Of the more than 25,000 entries that poured in, coinages such as wetocrat, violist, boozshevic lost out to the scofflaw...
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SCOW-FLAW - why the garbage boat sank
SCUFFLAW - Thou shalt have Unblemished Shoes
SCOFFLA - make fun of Hollywood
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KILLJOY
PRONUNCIATION: (KIL-joi)
MEANING: noun: One who spoils the enjoyment of others.
ETYMOLOGY: Perhaps from Old English cyllan (to kill) + Old French joie/joye (joy), from Latin gaudium (joy), from gaudere (rejoice). Earliest documented use: 1776.
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ILLJOY - hypochondria
KILOJOY - a whole lot of uppers
KRILLJOY - a post-prandial baleen whale
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Kilnjoy- Rosina Leckermaul's Woodland Delight
Pilljoy- pain killer
Killtoy- Chucky
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SAWBONES
PRONUNCIATION: (SAW-bonz)
MEANING: noun: A doctor, especially a surgeon.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old English saga (to cut with a saw) + ban (bone). Earliest documented use: 1837.
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AWBONES - what a disappointing fillet
JAWBONES - how Samson made an ass of the Philistines
SOW BONES - how to grow skeletons
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SPOILSPORT
PRONUNCIATION: (SPOIL-sport)
MEANING: noun: One who ruins other people’s enjoyment.
ETYMOLOGY: From spoil, from Old French espoille, from Latin spoliare (to rob), from spolium (booty, skin, hide) + sport, from disport (diversion), from Old French desport, from desporter, from des (away) + porter (to carry), from Latin portare (to carry). Earliest documented use: 1801.
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'S POOL SPORT - water polo
SPOILS PORE - how acne begins
SOIL SPORT - two-year-olds making mud-pies
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DREADNOUGHT
PRONUNCIATION: (DRED-not)
MEANING: noun:
1. A fearless person.
2. A battleship armed with all heavy guns.
3. A thick cloth.
4. A warm garment made of thick cloth.
5. A type of acoustic guitar with a large body and loud sound.
ETYMOLOGY: Literally “fear nothing”, from dread (fear), from Old English adraedan, ondraedan (fear) + nought (nothing), from naught, from na (no) + wiht (thing). Earliest documented use: 1573.
NOTES: Sense 1 is inspired from the 1573 English ship Dreadnought.
Sense 2 & 5 are from the 1906 battleship HMS Dreadnought which had heavy guns.
Sense 3 & 4 are from heavy garments worn on ships to protect from the elements.
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BREADNOUGHT - can't afford even a crumb
DREADNOUGAT - I hate those chewy candies
READNOUGHT - illiterate
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AMBIVALENT
PRONUNCIATION: (am-BIV-uh-luhnt)
MEANING: adjective: Having contradictory thoughts about something or someone.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ambi- (both) + valent (having a valence), from Latin valere (to be strong). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wal- (to be strong) that also gave us valiant, avail, valor, value, wieldy, countervail, valence, valetudinarian, and valorize. Earliest documented use: 1916. Being polyvalent is not an extreme version of ambivalent.
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IAMBIVALENT - 1. I can react in two different ways;
BAMBIVALENT - can't make up his mind whether he likes the story of the orphaned baby deer, or not
AMBIVOLENT - tending to jump into an airplane and fly off in all directions
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TRENCHERMAN
PRONUNCIATION: (TREN-chuhr-man)
MEANING: noun
1. A hearty eater.
2. A hanger-on; parasite.
ETYMOLOGY: From trencher (a flat piece of wood on which food is served or carved), from Old French trenchier (to cut), from Latin truncare (to lop). Earliest documented use: 1590.
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TRENCHGERMAN - un Boche
TREACHERMAN - Marvel's newest antihero; his super-power is betrayal
FRENCHERMAN - un Poilu
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STRIDULANT
PRONUNCIATION: (STRIJ-uh-luhnt)
MEANING: adjective: Shrill; making a harsh grating sound.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin stridere (to make a harsh sound). Earliest documented use: 1843.
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STRID-U-LAST - I was the last one to stride you, and now you're "it"
STRIDULART - graphic designs produced by a small strid
STRIDE, LANT - walk up boldly, then urinate in the beer
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MONDAIN
PRONUNCIATION: (mon-DAYN)
MEANING noun: A sophisticated man; a man belonging to fashionable society.
adjective: Worldly; fashionable.
ETYMOLOGY: From French mondain (socialite), from Latin mundus (world). Earliest documented use: 1833.
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MONDRAIN - dyslexic painter of black-outlined rectangles filled with primary colors
MONDARIN - my 60s pop-singer (Mack the Knife, Splish-Splash and others)
MONDAIC - complaining because it's the first workday of the week
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ARTLESS
PRONUNCIATION: (ART-les)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Without guile; sincere; simple.
2. Free of artificiality.
3. Lacking art or skill.
ETYMOLOGY: From art, from Latin ars (art) + less, from Old English leas (without). Earliest documented use: 1586.
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TARTLESS - what the Queen was, after the Knave of Hearts stopped by
ARTLENS - lets you see the paintings better
ARTLOSS - "The Mona Lisa has been stolen!"
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LISTERIZE
PRONUNCIATION: (LIS-tuh-ryz)
MEANING: verb tr.: To make antiseptic.
ANAGRAM: listerize = sterilize
ETYMOLOGY: Coined after Joseph Lister (1827-1912) surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic medicine. Earliest documented use: 1888. Besides this word, some other things named after Joseph Lister are Listerine (originally a surgical antiseptic), the bacterial genus Listeria, and the slime mold genus Listerella.
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LOSTERIZE (anagram: ZOSTERILE) - afflicted by re-activated Herpes zoster virus causing shingles obscuring the cornea, and therefore unable to see
(BTW, purists would reserve the word "anagram" for this kind of self-defining rearrangement. What you and I call an anagram, they would call a "transposal.")
LISZTERIE - anything composed by Franz Liszt
LISTPRIZE - what you get for paying the full amount for something
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ADULATORY
PRONUNCIATION: (AJ-uh-luh-tor-ee)
MEANING: adjective: Praising or admiring slavishly.
ANAGRAM: adulatory = laudatory
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin adulari (to flatter, to fawn upon, like a dog wagging its tail). Earliest documented use: 1587.
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ODULATORY (anagram: LOUDATORY) - high-decibel speech after too much low-alcohol beer
ADULTORY - hanky-panky on the Conservative side of the aisle
ADULSTORY - the kind you have to put down after reading the first three pages
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BABBLE
PRONUNCIATION: (BAB-uhl)
MEANING: noun: 1. Foolish, excited, or incoherent chatter.
2. A murmuring sound, for example of flowing water.
verb intr.: 1. To talk excitedly, excessively, or incomprehensibly.
2. To make a murmuring sound, as flowing water.
verb tr.: 1. To say something rapidly, excitedly, or incoherently.
2. To reveal something confidential carelessly.
ANAGRAM: babbled = blabbed
ETYMOLOGY: Probably from the repetition of the syllable ba, which occurs in a child’s early speech. Earliest documented use: 1250. The word babel (as in the Tower of Babel) has nothing to do with babbling or blabbing.
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BABY LE - identifying a Vietnamese infant (anagam: BABELY)
B-ab BLUE - the color of a β-antibody
B-ABLE - worth a better grade than C, but not much
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METATHESIS
PRONUNCIATION: (muh-TATH-uh-sis)
MEANING: noun:
1. The transposition of letters, sounds, or syllables in a word. Example: aks for ask.
2. In chemistry, double decomposition.
ANAGRAM: metathesis = It’s the same.
ETYMOLOGY: Via Latin from Greek metatithenai (to transpose), from meta- (among, after) + tithenai (to place). Earliest documented use: 1538.
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MEGATHESIS - biggest damn dissertation ever! (anagram: GAME HEISTS)
MUTATHESIS - tendency to change
GETATHESIS - state your conjecture (anagram: ASSET EIGHT)
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BLATE
PRONUNCIATION: (blayt)
MEANING: verb intr.: To babble or to cry.
adjective: Timid.
ANAGRAM: blate = bleat
ETYMOLOGY: For verb: Apparently an alteration of bleat, whose earlier pronunciation rhymed with the word great. Earliest documented use: 1878.
For adjective: From Scots blate (timid, sheepish). Earliest documented use: 1000.
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BLOATE - obs. to become distended with gas (anagram: OBLATE)
BLATTE - (German, pl. of Blat) paper pages (anagram TABLET)
LbLATE - the pounds you inexorably acquire as you age (anti-gram*: BALLET)
*The opposite of an anagram: where an anagram is self-defining, an antigram is opposite-defining)
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DROOG
PRONUNCIATION: (droog)
MEANING: noun: A member of a gang; a henchman.
ETYMOLOGY: Coined by Anthony Burgess in A Clockwork Orange, from Russian drug (friend). Earliest documented use: 1962.
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DROHOG - a salt-water mollusc, native to islands in the North Atlantic
DROOGI - a pastry to be enjoyed with coffee
DRONG - a genetically modified pet, bred for strength
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BLATANT
PRONUNCIATION: (BLAY-tuhnt)
MEANING: adjective: Conspicuously obvious or offensive.
ETYMOLOGY: Coined by the poet Edmund Spenser (1552/1553-1599) in his epic poem The Faerie Queene, perhaps from Latin blatire (to chatter). Earliest documented use: 1596.
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LA TANT - the one who owns la plum
BLEATANT - a ewe's sister (see also BAATANT)
(EWE TANT = former UN Secretary-General)
BLOATANT - full of gas (see also FLATANT)
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HOTSY-TOTSY (also HOTSIE-TOTSIE)
PRONUNCIATION: (HOT-see TOT-see)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Just right; perfect.
2. Haughty; pretentious.
ETYMOLOGY: Coined by the cartoonist Billy DeBeck (1892-1942), famed for his comic strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. Earliest documented use: early 1920s. Another of his coinages that has found a place in English language dictionaries is heebie-jeebies.
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HOOTSY-TOOTSY - traffic-jam of Bumper-Cars
BOTSY-TOTSY - Artificial Intelligence being playful
HOTSY-ROTSY - college Officers-in-Training in full dress uniform
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FRUMIOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (FROO-mi-uhs)
MEANING: adjective: Very angry.
ETYMOLOGY: Coined by Lewis Carroll as a blend of fuming and furious in the poem Jabberwocky in the book Through the Looking-Glass. Earliest documented use: 1871.
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FRUMP IOUs - dowdy old-fashioned statements of indebtedness
ARUMIOUS - like a lily, with a pungent odor
FORUMIOUS - tending to form large committees
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BOONDOGGLE
PRONUNCIATION: (BOON-dog-uhl)
MEANING: noun: 1. A pointless project funded as a political favor.
2. A holiday trip to an exotic location, disguised as a business trip.
3. Braided cord, made of plastic strips, fabric, etc.
verb intr.: 1. To do useless or trivial work.
2. To go on a business trip in which the real purpose is relaxation or fun.
3. To braid plastic strips, fabric, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: Coined by scoutmaster Robert H. Link. Earliest documented use: 1929.
NOTES: The original boondoggle was a braided cord made by Boy Scouts. In 1935, a New York Times article quoted someone criticizing a New Deal program to train jobless to make handicrafts as a boondoggle. Since then this sense of the word has become more common.
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[noun (sense 3) is also known as "gimp," at least in parts of New England]
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BOOND-OGLE - a leer from 007 Agent Jaames
BOONTOGGLE - the wish-granting switch
BOON-FOGGLE - a miasm on the far-flung marshes
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CEILIDH
PRONUNCIATION: (KAY-lee)
MEANING: noun: A social gathering, typically involving folk music, dancing, and storytelling.
ETYMOLOGY: From Scottish Gaelic ceilidh and Irish célidhe (visit), from Old Irish céile (companion). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kei- (to lie, bed, dear), which also gave us city, cemetery, Sanskrit shiva, and incunabulum. Earliest documented use: 1875.
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CEIPIDH - peeling potatoes, washing dishes, etc, in the Army (pronunciation: KAY-pee)
CEILISH - like a large salt-water mammal (pron. SEAL-ish)
CEILIDE -
1. a piece of plaster falling from the top of the room (pron: SEEL-ide)
2. the tide was much higher than I expected (pron: SEA-lied)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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SOPHROSYNE
PRONUNCIATION: (suh-FROZ-uh-nee)
MEANING: noun: Soundness of mind, as expressed in moderation, self-control, and prudence.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek sophrosyne, from sophron (of sound mind, prudent). Earliest documented use: 1889
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SOPHROSYNC - getting the timing right with the moderation, self-control, and prudence
SOPHOSYNE - second-year student, nostalgiacally speaking
SOPOROSYNE - a yawn
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,140 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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SEGUE
PRONUNCIATION: (SEG-way, SAY-gway)
MEANING: verb intr.: To make a smooth transition from one section or topic to another, in conversation, music, film. etc.
noun: A smooth transition from one section or topic to another.
ETYMOLOGY: From segue (there follows), third-person singular present of seguire (to follow), from Latin sequi (to follow). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sekw- (to follow), which also gave us sect, sequel, sue, suit, suite, execute, and society. Earliest documented use: 1740.
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SEAGUE - when you get an ache and fever on the cruise to Bermuda
SENGUE - expression of gratefulness; the common response is "Yer welcome!"
SEQUE - 1. search for (pron. SĒK)
2. ham radio operator's call signal, meaning "Is anybody lisening? Please respond" (pron. SEE-KEW}
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,140 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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HORS D'OEUVRE
PRONUNCIATION: (ohr DERV)
MEANING: noun: An extra little dish outside of and smaller than the main course, usually served first.
ETYMOLOGY: From French hors (outside of), oeuvre (job or work). Earliest documented use: 1715.
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HORSE OEUVRE - pulling a plow
HORS D'OUVRE - going around rather than opening; circumventing
SHOR'S D'OEUVRE - famed NYC restaurant, frequented by celebrities
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Posts: 11,140 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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HALFPENNYPRONUNCIATION: (HAY-puh-nee, HAP-nee) plural halfpence (HAY-puhns) MEANING: noun: 1. A British coin representing half a penny. 2. A sum of half a penny. adjective: 1. Worth half a penny. 2. Worth very little. ETYMOLOGY: From Middle English halfpeny, from Old English h(e)alf + penig, penning. Earliest documented use: 1330. _________________________________ ALF P. ENNY - Alfred P Doolittle's step-brother HALF-PEONY - a haploid flower of the genus PaeoniaHALPEN, NY - a family with roots in Keuka Falls (in the Finger-Lakes region of upstate New York)
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,140 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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MONOPHOBIA
PRONUNCIATION: (mon-uh-FOH-bee-uh)
MEANING: noun: A fear of being alone.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek mono- (one) + -phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1880.
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MINOPHOBIA - fear of Cretan kings who sacrifice teenagers to monsters in labyrinths
MONOPHIBIA - having only one bone in the lower legs
ONOPHOBIA - fear of hearing bad news
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,140 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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SITOMANIA
PRONUNCIATION: (sy-tuh-MAY-nee-uh)
MEANING: noun: An abnormal craving for food.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek sito- (grain, food) + -mania (excessive enthusiasm or craze). Earliest documented use: 1882. The opposite is sitophobia.
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SINEMANIA - abnormal fixation on movies
SINOMANIA - an abnormal fixation of things Chinese
SITHOMANIA - an abnormal fixation on Star Wars villains
PSITOMANIA - 1. an abnormal fixation on parrots; 2. an abnormal fixation on ESP
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