Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 20 of 25 1 2 18 19 20 21 22 24 25
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

PARAGNOSIS

PRONUNCIATION: (par-uh-GNO-sis)

MEANING: noun: Knowledge that cannot be obtained by normal means.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek para- (beyond) + gnosis (knowledge). Earliest documented use: 1933.
__________________

PAPAGNOSIS - the wisdom that comes from knowing one's father

PARAGONOSIS -1. forever the model of excellence; 2, a parasitic disease

PA RAGE: NO, SIS - Dad has just refused my sister's request, and in no uncertain terms

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

I'll be off the Web for a week; feel free to take over in the interval!

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

BINNACLE

PRONUNCIATION -- (BI-ni-kuhl)

MEANING: noun: A container for housing instruments on a ship’s deck, in a car dashboard, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: From Old Portuguese bitácola or Old Spanish bitácula, from Latin habitaculum (dwelling place), from habitare (to inhabit). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghabh- (to give or to receive), which is also the source of give, gift, able, habit, prohibit, due, duty, adhibit, debenture, habile. Earliest documented use: 1622.
____________________________

BIRNACLE - a container into which fits the mouthpiece-with-reed of a musical instrument such as a clarinet

BINANACLE - a frozen fruit-flavored confection, typically on two sticks

SINNACLE filled with a contemptuous disbelief in human goodness and sincerity

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

BOLLARD

PRONUNCIATION: (BOL-uhrd)

MEANING: noun:
1. A short thick post on a ship or a wharf used for securing ropes.
2. A post used as a traffic control device.

ETYMOLOGY: Probably from Old Norse bole (tree trunk). Earliest documented use: 1844. The p-headed equivalent is pollard.
__________________________

BOLLYARD - where the play beisbol in Baltimore

BOLTLARD - animal fat used to grease a fastener

LOLLARD - one who goes around maniacally laughing out loud for no reason

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

BATHOPHOBIA

PRONUNCIATION: (bath-uh-FO-bee-uh)

MEANING: noun: A fear of depths or of falling from a height.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek bathos (depth) + -phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1903. A related term is acrophobia.

The p-headed word is pathophobia (an irrational fear of disease). [but see below]
__________________________

PATHOPHOBIA - fear of the beaten track

"BOAT-HO!"-PHOBIA - fear of encountering pirates

BATCHOPHOBIA - fear of small bunches

"BAH" O'PHOBIA - Irish fear of Scrooge

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

BARAGNOSIS

PRONUNCIATION: (bar-ag-NO-sis, ba-RAG-no-sis)

MEANING: noun: Loss of the ability to sense weight.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek baros (weight) + a- (not) + gnosis (knowledge). Earliest documented use: 1921. A synonym is abarognosis, antonym barognosis. The p-headed word is paragnosis (knowledge that cannot be obtained by normal means).
_____________________

BAR AGNOSIA (or BAN AGNOSIS) - make education compulsory for all

BARRAGNOSIS - knowing a lot about bombardment

B.A. RAG? NO, SIS - I don't think my sibling should refer so disparagingly to her graduation gown...

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

BOODLE

PRONUNCIATION: (BOOD-l)

MEANING:
noun: 1. An illegal payment, as in graft; 2. A crowd of people.
verb intr.: To take money dishonestly, especially from graft.

ETYMOLOGY: From Dutch boedel (property). Earliest documented use: 1833. Also see caboodle.
__________________________

BOO, DDE - Surprise, Mr. President!

BOIDLE - Ms. Derek is between films at the moment

BOOK,LE - reading material obtained from Amazon de France

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

OLIVE BRANCH

PRONUNCIATION: (OL-iv branch)

MEANING: noun: An offer or gesture of peace, reconciliation, or goodwill.

ETYMOLOGY: In Greek mythology, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, art, and warfare, gave Athens its first olive tree and hence Athens was named after her, or vice versa, i.e. Athena was named after Athens, depending on whether you believe god(s) and goddess(es) created humans or vice versa. Earliest documented use: 1400.
______________________________

OLIVA BRANCH - Tony's father's side of the family

OLIVE RANCH - where Popeye's girlfriend raises cattle

OLIVE BRANCA - daughter of Ralph; who's still trying to make peace with 1951

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

CABBAGE

PRONUNCIATION: (KAB-ij)

MEANING: noun: 1. Money, especially in the form of bills.
2. A stupid or mentally impaired person.
3. A term of endearment.
4. Scraps remaining from a fabric that has been used to make a garment.
verb tr., intr.: 1. To get intoxicated.
2. To steal or pilfer.
3. To plagiarize.

ETYMOLOGY: For noun 4 & verb 2, 3: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of the word garbage. Earliest documented use: 1703.
For everything else: From Anglo-Norman kaboche (head), from Latin caput (head). Earliest documented use: 1391.
_________________________________

CARB-AGE - everything is sugars and starches these days

CABLAGE - what brings your TV service

and three more taxi-themed entries
CAB-RAGE - drivers had it UP TO HERE with this traffic
CAB-BAGEL - New York taxi-driver's light breakfast
CABBAGO - backache after fourteen straight hours of driving

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

PEA-BRAINED

PRONUNCIATION: (PEE-braynd)

MEANING: adjective: Extremely stupid.

ETYMOLOGY: Alluding to the small size of a pea. The word pea is formed from the misinterpretation of the already singular word pease. The word pease is fossilized in children’s nursery rhyme “Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold.” Another mistakenly formed singular is the word cherry from the already singular cherise. Earliest documented use: 1942.
________________________

SEA-BRAINED - unable to think clearly because of the undulating surf and the winds, and possibly also seasickness

PEE-BRAINED - a piss-poor excuse for an intellect

PIE: A BRA IN ED - I always knew that talking horse was up to no good

PEAT-BRAINED - Just think, in another hundred million years it coulda been bituminous coal!

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

MUSHROOM

PRONUNCIATION: (MUHSH-room)

MEANING: verb intr.: 1. To grow rapidly.
2. To develop into the shape of a mushroom.
3. To collect wild mushrooms.
adjective: 1. Of or relating to mushrooms.
2. Developing or growing quickly.

ETYMOLOGY: From allusion to the rapid growth of mushrooms, some literally appearing overnight. From Old French mousseron, from Latin mussirion. Earliest documented use: 1440.
________________________

MUSTROOM - chamber in a winery where the grapes rest after they have just been pressed. Compare MASHROOM in a beer brewewry.

MUSHBROOM - for cleaning up after your dogs at Iditarod

MUSEROOM - where budding artists go for inspiration

MUSHROOM - right after the lambda shroom

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

COUCH POTATO

PRONUNCIATION: (COUCH puh-tay-to)

MEANING: noun: A person who leads a sedentary life, usually watching television.

ETYMOLOGY: Why a couch potato? Why not a couch tomato or a couch pumpkin? The term was coined after boob tube, slang for television. One who watches a boob tube is a boob tuber and a tuber is a potato. According to the Bon Appétit magazine, the term was coined by Tom Iacino. Yesterday’s couch potato is today’s mouse potato, spending time in front of a computer screen, surfing the web. Earliest documented use: 1970s.
_______________________________

OUCH POTATO - too hot to hold

COACH POTATO - 1. supposed to teach you how to play, but all he does is warm the bench
2. more perks than First Class, but less expensive

COUGH POTATO - when by accident you inhale the crumbs from the bottom of the bag of chips

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

NEWSPEAK

PRONUNCIATION: (NOO-speek, NYOO-)

MEANING: noun: Deliberately ambiguous or euphemistic language used for propaganda.

ETYMOLOGY: Coined by George Orwell in his novel 1984. Newspeak was the official language of Oceania. Earliest documented use: 1949.

USAGE:Oldspeak is the opposite of newspeak. For example, in 1984, the oldspeak “labor camp” is called a newspeak “joycamp”. But you don’t have to go to fiction to find newspeak.

What is “torture” in oldspeak becomes “interrogation”, or even better, “enhanced interrogation” in newspeak. While “waterboarding” itself is newspeak -- no, it’s not a water sport -- they go one step further and couch it as “enhanced interrogation”. As if in regular interrogation one is suffocated with regular water while waterboarding, but in enhanced they use nothing less than Evian.
_____________________________________

NOWSPEAK - the new Newspeak. See also NETSPEAK, NEOSPEAK.

FEWSPEAK - the utterances of a person who doesn't mince words

NEWSTEAK - Zymoveal (with apologies to Isaac Asimov)

NEWSPEEK - Read all about it! Take a look at tomorrow's Journal today!

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

DOUBLETHINK

PRONUNCIATION: (DUB-uhl-thingk)

MEANING: noun: An acceptance of two contradictory ideas at the same time.

ETYMOLOGY: From George Orwell’s novel 1984. Earliest documented use: 1949.

NOTES: Better to do double entendre than to doublethink.
_________________________

DOUBLETHICK - passes the straw test - put a straw in vertically and let go, and see if it remains upright

DOUBT E-THINK - computers are not intelligent

DOUBLET MINK - a close-fitting fur vest

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

BIG BROTHER

PRONUNCIATION: (big BRUTH-uhr)

MEANING: noun: An authoritarian person, organization, government, etc., that monitors or controls people.

ETYMOLOGY: After Big Brother, a character in George Orwell’s 1949 novel 1984. The term big brother for an elder brother has been documented from 1809.
_______________________

BIG BROTHEL - Th Biggest Little Whorehouse in Texas

PIG BROTHER - one who prefers his soup made from pork stock

BING BROTHER - that would be Bob Crosby

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

UNPERSON

PRONUNCIATION: (UHN-puhr-suhn)

MEANING: noun: A person regarded as nonexistent.

ETYMOLOGY: Coined as a noun in George Orwell’s 1949 novel 1984. Earliest documented use: 1646, as a verb meaning to depersonalize or to deprive of personhood. A synonym is nonperson.
______________________

UNDERSON - any male offspring except the oldest (cf. UPPERSON)

GUNPERSON - hyper-protective of he Second Amendment, as he sees it

UMP: E.R., SON - headline for the article about a Little Leaguer who was was hit by a pitch and may have suffered a concussion

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

OLDSPEAK

PRONUNCIATION: (OLD-speek)

MEANING: noun: Normal English usage, as opposed to propagandist, euphemistic, or obfuscatory language.

ETYMOLOGY: From George Orwell’s 1949 novel 1984. Earliest documented use: 1949.
______________________

O LAD, SPEAK - Say something already, kid!

OLDS PEEK - Grab a gander at that antique GM "Rocket 98" !

GOLD'S PEAK - Lessee now, that'd be about $1895 an ounce, back in 2011...

OLEDSPEAK - talk about those new screens made with Organic LEDs

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

TITTUP

PRONUNCIATION: (TIT-uhp)

MEANING: noun: A lively movement; caper.
verb intr.: To move in an exaggerated prancing manner.

ETYMOLOGY: Apparently imitative of the sound of a horse’s hooves. Earliest documented use: 1691.
_____________________

SITTUP - what you do to develop your abs

TILTUP - what I do so I can see my monitor better

TINTTUP - what she does to her hair so she'll look younger

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

ASSIZE

PRONUNCIATION: (uh-SYZ)

MEANING: noun: A session of a court or a verdict or an inquiry made at such a session.

ETYMOLOGY: From Old French asise, from asseoir (to seat), from Latin assidere (to sit), from ad- + sedere (to sit). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sed- (to sit), which also gave us sit, chair, saddle, soot, sediment, cathedral, preside, president, tetrahedron, surcease, assiduous, and sessile. Earliest documented use: 1297.
________________________

ASKIZE - what also aren't cloudy all day at my Home on the Range

APSIZE - how big the program is that I wrote for the smartphone

SASSIZE - dis

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

CRUNT

PRONUNCIATION: (krunt)

MEANING: noun: A blow on the head with a club.

ETYMOLOGY: Perhaps of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1786.
________________________

CRUENT - present indicative, third person plural of cruer, to designate as authoritative, especially regarding vineyards and viniculture

CORUNT - when there are two tiny little ones in a litter

CRUIT - what you hafta do to a yacht before you can race it

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

COCKADE

PRONUNCIATION: (ko-KAYD)

MEANING: noun: An ornament, such as a rosette or a knot of ribbons, worn as a badge on a hat, lapel, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: From French cocarde, from Old French coquarde, feminine of coquard (vain, arrogant), from coc (cock), of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1709.

NOTES: Not sure if cockade would become ade one day, but cockroach did turn into roach because the word has a supposedly dirty four-letter combination. In reality, the word is an anglicization of Spanish cucaracha.
Unfortunately, many schools and corporations will block this issue of A.Word.A.Day and as a result readers in those places will be deprived of this essential knowledge for success in modern life.
_________________________________

COCOADE - a chocolate-flavored cool drink

COCKADEE - an adult male chickadee

COOKADE - lets you use many chefs without spoiling the broth

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

FALLACIOUS

PRONUNCIATION: (fuh-LAY-shus)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Based on false reasoning.
2. Deceptive or misleading.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin fallere (to deceive). Earliest documented use: 1473.
______________________________________

SALLACIOUS - like this week's theme - sounds dirty, but gotcha.

FELLACIOUS - like this one. Portmento of hellacious fellas, meaning "a few good men, but all of 'em imps..."

MALLACIOUS - describing a delightful shopping place, unlike the similar-sounding but evil MALLICIOUS. Although that kind of place might have a great Food Court...

FALLA PIOUS - A religious holiday in Valencia, Spain. On March 19 Las Fallas commemorates Saint José (the patron saint of carpentry) and the arrival of spring.

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

SCARAMOUCH (-E)

PRONUNCIATION: (SKAR/SKER-uh-moosh/mooch/mouch)

MEANING: noun: A boastful coward, buffoon, or rascal.

ETYMOLOGY: After Scaramouche, a stock character in commedia dell’arte (Italian comic theater popular from the 16th to 18th centuries). His Italian name was Scaramuccia (literally, skirmish) -- he was often getting beaten up by Harlequin. The word is ultimately from the Indo-European root sker- (to cut), which also gave us skirmish, skirt, curt, screw, shard, shears, carnage, carnivorous, carnation, sharp, scrape, scrobiculate (having many small grooves), incarnadine (flesh-colored), and acarophobia (fear of small insects; delusion that one’s skin is infested with bugs). Earliest documented use: 1662.
_____________________________

SCARAMOUTH - souvenier of duelling (see also SCARABOUCHE)

SCARYMOUCHE - monster housefly

SCARAB-OUCH - beetle-bites sting!

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

MOLOTOV COCKTAIL

PRONUNCIATION: (MOL-uh-tof KOK-tayl)

MEANING: noun: A crude bomb made of a bottle filled with a liquid fuel and fitted with a rag wick that is lighted just before the bottle is hurled.

ETYMOLOGY: After Soviet foreign minister, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (1890-1986). Earliest documented use: 1940.

NOTES: It could have been known a Skryabin cocktail. Molotov was born as Vyacheslav Skryabin, but he took the name Molotov (from Russian molot: hammer). During the Winter War between the USSR and Finland (1939-1940), when the Soviets received international criticism for the bombing of Helsinki, Molotov claimed they were delivering humanitarian aid. In response, the Finns sarcastically called those cluster bombs Molotov bread baskets.
If the Soviets were bringing bread to the party, the least the Finns could do was bring drinks. They called their makeshift incendiary devices Molotov cocktail and used them to destroy Soviet tanks.
__________________________

MOLOTOV MOCKTAIL - 1. a non-alcoholic beverage for someone trying to stay away from alcohol;
2. Russian denigration of the World's Oldest Profession

MOZL-O'TOV COCKTAIL - a glass lifted in an Irish pub as a gesture of congratulations

B-MOL "OTOV COCKTAIL" - a fanciful cantata by JSBach, written in B-flat

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

ROISTER-DOISTER

PRONUNCIATION: (ROI-stuhr doi-stuhr)

MEANING: noun: A swaggering buffoon or reveler.
adjective: Engaged in swaggering buffoonery.

ETYMOLOGY: After Ralph Roister Doister, the eponymous main character of the playwright Nicholas Udall’s play written around 1552. From roister (to behave in a boisterous, swaggering manner), from Middle French rustre (boor), from Latin rusticus (rustic). Earliest documented use: 1592.
______________________________

ROOSTER-D'OISTER - two cartoon fowl, a male and his sister Pearl; second cousins to Warner Bros. character Foghorn Leghorn.

ROISTER, DO I SU'ER? - I'm asking Attorney Roister whether or not I should file an action against the woman

ROISTER, DO I STAR? - Hey there, King baby, am I the most important person in the show?

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

BRAGGADOCIO

PRONUNCIATION: (brag-uh-DO-shee-o)

MEANING: noun:
1. An empty boaster.
2. Empty boasting.
3. Boastful behavior.

ETYMOLOGY: After Braggadochio, a boastful character in Edmund Spenser’s 1590 epic poem The Faerie Queene. Earliest documented use: 1594. Here’s another word that came to us from the same book: blatant.
_____________________________

ABRAGGADOCIO - incantation used by the Fairy Queene

BRAGGA-DO-CI-DO - egotistical square dancer

BRAGG ADO CIA - much fuss in the North Carolina fort but you're not cleared to hear it
_____________________________

I occasionally wonder - with many of this week's words - which came first, the behavior or the literary character...

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

DICKENSIAN

PRONUNCIATION: (di-KEN-zee-uhn)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Of or relating to Charles Dickens or his works.
2. Relating to social conditions marked by poverty, social injustice, mistreatment of children, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: After the novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870), whose works portrayed poor social conditions of Victorian England. Earliest documented use: 1881. Many of Dickens’s characters have become eponyms themselves.
_______________________

DICKENS,IVAN - Charles' Russian cousin

DICKENS I CAN - David Copperfield thinking positively

DUCKENESIAN - the nationality of Donald's South Pacific cousin [yes, that's two changes, not one]

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

RASPBERRY

PRONUNCIATION: (RAZ-ber-ee)

MEANING: noun:
1. A sound, similar to breaking wind, made by pushing the tongue between the lips and blowing air through the mouth.
2. A rejection, disapproval, or contempt.

ETYMOLOGY: Rhyming slang, raspberry tart ⇨ fart. Earliest documented use: 1890. A synonym is Bronx cheer.
_______________________________

RASHBERRY - a berry known to activate allergies and make your skin red and itchy

GASPBERRY - a berry that makes you either flatulent or eructative, or both, and occasionally gives you a catch in your breath for good measure

RASP BEERY - Wallace's older brother Rasputin, to his friends

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

TITFER

PRONUNCIATION: (TIT-fuhr)

MEANING: noun: Hat.

ETYMOLOGY: Rhyming slang, tit for tat ⇨ hat. Earliest documented use: 1927.
_____________________________

TIFFER - a spatter; one who engages in small quarrels

TITLER - one who uses a particular brand of golf ball

SITFER - what you do to have your portrait painted

TINFER - what the Woodsman's pet in Oz wears to protect it from the cold and rain

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

OSCAR

PRONUNCIATION: (OS-kuhr)

MEANING: noun: Cash.

ETYMOLOGY: Rhyming slang, Oscar Asche ⇨ cash. Asche (1871-1936) was an Australian actor, director, and writer. Earliest documented use: 1917.
__________________________________

[Personally, I'd have thought of Wilde before I thought of Asche]
__________________________________

OS-EAR - when the auricular cartilage is calcified and rigid, like a bone

O, SCAT - what you say to chase away an exasperating cat

iOS CAR - a self-driving vehicle controlled by an iPhone

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

BORACIC

PRONUNCIATION: (buh-RAS-ik, bo-)
Also brassic (BRA-sik)

MEANING: adjective: Poor or broke.

ETYMOLOGY: Rhyming slang, boracic lint ⇨ skint. Boracic lint was a type of medical dressing dipped in a solution of boracic/boric acid. See more at skint. Earliest documented use: 1959.
__________________________

BORACID - a brand of boric acid (H3BO3)

BORN CIC - ...and some achieve Commander-in-Chief, and some...

BOREACIC - pertaining to the Southern Hemisphere

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
SCOOBY

PRONUNCIATION: (SKOO-bee)

MEANING: noun: Clue.

ETYMOLOGY: Rhyming slang, Scooby-Doo ⇨ clue. Scooby-Doo is a dog in television series and films. Earliest documented use: 1993.
_____________________

SCOMBY - sick from eating spoiled fish

SCOO'BOY - what the 2-year-old male Montessori student called himself

'SCOOBA - Havana is the capital of what big Caribbean island 100-odd miles south of Florida?

Last edited by wofahulicodoc; 09/07/2018 7:49 PM.
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

ZANY

PRONUNCIATION: (ZAY-nee)

MEANING: adjective: Amusingly strange, comical, or clownish.

ETYMOLOGY: From French zani, from Italian zanni, a nickname for Giovanni. The term has its origin in the comedy theater commedia dell’arte popular in 16-18th century Italy. Giovanni, Italian form of the name John, was originally the generic name of the servant, a stock character who tried to mimic his master, himself a clown. Earliest documented use: 1596.
______________________

ZZNY - and you thought the city never sleeps ...so there!

CZANY - Austrian composer of School of Velocity and hundreds of other piano practice pieces, as he was known in Boston

NANY - a funeral song, as in a choral work by Brahms and a poem by Schiller

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

PUNCHINELLO

PRONUNCIATION: (pun-chuh-NEL-o)

MEANING: noun: A grotesque or absurd person.

ETYMOLOGY: From Italian (Naples dialect) polecenella (a short, fat buffoon, principal character in Italian puppet shows), diminutive of pollecena (turkey pullet), ultimately from Latin pullus (young chicken). From the resemblance of punchinello’s nose to a turkey’s beak. Earliest documented use: 1662.
_______________________________

MUNCHINELLO a fat buffoon who eats all the time (see also PAUNCHINELLO}

PUNCHINJELLO - a gelatin dessert made with fruit punch (caution: if you try to spike it, the alcohol will prevent it from gelling)

PUNCHING 'ELLO - the practice of greeting friends with a knuckle to the upper arm

PUNCHLINE: LLO - (you make up this one)

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

ALAZON

PRONUNCIATION: (AL-uh-zon)

MEANING: noun: A person characterized by arrogance, braggadocio, lack of self awareness, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: After Alazon, a stock character in ancient Greek comedy. Earliest documented use: 1911.
_______________________________

ALAMON - a square dance maneuver, akin to the Grand Right and Left

ALE-ZON - a new beer hall in Munich

ALARON - a trim tab on the tail of an airplane (usually one of a pair)

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

EIRON

PRONUNCIATION: (AY-ron)

MEANING: noun: A person characterized by self-deprecation and awareness of irony.

ETYMOLOGY: After Eiron, a stock character in ancient Greek comedy. It’s from Greek eiron (dissembler), which also gave us the word irony. Eiron is the opposite of Alazon. He uses self-deprecation and feigned ignorance to triumph over Alazon. Earliest documented use: 1872.
_________________________

E-ICON - small image on a desktop or hand-held electronic device representing a program or file

ERRON - the subatomic particle from which all sins ultimately arise

ELIRON - a trim tab on the tail of an airplane (usually one of a pair) - see also ALARON, above

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

CAPITANO

PRONUNCIATION: (kap-uh-TAH-no)

MEANING: noun: A swaggering, cowardly person, especially a soldier, policeman, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: After Capitano, a stock character in commedia dell’arte, from Italian capitano (captain), from Latin caput (head). Earliest documented use: 1594.
_______________________________

CARPITANO - a painful syndrome that is frequently the result of repetitive strain injury to the wrist

CAPRITANO - skin pigmentation due to sunbathing on an island off Italy (unless you spend too much time in the Blue Grotto)

CAPITALO - an upper-case letter frequently confused with a zero

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

COLUMBINE

PRONUNCIATION: (KOL-uhm-byn)

MEANING: noun: 1. A servant girl.
2. A saucy sweetheart.
3. Any of various plants of the genus Aquilegia.
adjective: Of or relating to a dove, in innocence, gentleness, color, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: For noun 1, 2: After Colombina, a stock character in commedia dell’arte, the mistress of Harlequin. From Italian colombina (small dove, a guileless woman). Earliest documented use: 1723.
For noun 3: From the resemblance of an inverted flower to five doves. Earliest documented use: 1325.
For adjective: From Latin columba (dove, pigeon). Earliest documented use: 1656.
__________________________

COLUMNINE - comes just before the tenth vertical row (see also COLUMEINE, the first vertical row in Berlin)

COLUMBIANE - a woman from Bogotá

COLUMBRINE - what you use to make pickled colums


Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

RADDLE

PRONUNCIATION: (RAD-l)

MEANING: noun: Red ocher, used for marking animals, coloring, etc.
verb tr.: 1. To mark or paint with red ocher.
2. To twist together or interweave.
3. To beat or to cause to have a worn-out appearance.

ETYMOLOGY: noun & verb 1: A variant of ruddle, from rud (red). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reudh- (red), which also gave us red, rouge, ruby, ruddy, rubella, corroborate, robust, rambunctious, roborant, russet, and robustious. Earliest documented use: 1325.
verb 2: From English dialect raddle (stick interwoven with others in a fence). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reidh- (to ride), which also gave us ride, raid, road, ready, and raiment. Earliest documented use: 1470.
verb 3: Origin unknown. Earliest documented use: 1677.
______________________

REDDLE - a red dye popular in the early 19th century. See Diggory Venn, the Reddleman, in Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native

FADDLE - something that enjoys a massive but short-lived popularity

RA:DDE - Eisenhower's very junior position at Columbia before he became President

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,070
Likes: 2

MIZZLE

PRONUNCIATION:
(MIZ-uhl)

MEANING: noun: Fine rain or drizzle.
verb intr.: 1. To rain in fine drops.
2. To leave suddenly.
3. To confuse.

ETYMOLOGY: noun, verb 1: From Middle English misellen (to drizzle). Ultimately from the Indo-European root meigh- (to urinate), which also gave us mist, thrush, mistletoe, and micturate. Earliest documented use: 1439.
verb 2: Of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: 1772.
verb 3: Of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: 1583.
______________________________

MIZZLES - a viral infection with skin rash and fever, usually just a nuisance in childhood but potentially serious in adults

MOZZLE - fortune, often with "tov" ("good")

MIZZ-LEZ - what a lazy markzman tries to do

Page 20 of 25 1 2 18 19 20 21 22 24 25

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2025 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 8.0.0