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 3 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A C Bowden #229634 09/10/2019 9:05 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Originally Posted by A C Bowden
Originally Posted by wofahulicodoc
Too much stress results in distress.

Or should that be 'dystress'? wink

Agreed...

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

NULLIBIETY

PRONUNCIATION: (nuh-luh-BY-uh-tee)

MEANING: noun: The state of being or existing nowhere.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin nullibi (nowhere), from nullus (null) + ibi (here, there). Earliest documented use: 1668. The opposite is ubiety.
_______________________________

GULLIBIETY - the purchase of seagoing birds

NULLIBRIETY - teetotalling
(compare NUNLIBIETY: Sister's overdoing the sacramental wine...)

NULLIBILETY - just can't do anything well

Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 16
stranger
stranger
Offline
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 16
Lullibiety- the condition or quality of being calm

Nullidiety- diet free

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Originally Posted by littldrop
Lullibiety- the condition or quality of being calm

Good one!

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

EXCARNATION

PRONUNCIATION: (eks-kahr-NAY-shuhn)

MEANING: noun:
1. The removing of flesh, especially from a corpse before burial.
2. The supposed separation of the soul from the body at death.

ETYMOLOGY: From excarnate, from Latin excarnare (to remove flesh), from caro (flesh). Earliest documented use: 1847.
_____________________________

EXTARNATION - swearing has been officially banned

EXCORNATION - I feel so much better now after visiting my podiatrist

EXCARIATION - when the dentist takes care of my cavities (Query: what's left when you remove a hole?)

wofahulicodoc #229645 09/12/2019 2:22 PM
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 16
stranger
stranger
Offline
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 16
Exzarnation- officially wrecked

littldrop #229647 09/13/2019 12:57 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

DYSPHEMISM

PRONUNCIATION: (DIS-fuh-miz-em)

MEANING: noun: The substitution of a harsher, deprecating, or offensive term in place of a relatively neutral term.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek dys- (bad) + -phemism (as in euphemism). Earliest documented use: 1884. The opposite is euphemism.

NOTES: Examples include “death tax” for “estate tax” and “snail mail” for “paper mail”.
____________________________

DY-SPHERISM - belief in two suns

DAYS-PHEMISM - Women's Lib while the sun shines

DYS-HEMISM - show disrespect for the claim that stocks follow the length of women's skirts, with a six-month lag

Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 16
stranger
stranger
Offline
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 16
ZYSPHEMISM- to speak with a teutonic accent (comparable to any found in a Mel Brooks movie)

littldrop #229651 09/13/2019 3:24 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

NOCEBO

PRONUNCIATION: (no-SEE-bo)

MEANING: noun: A substance producing harmful effects in someone because it is believed to be harmful, but which in reality is harmless.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin nocebo (I will harm), from nocere (to harm). Modeled after its antonym placebo (I will please). Earliest documented use: 1961.
___________________________

NICE, BO - well done, Ms Derek

NO CEO - the head of the company just got canned

NO SEBO - a first-class gringo trying to say "I don't understand" in Spanish

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

DOTARD

PRONUNCIATION: (DOH-tuhrd)

MEANING: noun: One whose mental faculties have deteriorated, especially due to old age.

ETYMOLOGY: From Middle English doten (to be foolish). Earliest documented use: 1393.
____________________________

DON'TARD - inevitably says "No!"

DEOTARD - worn at a Passion Ballet

DOPARD - a biochemist-hedonist

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

SODDEN-WITTED

PRONUNCIATION: (SOD-en-wit-id)

MEANING: adjective: Dull.

ETYMOLOGY: From Middle English soden (boiled), past participle of sethen (to boil) + wit (mental capacity). Earliest documented use: 1609, in Troilus and Cressida.
_______________________

SUDDEN-WITTED - abruptly became smart

SHODDEN-WITTED - comfortably funny, like an old shoe

SODDEN-WILTED - all wet and floppy

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

SCULLION

PRONUNCIATION: (SKUL-yen)

MEANING: noun:
1. A servant who does menial work in a kitchen, such as washing dishes.
2. A lowly or contemptible person.

ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin, probably from Old French escouvillon (dishcloth, mop), diminutive of escouve (broom), from Latin scopa (broom) or from scullery (a small kitchen), from Old French escuele (dish), from Latin scutella, diminutive of scutra (pan). Earliest documented use: 1483.
_______________________________________

CULLION - one who has been removed from a group in order to leave more room and resources for others more fit

SCULLIN' - rowin' down the river

SCULL ICON - part of a pirates' flag

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

KNOTTY-PATED

PRONUNCIATION: (NOT-ee-pay-tid)

MEANING: adjective: Blockheaded or thickheaded.

ETYMOLOGY: From Old English cnotta (knot) + pate (head). Earliest documented use: 1598.
______________________

KNOTTY-RATED - measured speed in the water

KNOTTY-PATHED - without a simple, direct route from one end to the other

SNOTTY-PATED - wipes his nose on his hair

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

GORBELLIED

PRONUNCIATION: (GOR-bel-eed)

MEANING: adjective: Having a large belly: fat.

ETYMOLOGY: From gorbelly (large belly), from gor (gore) + belly, from Old English belig (bag). Earliest documented use: 1529.
______________________________

GO REBEL LIED - enthusiastic dissident was not truthful

GOBEL-LIED - Lonesome George (50s TV comedian) sang in Berlin

IGOR-BELLIED - the Mad Scientist's assistant who enjoyed his beer too much

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

HEBETIC

PRONUNCIATION: (hi-BET-ik)

MEANING: adjective: Relating to or happening at puberty.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek hebe (youth). Earliest documented use: 19th c. Also see hebephrenia.
____________________________

SHEBETIC - the high blood sugar sometimes seen in pregnancy

HEMETIC - makes you vomit blood

HE-BEST-IC - fixated on being first, even among equals

wofahulicodoc #229691 09/24/2019 2:36 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

EVENTIDE

PRONUNCIATION: (EE-vuhn-tyd)

MEANING: noun: The evening time.

ETYMOLOGY: From Old English aefentid, from aefen (evening) + tid (time). Earliest documented use: before 1000.
____________________________________

SEVENTIDE - the boat will sail at 7:05

EVERTIDE - brand of shoelaces that will never come undone

OVENTIDE - detergent that cleans even at high temperatures

EVENTIRE - so your vehicle will give you an EVENRIDE

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

CACOPHONY

PRONUNCIATION: (kuh-KOF-uh-nee)

MEANING: noun: A harsh mixture of sounds.

ETYMOLOGY: From French cacophonie, from Greek kakophonia (harsh sounding), from kakos (bad) + phone (sound). Kakos is ultimately from the Indo-European root kakka-/kaka- (to defecate), which also gave us poppycock, cucking stool, cacology, and cacography. Earliest documented use: 1656.
_____________________________

CACO-PONY - what has to be here somewhere 'cuz there's so much manure, according to the happy little boy mucking the stable

COCOPHONY - a bottle of cheap scent labelled "Chanel # 5000"

CACOPHONE - a musical instrument known for its raucous, unpleasant sound

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

INDEFEASIBLE

PRONUNCIATION: (in-di-FEE-zuh-buhl)

MEANING: adjective: Not subject to being revised, defeated, or annulled.

ETYMOLOGY: From in- (not) + defeasible, from Old French desfaire (to undo or destroy), from Latin dis- (apart, away) + facere (to do). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dhe- (to set or put), which is also the source of do, deed, factory, fashion, face, rectify, defeat, sacrifice, satisfy, Sanskrit sandhi (joining), Urdu purdah (veil or curtain), and Russian duma (council). Earliest documented use: 1548.
_________________________

INDEFENSIBLE - can't be defended or supported

INDYFEASIBLE - Ya know, we just might do OK in this big auto race, come Memorial Day

SINDEFEASIBLE - this could be a good place to establish the India/West Pakistan border

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

CONTUMACY

PRONUNCIATION: (KON-too/tyoo-muh-see)

MEANING: noun: Stubborn rebelliousness or insubordination.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin contumacia, from contumax (insolent). Earliest documented use: 1386.
____________________

COSTUMACY - a Masquerade Ball

CON TO MACY - what Gimbels' scheme looked like to his competitor

CONTAMACY - spoiling with germs

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

THINKO

PRONUNCIATION: (THING-koh)

MEANING: noun: A careless error in thinking.

ETYMOLOGY: From think, formed on the pattern of typo (typographical error). Earliest documented use: 1990s.

NOTES: When someone makes a typo and spells “teh” instead of “the”, it’s not that they don’t know the spelling of the word “the”. A thinko works the same way: it’s a glitch in one’s thinking, perhaps due to a distraction, tiredness, etc.
_________________________

THINKA - famous Rodin sculpture on loan to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts

THICKO - antisocial psychopath with a list

THINNO - opposite of a thicko

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

BESAIEL

PRONUNCIATION: (bi-SAY-uhl)

MEANING: noun: A grandfather’s father: great-grandfather.

ETYMOLOGY: From Old French besayel/besaiol, from Latin bis (twice) + avolus, diminutive of avus (grandfather). Earliest documented use: 1480.

NOTES: A grandfather is an aiel, a great-grandfather a besaiel, a great-great-grandfather a tresaiel. Now that you know the pattern, feel free to coin words beyond your grandfather’s grandfather. Also, now that you know what to call them, who’s your besaiel?
_______________________

BESOIEL - to bedeck with silk

BESAIL - a second attack, coming right after you ASSAIL

B.S. AIEL - You say "aiel" is "Grandfather"? That's bullsh*t.

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

APOPHENIA

PRONUNCIATION: (a-puh-FEE-nee-uh)

MEANING: noun: The perception of connections or meaning in unrelated or random phenomena.

ETYMOLOGY: From German Apophänie, from Greek apo- (away, off, apart) + phainein (to show). Earliest documented use: around 1980. Apophenia is the general term -- pareidolia is an example of apophenia.
____________________________

APO-PHRENIA - the delusion of thinking one is a simian primate

APOPHONIA - the diagnosis for a ventriloquist whose "thrown" voice comes from a great distance

A "POP" HERNIA - what comes eventually from a weakness of the inguinal region

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

ANACOLUTHON

PRONUNCIATION: (a-nuh-kuh-LOO-thahn/thuhn)

MEANING: noun: An abrupt change in the middle of a sentence making one part inconsistent with the other.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin anacoluthon, from Greek anakolouthos, from an- (not) + akolouthos (following), from a- (together) + keleuthos (path). Earliest documented use: 1706.
_______________________________

AN ACOLYTHON - a long TV program to raise funds for priests' assistants

ANACOLUSHON - absence of a conspiracy

AN ACOLUTRON - a newly discovered kind of subatomic particle, with a strange but apparently charmed life

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

DELPHINESTRIAN

PRONUNCIATION: (del-fi-NES-tree-uhn)

MEANING: noun: A dolphin rider.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin delphinus (dolphin), on the pattern of equestrian. Earliest documented use: 1820.

NOTES: If you ever get the urge to ride a dolphin, please leave them alone. Find yourself an inflatable one instead. In general, if you find yourself wanting to do things to any sentient being without their permission, find yourself an inflatable one. Also see, wooden horse.
_________________________

DOLPHINESTRIAN - someone raised in a dolphin home

DELPHIC-NESTRIAN - someone raised by an Oracle

DELPHIN-ESTRIAL - pertaining to hormones from a lowering plant of the family Ranunculaceae

wofahulicodoc #229746 10/08/2019 1:24 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

GUMMIDGE

PRONUNCIATION: (GUH-mij)

MEANING: noun: A peevish, pessimistic person.

ETYMOLOGY: After Mrs Gummidge, a grumpy old widow in Charles Dickens’s novel David Copperfield (1850). She likes to say, “I am a lone lorn creetur’ ... and everythink goes contrairy with me.” Earliest documented use: 1873.
__________________________

GLUMMIDGE - pessimist; one who is always down in the mouth (no, silly, not your dentist)

GUMMI-DOGE - a miniature jelly candy in the shape of a Venetian magistrate

GUNMIDGE - a tiny insect that fouls your rifle barrel and causes your shot to miss

GUMRIDGE - what your teeth plug into (see "alveolar ridge")

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

TIGGER

PRONUNCIATION: (TIG-uhr)

MEANING: noun: Someone filled with energy, cheerfulness, and optimism.

ETYMOLOGY: After Tigger, a tiger in A.A. Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Earliest documented use: 1981.
__________________________

TRIGGER - a black-and-orange-striped horse

TIGGET - what you get frob a cop with a cold whed he pulls you over for speedig

TIOGER - a small town in New York State, 115 miles southwest of UTIGGER and about ten miles from the Pennsylvania border

wofahulicodoc #229752 10/09/2019 8:27 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

DEBBIE DOWNER

PRONUNCIATION: (DEB-ee DOU-nuhr)

MEANING: noun: Someone who is persistently negative and pessimist.

ETYMOLOGY: After Debbie Downer, a character in the television series Saturday Night Live, who frequently brings bad news in even the most cheerful situations. You can also call her a killjoy. Earliest documented use: 2004.
___________________________

DEBBIE DOWNER - That would be Eddie. (At least the first one was)

DOBBIE DOWNER - Bellatrix Lestrange. With a silver dagger. In the Malfoys' dining room.

DEBBIE DROWNER - unknown. (Wait - it was Natalie Wood who drowned. Oh well - the perp is still unknown)

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

TAPLEYISM

PRONUNCIATION: (TAP-lee-i-zuhm)

MEANING: noun: Extreme optimism, even under most hopeless circumstances.

ETYMOLOGY: After Mark Tapley, a character in Charles Dickens’s Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-44). Earliest documented use: 1857.

NOTES: The mission of Mark Tapley is to remain “jolly” under all circumstances. It is tested when he accompanies his boss Martin Chuzzlewit on a trip to America and comes down with malaria while living in a swamp. When asked how he’s doing, he responds: “Floored for the present, sir, but jolly!” Other examples of words coined after characters from the same book are pecksniffian and gamp.
______________________________

"TABLE Y"-ISM - belief that one is always placed at the end of the list

STAPLEY-ISM - belief that one is always left hanging by a thin wire

TALLEY-ISM - government by consensus ("Them's my views, and if you don't like 'em, I'll change them")

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

EEYORE

PRONUNCIATION: (EE-ohr)

MEANING: noun: A gloomy, pessimistic person.

ETYMOLOGY: After Eeyore, a donkey in A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh (1926). Earliest documented use: 1932.

NOTES: Eeyore is named onomatopoeically, after the braying call of a donkey. He’s the most depressing character in the Pooh universe -- the antithesis of Tigger. He keeps losing his tail. His house keeps getting knocked down. How can you blame him for being gloomy and pessimistic? Still, he’s a hopelessly lovable character.
________________________

EEE YORE - when we wore very wide shoes

EEK! ORE! - We struck it rich!

e. e. LORE - history of Mr cummings

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

FRIDAY FACE

PRONUNCIATION: (FRY-day fays)

MEANING: noun: A glum expression or a person with such an expression.

ETYMOLOGY: From the time when Fridays were days of fasting. Earliest documented use: 1592.

NOTES: Today, most people look forward to Fridays (TGIF: Thank God It’s Friday), but it wasn’t always so. These days Friday means the weekend is near, but back when religion ran day-to-day life, in some religions a Friday was marked as a day of fasting or at least abstaining from meat. Hence, a Friday came to be associated with a gloomy face.
__________________________________

FRIDAY FARCE - what occasionally results from the office "casual Friday" dress code

FRIDAY FACT - In France, Friday is the traditional market day, and is thus called Vendredi: the French word for "to sell" is "vendre," as in English "vend" and "vendor."

FRIDAY LACE - one of seven, if you have a different pair of shoelaces for each day of the week

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
SUNDAY PUNCH

PRONUNCIATION: (SUHN-day punch)

MEANING: noun: A powerful, devastating blow.

ETYMOLOGY: In boxing, a Sunday punch is another name for a knockout punch, one that leaves an opponent unable to continue fighting. It’s not clear what the significance of Sunday is in Sunday punch. It could be because most boxing matches took place on a weekend and/or a Sunday punch supposedly knocked an opponent out till the following week. Earliest documented use: 1915.
_________________________________

SUNDAY LUNCH - what you have instead of Sunday Dinner so you don't get a paunch

SUNDAY PINCH - so you won't fall asleep during the sermon

SUNDAE PUNCH - a yummy dessert made of ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top, floating on a large bowl of seltzer water

Last edited by wofahulicodoc; 10/16/2019 9:24 PM.
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

BLUE MONDAY

PRONUNCIATION: (bloo MUHN-day)

MEANING: noun: A depressing Monday.

ETYMOLOGY: It’s not confirmed what makes a Monday a blue Monday. It could be because Monday means returning to work after a weekend’s fun and relaxation. It could also be a result of a weekend spent drinking, resulting in a hangover and a depressed state of mind typically associated with the color blue. Earliest documented use: 1790.
__________________________

BLUE MOONDAY - the second full moon in a given calendar month (occurs rarely)

BLUME MONDAY - Day in honor of a prolific author of Young Adult fiction

CLUE MONDAY - our school is having a Game Day early next week!

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

SUNDAY DRIVER

PRONUNCIATION: (SUHN-day dry-vuhr)

MEANING: noun: One who drives slowly, poorly, or overcautiously.

ETYMOLOGY: What’s Sunday got to do with driving slowly, poorly, or overcautiously? The allusion here is to someone who is out for a leisurely Sunday drive taking the scenic route. Or one who drives poorly because they drive infrequently. Or they drive overcautiously in the manner of someone who comes out to drive only on Sunday when there’s little traffic. Earliest documented use: 1877.
____________________________

SUNDAY DROVER - gentleman farmer who visits his livestock on weekends only

SUNDAY DRIER - never could get it through his head about "Monday Washday"!

SUNDRY DRIVER - licensed for all kinds of motor vehicle

wofahulicodoc #229766 10/18/2019 8:38 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

GIRL FRIDAY

PRONUNCIATION: (guhrl FRY-day)

MEANING: noun: A female assistant, especially in an office, who does a wide variety of duties.

ETYMOLOGY: Patterned after man Friday in Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe (1719). Earliest documented use: 1928.
___________________________________

GIRL FORIDAY - female for only 24 hours

GIL FRIDAY - Dodger first-baseman Hodges was Mister Friday, the way Reggie Jackson was Mr October

G.I. ALFRID? AY! - Are you Infantry Private Alfrid?

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

AGERASIA

PRONUNCIATION: (a-juh-RAY-zhuh)

MEANING: noun: Not growing old, or looking younger than one’s age.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin agerasia, from Greek agerasia, from geras (old age), which also gave us gerontology. Earliest documented use: 1706.

NOTES: Do people tell you you look ten years younger than you really are? There’s chronological age, determined by when you were born, totally out of your control. Then there’s biological age (calculate it), which is how well you have aged, and it is quite likely up to you.

If you have ever wanted a word to describe that youthful look you have maintained from regular exercise, healthful eating, and conscientious living, your wish is granted. As for actually not growing old, you ask too much.
_______________________

GERANIA - several plants with clusters of bright red/vermillion flowers

AVERASIA - to infer the existence of a large Eastern continent

AGORASIA - an oriental Greek marketplace

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

APOSIOPESIS

PRONUNCIATION: (ap-uh-sy-uh-PEE-sis)

MEANING: noun: An abrupt breaking off in the middle of a sentence, as if one is unable or unwilling to proceed.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin aposiopesis, from Greek aposiopesis, from apo- (intensive prefix) + siopan (to be silent), from siope (silence). Earliest documented use: 1578.
_______________________

POSIOPESIS - the residue of ripping a flower into shreds

APOSIOPEPSIS - the competititon for aposio-Cokes

APOGIOPESIS - music with a lot of stepwise broken chords

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

MARCESCENT

PRONUNCIATION: (mahr-SES-uhnt)

MEANING: adjective: Withering without falling off.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin marcescent- (beginning to wither), present participle of marcescere (to wither), from marcere (to wither). Earliest documented use: 1727.
______________________

MARCHESCENT - growing later in the Spring

MARCIE'S CENT - that little girl in the Peanuts comic strip has a penny

MARESCENT - how a stallion can tell when a horse is in heat

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

RUPESTRAL

PRONUNCIATION: (ru-PES-truhl)

MEANING: adjective: Relating to rocks. For example, living on, carved on, growing on, made of, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin rupes (rock). Earliest documented use: 1834.
_________________________

GRUPESTRAL - synchronous menstruation

RUE STRAL - a small street in suburban Strasbourg

RUPE'S TRAIL - a pathway through what is now known as Sequoia Park [California], first followed by explorer Carlos Rupe

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

PRODITOMANIA

PRONUNCIATION: (pro-dit-uh-MAY-nee-uh)

MEANING: noun: The feeling or the belief that everyone around is out to get you.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin prodere (to betray). Earliest documented use: 1898.
________________________

PRODITTOMANIA - an overwhelming drive to agree

'PHRODITOMANIA - a need to spring full-grown for your father's head

PROD-IT-OMANIA - an incurable need to disturb sleeping dogs

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Online: Content
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,063
Likes: 2

SINON

PRONUNCIATION: (SY-non/nuhn)

MEANING: noun: One who misleads or betrays.

ETYMOLOGY: After Sinon, a Greek who, by his false tale, persuaded the Trojans into taking the wooden horse inside Troy. From Greek sinomai (to harm or hurt). Earliest documented use: 1581.

NOTES: Sinon, a Greek, was found by the Trojans all by himself. He told the Trojans that the Greeks had left and abandoned him because of his rivalry with Odysseus. He said that the Greeks had made the wooden horse as an offering to gods to help them have a safe journey home. He claimed that they made the horse really big so Trojans couldn’t take it inside the city. The Trojans fell for his story, dragged the horse inside, and the rest, as they say, is mythology.
Sinon was the grandson of Autolycus, known for his skill in theft and trickery. Autolycus himself was the son of Hermes, the god of cunning and theft, among other things. With a lineage like that...
_____________________________________

SIFON - a pressurized jar of seltzer water, popularized by Clarabelle the clown

SIGNON - how to access your Facebook account

SIN ON - how to get to Hell in one easy lesson

SÍ, NOON - ¿Is it midday in Madrid?

Page 3 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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