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TOXOPHILIC

PRONUNCIATION: (tok-SAH-fuh-lee)

MEANING: noun: The practice of, love of, or addiction to, archery.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek toxon (bow) + -phily (love), based on toxophilite, coined by Roger Ascham (1515-1568). Earliest documented use: 1887.

NOTES: Roger Ascham was the tutor for teen Lizzie, future Queen Elizabeth I. His book Toxophilus was the first book on archery in English. It was a treatise on archery, but it was also an argument for writing in the vernacular: in English. You could say he shot two birds with one arrow.
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TOCOPHILIC - Don't you just love being in labor

BOXOPHILIC - Little kids, who seem to like the boxes better than the presents that come in them. Cats, too.

TAXOPHILIC - one who likes to put classify things into proper categories
(and you thought it was going to be about enjoying paying money to the government. Hah!)

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SUPERCARGO

PRONUNCIATION: (soo-puhr-KAHR-goh)

MEANING: noun:
1. An officer on a merchant ship who is in charge of the cargo.
2. A superintendent or an agent.

ETYMOLOGY: By alteration of supracargo, from Spanish sobrecargo, from sobre (over), from Latin super (super) + cargo. Earliest documented use: 1667.
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SUPER-ARGO - 1. the spaceship that brought Kal-El from Krypton to Earth; 2. Jason's ship after being modified and re-outfitted

SUPER-C-ARCO - vigorously bowed on the lowest string on a cello

SUPERBARGO - to flood a port with goods so as to clog it (the shipping equivalent of a Denial-of-Service computer attack)

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VOTIVE

PRONUNCIATION: (VOH-tiv)

MEANING: adjective: Relating to a vow, wish, desire, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin votum (vow), from vovere (to vow), which also gave us vow, vote, and devote. Earliest documented use: 1582.
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VORTIVE - twisting and turning

VODIVE - plunge into the water seeking Canadian whiskey

VOTICE - an official pronouncement announcing the importance of casting your ballot

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VERBIGERATE

PRONUNCIATION: (vuhr-BIJ-uh-rayt)

MEANING: verb intr.: To obsessively repeat meaningless words and phrases.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin verbigerare (to talk, chat), from verbum (word) + gerere (to carry on). Earliest documented use: 1656.
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VERBIGERA TEA - a soothing brew made from the bark of verbigera trees

VERBIAGE RATE - number of meaningless words/phrases per minute

VERB ICE-RATE - refrigeration fee (new word, gaining popularity since Global Warming became an issue.)

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RECREANT

PRONUNCIATION: (REK-ree-uhnt)

MEANING: adjective: 1. Unfaithful to a cause, duty, person, belief, etc.
2. Cowardly.
noun: 1. A disloyal person.
2. A coward.

ETYMOLOGY: From Old French recreant, present participle of recroire (to yield, to surrender allegiance), from Latin recredere (to yield or pledge), from re- + credere (to believe). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kerd- (heart), which also gave us cardiac, cordial, courage, record, concord, discord, credit, credo, and accord. Earliest documented use: 1330.
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RECREDANT - someone whose credentials were just validated again

RECUREANT - the disease is gone once more

PRECREANT - before even being thought of

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FANCY-PANTS

PRONUNCIATION: (FAN-see-pants)

MEANING: noun: Someone attractive, silly, or pretentious.
adjective: Snobbish; pretentious; newfangled; overly complicated.

ETYMOLOGY: From fancy, a contraction of fantasy, from Old French fantasie, from Latin phantasia, from Greek phantasia (imagination, appearance), from phantazein (to make visible) + pants, short for pantaloons, plural of pantaloon. St. Pantaleone/Pantalone was a popular saint in Venice. As a result, it was also a common name among the Venetians. As a result, a comic character in the Italian commedia dell’arte was named Pantalone. The leggings this character wore became known as pantalone (plural pantaloni). And that became pantaloons in English. Earliest documented use: 1870. A related word is smarty-pants.
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FANCY-PANES - stained-glass window

FANCY-PAINTS - fine art

FANNY-PANTS - very tight shorts

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SHIRTSLEEVE

PRONUNCIATION: (SHUHRT-sleev)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Relating to pleasant warm weather.
2. Informal; direct.
3. Hardworking; having a can-do attitude.

ETYMOLOGY: From the idea of rolling up the sleeves of one’s shirt in warm weather, in an informal setting, or in preparation to get down to work. Could also be from the idea of simply wearing a shirt, without a formal coat. From shirt, from Old English scyrte + sleeve, from Old English sliefe. Earliest documented use: 1567.
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SHIFTSLEEVE - the arm covering attached to a dress that falls straight down from the shoulders

SHIRT-SALE EVE - the night before the haberdashery reduced its prices

SHIRE SLEEVE - a specific cut of clothing worn in Bilbo Baggins' homeland

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TROUSER ROLE

PRONUNCIATION: (TROU-zuhr rohl)

MEANING: noun: In opera, drama, film, etc.:
1. A role in which a female character pretends to be a male.
2. A male part played by a female actor.
Also known as a breeches role or a pants role.

ETYMOLOGY: From the traditional view of trousers as male clothing. From an alteration of earlier trouse, from Scottish Gaelic triubhas, influenced by drawers. Earliest documented use: 1955.
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TROUSER POLE - a rod stuck into the wall to hang your pants on after removal

TARO USER ROLE - a part in a play involving a Hawaiian chef

TROUSER ROPE - last resort when your belt breaks

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BROWNSHIRT

PRONUNCIATION: (BRAUN-shuhrt)

MEANING: noun: A member of police or military trained for carrying out a sudden assault, especially one marked by brutality and violence.

ETYMOLOGY: After Nazi storm troopers, from the color of their shirts. Earliest documented use: 1932.
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BRAWN SHIRT - with cutoff sleeves to show off your bod

GROWN SHIRT - made completely from organic cotton

BROWNSHIRE - severe drought in Hobbit country

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SEAT-OF-THE-PANTS

PRONUNCIATION: (see-tuhv-thuh-PANTS)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Using experience, instinct, or guesswork as opposed to methodical planning.
2. Done without instruments.

ETYMOLOGY: The term has its origin in aviation. Before modern instruments, a pilot flew a plane based on how it felt. For example, in fog or clouds, in the absence of instrumentation one could tell whether the plane was climbing or diving by how heavy one feels in the seat. Seat of the pants is the area where one sits, i.e. the buttocks. Earliest documented use: 1929.
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SEAT-OFF-THE-PANTS - what you do with your Doctor Dentins to use the toilet

SEAN-OF-THE-PANTS - saga of a plucky Irish tailor; also known as "Seven-with-One-Blow"

SEAT-OF-THE-RANTS - long-since-forgotten childhood trauma that is the source of explosive outbursts of anger in later life

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