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ACACIA AVENUE
PRONUNCIATION: (uh-KAY-shuh AV-uh-nyoo)
MEANING: noun: The middle class.
ETYMOLOGY: After Acacia Avenue, a common name of streets in the UK. Earliest documented use: 1919.
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AFACIA AVENUE - unable to speak the name of the street
FACACIA AVENUE - a street in Rome named for it's signature bread dipped in a sauce of oil, garlic, and spices
ABA/CIA AVENUE - the place where the two organizations have a joint headquarters. I'm not authorized to tell you what they do there.
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ORPHEAN
PRONUNCIATION: (OR-fee-uhn, or-FEE-uhn)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Melodious.
2. Enchanting.
3. In the manner of Orpheus’s journey to the underworld.
ETYMOLOGY: After Orpheus, a musician, poet, and prophet in Greek mythology. His lyre-playing and singing could charm animals, trees, and even rocks. After his wife Eurydice, a nymph, died of a snakebite, he traveled to the underworld to bring her back. His music melted the heart of Hades, the god of the underworld, who allowed him to take his wife back on the condition that he not look back at her until they had reached the world of the living. They had almost made it when he looked back and lost her again. His mother Calliope/Kalliope has also given a word to the English language: calliopean. Earliest documented use: 1593.
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MORPHEAN - a Greek Odo
ORPHAN - parentless owner of Sandy, the dog who barks "Orph! Orph!"
ORCHEAN - 1. testicular; 2. played by several instruments in concert
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PROTEUS
PRONUNCIATION: PRO-tee-uhs, -tyoos)
MEANING: noun: One who can easily change appearance, form, character, principles, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: After Proteus, a sea god in Greek mythology, who could assume different forms. He got his name from Greek protos (first) as he was one of the earliest sea gods. Earliest documented use: 1528. The adjectival form is protean.
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PROTEANS- Odo again!
PROTEURS - professional amateurs (e.g. many college football players)
EROTEUS - a strip-tease artist
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EOLIAN or AEOLIAN
PRONUNCIATION: (ee-O-lee-uhn)
MEANING:adjective: Relating to or caused by the wind.
ETYMOLOGY: After Aeolus, god of the winds in Greek mythology. As keeper of the winds, he gave a bag containing winds to help with Odysseus’s sailing. Earliest documented use: 1546.
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EOSIAN - like a red dye
EYOLIAN - asinine, tailless and pessimistic
AEOLIGAN - a Greek thug or rowdy troublemaker
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PANDERER
PRONUNCIATION: (PAN-duhr-uhr)
MEANING: noun: One who caters to the base desires, whims, or prejudices of others.
ETYMOLOGY: After Pandarus, a Trojan warrior in Greek mythology. He was known for his skill in archery. In later accounts, such as Chaucer’s and Shakespeare’s, he acts as a go-between in the love affair of Troilus and Cressida. This resulted in his reputation as a procurer in the English language. Earliest documented use: 1826.
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WANDERER - an itinerant Magician
PANDORER - she who released all the evil in the world from a box in Boston
PANERER - a glazier specializing in double-paned windows
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CHIMERIC
PRONUNCIATION: (KY/KI-mer-ik)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Made up of parts that are very different.
2. Fanciful; imaginative; illusory.
ETYMOLOGY: After Chimera, a fire-breathing female monster in Greek mythology who had a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail. From Greek khimaira (she-goat), ultimately from the Indo-European root ghei- (winter), which also gave us chimera (literally, a female animal that is one winter, or one year old), hibernate, and the Himalayas, from Sanskrit him (snow) + alaya (abode). Earliest documented use: 1655.
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CRIME RIC - what they call Ricardo, the new Head of the Family
CHIME RICE - what they put into those lovely delicate-sounding maracas
CHUM ERIC - he's my best pal
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VERBIFY
PRONUNCIATION: (VUHR-buh-fy)
MEANING: verb tr.: To convert into a verb.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin verbum (word, verb). Earliest documented use: 1820.
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VERGIFY - to push to the edge
HERBIFY - fancy word for "to add seasoning"
OVERBIFY - having too many bifs
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PROPAROXYTONE
PRONUNCIATION: (pro-puh-ROK-si-tohn)
MEANING: adjective: Having stress on the third-from-the-last syllable.
noun: Such a word.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek proparoxytonos, from pro (before) + para (beside) + oxys (acute) + tonos (tone). Earliest documented use: 1764.
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PROPAROXYTENE - an antidepressant which is metabolized in the body to Paxil
PYRO-PAROXYTONE - a sudden sound of burning intensity
PRO-PROXYTONE - Management's language when they deliver their request for shareholder approval at the Annual Meeting
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ABSTRUSE
PRONUNCIATION: (ab-STROOS)
MEANING: adjective: Hard to understand; obscure.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin abstrudere (to hide), from ab- (away) + trudere (to push). Ultimately from the Indo-European root treud- (to squeeze), which also gave us extrude, intrude, threat, and thrust. Earliest documented use: 1549.
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ABS TRUSS - one way to deal with the hernia above our navel
ABS TRUST - ... I'll put money on how many sit-ups I can do!
ABUT RUSE - scam involving your next-door neighbor
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GRANDILOQUENT
PRONUNCIATION: (gran-DIL-uh-kwuhnt)
MEANING: adjective: High-flown or pompous.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin grandis (grand) + loqui (to speak). Ultimately from the Indo-European root tolkw- (to speak), which also gave us breviloquence, obloquy, pleniloquence, sialoquent, somniloquy, ventriloquism, loquacious, and allocution. Earliest documented use: 1592.
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GRAND ELOQUENT - thousand dollar fee for giving a speech
GRANDILO QUINT - Mr and Mrs Grandilo expected twins, not this!
GRENDILOQUENT - describing the Scandinavian bard who originally sung of Beowulf
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