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 72 of 101 1 2 70 71 72 73 74 100 101
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
SPIV

PRONUNCIATION: (spiv)

MEANING: noun: An unscrupulous person or a petty criminal, especially one who is sharply dressed.
verb intr.: To make a living unscrupulously.
___________________________

SHIV a small knife used by a petty criminal

SHTV - use the Mute button on a television set

SPID - went too fast and skidded

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
RIVE

PRONUNCIATION: (ryv)

MEANING: verb tr.: To tear, split, fracture, etc.
verb intr.: To become split or cracked.

ETYMOLOGY: From Old Norse rifa (to tear apart). Earliest documented use: 1250.
_______________________________

RIVER - one who cracks

ROVE - used to crack

DRIVE - chief design officer (CDO) of Apple Inc. (from 1997 until 2019) after he was awarded an honorary doctorate

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
IDIOLATRY

PRONUNCIATION: (i-di-OL-uh-tree)

MEANING: noun: Self worship.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek idio- (one’s own, personal) + -latry (worship). Earliest documented use: 1626. A synonym is autolatry.
________________________________

IDI-OLATRY - glorifying the former head of Uganda

INDIOLATRY - diehard NASCAR racing fanatic

I DIOL AUTRY - What do I do when I want to talk to Trigger?

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
CYNANTHROPY

PRONUNCIATION: si-NAN-thruh-pee)

MEANING: noun: A delusion in which one believes oneself to be a dog.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek kyon (dog) + -anthropy (human). Earliest documented use: 1594.
______________________________

CYANTHROPY - believing to b one of Burton Rouché's Eleven Blue Men

CYGNANTHROPY - believing to be an Ugly Duckling (actually, a baby swan)a

MY ANTHROPY - a child pioneer in Nebraska at the end of the Nineteenth Century
_____________________________________________

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
BOLT-HOLE

PRONUNCIATION: (BOLT-hol)

MEANING: noun:
1. A place of escape, hiding, or seclusion.
2. A hole through which to escape when in danger.

ETYMOLOGY: From bolt + hole, from Old English bolt (a heavy arrow) + Old English hol (hole, cave). Earliest documented use: 1851.
_____________________________________

BOLT HOME - what the third-base runner does on a passed ball

DOLT-HOLE - alternative to a dunce cap on the three-legged stool in the corner

BOLE-HOLE - where you hang the bucket after tapping the sugar maple tree

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
HYPERACUSIS

PRONUNCIATION: (hy-puhr-uh-KYOO-sis)

MEANING: noun: A heightened sensitivity to sounds.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek hyper- (over) + acousis (hearing). Earliest documented use: 1825.
_______________________________

HYPERACUSS - a very special swear word

HYPER-ACCUSIS - "But her e-mails!..."

HOPE-RACUSIS - how we wished the Clarence Thomas affair had worked out (alas, in vain)

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
SUEDE-SHOED

PRONUNCIATION: (SWAYD-shood)

MEANING: adjective: Affecting smartness and respectability.

ETYMOLOGY: From the perceived preference of suede shoes by people supposedly smart and respectable. From suede (a soft leather), from French gants de Suède (Swedish gloves). Later the word suede was applied to the material, instead of the country. Earliest documented use: 1936. Also see white-shoe.
_________________________________

SUED-SHOED - obtained a warrant against the person with the boots

SUE, DE-SHOD - yes and they took off her high heels, too

SUE DE-SHOWED - she took down the racy web images

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
SABOTEUR

PRONUNCIATION: (sab-uh-TUHR)

MEANING: noun: One who disrupts, damages, or destroys, especially in an underhanded manner.

ETYMOLOGY: From French saboter (to walk noisily, to botch), from sabot (wooden shoe). Earliest documented use: 1921.

NOTES: The popular story of disgruntled workers throwing their sabots into the machinery to jam it is not supported by evidence. Rather, it’s that the workers typically wore sabots.
___________________________

SAVOTEUR - a devotee of Gilbert & Sullivan, so named because of G&S' connection with the Savoy Theater in London

SABETEUR - one who knows (after Spanish ¿Quien sabe?, proposed source of Tonto's "Kemo Sabe")

SAMBOTEUR - habitual patron of a now-defunct restaurant chain (long considered politically incorrect)

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
WELL-HEELED

PRONUNCIATION: (wel-HEELD)

MEANING: adjective: Having plenty of money.

ETYMOLOGY: Alluding to a person who can easily afford to replace shoes often. Earliest documented use: 1871. The opposite is down-at-the-heel.
_________________________

WELL-HEEDED - paid attention when told "the first priority is a good water supply"

WELL-WHEELED - having enclosures for its wheels

WE'LL-SEE-LED - the CEO has a make-it-up-as-we-go-along attitude

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
(B)SNEAKERNET(/B)

PRONUNCIATION (SNEE-kuhr-net)

MEANING: noun: The transfer of electronic information by physically moving it storing it on a device and moving the device), instead of doing it over a computer network.

ETYMOLOGY: From sneaker (a shoe popular in everyday use) + net, alluding to someone carrying a disk, memory key, etc. from one computer to another. The shoes were called sneakers because their rubber soles made them very quiet. Earliest documented use: 1984.

__________________________________

Page 72 of 101 1 2 70 71 72 73 74 100 101

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,614
Members9,187
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Karin, JeffMackwood, artguitar, Jim_W, Rdbuffalo
9,187 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 132 guests, and 0 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
wofahulicodoc 10,735
tsuwm 10,542
LukeJavan8 9,933
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
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

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5