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 81 of 101 1 2 79 80 81 82 83 100 101
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
PALLADIAN

PRONUNCIATION: (puh-LAY-dee-uhn)

MEANING: adjective: 1. Wise or learned.
2. Relating to wisdom, knowledge, or learning.
3. Of or relating to the classical architectural style of Andrea Palladio.

ETYMOLOGY: For 1 & 2: After Athena (also known as Pallas Athena), a goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology. Her name has also resulted in other words such as palladium and athenaeum. Earliest documented use: 1562.

For 3: After Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), Venetian architect. Earliest documented use: 1731.
________________________________

PALLAIDIAN - helping a buddy

BALLADAIAN - telling a story through song

PAULA DIAN - two girls' names popuiar in the Oughts

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

PRONUNCIATION: (GOH-muhr)

MEANING: noun:
1. A naive and inept trainee or worker.
2. An undesirable hospital patient, one who may be unpleasant, senile, or unresponsive to treatment.
3. A conical chamber used in guns and mortars.

ETYMOLOGY: For 1: Of unconfirmed origin, but likely after Gomer Pyle, a character in the television series The Andy Griffith Show, later in his own spin-off show Gomer Pyle, USMC, broadcast in the 1960s. Earliest documented use: 1967.

For 2: Most likely from the same origin as sense 1. It has been suggested that it’s an acronym for “Get Out of My Emergency Room”, but that may be a backronym (an acronym coined to explain a word that’s not actually an acronym). Earliest documented use: 1972.

For 3: After Louis-Gabriel de Gomer (1718-1798), French military officer who invented it. Earliest documented use: 1828.
_________________________________________

GNOMER - a hunter who specializes in small unpleasant garden critters

DOMER - circumlocution for "egghead" (an intellectual out of touch with the Real World)

GLOMER - a Scotsman who goes roamin' in the evening hours around sunset

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

PRONUNCIATION: (a-lig-ZAN-duhr)

MEANING: verb tr.:
1. To praise or flatter.
2. To hang someone.

ETYMOLOGY: For 1: After Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) of Macedon, who never lost a war and earned widespread renown for his victories. Earliest documented use: 1700.

For 2: After Jerome Alexander (1590-1670), English judge, who was disbarred in England for misconduct and moved to Ireland where he delighted in giving death sentences. Earliest documented use: 1666.
____________________________

ALEC AND 'ER - actor Guinness and his partner

ALEXA NUDER - just imagine: Amazon's desktop assistant with no clothes

ALEMANDER - someone who enjoys square dancing, left and right; often British

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

PRONUNCIATION: (HAYL MAYR-ee)

MEANING: noun: A last-ditch attempt, made in desperation, having little chance of success, but potentially resulting in a big payoff.

ETYMOLOGY: From Hail Mary, translation of Latin Ave Maria, the first two words of a prayer. Earliest documented use: 1930s.
__________________________________

FAIL MARY - what the teacher did in Care of Lambs class

HAIL MART - where you buy icy precipitation

HAIL CARY - Mr Grant gets some well-due accolades

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

PRONUNCIATION: (KING-pin)

MEANING: noun:
1. The most important person in an organization, especially one who is the head of a crime organization.
2. The tallest, foremost, or the central pin in an arrangement of bowling pins.
3. A main bolt, for example, a large vertical bolt in an axle of a vehicle.

ETYMOLOGY: From skittles, a lawn game involving pins that are toppled by a ball, the ancestor of modern bowling. Earliest documented use: 1773.
___________________________

KING-PING - the most recent arrival in the Panda zoo

DING PIN - fashion accessory with a dent in it

KING PUN - paranomastic equivalent of Monte Python's "Killer Joke"

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

PRONUNCIATION: (HWEEL-haus)

MEANING: noun:
1. An enclosed area on a boat or ship that houses the steering wheel.
2. In baseball, the area in which it’s easiest for the batter to hit the ball with the most power.
3. One’s area of interest or expertise.

ETYMOLOGY: The term has its origins in nautical lingo in which a wheelhouse is a synonym for a pilothouse. From water the term evolved to the land: in baseball, it’s an area of a batter’s greatest striking power. From there, the term took a broader sense. Earliest documented use: 1835.
__________________________________

WHEEL HOSE - device for firemen to use so their hoses don't get tangled

WHEEL-HORSE - equine used to power an early kind of mill

THE EL HOUSE - storage yard for Chicago public elevated-transit cars

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

PRONUNCIATION: (SNOO-kuhr)

MEANING: verb tr.: To cheat, dupe, trap, stymie, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: Snooker is a cue sport played on a billiards table. The origins of the name are lost to history. Snooker is also slang for a new cadet. The most popular story is that the word was used by a British army officer, Neville Chamberlain (not the future PM), commenting on a fellow officer’s sub-par performance at the pool table. In a game of snooker, the word is also used as a verb for leaving an opponent in a place such that it’s impossible to take a direct shot. This usage likely resulted in the general sense of the word. Earliest documented use: 1889
_________________________________________

SNO-POKER - gambling game, played with cards and ice-chips

SNOODER - plays the net position in doubles tennis

NOOKER - a small recess for a display shelf, only crannier

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

PRONUNCIATION:(JUHMP bawl) 

MEANING:noun:
1. A contest too close to call.
2. An undecided situation or one with no preference.

ETYMOLOGY: From the game of basketball in which, to begin or to resume play, an official throws a ball up between two opponents. Earliest documented use: 1924.
___________________

JUMP Y'ALL - Fort Polk (LA) Drill Sergeant's command

DUMP BALL - proposed slogan of a campaign to discredit Lucy during the height of the McCarthy craze

SUMP BALL - the mechanism that triggers the device that empties water from your basement

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,735
Likes: 2
BALONEY or BOLONEY

PRONUNCIATION: (buh-LOH-nee)

MEANING: noun: Nonsense, such as foolish, deceptive, or pretentious talk.

ETYMOLOGY: From respelling of bologna (pronounced buh-LOH-nee), a kind of seasoned sausage, from the Italian city of Bologna (buh-LON-yuh; in Italian: bo-lo-nyah). Earliest documented use: 1928.
______________________

BALOONEY - light, tending to float away (or at least waft in the breeze)

BOONEY - the hinterlands (fr. bunduk, a remote mountain)

BALCONEY - a rabbit or hyrax that lives on your apartment terrace

Joined: May 2023
Posts: 1
T
stranger
Offline
stranger
T
Joined: May 2023
Posts: 1
Regarding PRECOCIOUS, at what age does one become cocious? When does cocious end and postcocious begin?

Page 81 of 101 1 2 79 80 81 82 83 100 101

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 (), 112 guests, and 1 robot.
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