(continued from
here, after 1,000+ posts!)
=======================
HEIGHTISMPRONUNCIATION: (HY-tiz-uhm)
MEANING: noun: Discrimination based on height, especially the unfair treatment of people who are short.
ETYMOLOGY: Coined by sociologist Saul Feldman, from height, from Old English hehthu (height), from heah (high). Earliest documented use: 1971.
_______________________________
HIGHTISM - discrimination based on one's name (obsolete)
EIGHTISM - requirement that all mathematical statements shall be in Base 8
EIGHTISM (2) - monetary system based on the old Spanish dollar (
real de ocho) and its parts; "two bits" = a quarter = 25 ¢
HEIGHTIST - synonym of aerialist, high-wire artist
THEOPHORIC
PRONUNCIATION: (thee-uh/oh-FOR-ik)
MEANING: adjective: Having or derived from the name of a god.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek theo- (god) + -phoric (bearing). Earliest documented use: 1891.
___________________________
THEOPHOTIC - taking a picture of God
THEOCHORIC - singing God's praises (see also THEOPHONIC)
THEOPHORIC - I feel like a cup of tea
EKPHRASIS
PRONUNCIATION: (EK-fruh-sis)
MEANING: noun: A description of or commentary on a work of visual art.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ecphrasis, from Greek ekphrasis (description), from ek (ex-, out) + phrazein (to explain). Earliest documented use: 1632.
____________________________
ELK PHRASIS - the Sayings of the BPOE
EKPHASIS - the opposite of EMPHASIS
EEKPHRASIS - mouse-aphobia
DIEGETIC
PRONUNCIATION: (dy-uh-JET-ik)
MEANING: adjective: Happening inside a story.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek diegesis (narrative). Earliest documented use: 1970.
_________________________
DIE AGE-TIC - in Berlin, the twitch in your eyelid that comes with growing oder
DI-ERGETIC - producing twice as much energy
DYE-GET, I.C. - an international company that produces and markets hair coloring
YESTERWEEK
PRONUNCIATION: (YES-tuhr-week)
MEANING: noun: Last week.
adverb: During last week.
ETYMOLOGY: From yester- (a time one period before the present one), from Old English giestran (previous day) + week, from Old English wice (week). Earliest documented use: 1830.
__________________________
HESTERWEEK - the seven-day period when aficionados get together to re-read The Scarlet Letter.
EYES, TERWEEK! - Mr Terweek, copying answers from your neighbors' test papers is not permitted
YESTERWEED - a strain of marijuana so strong you're stoned for even before you use it
TZIMMES or TSIMMES
PRONUNCIATION: (TSIM-is/uhs)
MEANING: noun:
1. Fuss; confusion.
2. A stew of fruits and vegetables, and sometimes meat.
ETYMOLOGY: From Yiddish tsimes (stew). Earliest documented use: 1892.
______________________________
T. ZIMMER - less-known younger brother of the guy who replaced Jackie Robinson at 2nd Base
TO "I'M ME!"S - toasting the victims of identity theft
TRIMMES - modest haircuts at the Olde Barber Shoppe
GRAVY TRAIN
PRONUNCIATION: (GRAY-vee trayn)
MEANING: noun: A situation offering a lot of money or benefits for little work.
ETYMOLOGY: The word gravy has been used for easily acquired money. Eventually it began to be used in the phrase: to ride the gravy train. Earliest documented use: 1895. See also sinecure.
____________________________
GRAVY TO RAIN - a task just a bit easier than turning wine into water
GRAVY STRAIN - taking the solids out of the drippings from roast turkey
GRAVY TRAIL - what Hansel and Gretel left after their father struck it rich and they ate roast beef instead of bread
COLD TURKEY
PRONUNCIATION: (KOLD TUHR-kee)
MEANING: noun: 1. An abrupt and complete withdrawal, especially from an addiction.
2. A frank and direct expression of views.
adjective: Abrupt and complete.
adverb: Abruptly.
verb tr., intr.: To abruptly and completely withdraw, especially from something addictive.
ETYMOLOGY: Apparently from the serving of cold roast turkey which requires no preparation. Earliest documented use: 1921.
_________________________
OLD TURKEY - brand of cheap bourbon
COLA, TURKEY ! - Ya want root beer with that, fella?
COLD TURNKEY - even the guards wear a coat in that cheap Duke's dungeon
NOTHINGBURGER
PRONUNCIATION: (NUH-thing-buhr-guhr)
MEANING: noun: Someone or something that turns out to be inconsequential.
ETYMOLOGY: From the metaphorical use of a burger missing a patty. Coined by Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons. Earliest documented use: 1942.
_______________________________
NOT-HUNG BURGER - portrait of a bourgeois town resident that isn't yet up on the wall
BOTH IN G-BURG E.R. - the two of them have been taken to the city Emergency Room in Gettysburg
NO THINK! BURGER!! - Cookie Monster's cousin Hammie M. has no trouble deciding what to order at Macdonald's
PLAIN VANILLA
PRONUNCIATION: (PLAYN vuh-NIL-uh)
MEANING: adjective: The basic, plain, or bland.
ETYMOLOGY: From plain + vanilla, from Spanish vainilla (little pod), from vaina (sheath), from Latin vaginα (sheath) + -illa (diminutive suffix). Earliest documented use: 1942.
NOTES:
Once vanillin, the organic compound that gives vanilla its flavor, was synthesized, it became cheap to use vanilla flavor. It became the default flavor of ice-cream and soon the term was used for anything basic, unadorned, without any extras.
_______________________________
PLAIN MANILLA - a simple unadorned Philippine city
SWAIN VANILLA - an uunremarkable, ordinary-loooking, but dependable suitor
PLAID VANILLA - a sweet Scottish dessert flavor
REPTILIAN
PRONUNCIATION: (rep-TIL-ee-uhn, -TIL-yuhn)
MEANING.
adjective:
1. Contemptible.
2. Treacherous.
3. Like a reptile.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin reptile, from repere (to creep). Earliest documented use: 1835.
_____________________________
SEPTILIAN - a one followed by about a gazlllon zeroes (or maybe only 21)
REPTILICAN - inhabitant of the country of Reptilica
RETILIAN - someone who favors redoing the bathroom down to the grout
eager beaver
PRONUNCIATION:
/(ee-guhr BEE-vuhr)
MEANING: noun: One who is enthusiastic and hard-working, sometimes to the point of being overzealous.
ETYMOLOGY: From eager, from Old French egre, from Latin acer (sharp) + beaver, from Old English beofor. Earliest documented use: 1942.
___________________________________
EAGER BEAVER
PRONUNCIATION: (ee-guhr BEE-vuhr)
MEANING: noun: One who is enthusiastic and hard-working, sometimes to the point of being overzealous.
ETYMOLOGY: From eager, from Old French egre, from Latin acer (sharp) + beaver, from Old English beofor. Earliest documented use: 1942
_____________________________
EAGLER BEAVER - a swimming toothed rodent who hunts raptors
EAGER BEATER - a gung-ho Quiddich player with a paddle
EAGER SEAVER - Tom can't wait for his next turn to pitch
TESTUDAL
PRONUNCIATION: testudinal
PRONUNCIATION: (tes-TOOD/TYOOD-i-nuhl)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Slow.
2. Arched.
3. Old.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin testudo (tortoise). Earliest documented use: 1823.
___________________________________
TEST U, DAN'L? - before you go into the Lion's Den, we should see whether you're coming down with COVID-19
TEST URAL - assay the earth from the euro-asian mountains
UTES-'TUDAL - really dislikes the Southwestern Indians
WEASEL
PRONUNCIATION: (WEE-zuhl)
MEANING: noun: 1. Any of various small slender carnivorous mammals of the genus Mustela.
2. A sneaky, cunning person.
verb intr.: 1. To evade an obligation.
2. To be evasive by using ambiguous or misleading words.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old English wesule. Earliest documented use: c. 450 CE.
_________________________
WHEASEL - have a mild attack of asthma
WE, ABEL - Adam's son has a split personality
WEAK SEL - this Parisian salt has no flavor
BIG FISH
PRONUNCIATION: (big fish)
MEANING: noun: An important person or entity.
ETYMOLOGY: From big, perhaps of Scandinavian origin + fish, from Old English fisc (fish). Earliest documented use: 1827.
__________________________________
I.G. FISH - the Inspector General in charge of seafood
BIG GISH - Lillian's put on a lot of weight since her acting days, hasn't she
BIG FIST - adapted from Theodore Roosevelt: what you may need to carry if you don't have a stick but still you want to speak softly
BRIDEWELL
PRONUNCIATION: (BRYD-wel)
MEANING: noun: A prison.
ETYMOLOGY: Originally it was a well, named for St. Bride (or Brigid) in London. The name St. Bride’s Well became Bridewell. Over time, the site has served as a church, a palace, an orphanage, a hospital, and finally, gained notoriety as a prison. Earliest documented use: 1583.
_____________________________
BRIDGEWELL - what you have to play to be a Life Master
RIDEWELL - desirable quality for a horse at a Dude Ranch
BRIDE WEILL - generic way to refer to Lotte Lenya immediately after she married Kurt
GULAG
PRONUNCIATION: (GOO-lahg)
MEANING: noun:
1. The system of forced labor camps in the former Soviet Union.
2. Any prison or forced labor camp, especially one for political prisoners.
3. A place of great hardship.
ETYMOLOGY: From Russian Gulag, acronym from Glavnoe Upravlenie ispravitel’no-trudovykh LAGerei (Chief Administration for Corrective Labor Camps). Earliest documented use: 1946.
__________________________
G. SLAG - seventh on a list of by-products of the production of iron from ore
GAUL A.G. - the Attorney General of ancient France
GUY-LAG - men can take a little longer to understand things sometimes
CALABOOSE
PRONUNCIATION: (KAL-uh-boos)
MEANING: noun: A prison.
ETYMOLOGY: From Louisiana French calabouse, from Spanish calabozo (dungeon), from Latin calafodium, from fodere (to dig). Earliest documented use: 1797. Another Spanish word for a prison that has become part of the English language is hoosegow.
________________________
CA. LA BOSE - high quality speakers made near Louisiana
CALLABOOSE - the lily display was rudely heckled
CA. LAB OOZE - my place in UCLA just synthesized Slime
PANOPTICON
PRONUNCIATION: (pan-OP-ti-kon, puh-NAHP-ti-kahn)
MEANING: noun:
1. A circular prison with a watchtower in the center so that any inmate can be observed from a single point.
2. A place marked by constant surveillance.
ETYMOLOGY: The design of such a prison was proposed by the utilitarian and philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1787. From Greek pan (all) + optikon (sight, seeing). Earliest documented use: 1787.
________________________
ANOPTICON - a magnifying device with no lenses in it (per Isaac Asimov)
PA? NO PAT ICON - when the states each selected a logo, Pennsylvania couldn't decide what theirs should be
PAIN-OPTICON - my hearing aids hurt my ears
LOB'S POUND
PRONUNCIATION: (LOBZ pound or lobz POUND)
MEANING: noun:
1. Prison.
2. Difficulty.
3. Entanglement.
ETYMOLOGY: From lob (a bumpkin, lout) + pound (enclosure). Earliest documented use: 1597.
________________________________
LAB'S POUND - animal shelter that admits only Labrador Retrievers
LOB'S POND - fishing hole out in the country
LOEB'S POUND - one-man show about the modernist American poet, commissioned by the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA
ALIBLE
PRONUNCIATION: (AL-uh-buhl)
MEANING: adjective: Nutritious; nourishing.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin alere (to nourish). Ultimately from the Indo-European root al- (to grow or to nourish), which also gave us adolescent, adult, old, alumnus, altitude, enhance, coalesce, prolific, altricial, adolesce, hauteur, and palimony. Earliest documented use: 1653.
_______________________________
FALIBLE - capable of making misstakes
ALIBLED - what happened when the boxer sustained a cut
ALL-BLÉ - nothing but locally-grown flour in our French bread
FULGURANT
PRONUNCIATION: (FUHL/FULL-guh-ruhnt)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Flashing like lightning.
2. Brilliant.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin fulgurate (to flash), from fulgor (brightness), from fulgere (to shine). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhel- (to shine or burn), which also gave us blaze, blank, blond, bleach, blanket, flame, refulgent , fulminate, and effulgent. Earliest documented use: 1611.
__________________________
FULGRANT - a generous scholarship from the US government to fund "educational exchange" for US citizens to study abroad, and foreign students to do research here, at many levels of post-graduate study; it was begun after World War II after being proposed by Senator J. William Fulbright.
FULGURANTE - what you need to join a red-hot poker game
FUGURANT - capable of being developed into a many-voiced musical composition; Johann Sebastian Bach was a master of this type of composition
ANFRACTUOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (an-FRAK-choo-uhs)
MEANING: adjective: Full of twists and turns.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin anfractus (winding), from an- (around) + fractus, past participle of frangere (to break). Earliest documented use: 1425.
____________________________
ANFRANCTUOUS - like the diary of a young girl caught up with her family in a catastrophic situation beyond her control
ANFRACTIOUS - not unruly, quarrelsome, testy
ANFRACTUOUS - never looking similar, no matter how much the scale is magnifed or reduced
HELlOTROPIC
PRONUNCIATION: (hee-lee-uh-TROP-ik, -TROH-pik)
MEANING: adjective: Turning toward the sun or the light.
ETYMOLOGY: from Greek helio- (sun) + -tropic (turning). Earliest documented use: 1875.
________________________
HELlCOTROPIC - attracted to screwing
HELLOTROPIC - tending to turn to face those who greet you
ELlOT RO PIC - a photographic image created by Mr. E. Ro
HE-LlON TROPIC - preferring the lion with the best mane
ANTELUCAN
PRONUNCIATION: (an-tuh-LOO-kuhn)
MEANING: adjective: Before dawn.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ante- (before) + lux (light). Earliest documented use: 1609.
_____________________________
INTEL-U-CAN ! - motivational slogan for a chip-maker
TANTE LUCAN - my mother's sister from Berlin
ANTE-LUCAS - that would be Hollywood before 1977 and the release of Star Wars (His American Graffiti had come out in 1973, but that doesn't count)
TERGIVERSATE
PRONUNCIATION: (tuhr-JIV-uhr-sayt, TUHR-juh-vuhr-sayt)
MEANING:
verb intr.:
1. To evade or to equivocate.
2. To change one’s loyalties.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin tergiversari (to turn one’s back), from tergum (back) + vertere (to turn). Earliest documented use: 1654.
____________________________
HER GIVER'S ATE - a way of assigning an estimate to how she responds to fund-raising appeals
FERGIVER SATE - ran outa patience with this kind of behavior
TERGID VERSATE - producing bulging, ready-to-pop poetry
LOGGERHEAD
PRONUNCIATION: (LOG-uhr-hed)
MEANING: noun:
1. A blockhead: a dull or slow-witted person.
2. A loggerhead turtle.
ETYMOLOGY: From dialectal logger (block of wood) + head, from Old English heafod (top of the body). Earliest documented use: 1595.
_______________________________
LODGERHEAD - where the residents of the boarding house meet their bathroom needs
LONGERHEAD - one way to differentiate among hammers
LOGGER HEAR - how he knows to get out of the way when a tree is falling
HOUGH
PRONUNCIATION: (hok)
MEANING: verb tr.: To cripple, disable, or to make ineffective.
noun: The joint in the hind leg of a quadruped animal such as a horse, equivalent to the ankle in a human.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old English hoh (heel). Earliest documented use: 1400.
__________________________
HOUSH - a drunk's residence
PHO: UGH! - I don't like that Vietnamese soup
HAUGH - a pugnacious air of superiority; if you have it you are "haughty"
ANTIFRACTIOUS - holding together, like the strong nuclear force
ANTIFACTIOUS - dogmatic and untrue
ANAFRACTIOUS - breaking up (opposite of catafractious, breaking down)
MERGIVERSATE - to summarize a chapter of the Bible
DIRGIVERSATE - to write elegiac poetry
TERGIVELATE - wearing a veil on one's back
HOUGH HAI - Oh yes (an archaic dialect form of Och aye, pronounced the same)
O'HUGH - former derogatory term for a person of mixed Irish and Norman descent
HOUGHNUT - slang English term for a Huguenot (rhymes with 'doughnut')
HOUGH HOUGH HOUGH - Santa's cry (a pretentious literary spelling of 'Ho ho ho')
MIDDLEBROW
PRONUNCIATION: (MID-uhl-brou)
MEANING: adjective: 1. (describing a person) Having tastes and interests that lie somewhere between sophisticated and vulgar.
2. (describing a work of art) Neither sophisticated nor vulgar.
noun: A person who has conventional tastes and interests.
ETYMOLOGY: Formed on the pattern of highbrow and lowbrow. From middle, from Old English middel (middle) + bru (brow). Earliest documented use: 1912.
____________________________
MUDDLEBROW - an eyebrow raised only part way because you're only slightly puzzled
MIDDLEBREW - beer that has been decanted halfway through the fermentation process
MIDDLE-FROW - second German wife out of three
FOOTLOOSE
PRONUNCIATION: (FUUT-loos)
MEANING: adjective: Free to go or do as one pleases without concerns or commitments.
ETYMOLOGY: From foot, from Old English fot (foot) + loose, from Old Norse laus (loose). Earliest documented use: 1650.
_________________________
FORTLOOSE - military installation near Tacoma, Washington
AFOOT; LOOSE - pair of synonyms for "roaming free and untrammeled"
FONTLOOSE - the result of not spacing your type so all the lines on the composing stick are the same length. It's unfortunately easy to pie your type in this situation...
DOGFOOD
PRONUNCIATION: (DOG-food)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To test a company’s product by having its employees use it in their regular workday.
ETYMOLOGY: From dog + food. The origins of the term are disputed. Earliest documented use: 1996.
___________________________
DIGFOOD - beets and other root crops, grubs, peanuts, potatoes, truffles, and any of a number of other edibles that grow undergrounnd
HOGFOOD - "What's that slop you're eating?" said Ralph Kramden to Ed Norton
DOG.FOO - an experimental dog for beta-testing; can be altered for development while original remains as archival copy
DOT-CONNECT
PRONUNCIATION: (DOT-kuh-nekt)
MEANING: verb intr.: To make connections between different pieces of information in order to reach a conclusion.
ETYMOLOGY: From the expression “to connect the dots”. From puzzles in which a line is drawn between a sequence of numbered dots to reveal a picture. From dot, of uncertain origin + connect, from Latin connectere (to join together). Earliest documented use: 2003.
_____________________
DON'T-CONNECT - two or more things that should not be juxtaposed lest dire consequences follow
DOC-CONNECT - to reach an actual physician
DOT-CONVECT - to float gently but randomly in the sunlight, llke dust particles
CROWDFUNDPRONUNCIATION: (KRAUD-fuhnd)
MEANING: verb tr.: To fund a project by raising money from a large number of people, mostly strangers and usually via the Internet.
ETYMOLOGY: From crowd, from cruden (to press, to hurry) + fund, from Latin fundus (bottom, estate). Earliest documented use: 2008.
________________________
CROW-FUND - ask random people for money for the benefit of Corvids
CROWD-FOUND - raise a mob
CROWN-FUND - see
Morton's Fork
NEURODIVERGENCE
PRONUNCIATION: (nyoor-oh-duh/dy-VUHR-juhns)
MEANING: noun: The diversity of brain function, encompassing variations from what is considered typical.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek neuro (nerve) + divergence, from Latin di-/dis- (apart), from Latin vergere (to bend). Earliest documented use: 2013.
NOTES: Neurodivergence includes conditions like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and others. It underscores that there is no single “normal” way the brain functions. The opposite of neurodivergent is neurotypical.
_______________________
NEURODIVENGENCE - retaliating against your subconscious
NEUTRODIVERGENCE - getting your ass in gear
EURODIVERGENCE - fragmentation in the EC.
DEEPFAKE
deepfake
PRONUNCIATION: (DEEP-fayk)
MEANING: noun: Digitally manipulated images, video, or audio that make someone appear to do or say something they did not.
ETYMOLOGY: A combination of deep learning + fake. Coined by a user of the Reddit website. Earliest documented use: 2017.
______________________
DEEPLAKE - Lake Mead
BEEPFAKE - when the driver behind you honks the horn and pulls out to go around you, but doesn't speed up enough to pass
KEEP FAKE - I know it's counterfeit but I still want to retain it for myself
MIDDLESOW - pig in the middle
MIDDLEBOW - the viola player in a string trio or quartet
FIDDLEBROW - the bridge on a violin
FOOTHOSE - socks
FOOLHOOSE - old Scottish term for a lunatic asylum
FOOTMOUSSE - ointment used in chiropody
HOT-CONNECT - to weld
SOT CONNECT - dating agency for alcoholics
DOT-CORRECT - to be a stickler for accuracy and detail
NEURODETERGENCE - brainwashing
NEUTRODIVERGENCE - a mutation that is neither beneficial nor harmful
NUCLEODIVERGENCE - the difference between isotopes of a chemical element
ADAGE
PRONUNCIATION: (AD-ij)
MEANING: noun: A general truth conveyed succinctly and often metaphorically.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ad- (to) + aio (I say). Earliest documented use: 1530.
________________________________
ADOGE - Venetian nobleman and head of state
A.D. AGE - the Christian Era
ADDAGE - what kids do on their fake ID
ACCEDE
PRONUNCIATION: (ak-SEED)
MEANING: verb intr.
1. To agree to a request, proposal, or demand, especially at the insistence of someone.
2. To assume a high office, such as a throne.
3. To become a party to an agreement, treaty, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ad- (to) + cedere (to yield). Earliest documented use: 1465.
________________________
ACEDE - what grows into aplant
TACCEDE - rolled down to the end of the runway prior to takeoff
ACC ODE - a poem extolling the benefits of the American College of Cardiology
EFFACE
PRONUNCIATION: (i-FAYS)
MEANING: verb tr.: To erase or to make inconspicuous.
ETYMOLOGY: From French effacer, from Latin ex- (out, away) + facies (face). Earliest documented use: 1490.
____________________
EFFARE (1) - paying for passage on public transportation with your smartphone
EFFARE (2) - a clandestine sexual relationship
LEF-FACE - a command from your drill sergeant
FACADE
PRONUNCIATION: (fuh-SAHD)
MEANING: noun:
1. The front of a building or a side facing a street or a public space.
2. The front part of something.
3. A false or superficial appearance.
ETYMOLOGY:
From French façade, from Italian facciata, from faccia (face), from Latin facia (face), from facies (face). Earliest documented use: 1656.
__________________________
FICADE - a deduction from your wages to pay for for future Social Security Retirement benefits
FARÇADE - a tongue-in-cheek representation, intended not to be taken seriously
FACTADE - an enzyme supplement that may make unpleasant truths easier to swallow
BEACHHEAD
PRONUNCIATION: (BEECH-hed)
MEANING: noun:
1. An area of the shore secured by an advancing military force from which to advance further inland.
2. A foothold opening the way for further advance.
ETYMOLOGY: From beach, of unknown origin + Old English heafod (top of the body). Earliest documented use: 1920.
________________________________
REACH HEAD - I managed to get to the outhouse
BEACH-HEAL - what you long for after you burn your feet on the hot sand
BE ACTH HEAD - Cushingoid facies from a pituitary tumor
FANCADE - parade of a victorious football team showing the Cup to their supporters
FACILADE - simplified version of a classic literary work
FANCYADE - upmarket drink made from a blend of exotic fruit juices
BLEACHHEAD - to brainwash (as in NEURODETERGENCE)
EACHHEAD - per capita
BEACHYHEAD - geographical feature similar to the well-known cliff on the south coast of England
BREACHHEAD - medieval spiked club
BEACHHEAD - Gaelic transliteration of 'behead'.
WHELM
PRONUNCIATION: (hwelm, welm)
MEANING: verb tr.: 1. To submerge.
2. To overcome; overwhelm.
noun: An overwhelming or engulfing quantity of something.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old English hwelman. Earliest documented use: verb 1300, noun 1576.
___________________________
CHELM - literary middle-European city inhabited by innocent but well meaning dummies
WHY ELM? - Can't anywhere else be the site of nightmares?
WHEEL M - the thirteenth part of a complicated gadget drawn by Rube Goldberg
KNEECAP
PRONUNCIATION: (NEE-kap)
MEANING: noun: A small, flat, triangular bone that covers the front of the knee.
verb tr.: 1. To attack the knee as a way to cripple someone.
2. To undermine or disable, especially in an excessive manner.
ETYMOLOGY: From knee, from Old English cneow + cap, from Old English caeppe, from Latin cappa (cap). Earliest documented use: noun: 1660, verb: 1975. Also see hough and hamstring.
___________________________
KNEE CAPP - the middle joint on Li'l Abner's legs
KNEE CHAP - how you disable an assailant in the seedier parts of London
KNEE "C" APP - a small smartphone program that enables your third knee
GEGG
PRONUNCIATION: (geg)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To play a hoax or practical joke.
noun: A trick or practical joke.
ETYMOLOGY: Of Scottish origin. Earliest documented use: verb: 1826, noun: 1855.
___________________________
GREGG - a common school of transcribing Shorthand [Pitman being the other]
GENG - past tense of Scottish "gang", as in "the best-laid plans...geng aft agley"
GEGI - what comes around goes around ("garbage egress, garbage ingress")
T-BONE
PRONUNCIATION: (TEE-bohn)
MEANING: verb tr.: To collide with the side of, especially referring to a vehicle. Also known as broadside.
noun: 1. A collision of this kind.
2. A cut of meat with a T-shaped bone.
ETYMOLOGY: From the shape of the T-shaped bone. Earliest documented use: literal: 1916, metaphorical: noun: 1938, verb: 1968
______________________________
dB-ONE - a brand of commercial amplifier
TB. CONE - a device for the protection of medical workers who might be exposed to tuberculosis patients
T-BORNE - carried by the Metropolitan Transit Authority
MANICURE
PRONUNCIATION: (MAN-i-kyoor)
MEANING: noun: A cosmetic treatment of a person’s hands, especially the nails.
verb tr., intr.: 1. To take care of the hands and fingernails.
2. To groom in a meticulous manner.
ETYMOLOGY: From French manicure (now manucure), from Latin manus (hand) + cura (care). Earliest documented use: noun: 1866, verb: 1893.
_____________________________
MAGICURE - a panacea that stopped off on Madison Avenue
PANICURE - it's used to calm a frightened mob
MANICURVE - any of several serpentine roads along the California shoreline - you gotta be crazy to drive on them
UMBRA
PRONUNCIATION: (UHM-bruh)
MEANING: noun:
1. Shade; shadow.
2. The darkest inner part of a shadow, as during an eclipse.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin umbra (shade, shadow). Earliest documented use: 1601. Some other words coined from the same Latin root are bumbershoot, umbriferous, umber, adumbrate, and umbrage.
__________________________
JUMBRA - extra-large brassiere
UM, BREA - it's tar, I think
DUMB RA - stupid Sun God !
OCCULTATION
PRONUNCIATION: (ah-kuhl-TAY-shuhn)
MEANING: noun:
1. The state of being hidden or blocked.
2. The passage of a celestial object in front of another, hiding it from view.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin occultare (to conceal), frequentative of occulere (to conceal), from culere (to hide). Earliest documented use: 1453.
___________________________
OSCULTATION - mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
OCCULTATICON - old mechanical device for displaying eclipses (see "orrery")
ROCCULTATION - commercialization of the the popularity and reputation of boxer Marciano
PENUMBRA
PRONUNCIATION: (pi/puh-NUHM-bruh)
MEANING: noun:
1. A surrounding area or fringe, a zone of influence or activity that is less distinct or certain.
2. A partly shaded region between fully dark and fully lit.
3. The diffuse area around the dark central area of a sunspot.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin paene (almost) + umbra (shadow). Earliest documented use: 1665.
_________________________
OPENUMBRA - what you do in the ra (that's "the start of rain")
PENUM BARA - little-known cousin of silent movie star Theda
PENTUMBA - dance popular in Latin America in the 1960s after Dave Brubeck released "Take Five"
UMBRAGEOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (uhm-BRAY-juhs)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Inclined to take offense easily.
2. Cast in shadow; shaded.
3. Providing shade.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin umbra (shade, shadow) + -ous (full of). Earliest documented use: 1587.
_____________________________
YUMBRAGEOUS - sinfully tasty
'UMBLAGEOUS - disagreeably unctuous and blatantly subservient
UMBRAGE-TOUS - (French) sensing disrespect everywhere; offended by everything
OCULATION - making eyes at someone
OCTALATION - conversion of a number from base 10 to base 8
INCULTATION - wacky initiation ceremony
TOTALITY
PRONUNCIATION: (toh-TAL-i/uh-tee)
MEANING: noun:
1. The condition or quality of being complete or whole.
2. An aggregate amount or sum.
3. The phase of an eclipse when an obscuring body completely blocks the light source, e.g., when the moon completely blocks the view of the sun.
ETYMOLOGY: From total, from Latin totus (entire). Earliest documented use: 1598.
________________________
TOTAMITY - the full amount of comradeship
TORALITY - 1. doughnut-shapedness; 2. degree of holiness ascribed to a sacred writing
TOTALITE - upper-caste person with everything
PRECIPITATE
PRONUNCIATION: (verb: pri-SIP-i-tayt; noun, adjective: pri-SIP-i-tit/tayt)
MEANING: verb tr.: 1. To make something, especially something undesirable, happen prematurely or suddenly.
2. To throw suddenly.
3. To cause (water vapor in the atmosphere) to condense and fall as rain, snow, hail, etc.
4. To cause a solid substance to be separated from a solution.
verb intr.: 1. To separate from a solution as a solid.
2. To condense from water vapor in the atmosphere and fall as rain, snow, hail, etc.
adjective: 1. Headlong; hasty; rash; abrupt.
2. Happening unexpectedly.
noun: 1. A solid separated from a solution.
2. Moisture condensed as rain, snow, hail, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin praecipitare (to cast down headlong), from prae- (before) + caput (head). Earliest documented use: 1528.
_______________________________
PRECAPITATE - before the enumeration (before the heads were counted)
PRECUPITATE - before Cupid shot his arrow
PRECHIPITATE - when computers used vacuum tubes
TITRATE
PRONUNCIATION: (TY-trayt)
MEANING: verb tr.:
1. To carefully adjust something in measured increments to achieve a desired balance or effect.
2. To determine the concentration of a solution by gradually adding another solution until a specific reaction, often indicated by a color change, occurs.
ETYMOLOGY: From French titrer (to assay), from titre (title, fineness of alloyed gold or silver). Earliest documented use: 1860.
____________________________
TINTRATE - hairdesser's fee
NITRATE - the charge for picking louse eggs outa the kids' hair
TATRATE - what it costs to get a tattoo
PEDUMBRA - the shadow cast by one's feet while walking.
PLENUMBRA - complete darkness.
PENUMBRATE - to adumbrate, but not very much.
CRUCIBLE
PRONUNCIATION: (KROO-suh/si-buhl)
MEANING: noun:
1. A vessel used for heating substances to a high temperature.
2. A trying experience.
3. A situation or place where forces interact to bring about great changes.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin crucibulum (crucible). Earliest documented use: 1475.
___________________________
CRUCICLE - the vacation ship's staff enjoys a frozen treat on a stick (originally, two sticks)
CRUBIBLE - Holy Scripture with very short almost velvety pages
CARUCIBLE - like a male voice range capable of reaching high notes
VOLATILE
PRONUNCIATION: (VOL-uh-tuhl/tyl)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Fluctuating widely and unpredictably.
2. Evaporating easily.
3. Explosive.
4. Capable of flying.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin volare (to fly), which also gave us volitant, vole, and volley. Earliest documented use: 1325.
__________________________
VIOLATILE - made of fiddle-shaped stones, that can cover a floor or a wall
OVOLATILE - round or egg-shaped
VOILÀ-TILE - fond of saying "There it is!" on every occasion
SUBLIMATE
PRONUNCIATION: (verb: SUHB-luh-mayt, noun, adj.: -mit)
MEANING: verb tr.: 1. To divert basic or instinctual impulses to something more socially acceptable.
2. To refine or purify.
verb tr., intr.: To directly transform from solid to gas, or vice versa, bypassing the liquid state.
adjective: Refined; purified; elevated; exalted.
noun: A substance obtained by sublimating.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin sublimare (to elevate). Earliest documented use: 1425.
_____________________________
STUBLIMATE - your Significant Other didn't shave
SULLI-MATE - W S Gilbert
SUBLIMEATE - steak dinner at the Capital Grille restaurant
CRUCIBLE (adj) - potentially crucial.
CRUCIBELL - 19th-century warning signal on road/rail crossings.
CRUCIBALL - (1) spot-the-ball newspaper soccer puzzle. (2) game played in medieval monasteries, between two teams representing God and the Devil (banned by the papal decree De Ludis Profanis).
NEOPHILIA
PRONUNCIATION: (nee-uh-FIL-ee-uh)
MEANING: noun: The love of what’s new or novel.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek neo- (new) + -philia (love). Earliest documented use: 1899. The opposite is neophobia.
______________________________
ONE-O-PHILIA - love of tightly-fought low-scoring games
DEOPHILIA - affection for The Banana-Boat Song ("Daylight Come and me want go Home")
NETOPHILIA - penchant for playing way up toward the front of the tennis court
PYROPHOBIA
PRONUNCIATION: (py-roh-FOH-bee-uh)
MEANING: noun: An extreme fear of fire.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek pyro- (fire) + -phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1858.
____________________
PAROPHOBIA - fear of not making the cut after you've shot only even par on the first two rounds
SYROPHOBIA - fear of living in Damascus
YR-O-PHOBIA - the club that gifts you a different fear every day for 365 days
ZOOLATRY
PRONUNCIATION: (zo-OL-uh-tree)
MEANING: noun:
1. The worship of animals.
2. Extreme devotion to animals, for example, to one’s pets.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek zoo- (animal) + -latry (worship). Earliest documented use: 1784.
___________________________
AZO-OLATRY - worship of nitrogen
BOOLATRY - worship of simple logical concepts ( and, or, not, both )
ZOO, LARRY? - Curly and Moe are thinking of visiting the captive animals on display
CRYPTOGENIC
PRONUNCIATION: (krip-tuh-JEN-ik)
MEANING: adjective: Of unknown origin or cause.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek crypto- (secret, hidden) + -genic (producing, produced by). Earliest documented use: 1873.
_______________________________
CRYPTOGENIE - Robin Williams blue cartoon character role in Aladdin at its most obscure
CRY "PETOGENIC" - claim loudly that something is the origin of domesticated animals
CRAPTOGENIC - describing the source of all b******t
SUBLINEATE - to underline.
S'BLIMEY MATE (contraction of "May Jesus blame me") - oath used in parts of 19th-century London.
DUBLINATE (adj) - pertaining to the style of James Joyce and his imitators.
PROPRIOCEPTION
PRONUNCIATION: (pro-pree-uh/oh-SEP-shuhn)
MEANING: noun: The awareness of location of parts of one’s body.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin proprius (one’s own) + reception, from recipere (to receive), from capere (to take). Earliest documented use: 1906.
_______________________
PROPRIOCEPT-ICON - how you recognize the applet that displays the location of your body parts
PRO PRIORCEPTION - in favor of picking up an earlier broadcast
PRO PRINCEPTION - a professional campaign director to facilitate the ascension of the eldest son to the throne
MACROSMOTICPRONUNCIATION: (mak-rahz-MAT-ik)
MEANING: adjective: Having a well-developed sense of smell.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek macro- (large) + osmatic, from French osmatique, from Greek osme (smell). Earliest documented use: 1890.
___________________________________
MACRO-S'MORIC - like very large cookies made of Graham crackers and chocolate bits and marshmallows
MACRO-SMOOTIC - longer than the Harvard Bridge in Boston (which is 364.4-and-one-ear
Smoots in length)
MACH-OSMOTIC - diffusing through a semi-permeable membrane at supersonic speed
PHOTOPHOBIA
PRONUNCIATION: (fo-tuh-FO-bee-uh)
MEANING: noun: An abnormal sensitivity to light.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek photo- (light) + -phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1772.
___________________________
PROTOPHOBIA - a fear that is as yet only half-formed
PHOBOPHOBIA - what Franklin D Roosevelt was warning about with his admonition "The only thing we have to fear is Fear itself"
PHONOPHOBIA - fear of the needle shrieking while skittering across an old 78-rpm record
AMUSIA
PRONUNCIATION: (ay-MYOO-zee-uh)
MEANING: noun: The inability to recognize, reproduce, or appreciate music.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek a- (not) + mousike (music), from Mousa (Muse). Earliest documented use: 1890.
_____________________
AMUSIAL - not having a shortstop, in St Louis
CAMUSIA - strangeness (just ask a scholar of French literature)
"AM USA !" - said Uncle Sam when he was just a nephew
GUSTATORY
PRONUNCIATION: (GUHS-tuh-TOR-ee)
MEANING: adjective: Relating to the sense of taste.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin gustare (to taste). Earliest documented use: 1684.
____________________________
JUSTATORY - dismissive pre-Revoutionary-War term for anyone sympathetic with the British
GESTATORY - pertaining to pregnancy
ANGUSTATORY - beef-flavored
ELLIPTIC
PRONUNCIATION: (i-LIP-tik)
MEANING: adjective
1. Marked by extreme economy of expression in speech or writing.
2. Cryptic, ambiguous, or obscure.
3. Marked by ellipsis: the omission of one or more words from a sentence.
4. Relating to or shaped like an ellipse.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek eleipein (to come short). Earliest documented use: 1715. The word is also used in its longer form, elliptical.
_______________________________
ELLIP-STIC - mouth-coloring for men
ELL-OPTIC - the twelfth lens
ELI-P.T.-IC - like freshman Physical Education at Yale