Think I've thunk up a new game - see if anyone wants to play....
Open yer dictionary randomly, and come up with a definition for the pairing of words listed at the top of the page. List the phrase they create, your definition, and the dictionary you are using. (Feel free to flip a few pages if you don't hit something you can use right away.) I do this, on occasion, just for fun....! anyone wanna play?
My examples:
escargot espousal: nuptials for snails. (from the Canadian Oxford)
mihrab milk fever: disease found only in devout Muslim cattle. (also from the Canadian Oxford)
petrodollar phalanx: the group, or compact mass, of nations that earn money from oil. (Cdn Oxford again)
demotic denunciation: popular appeal for peace from pestilential attentions. (Australian Pocket Oxford) hmm....reminds me of something I've seen somewhere recently....
honey hook: a sweet temptation that draws you in. (Aussie Pocket-Rocket Oxford again)
nom de guerre non sequitur: an illogical war name, such as Ghenghis the Peaceful Destroyer. (AUST Pocket Oxford)
isinglass isotope: a whiter shade of one of two or more forms of an element differing from each other in atomic weight. (Concise Oxford) Stales, mate, this one's for you!
pit pixie: a fairy that has been trained to savage other fairies. (Concise Oxford)
peyote Ph.D.: the degree you hallucinated you had after 40 days and 40 nights in the Mexican desert. (Concise Oxford)
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
Nice one, MG.
Will definitely play, but as online dictionaries won't work you'll have to await me getting back home to the paper variety...
chambers pocket dictionary 1988
excise ex officio- to discriminate on grounds of a persons job
mousse mullion- the clouds that coast on the horizon that separate the sunset and the hills
warble water- guinness!
mesdames metropolis- department store
lugubrious macaroni- the pasta that gets stuck to the colander
juggernaut juxtaposition- car crash?
dis a good game
again again
stagger stand- two drunks holding each other up
discourse disinclination- trappist monk ( is it trappist?)
snub soda- 1. a tiny bottle of pop like panda pops or 2. the cola served to you by vigilant aunties at parties who think you are too drunk
crayon creep- the slow discolouration of baby clothes
tumbrel turn- last minute pardon
dodyskin, you make-a me
and
!
that's the spirit.....I especially like "stagger stand" and "crayon creep" and "lugubrious macaroni" and and and....!
More from the Cdn Oxford:
daywear deadpan: sartorial humour.
bachelor apartment back eddy: toilet blockage for which a plunger is required.
sayonara scallop: the last scallop, or scalloped potato, in the dish, eg. "Do you want the sayonara scallop, or may I have it?"
vogue word voltage: the charge you get out of using up-to-date slang.
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
M-W10th--
picayune picnic-- a rather small, insipid meal eaten outdoors.
at the risk of permanently infecting the game..
gonorreal goodyear - inflammation of the blimp
[Webster's new 20th century.. unabr.]
at the risk of trivializing the game..
firkytoodling floccinaucinihilipilification - worthless foreplay
[Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of unusual, obscure and preposterous words]
All from MW9th
ramble range- The amount of territory I can cover when I get a case of "itchy feet" That Travellin' Jones
latterday laving- A relaxing soak in a tub at the end of the day
execution exibit- museum wing devoted to putting people down six feet under, that is
pomatum poodle- a poodle with every single hair in place
scrim scuffling- a backlit staging of a struggle for physical superiority
petrographer phantom- Waltzing ghost of the Lost Dutchman Mine
fruit bat fugu- rare sushi dish eaten while hanging upside down
these are all great - gosh, I'm havin' fun in this thread!
'k, I have come up with a name fo' the game:
Demented Dictionary
more definitions, these from The Harper Dictionary of Foreign Terms:
fiesta flingot: a ceremonial rifle used at special events
carcel causeuse: sofa used for edit: ahem....conjugal (not "communal" - oops!) visits
amigo animato: everyone's favourite party guest
pishu polenta: lynx kibble
sempre sfumato: perpetually horny person
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
Blinding.
A couple from thhe Concise Oxford (5th ed, 1967
)
dreadnought dresser - battleaxe's wardrobe
lug lunacy - madness brought on by a worm burrowing into the brain
simpleton sinecure- politician's post / non-executive directorship
Source: American Hertitage Fourth College Edition.
reclame recluse ---- Madonna
revengeful revenue - Sin Tax
retentive retardate- A Pedant
retro retina retiarius - the act of seeing the moon
as it is, rather than seeing the mirrored image as we see in water.
The recondite recount - The Florda Presidential Election.
retro retina retiarius - the act of seeing the moon as it is, rather than seeing the mirrored image as we see in water.? ...a deliberate crossthread to
http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=wordplay&Number=75254? (innocent-e)
splint spouse- the sensible one in the relationship
alderman allusion- to pretend to have sway with the council
absolution academy- ill leave this one to you lot
I love these - but surely
Alderman Allusion is to do with dropping local politicians' names into every conversation to show how locally influential you are? (Well- that's what
I do!)
oatmeal object trouve-- porriage as an art form
passion fruit pastoralist -- a term for a Gauguin wanna be
Savoy Say so -- an authority on English hotel practices.
(alternately, an authority on the continental region of Savoy)
all from M-W10th
so if you are a
Savoy Say so, then would it be fair to say that you were Savoy savvy?!
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
All from M-W 9th
Lavinia laying on of hands
What Turnus caught Lavinia doing to Æneas that was the real reason for the grim battle between Turnus and Æneas, resulting in the death of Turnus and the subsequent marriage of Lavinia and Æneas. I know, I know, that's not what Virgil said, but do you think he was going to compromise the lady's reputation at that late date?
mealworm mechanic
The shifty guy under the shade tree that performs a little twist here and a little hammer there to ensure that you come back and see him again real soon, ya hear.
histogen hoarder
an ovary obsessive flower collector
disgraceful disinterestedness
how too many feel about recycling
caprock caravan
pop-up camper
football forb
where soccer players roll in clover
follow through foot & mouth disease
foot up the arse disease
coromandel corrading
What beavers do to whittle away the time in East India
irrefragable isinglass
The bladder of a fish that has consumed waaaaaay too many minerals
limp wristed linear perspective
a drawing in which the depth and distance are sagging, Daliesque
live loach
Pez as opposed to pescado
tutenag tweezers - small pincers made of an alloy of zinc and copper
transient transparent - able to be seen through for a short duration.
cantillate capacity - to chant ones power of mind
This is fun
R
Isn't it?
Thanks, mg. Now, stales me boy, find some more and set your mind free!!!
horse trade hotelman - a stable keeper.
galligaskins game - strip poker.
Cornish corps - the handful of folks who still keep the Cornish tongue alive by speaking it.
basil bastardly - illegitimate herb.
farkleberry fashion - I think I'll just let that one be what it is!
all Webster's CollegiateHmmm...I think I like this...but that's enuff for an awkward ice-breaking!
horse trade / hotelman - a stable keeper
Closer to truth than you know. A place of public accomodation has to have a license to operate. In old days it was an Hostelry license. If any place still operates under an hostelry license they must take care of any animals you bring with you .... as the Waldorf Astoria found out when Tom Mix the movie cowboy arrived (1930s) with his horse "Tony" and they had to accommodate the horse too! The WA turned it into a publicity gimmick by stabling the famous animal in the lobby!
hypothrombinemia/hypophalangism = cold,limp handshake. Hi Bill
duplation/dysmetria = unable to see more than one thing at a distance.
Q-clearance/quaggy - the sinking feeling you get trying to keep who-knows-what straight when too many people tell you too many secrets secrets.
endocrine/enigma Why men and women are different. (Viva!)
The New York Time Dictionary of Misunderstood, Misused, Mispronounced Words. Hereafter the 3Mw
Concise OEDheckelphone hecklerSomeone who interrupts your oration in a deep voice
outsight outsiderThe ability of a non-group-member to be aware of what is about to hit your group!
even eveninga quiet night at home.
searching seasonSpring
assignee assurance - A last will and testament.
conditional confarreation - We're getting married only if it's a bumper wheat crop this year.
daycoach deadfall - Having your sleeper car hide-a-bed close and lock while your still in it.
fumulus funk - That odor which causes everyone over 6 foot tall to leave the room.
hiemal high fidelity - Listening to all your old records because it's too frickin' cold outside to do anything else.
moonrise moratorium - Neverending nights of only starlight.
security seed - A spermbank investment.
turnsole tutelary - Relying on your sunflower patch to watch your kids.
whoopee widgeon - Feeling really ducky.
(F+W 1971)
irrefragable isinglass
The bladder of a fish that has consumed waaaaaay too many minerals
Don't believe a word of it, folks. I never touched anything other than WO'N's
basil bastardly (and then I didn't inhale, honest).
live roachoops, "loach"
patter pay -- money earned by performing "reading hour for preschoolers"
power pragmatics-- Duh, everyone here!
glum gnomon --part of a sundial, that has been mispositioned in total shade
echelon economy -- a curious phenomom, as soon as you get a raise, everything seem to cost more!
el cheapo electroencephalograph a medical proceedure provide by an HMO.
(go back ten spaces)
so if you are a Savoy Say so, then would it be fair to say that you were Savoy savvy?!
...and would that be Savoy fair, meaning knowing how to behave at all times? which is of course where "savvy" actually comes from. I think.
redux:
farkleberry fashion: the latest in Shire attire!
In'nards Insectivora: shrew
haggis; mole
haggis; hedgehog
haggis; anteater
haggisOpiate Optimist: a stoned idealist
Abscond Accountability: Arthur Andersens' business motto; or the 5th Amendment for ENRON executives.
Bacchus Bath: bathing in wine! (what else!?)
--The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce
foreigner forgather - A tourist information office
basenji barramundi - a dog-fish
mastic materia medica - When chewing-gum will do just as well as sutures.
tucker tumult - An Australian roadside café
yelp-yoicks - The unmistakable sound that lets you know you've stumbled upon the ultimate pastime of the in-bred classes.
Demisemiquaver demy - Paper used for taking quick notes.
fission fixative - Irresistible force meets immovable object.
escort erratum - When that bubbly blonde you were expecting turns out to be an out-of-work actor called Randy.
damper darbies - Those fur-lined handcuffs used for stag and hen nights.
Gorgonise goodbye - The stare that your host gives you when you realise that you've outstayed your welcome.
Tartar tarantism - The dance of the whirling dervish
uneconomic undertaking - A completely viable business plan until Andersen consulting get their hands on it.
Vexatious vicereine - a right madam
rancid rans-des-vaches - A yodeller's breath.
foolhardy folio - That novel you promised yourself you'd always write and which turned out to be a complete waste of time.
immedicable image - Your passport photo
Panamanian palm - the term given to the covert handshake between a central American country and a superpower which inevitably leads to their mutual betrayal.
Posterity poteen - That wicked distillation method which is augmented with each passing generation by the addition of a teaspoon of sugar.
nuncupate nyctitropic - A man's way of telling his wife that he knows his way to a night-time party and does not need to stop to ask directions.
moderate mnemonic - memory aids for the lazy.
embassy emeritus - an unofficial title for a foreign diplomat who manages to complete his tenure without making a complete balls-up.
purgative punishment - A very messy end.
scrupulous scribble - To draw like Picasso
{All OED 7th Edition}
Panamanian palm - the term given to the covert handshake between a central American country and a superpower which inevitably leads to their mutual betrayal.That's a cool one, Rubrick!
And I think you may have just coined a phrase that works on an even more pervasive level, meaning
an insincere handshake.
Yeah..."just give 'em the ol' Panamanian palm!"
'Course, the PC Brigade from Panama, and those of Panamanian descent, will prolly start screaming protest banners about it.
Damn! Life ain't fair. I was gonna find some great new zingers in my Oxford but now I think that Rubrick has used 'em all up.
Oscar - otter Someone who doesn't really deserve to win
dictator - diffuse One who's people run from him
extra - eye Cyclops! :)
festivity - fight No where that I would want to be!
gang - gas Again...no place I would want to be! :O
Damn! Life ain't fair. I was gonna find some great new zingers in my Oxford but now I think that Rubrick has used 'em all up.Hey, that's life!
found these while tooling around in my Cdn Oxford, checking spellings in a friend's philosophical paper:
bangbelly bannock ball: a pudding gone horribly wrong
Burgess Shale burn: occupational hazard of poking around for fossils on a hot sunny day in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. (hahahahahaha! hot sunny day in BC! I crack myself up!)
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
heart heave a true love that also makes you vomit.
fret frippery Fiddling
epistler equanimity-- evenhandness in letter writing
sheep's eye shellwork scallop adorned glasses, for making discrete glances at the object of your affection.
the last one is just for you MG!
Observatory oblate - Somebody who doesn't get out on a Saturday night
fib fief - the group of people who will always believe your lies
introit interview - The hymn sung by the congregation to which the priest makes the replies
Edam éclair - a cheesecake
ancestral angel - belief that there was once someone in your family who was completely good
shinny shoal - The multitude of schoolboys who can be seen clambering up trees in Autumn to scrump apples or collect conkers
indolent indogene - Your couch potato flat-mate/husband
bon vivant bombardon - Cordon bleu flatulence
bastinado batter - The soft fleshy layer on the soles of the feet; a by-product of marathon running
criminal creosote - Tar but don't feather
{All 7th Ed OED}
shinny shoal - The multitude of schoolboys who can be seen clambering up trees in Autumn to scrump apples or collect conkersDo like this one. Perhaps because there's something a bit
fishy about these particular schoolboys.
write-down wynn
What a good writer of erotica can accomplish
jet engine jingle
Your first indication that you probably shouldn't be on that flight
Jefferson Davis's birthday jeté
Official dance move on the first Monday in June
fleawort flicker
What you get when you apply your Bic to that banana
convertible cool
Hairstyles of the rich and famous
burlesque busboy
Not only does he clear the table but then he dances on it
carburetion careen
What NASCAR drivers do to clean their tires under a yellow flag
carnivora carrel
brain devouring study cubicle
circumvallate city
City where the walls haven't come tumbling down yet
coping coral snake
The one that bit you
curry cuss
%#*&@ That curry is hot!
half pint halvah
What you order for dessert in an Arabic take-out joint
M-W 9th Collegiate
hee hee! These are great!
Helen, thanks for "sheep's eye shellwork" - I was hoping someone would come up with a sheep one! (had one by PM too - hope it will ultimately turn up here!)
Rubrick - Edam eclair made me
and
! very clever! I will never look at a cheesecake the same way again - in fact I think I will never call a cheesecake a cheesecake again. This could give rise to a new expression: "Call a cheesecake a cheesecake," because people who like to be ooh-la-la will call it an Edam eclair and people who like plain living and straight talking will call it...you-know-what.
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
MG - this is a very entertaining game indeed! Nice to see such fun here at AWAD - last I checked in, things were a lot less funny.
All from Webster's New Collegiate:
snapshot snivelling - complaining that one never looks good in pictures
Gothic grabbing - foreplay between two people dressed in black
ideal idiom - how tsuwm talks
exact excess - binging just the right amoung
chimera chirk - to cheer someone up by lying to him about how bad things really are
equivocally ermine - fake fur
guidebook gum - "We really need to find a place to stay tonight...I think there's a hotel down this little street...let's see what it's called...damn, I can't get the pages apart...what is this pink stuff?"
glottal stop glycoside - Having the limits of your sweet palate challenged.
rectilinear rede - Tell me like it is!
jackal jactitation - "Ladies and Gentlemen!! Step right up and be amazed by the tatooed gorilla, the flaming sword eater and the two bearded lady"
concourse condition - The room next to the *fumulus funk.
permutable preservation - Holding steadfast to the idea that change is inevitable.
sinistrous siren - Are there any other kind?
trash treadmill - The roads the garbage collector truck driver follows.
fillister finding - The inevitable consequences of walking around in my basement without shoes.
due bill dumbfound - That look on someones face who agreed to buy the "whole place" a round of drinks.
systematic tabes - Habitual procrastination.
extenuating extractor - Your dentist at his malpractice hearing.
somewhat soothfast - The uncertainty principle.
*(op. cit.)
May I crash your party? I can see that this game could get quite addictive. I've just grinned or guffawed my way through all five screens; thanks for the endorphin boost!
And I GOTTA play...
From Webster's Ninth New Collegiate:
gonadectomized goof-off -- shirker who has received the ultimate penalty for evading his duties
goofy gossip -- rumor spreading at Disney World
grapevine gratification -- pleasure taken in sharing Goofy gossip
grandioso grape sugar -- pretentious cheap wine
grain grandiosity -- puffed wheat
growling guarantee -- deterrence of a potential intruder via vocalizations of a Rotweiler
hardball hare -- Roger Rabbit?
Hebraist height -- Yiddish Ph.D.
herd hero - cult leader
higgledy-piggledy high rise -- Tower of Babel
Welcome, Micah68Woman ~ this might be the first time I've been the first at the welcome wagon! What luck!
If your definitions are any indication of things to come, you'll get along just fine here.
Thanks, Fiberbabe! I probably won't be posting often, but I look forward to enjoying this site.