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PARERGON

PRONUNCIATION: (pa-RUHR-gahn)

MEANING: noun:
1. An accessory, embellishment, or byproduct of a main work.
2. Subsidiary work undertaken in addition to one’s main employment.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek parergon, from para- (beside) + ergon (work). Ultimately from the Indo-European root werg- (to do), which also gave us ergonomic, work, energy, metallurgy, surgery, wright, erg, georgic, and hypergolic. Earliest documented use: 1601.
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SPARERGON - a many-sided geometric figure with fewer sides than another one you were thinking of

PAPERGON - Hey! Somebody took my New York Times !

PARERGO - a golf score you have to achieve in order to participate in elite tournaments
Example: "He didn't make PARERGO he's not in the final rounds of the US Open."

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DETERGE

PRONUNCIATION: (di-TUHRG)

MEANING: verb tr.: To wash, wipe, or cleanse.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin detergere (to wipe away), from de- (away from) + tergere (to wipe). Earliest documented use: 1623.
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DEETERGE - wash with an insecticide

DEBTERGE - launder one's financial obligations

DETERSE - add unnecessary verbiage to a text, like an author who is paid by the word

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(Does that make it aulogical?)
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TRANGAM

PRONUNCIATION: (TRANG-uhm)

MEANING: noun: A trinket, puzzle, or odd gadget.

ETYMOLOGY: Of obscure origin. Earliest documented use: 1658.
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ORANGAM - simian morning

RANGAM - asking your grandmother whether she just called you - "You RANGAM?"

TRIANGAM - a leg with three joints

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TRANSITIVE

PRONUNCIATION: (TRAN-zi-tiv, -si-)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Relating to a construction in which an action passes to an object (e.g. a transitive verb).
2. Involving transition: intermediate, transitional.
3. Changeable; transient.
4. Concerning a relation such that if it holds between A and B, between B and C, it also holds between A and C.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin transire (to cross), from trans- (across) + ire (to go). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ei- (to go), which also gave us exit, transit, circuit, itinerary, adit, ambit, and arrant. Earliest documented use: 1571.

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TRANSISTIVE - facilitating the passage of electrical current; compare "resistive"

TRAINSITIVE - partial to traveling by railroad

TRANSITHIVE - a company that will relocate bee colonies intact

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SYNOPTIC

PRONUNCIATION: (suh-NOP-tik, si-)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Relating to a summary or general view of something.
2. Covering a wide area (as weather conditions).
3. Taking a similar view (as the first three Gospels of the Bible: Matthew, Mark, and Luke).

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek synopsis (general view), from syn- (together) + opsis (view). Earliest documented use: 1764.
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GYNOPTIC - from a woman's point of view

SON-OP TIC - spasmodic movements made by experienced submarine crew members

SYNCOPTIC - a strobe light that flashes on the musical off-beats

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GUNG HO

PRONUNCIATION: (GUHNG-HO)

MEANING: adjective: Extremely eager and enthusiastic.

ETYMOLOGY: From Chinese gonghe, an acronym from the Gongye Hezuoshe (Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society). The term gonghe was interpreted to mean “work together” and was introduced as a training slogan by US Marine Corps officer Evans Carlson (1896-1947). Earliest documented use: 1942.
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BUNG HO - what the beer comes out when you open the keg

GING HO - a primitive tree with characteristic leaves, often with two lobes

GUNGAO - what the General used to shoot the chicken that made Chinese cuisine famous

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HO-HUM

PRONUNCIATION: (HO-huhm)

MEANING: interjection: An expression of boredom, indifference, or resignation.
adjective: Boring; dull; routine.

ETYMOLOGY: Perhaps of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1924.
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HBO-HUM - what you get when your Movie channel is off the air

HOH-IUM - the element that makes water

HRH-UM - the King's Speech impediment



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HUMBUG

PRONUNCIATION:] (HUHM-buhg)

MEANING:
noun: 1. Nonsense; pretense; deception.
2. An impostor or fraud.
3. A kind of hard mint-flavored candy (British).
adjective: Deceptive.
verb tr., intr.: To deceive or hoax.

ETYMOLOGY: Of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: 1750.
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HIMBUG - a male arthropod

MUMBUG - a software problem that hasn't showed up yet

HUKBUG - insect native to the Philippines

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BUGBEAR

PRONUNCIATION: (BUHG-bair)

MEANING: noun: A source of fear, problem, anxiety, or annoyance.

ETYMOLOGY: A bugbear is an imaginary creature, invoked to frighten unruly children. From bug (hobgoblin) + bear, from Old English bera, ultimately from the Indo-European root bher- (bright, brown), which also gave us brown, bruin, brunet/brunette, burnish, and berserk. Earliest documented use: 1552.
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RUGBEAR - Ursa horribilis after the hunt

BUGFEAR - arthropodophobia

BUGLEAR - when Reveille wakes you to the sound of nonsense poetry (or your own personal jet)

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BEAR LEADER

PRONUNCIATION: (bair LEED-uhr)

MEANING: noun: A tutor who travels with a young man.

ETYMOLOGY: From allusion to a literal bear leader, a man who led a muzzled bear from place to place to perform in the streets. Earliest documented use: 1749.
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REAR LEADER - the Duke of Plaza-Toro *

WEAR LEADER - Number One in the Fashion Hit Parade

BEAR READER - the Complete Winnie-the-Pooh Anthology

* "In enterprise of martial kind
When there was any fighting
He led his regiment from behind -
He found it less exciting..."
-- Gilbert and Sullivan, The Gondoliers

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