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 80 of 99 1 2 78 79 80 81 82 98 99
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1

BORACIC

PRONUNCIATION: (buh-RAS-ik, bo-)
Also brassic (BRA-sik)

MEANING: adjective: Poor or broke.

ETYMOLOGY: Rhyming slang, boracic lint ⇨ skint. Boracic lint was a type of medical dressing dipped in a solution of boracic/boric acid. See more at skint. Earliest documented use: 1959.
__________________________

BORACID - a brand of boric acid (H3BO3)

BORN CIC - ...and some achieve Commander-in-Chief, and some...

BOREACIC - pertaining to the Southern Hemisphere

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
SCOOBY

PRONUNCIATION: (SKOO-bee)

MEANING: noun: Clue.

ETYMOLOGY: Rhyming slang, Scooby-Doo ⇨ clue. Scooby-Doo is a dog in television series and films. Earliest documented use: 1993.
_____________________

SCOMBY - sick from eating spoiled fish

SCOO'BOY - what the 2-year-old male Montessori student called himself

'SCOOBA - Havana is the capital of what big Caribbean island 100-odd miles south of Florida?

Last edited by wofahulicodoc; 09/07/18 07:49 PM.
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1

ZANY

PRONUNCIATION: (ZAY-nee)

MEANING: adjective: Amusingly strange, comical, or clownish.

ETYMOLOGY: From French zani, from Italian zanni, a nickname for Giovanni. The term has its origin in the comedy theater commedia dell’arte popular in 16-18th century Italy. Giovanni, Italian form of the name John, was originally the generic name of the servant, a stock character who tried to mimic his master, himself a clown. Earliest documented use: 1596.
______________________

ZZNY - and you thought the city never sleeps ...so there!

CZANY - Austrian composer of School of Velocity and hundreds of other piano practice pieces, as he was known in Boston

NANY - a funeral song, as in a choral work by Brahms and a poem by Schiller

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1

PUNCHINELLO

PRONUNCIATION: (pun-chuh-NEL-o)

MEANING: noun: A grotesque or absurd person.

ETYMOLOGY: From Italian (Naples dialect) polecenella (a short, fat buffoon, principal character in Italian puppet shows), diminutive of pollecena (turkey pullet), ultimately from Latin pullus (young chicken). From the resemblance of punchinello’s nose to a turkey’s beak. Earliest documented use: 1662.
_______________________________

MUNCHINELLO a fat buffoon who eats all the time (see also PAUNCHINELLO}

PUNCHINJELLO - a gelatin dessert made with fruit punch (caution: if you try to spike it, the alcohol will prevent it from gelling)

PUNCHING 'ELLO - the practice of greeting friends with a knuckle to the upper arm

PUNCHLINE: LLO - (you make up this one)

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1

ALAZON

PRONUNCIATION: (AL-uh-zon)

MEANING: noun: A person characterized by arrogance, braggadocio, lack of self awareness, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: After Alazon, a stock character in ancient Greek comedy. Earliest documented use: 1911.
_______________________________

ALAMON - a square dance maneuver, akin to the Grand Right and Left

ALE-ZON - a new beer hall in Munich

ALARON - a trim tab on the tail of an airplane (usually one of a pair)

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1

EIRON

PRONUNCIATION: (AY-ron)

MEANING: noun: A person characterized by self-deprecation and awareness of irony.

ETYMOLOGY: After Eiron, a stock character in ancient Greek comedy. It’s from Greek eiron (dissembler), which also gave us the word irony. Eiron is the opposite of Alazon. He uses self-deprecation and feigned ignorance to triumph over Alazon. Earliest documented use: 1872.
_________________________

E-ICON - small image on a desktop or hand-held electronic device representing a program or file

ERRON - the subatomic particle from which all sins ultimately arise

ELIRON - a trim tab on the tail of an airplane (usually one of a pair) - see also ALARON, above

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1

CAPITANO

PRONUNCIATION: (kap-uh-TAH-no)

MEANING: noun: A swaggering, cowardly person, especially a soldier, policeman, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: After Capitano, a stock character in commedia dell’arte, from Italian capitano (captain), from Latin caput (head). Earliest documented use: 1594.
_______________________________

CARPITANO - a painful syndrome that is frequently the result of repetitive strain injury to the wrist

CAPRITANO - skin pigmentation due to sunbathing on an island off Italy (unless you spend too much time in the Blue Grotto)

CAPITALO - an upper-case letter frequently confused with a zero

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1

COLUMBINE

PRONUNCIATION: (KOL-uhm-byn)

MEANING: noun: 1. A servant girl.
2. A saucy sweetheart.
3. Any of various plants of the genus Aquilegia.
adjective: Of or relating to a dove, in innocence, gentleness, color, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: For noun 1, 2: After Colombina, a stock character in commedia dell’arte, the mistress of Harlequin. From Italian colombina (small dove, a guileless woman). Earliest documented use: 1723.
For noun 3: From the resemblance of an inverted flower to five doves. Earliest documented use: 1325.
For adjective: From Latin columba (dove, pigeon). Earliest documented use: 1656.
__________________________

COLUMNINE - comes just before the tenth vertical row (see also COLUMEINE, the first vertical row in Berlin)

COLUMBIANE - a woman from Bogotá

COLUMBRINE - what you use to make pickled colums


Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1

RADDLE

PRONUNCIATION: (RAD-l)

MEANING: noun: Red ocher, used for marking animals, coloring, etc.
verb tr.: 1. To mark or paint with red ocher.
2. To twist together or interweave.
3. To beat or to cause to have a worn-out appearance.

ETYMOLOGY: noun & verb 1: A variant of ruddle, from rud (red). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reudh- (red), which also gave us red, rouge, ruby, ruddy, rubella, corroborate, robust, rambunctious, roborant, russet, and robustious. Earliest documented use: 1325.
verb 2: From English dialect raddle (stick interwoven with others in a fence). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reidh- (to ride), which also gave us ride, raid, road, ready, and raiment. Earliest documented use: 1470.
verb 3: Origin unknown. Earliest documented use: 1677.
______________________

REDDLE - a red dye popular in the early 19th century. See Diggory Venn, the Reddleman, in Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native

FADDLE - something that enjoys a massive but short-lived popularity

RA:DDE - Eisenhower's very junior position at Columbia before he became President

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1

MIZZLE

PRONUNCIATION:
(MIZ-uhl)

MEANING: noun: Fine rain or drizzle.
verb intr.: 1. To rain in fine drops.
2. To leave suddenly.
3. To confuse.

ETYMOLOGY: noun, verb 1: From Middle English misellen (to drizzle). Ultimately from the Indo-European root meigh- (to urinate), which also gave us mist, thrush, mistletoe, and micturate. Earliest documented use: 1439.
verb 2: Of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: 1772.
verb 3: Of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: 1583.
______________________________

MIZZLES - a viral infection with skin rash and fever, usually just a nuisance in childhood but potentially serious in adults

MOZZLE - fortune, often with "tov" ("good")

MIZZ-LEZ - what a lazy markzman tries to do

Page 80 of 99 1 2 78 79 80 81 82 98 99

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 676 guests, and 4 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
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