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LAND OF NOD

PRONUNCIATION: (land ov nod)

MEANING: noun: Sleep.

ETYMOLOGY: From a punning reference to the land of Nod in the Bible. Earliest documented use: 1738.
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BAND OF NOD - plays nothing but lullabies

LAND IF NOD - stay up in the air until I say so!

LANE OF NOD - the pavement drone induces Highway Hypnosis

LAND OF NED - the Devil's country

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APOLLYON

PRONUNCIATION: (uh-POL-yuhn)

MEANING: noun: One who destroys; another name for the Devil.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin, from Greek Apollyon, from apollynai (to destroy), from apo- (from, away) + ollynai (to destroy). Earliest documented use: 1382.

NOTES: The Bible’s Book of Revelation 9:11 introduces Apollyon as: “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.”
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APOLLO-N - the fourteenth Moon mission

A POLLY-EON - the interval between crackers

A POLL-CON - fake news

CAPO LLYON - a Mafia don in FFrance

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MAGDALENE or MAGDALEN

PRONUNCIATION: (MAG-duh-leen, -luhn)

MEANING: noun: A penitent woman, particularly a reformed prostitute.

ETYMOLOGY: After Mary Magdalene, a Biblical character who was a follower of Jesus. Earliest documented use: 1563.

NOTES: The name Magdalene means “of Magdala” in Greek and is derived after a town on the Sea of Galilee. The name Magdala, in turn, means a tower in Aramaic. So here we have a word coined after a person, who was named after a place, which was named after a thing. The word is also used for a home for reformed/retired prostitutes. Magdalene has given birth to another eponym, maudlin meaning “overly sentimental”.

Pope Gregory I, in a sermon delivered in 581 CE, conflated an unnamed “sinner” with Mary Magdalene. Pope Paul VI fixed the error in 1969, but the damage was done. Mary Magdalene forever remains identified as a former prostitute in popular culture. It took them 1,388 years to acknowledge the error. In comparison, Galileo got off easy. The Church took a mere 359 years to say that he was right after all.
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MADALENE -
In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Llved twelve little girls in two straight lines
...
The smallest one was MADALENE.

-- [Adapted from Ludwig Bemelmans]

MANDALEN - a multi-stringed instrument, played by plucking or picking the strings

MAGNALEN - Bernstein's been putting on weight lately, hasn't he?

PAGDALENE or PAGDELEN - a penitent man, or reformed gigolo

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GOLIATH

PRONUNCIATION: (guh-LY-uhth)

MEANING: noun: A giant; a person or organization of enormous size or power.

ETYMOLOGY: After Goliath, a giant Philistine warrior, who was slain by David using a sling and a stone. Earliest documented use: 1607.

NOTES: “David and Goliath” has become a metaphor for an underdog facing a much larger, powerful opponent, in sports, business, politics, and beyond.
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GO LITH - cheering for Stone Academy (Connecticut)

GLIATH - a supporting structure of nerve cells in the CNS

GOLI ASH - what's left when you've lost the hockey game in a shootout and your defense is really burnt up about it

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HOMILY

PRONUNCIATION: (HOM-uh-lee)

MEANING: noun: A lecture of a moralizing or admonishing nature, usually tedious and trite.

ETYMOLOGY: From Old French omelie (homily), from Latin (homilia), from Greek homilia (assembly or sermon), from homilos (crowd), from homou (together). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sem- (one), which also gave us simultaneous, assemble, simple, Sanskrit sandhi (union), Russian samovar (a metal urn, literally, self-boiler), and Greek hamadryad (a wood nymph, who lives in a tree and dies when the tree dies), dissimulate, and simulacrum. Earliest documented use: 1386.
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HOMINY - 1. a specified quantity
2. What the Boston a capella group sings in perfect

HOPILY - how the rabbit family lived ever after

HO, MILTY - greetings to my favorite comedian (and Uncle)

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RAGULY

PRONUNCIATION: (RAG-yuh-lee)

MEANING: adjective: Having a row of oblique notches.

ETYMOLOGY: Probably from Old English ragg. Earliest documented use: 1660.
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RAG UGLY - an unprepossessing rag

RAGALY - like a sitar melody

RAGURY - a branch of nautical law pertaining to anger management

RAGU LYE - used to make soap from spaghetti sauce

RAJULY - the Egyptian Sun God who in mid-summer is unusually powerful (at least in the northern hemisphere)

RAOUL Y. - a Frenchman whose identity is being protected
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Lots of nice words in this category of "false adverbs." There's
- "apply," which doesn't mean "like a small program for your smartphone"
- "imply" (like one of Santa's elves)
- "reply" (like your fitness or body-building exercise -
- the minimalist "ply"
- the ambivalent "supply," which is either a false adverb or a true one (depending on how you use it)
- "surly" (they don't all have a P in them)
and so on.

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EMPANOPLY

PRONUNCIATION: (em-PAN-uh-plee)

MEANING:] . verb tr.: To enclose in complete armor.

ETYMOLOGY: From em- (in) + panoply (a full suit of armor), from Greek panoplia (a complete suit of armor), from pan (all) + hopla (arms, armor), plural of hoplon (weapon). Earliest documented use: 1784.
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ENPANOPLY - to remove half a suit of armor

EMPANOPOLY - a game involving the selection of jurors

EMPANOPLAY - kindly remove performing Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto from your next concert program

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LOGODAEDALY

PRONUNCIATION: (log-uh-DEE-duh-lee)

MEANING: noun: Skill in using or coining words.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin logodaedalia, from Greek logodaidalia, from logodaidalos, from logos (word) + daedalus (skillful). Earliest documented use: 1727.
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LOGODAEDAILY - to coin a word every day (boy, does this sound self-referential!)

LOGO-DAREDALY - like an audacious symbol

BLOGODAEDALY - a weblog consisting of only slanted or even made-up statements

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EUTRAPELY

PRONUNCIATION: (yoo-TRAP-uh-lee)

MEANING: noun: Liveliness and ease of conversation.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek (pleasantness in conversation), from eu- (well) + trapely (to turn). Earliest documented use: 1596.

NOTES: Can you talk to anyone on any topic with ease? If so, you have the gift of eutrapely, also known as eutrapelia. It was one of Aristotle’s dozen virtues.
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.EDU.TRAPELY - being shmoozed by the University fundraiser

EUTAPELY - recorded in pristine condition, with the 18 minutes intact

EUTRAVELY - the Bon Voyage you wish your departing friends

EXTRAPELY - recently out of a snare

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JACTANCY

PRONUNCIATION: (JAK-tuhn-see)

MEANING: noun: Boasting or boastfulness.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin jactantia, from jactantem, present participle of jactare (to throw about), frequentative of jacere (to throw). Earliest documented use: 1623.
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TACTANCY - of a sensitive and inoffensive nature

FACTANCY - a misrepresentation of the existing state of affairs; see "truthiness"

JACFANCY - the pumpkin has been carved into an very interesting image
(compare JACANCY, where the pumpkin is empty)

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