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BALKANIZE (British BALKANISE)

PRONUNCIATION: (BAWL-kuh-nyz)

MEANING: verb tr.: To divide a region, group, etc., into small, often hostile, entities.

ETYMOLOGY: From allusion to the breakup of the the Balkan Peninsula following the decline of the Ottoman Empire. The Peninsula is named after Balkan Mountains, which are named after a Turkish word for mountains: balkan. Earliest documented use: 1917.
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WALKANIZE - a portmanteau word: to organize a walk to raise money for a charitable cause

BALKANIRE - the cause of this persistent hostility

BALKANITE - an iron ore found in the mountains of south-eastern Europe

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AREOPAGUS

PRONUNCIATION: (ar-ee-AHP/OP-uh-guhs)

MEANING: noun: A high court.

ETYMOLOGY: Via Latin, from Greek Areios pagos (hill of Ares, the Greek god of war), from Areios (of Ares) + pagos (hill), from pegnunai (to fasten or stiffen). In ancient Greece, Areios pagos was the site where the highest governmental council met. Later it turned into a judicial body. Earliest documented use: 1642.
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ARENOPAGUS - Don't call me while I'm at the big game!

ARE NO PA, GUS - you don't make a very good Dad, Herr Mahler

AREOPA GNUS - wildebeasts from Areopa

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EVEREST

PRONUNCIATION: (EV-uh-ruhst/rest)

MEANING: noun: The highest point of something: achievement, ambition, challenge, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: After Mount Everest, the highest mountain (8,848 m) on the Earth (above sea level) in the Himalayas. The mountain is named after George Everest (1790-1866), Surveyor-General of India. Earliest documented use: 1909.
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NEVEREST - the ultimate in procrastination

EVEREAST - where the sun rises (for the next six billion years, anyway)

EVE PEST - mosquitos

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PELION

PRONUNCIATION: (PEE-lee-uhn)

MEANING: noun: A huge or difficult task.

ETYMOLOGY: After Mount Pelion, a mountain in Greece. Earliest documented use: 1560.

NOTES: In Greek mythology, the twins Otus and Ephialtes piled Mount Pelion on Mount Ossa and both on Mount Olympus in an attempt to reach heaven and attack the gods. The word is mainly used in the idiom “to pile Pelion upon Ossa” meaning to make a challenging task even more difficult by piling something on top of it.
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pHELION - the acidity of a solar orbit

PET LION - not allowed in most municipalities (or zoos)

PELICON - seabird with a big distensible pouch in its mouth

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MAE WEST

PRONUNCIATION: (may WEST)

MEANING: noun: An inflatable life jacket.

ETYMOLOGY: After actress, singer, and playwright Mae West (1893-1980), from the apparent resemblance of an inflated vest to her large bust. Earliest documented use: 1940.
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MALE WEST - the right-hand opponent of the player sitting North is a man

MA NEWEST - my most recent, in Savannah, Georgia

MAX WEST - the biggest member of the West family

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ADONIC

PRONUNCIATION: (uh-DAH/DOH-nik)

MEANING: adjective: Strikingly handsome.

ETYMOLOGY: After Adonis, a very handsome youth in Greek mythology. There’s a verb coined after him, as well: adonize. Earliest documented use: 1579.
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ADDONIC - given to putting on more bells and whist

ADORIC - what Lucy did to her husband

ADONICE - hold the PR messages, we're scrubbing the advertising campaign

RADONIC - a basement with too much nasty gas

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VANDAL

PRONUNCIATION: (VAN-dl)

MEANING: noun: One who willfully damages another’s property.

ETYMOLOGY: After Vandals, a Germanic tribe who overran Gaul, Spain, and northern Africa, and in 455 CE sacked Rome. Earliest documented use: 1555.
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EVANDAL - Dirksen and Gore

VANADAL - like Element #23

VANDAM - Belgian martial artist and action film star

FAN/DAL - New Delhi resident who enjoys breakfast

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NIMRODIZE

PRONUNCIATION: (NIM-ruh-dyz)

MEANING: verb intr.: To behave like a tyrant.

ETYMOLOGY: Nimrod was a great-grandson of Noah’s, according to the Bible. He was a hunter and an evil tyrannical king. Earliest documented use: 1614.
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NIMROD ICE - what the famed hunter puts in his Scotch

NAM, RODIZE - Private Rodize is having a flashback

NO, I'M RODIZE - Sergeant, you're talking to the wrong guy!

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CHADBAND

PRONUNCIATION: (CHAD-band)

MEANING: noun: An oily, hypocritical person.

ETYMOLOGY: After Rev. Mr. Chadband, a greedy preacher in Charles Dickens’s 1853 novel Bleak House. Earliest documented use: 1853.
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CHAN BAND - Sidney Toller's film family

CHARD BAND - the elastic strip that holds the vegetables together in a bunch

CHAD BRAND - that's how we know where in central Africa these products originate

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RAD

PRONUNCIATION: (rad)

MEANING: noun: One who advocates fundamental or far-reaching change or reform.
adjective: Extraordinary; wonderful; fashionable; hip; cool.

ETYMOLOGY: From shortening of radical, from Latin radix (root). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wrad- (branch, root), which also gave us radish, root, rutabaga, eradicate, and ramify. Earliest documented use: 1820 for noun, 1976 for adjective.
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RAP - a Native American tribe historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming, clipped at both ends

RAID - a length of woven hair, clipped at its proximal end and free from insects

RAT - a casserole food, made from cooked eggplant and tomatoes, squash and pepper, onions and garlic, and more, not clipped at all but rather sliced or chopped

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