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(continued from here) AMBIVERTPRONUNCIATION: (AM-bi-vuhrt) MEANING: noun: One having the characteristics of both an extrovert and an introvert. NOTES: An ambivert is one who can be an extrovert or an introvert depending on the situation. For example, with family or close friends one can be open and outgoing while being reserved in the presence of strangers. Also, an ambivert can refer to someone who falls somewhere between the two extremes and shows some tendencies of each. ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ambi- (both) + -vert (as in introvert/extrovert), from vertere (to turn). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wer- (to turn or bend), which also gave us wring, weird, writhe, worth, revert, universe, animadvert, divers, quaquaversal, obverse, obvert, and verso. Earliest documented use: 1923. ________________________________ AMEBIVERT - when a one-celled organism turns itself inside out AMBILERT - broadcast widely over the Internet alerting the public to a missing child AMBIVORT - a whirlpool that can't make up its mind whether it's spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise
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HAPLESS
PRONUNCIATION: (HAP-lis)
MEANING: adjective: Unfortunate.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old Norse happ (good luck) + less, from Old English laes (without). Earliest documented use: 1400.
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HA-LESS - a bad comedian. See also subgroups HAH-LESS - a bad Boston comedian; HAR-LESS - a bad Ozark comedian; HAW-LESS - a bad Texas comedian
HARPLESS - why the choir of angels doesn't sound as full any more
HASPLESS - my diary can''t be locked
CHAPLESS - for women only
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SUPERBIOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (su-PUHR-bee-uhs)
MEANING: adjective: Proud; insolent.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin superbiosus (proud or insolent), from superbia (pride), from superbus (superb, proud). Earliest documented use: 1509.
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SUPER-BIOS - the life stories of Kal-El, Mary Batson, Bruce Banner, Hal Jordan, Peter Parker, Diana Prince, and many others
SUP HERBIOUS - season your dinner with sage, rosemary, thyme, et.al.
SOUP ERBIOUS - potage made with rare earth
SUPERB IOUs - the highest quality promissory notes
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HOARY
PRONUNCIATION: (HOHR-ee)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Gray or white, as from age.
2. Ancient.
3. Trite.
ETYMOLOGY: From hoar (frost), from Old English har. Earliest documented use: 1530.
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OARY - multi-sculled
HONARY - the athlete being appludded
HOVARY - a Cockney hegg-prodcucing organ
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PRECOCIOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (pri-KOH-shuhs)
MEANING: adjective: Exhibiting advanced development at an early age.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin praecox (premature, early ripening), from praecoquere (to ripen early), from prae- (pre) + coquere (to cook or ripen). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pekw- (to cook or ripen), which is also the source of cook, cuisine, kitchen, kiln, biscuit, apricot (an early-ripening peach, literally speaking), pumpkin, and Hindi pakka (ripened, cooked). Earliest documented use: 1650.
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PROCOCIOUS - preferring meat cooked rare (not done, even yet!)
PYRECOCIOUS - preferring meat well-done
PRECONIOUS - ice cream before it leaves the scoop
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HANDFAST
PRONUNCIATION: (HAND-fast)
MEANING: noun: A contract or agreement, especially about a betrothal or marriage.
verb tr.: To engage to be married or to bind in wedlock.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old English handfæsten (to pledge or betroth), from hand + fæstan (to fasten). Earliest documented use: 1275.
USAGE: “The couple’s decision to be handfasted under the full moon is particularly blessed and by our lights very romantic.”
Dear Abby: I Agree with You; The Washington Post; Oct 13, 2002.
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BANDFAST - the music was presto
HANDCAST - thrown on a wheel by a live potter
BINDFAST - to tie down
HARDFAST - inflexible, like some rules
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REPUGNANT
PRONUNCIATION: (ri-PUHG-nuhnt)
MEANING: adjective: Distasteful; offensive; objectionable.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French répugnant (disgusting), from Latin repugnant (contrary, opposed), from repugnare, from re- (again) + pugnare (to fight), from pugnus (fist). Ultimately from the Indo-European root peuk- (to prick), which is also the source of point, puncture, pungent, punctual, poignant, pounce, poniard, impugn, pugilist, and pugnacious. Earliest documented use: 1425.
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R.I.PUGNANT - epitaph for Benny Paret
REDUGNANT - disinterred
REPUGNAT - pesky little critters, aren't they
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BACKHANDED
PRONUNCIATION: (BAK-han-did)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Indirect or ambiguous, having double meaning; sarcastic or malicious.
2. Performed with the back of the hand facing forward.
ETYMOLOGY: The metaphorical sense of the term derives from the image of a hand facing backward being indirect or hiding something. Earliest documented use: 1800. The word forehanded is not an opposite of this word.
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JACKHANDED - halfway to being able to open the pot
BOCKHANDED - holding a large stein of beer
BACHANDED - Tempus Fugit - write faster!
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IRONFISTED
PRONUNCIATION: (EYE-uhrn-fis-tid)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Ruthless; tyrannical.
2. Stingy; tight-fisted.
ETYMOLOGY:
For sense 1, from the allusion to someone wielding a crushing fist.
For sense 2, from the allusion to a hard-to-open fist clutching money.
Earliest documented use: 1852.
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I WON!-FISTED - aggressive celebration of victory, pumping a clenched hand skyward
IRON-FOISTED - the victim thought it was gold
IRON-FITTED - just got made-to-measure golf clubs for the short game
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DEAD HAND
PRONUNCIATION: (DED hand)
MEANING: noun:
1. The stifling influence of something, especially of the past on the present.
2. The perpetual ownership of property by institutions, such as churches.
ETYMOLOGY: A literal translation of the term mortmain. Earliest documented use: 1615.
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DREAD HAND - 2-3-4-5-7. You lose. Period.
DEAR HAND - Four Aces. That's much better. Until it loses to a straight-flush; then it was very dear, indeed...
DEAD BAND - for which we are forever Grateful
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GAZUMP
PRONUNCIATION: (guh-ZUHMP)
MEANING: verb tr.:
1. To raise the price after accepting an offer from a buyer.
2. To offer a higher price to a seller on something that’s already being sold to another.
3. To preempt something, especially by questionable means.
4. To swindle.
ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin, perhaps from Yiddish gezumph (to overcharge). Earliest documented use: 1928.
NOTES: Gazumping often happens in house sales. You have found your dream house, everything looks great, price negotiations are finished, inspection is done, you are ready to sign the contract, and then the seller receives a higher bid and gazumps: raises the price on you. It’s mostly seen in the UK. The term is often used in an extended sense: to trump something by the use of dubious methods. There’s a counterpart to today’s word. Meet it on Friday
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GAZUP - what it does before it comes down, as it must
HAZUMP - decides whether things are dangerous or not
GAGUMP - baseball referee's been ordered not to say anything to anybody...
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AL DESKO
PRONUNCIATION: (al DES-ko)
MEANING: adverb: At one’s desk.
ETYMOLOGY: Patterned after alfresco, from desk, from Latin desca (desk), from discus (disk), from Greek diskos (disk). Earliest documented use: 1981.
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AIL DESKO - repetitive strain injury caused by sitting still at work all day
AL DISKO - ¿Where are we dancing tonight, Mamacita?
ALDO'S KO - the former Prime Minister of Italy was famous for using this tactic when he played Go
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GRINAGOG
PRONUNCIATION: (GRIN-uh-gog)
MEANING: noun: One who is always grinning.
ETYMOLOGY: From grin, from Old English grennian (to show the teeth in pain or anger) + apparently -agogue (bringer). Earliest documented use: 1565.
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GRINGO G. - a recently-arrived visitor to Latin America, whose identity shall remain disguised
GRIN, MAGOG - the Apocalypse is at hand!
AGRI-NAGOG - a farm near the pond in Acton/Littleton, Massachusetts
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POT-VALOR
PRONUNCIATION: (POT-val-uhr)
MEANING: noun: Boldness or courage induced by the consumption of alcohol.
NOTES: Also known as liquid courage or Dutch courage.
ETYMOLOGY: From pot, alluding to a drinking pot + valor (boldness), from Latin valor (worth), from valere (to be well, be of worth). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wal- (to be strong), which also gave us valiant, avail, valor, value, wieldy, countervail, valence, valetudinarian, and valorize. Earliest documented use: 1623.
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POT-VATOR - device for taking the weed up or down a floor, but in any case out of view
POT-VAPOR - all that remains of the marijuana after using the above device
POST-VALOR - ...nor Covid-19 shall stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds
Last edited by wofahulicodoc; 05/15/20 01:54 AM.
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GAZUNDER
PRONUNCIATION: (guh-ZUHN-duhr)
MEANING: verb tr.: To reduce the amount of an offer after it has been accepted by the seller.
ETYMOLOGY: A blend of gazump + under. Earliest documented use: 1988.
NOTES: To gazump is to raise the price after accepting an offer from a buyer, but buyers are not always angels. Sometimes a buyer reduces the offer, just before signing the contract. These typically happen in the housing market. A real-estate company even offers a helpful article on How To Gazunder Successfully. While legal, the practice is clearly unethical. It’s fitting then, that the word gazunder has another slang meaning, though it’s unrelated to today’s word. It also refers to a chamber pot, from the condensed spelling of “goes under” referring to where a chamber pot is placed.
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GAZE-UNDER - to search for a chamber-pot
GA-ZOUNDER - one who is given to SUDDEN LOUD EXCLAMATIONS !
G'LAUNDER - to run through the g'washing machine
GAWUNDER - drown
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TRANSECT
PRONUNCIATION: (tran-SEKT)
MEANING: verb tr.: To cut across.
noun: 1. A narrow section through a natural feature.
2. A path along which measurements or observations are made.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin trans- (across) + secare (to cut). Earliest documented use: for verb 1634, for noun 1905.
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TRANSECTS - arthropods who change their gender
TRAINSECT - we worship railroad locomotive and cars and tracks
TRANSPECT - to look across
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SURFEIT
PRONUNCIATION: (SUHR-fit)
MEANING: noun: 1. Excess.
2. Overindulgence in eating or drinking.
3. Satiety or disgust caused by overindulgence.
verb tr.: To do or supply anything to excess.
verb intr.: 1. To overindulge.
2. To suffer from overindulgence.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French surfait (excess), from past participle of surfaire (to overdo), from sur- (over, above) + faire (to do), from Latin facere (to do). Earliest documented use: for noun 1387, for verb 1400.
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SMURFEIT - the little blue girl
SQUR-FEIT - how my apartment is measured
SUR-FIT - same size for everybody! (see also SURE-FEIT)
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RECONNOITER or RECONNOITRE
PRONUNCIATION: (ree-kuh-NOI-tuhr, rek-uh-)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To explore or scout an area for gathering information.
noun: An act of reconnoitering.
ETYMOLOGY: From obsolete French reconnoître, from Latin recognoscere, from re- (again) + gnoscere (to know). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gno- (to know), which is also the source of know, recognize, acquaint, ignore, diagnosis, notice, normal, agnostic, incognito, connoisseur, cognize, anagnorisis (the moment of recognition or discovery), and prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces). Earliest documented use: for verb 1705, for noun 1781.
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DECONNOITER - suppress information about an area
RE: CONN OBITER - about the writer of death notices in Hartford and vicinity
RECON OUTRÉ - investigate the bizarre
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TRAJECT
PRONUNCIATION: (truh-JEKT)
MEANING: verb tr.: To transport or transmit.
noun: Transport, transmission, or passage.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin traicere (to throw across), from trans- (across) + jacere (to throw). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ye- (to throw), which also gave us jet, eject, project, reject, object, subject, adjective, joist, jactitation, subjacent, and jaculate. Earliest documented use: for noun: 1552, for verb 1624.
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TRA-JEST - the chorus of a jocular song
PRAJECT - the speaker could be heard, but his enunciation wasn't very good
TERAJECT - to throw in billions
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INTERPOSE
PRONUNCIATION: (in-tuhr-POHZ)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: 1. To place in between.
2. To intrude or to interrupt.
noun: 1. The act of, or an instance of, putting something in between.
2. An interference or interruption.
ETYMOLOGY: From French interposer, from Latin interponere, from inter (between) + ponere (to put). Ultimately from the Indo-European root apo- (off or away), which is also the source of pose, apposite, after, off, awkward, post, puny, apposite, and apropos. Earliest documented use: for verb: 1599, for noun: 1610.
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INTEL POSE - capsule summary of that new thriller The Pretend Spy
INTER POISE - just the right amount of savoir-faire
ENTER POSE - to begin the impersonation
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HETEROCHROMATIC
PRONUNCIATION: (het-uhr-oh-kroh-MAT-ik)
MEANING: adjective: Having many different colors.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek hetero- (different) + chrom- (color). Earliest documented use: 1895.
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HETAEROCHROMATIC - the color of an elegant Greek courtesan
HEPTEROCHROMATIC - seven-colored, like a rainbow
HE TERACHROMATIC - he's a chameleon, with a trillion colors
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HOMOPHENE
PRONUNCIATION: (HOM-uh-feen)
MEANING: noun: A word or phrase that, when spoken, appears to be the same as a different word or phrase on a person’s lips, for example my and pie.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek homo- (same) + phainein (to show). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bha- (to shine), which is also the source of beacon, banner, phantom, photo, phosphorus, phenomenon, fantasy, epiphany, sycophant, and apophenia. Earliest documented use: 1883.
NOTES: Here are some more examples of words/phrases that appear the same to someone lip reading:
mark, park, and bark
“elephant juice” and “I love you”
bargain and market
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HEMOPHENE - benzene-based compounds, found in trace amounts in the blood
HO! MORPHENE! - look at that stash I just found!
HOLOPHENE - one who has terrible things happen to him in a drunken stupor (according to the Book of Judith)
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HETEROCLITE
PRONUNCIATION: (HET-uhr-uh-klyt)
MEANING: noun: 1. A person who is unconventional; a maverick.
2. A word that is irregularly formed.
adjective: 1. Deviating from the ordinary rule; eccentric.
2. (In grammar) Irregularly inflected.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin heteroclitus, from Greek heteroklitos, from hetero- (different) + klinein (to lean, inflect). Ultimately from the Indo-European root klei- (to lean), which also gave us decline, incline, recline, lean, client, climax, and ladder. Earliest documented use: 1580.
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HETEROCLIME - Like New England weather - if you don't like it, just wait 15 minutes
HETHEROCLITE - a kind of iron ore found in Scotland mixed in among wildflowers
HETEROCULITE - having a different prescription to correct the vision in each eye
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HOMOLOGATE
PRONUNCIATION: (huh-MOL-uh-gayt, ho-)
MEANING: verb tr.: To approve officially, especially a car, engine, etc., for sale in a particular market or for its use in racing.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin homologare (to agree), from Greek homologein (to agree or allow). Earliest documented use: 1644.
NOTES: Some auto racing competitions require participating vehicles to be available for sale to the general public, and not be custom made for racing. In other words, the vehicle must be a production model, not a prototype. The process of homologation verifies this. The initials GTO listed after some auto names (Ferrari, Pontiac, etc.) stand for “Gran Turismo Omologato”, Italian for “Grand Touring, Homologated”.
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NOMOLOGATE - to make suitable for baseballer Garciaparra
HOMOLOCATE - to find a missing person by using the GPS chip in his smartphone
HOMOLEGATE - lawyer for all mankind
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HETEROGRAPHY
PRONUNCIATION: (het-uh-ROG-ruh-fee)
MEANING: noun:
1. A spelling different from the one in current use.
2. Use of the same letter(s) to convey different sounds, for example, gh in rough and ghost.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek hetero- (different) + -graphy (writing). Earliest documented use: 1783.
NOTES: The idea of heterography is a recent phenomenon, relatively speaking. Earlier, when English was mainly a spoken language, it was a free-for-all, spelling-wise. Any spelling was fine as long as you could make yourself understood. Each writer spelled words in their own way, trying to spell them phonetically. Shakespeare spelled his own name in various ways (Shaxspear, Shakespear, and so on) ...
With the advent of printing in the 15th century, spelling began to become standardized. By the 19th century, most words had a single “official” spelling, as a consensus, not by the diktat of a committee.
Today if you write “definately” and someone points out that you’ve misspelled the word, just tell them you’re a practitioner of heterography.
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HESTEROGRAPHY - a handwritten manuscript of The Scarlet Letter
....."handwritten manuscript" - now there's a redundant phrase for you!
HEXEROGRAPHY - 1. pictures of witches; 2. man's dry reproduction process
HERTEROGRAPHY - the collected writings of Eisenhower's Secretary of State
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BOKEH
PRONUNCIATION: (BOH-kay/kuh)
MEANING: noun: The blurred effect in a photograph, typically as a soft out-of-focus background, that results in a pleasing effect and helps to draw attention to the subject of the photograph.
ETYMOLOGY: From Japanese boke (blur, haze) or boke-aji (blur quality). Earliest documented use: 1997.
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BOKEN - with "HO!," a greeting uttered upon arrival at a city in New Jersey
BOKETH - past tense of the old third-person-singular form of the verb meaning "to ride on a two-wheeled vehicle"
BOKEN - how a two-year-old just learning to speak describes something that doesn't work right any more
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SENSEI
PRONUNCIATION: (SEN-say, sen-SAY)
MEANING: noun: A teacher, mentor, or a master in a field.
ETYMOLOGY: From Japanese sensei (teacher, master), from sen (earlier) + sei (birth), meaning a teacher was born earlier and knows more and has more experience. Earliest documented use: 1874.
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SEN-SEN - the Curiously Strong Mint of the 1950s (give or take 15 years)
SENSEKI - a dramatic move in Go that had better not be made
SENASE I - the first enzyme that catalyzes activity in the Upper House of Congress
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SAYONARA
PRONUNCIATION: (sy-uh-NAHR-uh)
MEANING: interjection: Goodbye.
ETYMOLOGY: From Japanese sayonara (goodbye), short for sayo naraba (if it is to be that way), from sayo (thus) + naraba (if it be), ultimately from Chinese. Earliest documented use: 1863.
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MAYONARA - adj, describing an Italian dish prepared with mayonnaise and a brine marinade
SAYONARMA - Okay, I'm Norma, now what?
SAY ON A RAG - critic's review of the first performance of The Entertainer
RAYON ARA - a synthetic cloth constellation
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ORIGAMI
PRONUNCIATION: (or-i-GAH-mee)
MEANING: noun:
1. The art of folding paper into various shapes.
2. An object made by folding paper.
ETYMOLOGY: From Japanese origami, from ori (fold) + kami (paper). Earliest documented use: 1948.
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OBIGAMI - an Irishman with two wives
ORINAMI - the mouth of a tidal wave
PRIG, AM I? - You accuse me of being prudish?
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SEPPUKU
PRONUNCIATION: (se-POO-koo, SE-puh-koo)
MEANING: noun:
1. Ritual suicide by disembowelment.
2. Ruining one’s own interests.
ETYMOLOGY: From Japanese setsu fuku, from setsu (to cut) + fuku (abdomen), ultimately from Chinese. Earliest documented use: 1871.
NOTES: ...also known as harakiri
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SEE-PUKU - what the Tokyo hockey goalie has to do well...
SEP-PUPU - platter of small amounts of several different foods, to order at an Asian restaurant
SEMP-UKU - gallant action by the Imperial Marines
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YARRA-BANKER
PRONUNCIATION: (YAHR-uh-bangk-uhr)
MEANING: noun:
1. A vagrant or a loafer.
2. A soapbox orator or agitator.
ETYMOLOGY: After the Yarra river in Victoria, Australia. Its bank was once a popular hangout for vagrants, soapbox orators, and the like. Earliest documented use: late 19th century.
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YARRA-BANNER - see many of them, along the riverside tourist esplanade in Victoria, Australia
FARRA-BANKER - the Six Million Dollar Woman's second career was in finance
Y'AGRA-BANKER - its headquarters is right next to the Taj Mahal (and it specializes in farm loans)
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KLONDIKE
PRONUNCIATION: (KLAN-dyk)
MEANING: noun: A rich source of something valuable.
ETYMOLOGY: After the Klondike region in the Yukon Territory, Canada, named after the Klondike River. It was the site of a gold rush from 1896 to 1899. Earliest documented use: 1897.
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BLONDIKE - when Eisenhower lightened his hair dramatically
KOLONDIKE - the physical cause of constipation
KLM ON DIKE - Royal Dutch Airways aircraft made an emergency landing on a sea-wall
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RUBICON
PRONUNCIATION: (ROO-bi-kon)
MEANING: noun: A point of no return, one where an action taken commits a person irrevocably.
ETYMOLOGY: Contrary to popular belief, Caesar salad is not named after Julius Caesar. But today’s term does have a connection to him. In 49 BCE, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a small river that formed the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. As he crossed the river into Italy, he exclaimed “Iacta alea est” (The die is cast), knowing well that his action signified a declaration of war with Rome. Today when an action marks a situation where there is no going back, we say the Rubicon has been crossed. Earliest documented use: 1613.
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RUBIC WON - Who got the prize for the best toy of the early 1980s?
REBICON - annual gathering of Civil War renacters, partial to the South
RUBI-CORN - maize of a particularly intense deep red
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MEANDER
PRONUNCIATION: (mee-AN-duhr)
MEANING: verb intr.: 1. To follow a winding course.
2. To move aimlessly.
3. To speak or write without a focus.
noun: 1. A curve or bend in a path, stream, etc.
2. A winding path.
3. A circuitous journey; a ramble.
ETYMOLOGY: After Maeander (modern name: Büyük Menderes), a river in Turkey, known for its winding course. Earliest documented use: 1576.
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MEAN TER - Cockney behaving with ill will
MEANTER - teacher, role model, and guide
MEADER - Vaughan the Comedian (and JFK satirist)
MD ANDER - father of a well-known cancer hospital and research center in Texas
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NIAGARA
PRONUNCIATION: (ny-AG-ruh, ny-AG-uhr-uh)
MEANING: noun: An outpouring; a deluge.
ETYMOLOGY: After the Niagara river which forms the Niagara Falls, a group of three massive waterfalls, between the US and Canada. Earliest documented use: 1800.
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"NI!" AGORA - Greek marketplace full of Knights from Monty Python
NiAg BRA - lingerie worn by Metallica on tour
NAG ARA - pester the Notre Dame football coach
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LITHOPHONE
PRONUNCIATION: (LITH-uh-fon)
MEANING: noun: Any of various musical instruments in which sound is produced by striking pieces of stone.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek litho- (stone) + -phone (sound). Earliest documented use: 1889.
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LITHOPRONE - given to forming kidney and gall-bladder stones
LITHOPHONY - rocks made of papier-maché but painted
LITHOPHANE - a thin layer of wrapping material that you can't unfold or tear open or even see through, for wrapping packs of guaranteed-safe cigarettes
LITHOSHONE - very highly polished marble
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AISCHROLATREIA
PRONUNCIATION: (eye-skroh-luh-TREE-uh)
MEANING: noun: Excessive devotion to filth or obscenity.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek aischro- (shameful or ugly) + -latreia (worship). Earliest documented use: 1912.
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AISCHROLATRIA - having ugly upper-chambers of the heart
AISCROLATREIA - worshipping the parchment and ink of the ancient Holy Writ rather than the meaning of its contents
AISCHROLATRESIA - the island fishery did not develop properly
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HENOTHEISM
PRONUNCIATION: (HEN-uh-thee-iz-uhm)
MEANING: noun: Belief in or worship of one god without denying the possibility of others.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek heno- (one) + -theism (belief in god). Earliest documented use: 1860.
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HEROTHEISM - worship of a protagonist
XENOTHEISM - worship of an alien god
ME-NOT-HE-ISM - I'm all right, Jack
SHE-NOT-HE-ISM - I always knew God didn't have a long white beard
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HYPONYM
PRONUNCIATION: (HY-puh-nim)
MEANING: noun: A more specific term in a general class. For example, “purple” is a hyponym of “color”.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek hypo- (under) + -nym (name). Earliest documented use: 1963.
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TYPONYM - TU1/2ONYM
HYPO-GYM - the locker rooms are downstairs, right below us
BY PONY, M - reply to "How do you plan to escape from those desperadoes afterward, Bond?"
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GERATOLOGY
PRONUNCIATION: (jer-uh-TOL-uh-jee))
MEANING: noun:
1. The study of aging and related decline.
2. The study of a species approaching extinction.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek gerat- (old age) + -logy (study). Earliest documented use: 1884.
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GER-OTOLOGY - the study of ear disorders in the elderly
GERMATOLOGY - the study of skin infections
VERATOLOGY - the study of Truthiness
GEARATOLOGY - the study of mechanical interactions
GYRATOLOGY - the study of spinning
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GOLDEN CALF
PRONUNCIATION: (GOL-den KAHF)
MEANING: noun: Someone or something unworthy that is excessively esteemed.
ETYMOLOGY: In the biblical story Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying stone tablets with the Ten Commandments only to find Israelites worshiping a calf made of gold. Earliest documented use: 1575.
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GOODEN CALF - what the NY Mets pitching star got his power from
GOLDEN CALIF - 1. tale of the 615th Arabian NIght ((Westerners may recognize the story of King Midas) 2. the Gate where the Bridge is
GOLDEN RALF - King Midas just barfed
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SILVER SPOON
PRONUNCIATION: (SIL-vuhr spoon)
MEANING: noun: Inherited wealth.
ETYMOLOGY: The phrase is often used in the construction “to be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth” meaning one’s born in privilege and wealth. The association of silver with riches is obvious, so why not a gold spoon? Nobody knows, though it may have something to do with silver’s biocidal properties. Earliest documented use: 1719.
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SILVER SPOOL - where to get the thread to weave among the gold
SALVER SPOON - what haute societé takes sugar and cream from
SOLVER SPOON - cruciverbalist's trophy
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TINHORN
PRONUNCIATION: (TIN-horn)
MEANING: noun: Someone who pretends to have money, skill, influence, etc.
adjective: Inferior or insignificant, while pretending to be otherwise.
ETYMOLOGY: The word has its origin in gambling, from the use of a cone-shaped container used to shake the dice. A tinhorn gambler was someone who pretended to be a big player, but actually played for small stakes. Earliest documented use: 1885.
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EINHORN - German word for "unicorn"
TINSHORN - deprived of all can-making material
TENHORN - a LARGE orchestral brass section
VINHORN - a cornucopia full of French wine
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BRASS TACKS
PRONUNCIATION: (bras taks)
MEANING: noun: Practical details; essentials; realities.
ETYMOLOGY: The term is typically used in the phrase “to get down to brass tacks”. There are many conjectures about the origins of the term, but it’s not confirmed why we say brass tacks, instead of, say iron tacks, or for that matter iron nails. Earliest documented use: 1863.
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BRA STACKS - the stock room in Victoria's Secret
BASS TACKS - how the fish swims upstream
BRASS TANKS - used in stills in place of copper to make a higher-class moonshine
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IRONCLAD
PRONUNCIATION: (EYE-uhrn-klad)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Covered with iron.
2. Inflexible, unbreakable, or indisputable.
ETYMOLOGY: From iron, from Old English iren + clad (clothed), from Old English clathod. Earliest documented use: 1752.
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IRON CLAY - not very good soil, but great ore
IRONIC LAD - Marvel's latest Superhero; always has something wry to say
IRON CHAD - how to make a ballot look unused
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ONYMOUS
PRONUNCIATION:(AHN-uh-muhs)
MEANING: adjective: Bearing the author’s name; named.
ETYMOLOGY: Back-formation from Latin anonymus, from Greek anonymus, from an- (not) + onyma (name). Earliest documented use: 1775. Anonymous is from 1601.
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ONYXOUS - like a black semi-precious jewel
ONYMPUS - one letter away from the home of the Greek Gods
NYMOUS - uninvited denizen of many Manhattan apartments
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SWASHBUCKLE
PRONUNCIATION: (SWASH-buhkl)
MEANING: verb intr.: To swagger, bluster, behave recklessly, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: Back-formation from swashbuckler (one who makes a noise by striking a sword on a shield), from swash (of imitative origin) + buckler (a small round shield), from boucle (a boss on a shield), from Latin buccula, diminutive of bucca (cheek). Earliest documented use: 1897. Swashbuckler is from 1560.
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SWISHBUCKLE - a special buckle designed to make intimidating sounds when the belt is whirled around the head, to be used as a weapon
SW ASHBUCKLE - the southwest quadrant of Ashbuckle, West Virginia, where wooden belt accessories are manufactured
SWASH BOUCKLÉ - woven wrist-watch bands
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ZIG
PRONUNCIATION: (zig)
MEANING: noun: A sharp turn or angle in a zigzag course.
verb intr.: To make a sharp turn.
ETYMOLOGY: Back-formation from zigzag, from French zigzag, from ziczac, from German Zickzack (zigzag), perhaps a reduplication of Zacke (peak, tooth, or nail). Earliest documented use: 1969. Zigzag is from 1712.
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ZING - twit-speak for "snoozing"
ZYG - a fertilized egg
ZIGH - taking a long, deep breath and then letting it out, while asleep
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(It went from Baltimore to Washington, DC, in 1844, though it sounds like it started in Boston)
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RORT
PRONUNCIATION: (rort)
MEANING: noun:
1. A fraudulent scheme or practice.
2. A wild party.
ETYMOLOGY: Back-formation from rorty (boisterous, lively, jolly), of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1926. Rorty is from 1868.
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ROIT - a correct Cockney, yes?
AORT - a very short main artery leaving the Left Ventricle
RORO - what you do gently to your boat when you go down the stream
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COUTH
PRONUNCIATION: (kooth)
MEANING: adjective: Cultured; refined; sophisticated.
noun: Refinement; sophistication.
ETYMOLOGY: Back-formation from uncouth, from Old English uncuth (unknown), from un- (not) + cuth (known), past participle of cunnan (to know, to be able). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gno- (to know), which also gave us know, recognize, acquaint, ignore, diagnosis, notice, normal, anagnorisis, prosopagnosia, agnosia , cognize, gnomon, kenning, and unco. Earliest documented use: 1896. Uncouth is from 1732.
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CORUTH - what sings Hallelujah! in Handel's Methiah
HOUTH - where the Lispers live
COUTY - a poorly-defined, intermediate-sized political region, somewhere between a city and a county
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REDSHIRT
PRONUNCIATION: (RED-shuhrt)
MEANING: noun: A college athlete who practices with the team, but does not take part in official games.
verb tr., intr.: 1. To extend eligibility by a year by making an athlete practice, but not participate, official games.
2. To delay enrolling a child by a year to avoid their being one of the youngest in the class.
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"REEDS" HIRT - nickname of the trumpet player's brother; he played clarinet and sax
REDSHIFT - astronomers' tool for determining galactic speeds and distances
REDSHIRE - where Diggory Venn, Thomas Hardy's reddleman, lived
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SMARTY-PANTS
PRONUNCIATION: (SMAR-tee-pants)
MEANING: noun: Someone who presents as being obnoxiously clever.
ETYMOLOGY: From smart, from Old English smeart + pants, short for pantaloons, plural of pantaloon. St. Pantaleone/Pantalone was a popular saint in Venice. As a result, it was also a common name among the Venetians. As a result, a comic character in the Italian commedia dell’arte was named Pantalone. The leggings this character wore became known as pantalone (plural pantaloni). And that became pantaloons in English. Earliest documented use: 1932.
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SMARTY-PANT - covering for one leg, worn by a half-wit
SMARTY-RANTS - even Albert Einstein lost his cool sometimes
SMARTY-PINTS - ale promoted as improving one's intelligence
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SANSCULOTTE
PRONUNCIATION: (sanz-kyoo-LOT)
MEANING: noun: A radical or revolutionary.
ETYMOLOGY: From French, literally, without knee breeches. In the French Revolution, this was the aristocrats’ term of contempt for the ill-clad volunteers of the Revolutionary army who rejected knee breeches as a symbol of the upper class and adopted pantaloons. As often happens with such epithets, the revolutionaries themselves adopted it as a term of pride. Earliest documented use: 1790.
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SAM'S CULOTTE - Murray's Pants Store, only owned by Sam
ANS: CULOTTE - reply to Qu: What are those things women wear that look like a skirt but are divided into pantlegs at the bottom?
SAN SCULPTTE - stone statuette of a saint
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DESCAMISADO
PRONUNCIATION: (des-ka-mee-SAH-doh)
MEANING: noun: A very poor person.
ETYMOLOGY: From Spanish descamisado (shirtless), from des- (dis-, un-) + camisa (shirt). Earliest documented use: 1821.
NOTES: Over the years, the term has been applied to various people, such as a revolutionary in the Spanish Revolution of 1820-23 and a supporter of Argentinian President Juan Perón.
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DECCA MISADO - a shellac recording of a Catholic Mass
ODES CAMISADO - poems to be read in your shirtsleeves
PESCA MISADO - a traditional Japanese soup made from fish in a dashi stock with softened miso paste mixed in
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BLOODY SHIRTPRONUNCIATION: (BLUHD-ee shuhrt) MEANING: noun: A symbol used to incite people to partisan outrage or animosity. ETYMOLOGY: The term is typically used as “to wave the bloody shirt” and alludes to the literal or metaphorical symbol of a supposed injury that needs to be avenged. Earliest documented use: 1586. NOTES: In modern times, masks are apparently the new bloody shirt. ____________________________________ BLOODY SHIFT - night work at the slaughterhouse, when the dirty deed is done "BLOODY" HIRT - the trumpet player's brother (the sax player) who likes to spout pirate lingo BROODY SHIRT - the outfit worn by Edward Lear's Old Man with a Beard
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SCANSORIAL
PRONUNCIATION: (skan-SOHR-ee-uhl)
MEANING: adjective: Related to climbing.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin scandere (to climb). Ultimately from the Indo-European root skand- (to leap or climb), which also gave us ascend, descend, condescend, transcend, echelon, scale, and scandent. Earliest documented use: 1804.
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SCANTORIAL - it's hard to find a good singer for services these days
SCANSOCIAL - I keep an eye on facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and all of those
SCANSTORIAL - cash registers in Saudi Arabia
SCANS TRIAL - suing the MRI for damages
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STRIDOR
PRONUNCIATION: (STRY-duhr)
MEANING: noun: A harsh, grating or creaking sound.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin stridere (to make a harsh sound). Earliest documented use: 1632.
NOTES: The word is often used for the harsh vibrating sound produced when breathing with an airway obstruction.
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STRIDOL - somebody made a graven image of Saint R.
S'TRIGOR - It's Roy Rogers' horse!
ASTRID OR - the Swedish starlet with the golden hair
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DISQUISITION
PRONUNCIATION: (dis-kwuh-ZISH-uhn)
MEANING: noun: A formal discussion on a subject: discourse or dissertation.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin disquirere (to investigate), from dis- (intensive prefix) + quaerere (to seek or ask). Earliest documented use: 1605.
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DISQUE "IS IT I" ON - playing the Berlitz "English Made Easy" record discussing the case of the direct object after the verb être
DIS QUISTION - what I want yez ta answer
DICQUISITION - obtaining two of them
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SANGUINARY
PRONUNCIATION: (SANG-gwuh-ner-ee)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Relating to blood.
2. Blood-red.
3. Involving bloodshed.
4. Bloodthirsty.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin sanguis (blood). Earliest documented use: 1540.
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PANGUINARY - preserve for egg-laying Antarctic animals that are very graceful under water; come in Adelie, Emperor, Rock-hopper, and a few other varieties
SANS GUINARY - my old violin is missing and I'm bereft
SAN QUINARY - pertaining to a California prison
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CONCUPISCENCE
PRONUNCIATION: (kon-KYOO-pih-suhns)
MEANING: noun: Strong desire; lust.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin concupiscere (to desire ardently), from con- (intensive prefix) + cupere (to desire). Earliest documented use: 1340.
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CONCULPISCENCE - sharing the blame
CONCU-PISCENE - there's something fishy about this harem
CONCUPISCIENCE - prize-winning manipulation of the facts and distortion of the logical process
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GOLDILOCKS
PRONUNCIATION: (GOL-dee-lahks)
MEANING: adjective: Just right; a happy medium; optimal; not at either extreme.
ETYMOLOGY: After Goldilocks, a golden-haired girl in the fairy tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. In the story, she visits a bear house and chooses Baby Bear’s chair, bed, and porridge because they are just right. Papa Bear’s porridge is too hot, Mama Bear’s too cold, for example. Earliest documented use: 1949. The story was first published in 1837. The earliest documented use in the literal sense of the word is from 400 years earlier.
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GOLDILOOKS - King Midas' glance
GOLF i LOCKS - Lesson 1: secure your equipment between rounds
GOLDILOCHS - the Scottish lakes glow in light of the summer-evening sun
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CINDERELLA
PRONUNCIATION: (sin-duh-REL-luh)
MEANING: noun:
1. One who deserves success or recognition, but instead suffers from neglect or obscurity.
2. One who achieves sudden triumph or recognition, especially after a long period of neglect or obscurity.
ETYMOLOGY: After Cinderella, the fairy-tale character who is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters. With a little help from a fairy godmother, she attends a royal ball thrown by a prince. Ultimately, she marries the prince and lives happily ever after. What’s behind the name Cinderella? It’s a pseudo-translation of the French name of the girl, Cendrillon, from cendre (cinder), perhaps an allusion to her day-to-day existence, tending to the fireplace and hearth, and as a result she has cinders all over her. It may also be a hint to the hidden spark in her otherwise dismal life. Earliest documented use: 1840.
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CINQERELLA - one of a set of quintuplets
CINDERELBA- when Napoleon escaped from exile he left the island in flames
CHINDERELLA - many years laterour charming Princess has put on a lot of weight
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UGLY DUCKLING
PRONUNCIATION: (UHG-lee DUHK-ling)
MEANING: noun: One that seems unattractive or unpromising at first but has great potential and later turns out to be quite attractive or successful.
ETYMOLOGY: From the protagonist of the story “The Ugly Duckling” by Hans Christian Andersen, in which a young bird believes himself to be a duck and is unhappy because he doesn’t look like a duck, only to later learn that (spoiler alert) he is a beautiful swan. Earliest documented use: 1877.
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UGLI DUCKLING - a Jamaican variant of canard à l'orange
TUGLY DUCKLING - an immature duck who won't let go of a particularly tasty crumb
UGLY DUNKLING - a falling-apart doughnut (dipped in coffee too long)
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SLEEPING BEAUTY
PRONUNCIATION: (SLEE-ping BYOO-tee)
MEANING: noun: Someone or something that lies dormant for a long time.
ETYMOLOGY: After the princess of a fairy tale who is cursed by a wicked fairy. The princess pricks her finger on a spindle and sleeps for 100 years until awakened by the kiss of a prince. Earliest documented use: 1729.
NOTES: In finance, a sleeping beauty is an asset, for example, a startup, that is an attractive target for takeover, but that has not yet been approached by someone. Also see Rip Van Winkle
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SLEEPING BEATTY - Shh! Warren is napping
STEEPING BEAUTY - making tea from rose hips
BLEEPING BEAUTY - methinks the Lady needs to have her mouth washed out with soap
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PRINCE CHARMING
PRONUNCIATION: (prins CHAR-ming)
MEANING: noun: A suitor who fulfills the expectations of his beloved.
ETYMOLOGY: After Prince Charming, the fairy-tale hero of many stories, such as, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Earliest documented use: 1850.
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PRINCE CHARRING - The Artist Formerly Known As [Squiggle] certainly likes his meat well done
PRINNE CHARMING - Hester deserves her Scarlet Letter
PRINCE CHARTING - when Harry flies in his helicopter he needs to know where he's going
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CORROBORATE
PRONUNCIATION: (kuh-ROB-uh-rayt)
MEANING: verb tr.: To confirm or support a claim, theory, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin corroborare (to strengthen), from com/cor- (together) + roborare (to make strong), from robur (oak, strength). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reudh- (red), which also gave us red, rouge, ruby, ruddy, rubella, robust, rambunctious, roborant, and russet. Earliest documented use: 1530.
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ZORRO BORATE - while protecting the poor against injustice he also developed and marketed a treatment for yeast and other groin infecitions
CORRO BERATE - to scold the voice parts for being out of tune
CORE ROBO-RATE - basic fee for 100,000 unwanted telephone calls
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PALMARY
PRONUNCIATION: (PAL-muh-ree)
MEANING: adjective: Of supreme importance; outstanding; praiseworthy.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin palmarius (deserving or carrying the palm), from palma (palm). The branches of the palm tree were carried as symbols of victory in ancient times. The name of the palm tree derives from the resemblance of the shape of its frond to the palm of a hand. Earliest documented use: 1646. Two related words are palmy and palmer.
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PALMDRY - some folks' hands get sweaty when they're anxious, but not theirs
PALMART - friends for hire or sale
PAYMARY - what to do when paying Peter or Paul doesn't work
PALMARRY - to marry your best friend (VT and VI)
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WILLOWY
PRONUNCIATION: (WIL-oh-ee)
MEANING: adjective
1. Of or related to a willow tree. For example, bordered, shaded, or covered by willows.
2. Gracefully tall, slender, and lithe.
ETYMOLOGY: Gracefully drooping branches of a willow have, for more than two centuries, inspired people to evoke the tree when describing a woman. The word willow is from Old English welig, ultimately from the Indo-European root wel- (to turn or roll), which also gave us waltz, revolve, valley, walk, vault, volume, wallet, helix, voluble, welter, and devolve. Earliest documented use: 1766.
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HILLOWY - Mrs Rodham Clinton, to her next-door-neighbor's toddler
WILCO, WY - the military accedes to the request to pull the troops out of Cheyenne
WILLO. WHY? - Is that a mapl tree?
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BIRCH
PRONUNCIATION: (buhrch)
MEANING: noun: 1. Any of various hardy trees or shrubs of the genus Betula.
2. A birch twig or a bundle of them.
verb tr.: 1. To beat with (or as if with) a birch.
2. To admonish or to punish.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old English berc/beorc. Earliest documented use: 700.
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bi-RUCH - (-U- as in "put;" guttural -ch) - a loose pronunciation of "blessed" in both Hebrew and Arabic
PIRCH - where a bird sits; also, a kind of fish
BIORCH - 1. a Swedish tennis player, 2. trying to find and make a vaccine
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FIG
PRONUNCIATION: (fig)
MEANING: noun: 1. A tree or shrub of the genus Ficus or its fruit.
2. Something of little value.
3. A gesture of contempt.
verb tr.: To dress up.
noun: Dress or array.
ETYMOLOGY: For noun 1-3: From Old French fige, from Provencal figa, from Latin fica (fig, ficus). Earliest documented use: 1225. Also see fig leaf.
For the rest: Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1839.
NOTES: It’s not clear why the fig has suffered such an undervaluation, historically speaking. The OED lists the first citation in this sense from “The Court of Love” (1450): “A Figge for all her chastite!” The word is also used for the obscene gesture of a fist with the thumb sticking out between two fingers. Another word given to us by the lowly fig is sycophant.
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FING - a euphemistic expression meant to convey an obscene adjective, is also variously spelled "effing" or "f---ing"
FIRG - presumptuousy familiar name for Sarah, Duchess of York (born Sarah Margaret Ferguson), ex-wife of Prince Andrew
FIG - a representation of some reviled person or object, often subjected to burning
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IRON-HEARTED
PRONUNCIATION: (EYE-uhrn-har-tid)
MEANING: adjective: Cruel; unfeeling.
ETYMOLOGY: From iron, from Old English iren + heart, from Old English heorte. Earliest documented use: 1570.
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IRON-HEATED - when you should strike
L.RON-HEARTED - believing in Dianetics
IRONY-HEARTED - pretending to believe in Dianetics, knowing its origin
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PUGNACIOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (puhg-NAY-shuhs)
MEANING: adjective: Having a quarrelsome nature; belligerent.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin pugnare (to fight), from pugnus (fist). Ultimately from the Indo-European root peuk- (to prick) which is also the source of point, puncture, pungent, punctual, poignant, pounce, poniard, oppugn, repugn, impugn, pugilist, and repugnant. Earliest documented use: 1642.
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PUGRACIOUS - being courteous to small dog with squished-in faces
PUNNACIOUS - addicted to wordplay
BUG NACIÒ US - the insect was born in the United States
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ITHYPHALLIC
PRONUNCIATION: (ith-uh-FAL-ik)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Lewd or salacious.
2. Having an erect phallus.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ithyphallicus, from Greek ithyphallikos, from ithyphallos, from ithys (straight) + phallos (phallus). Earliest documented use: 1795.
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ITCHYPHALLIC - horny
THY PHALLIC - how his subjects address Pan Priapus
IT HYPE ALL I.C. - integrated circuits are to be encouraged
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CHICKEN-LIVERED
PRONUNCIATION: (CHIK-en-LIV-uhrd)
MEANING: adjective: Cowardly; easily frightened.
ETYMOLOGY: The word chicken has traditionally been used to describe a coward. Also, earlier people believed that the liver was the seat of courage. But chicken-livered or chicken-hearted, it’s all the same. Earliest documented use: 1616.
NOTES: The English language hasn’t been very kind to the domestic fowl. Some similar terms are chicken hawk and Chicken Little. Also see lily-livered and white-livered.
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CHICKEN-LIVERIED - 1. dressed chicken, suitable for serving on formal occasions
2. dressed chicken, suitable for serving on formal occasions
THICKEN-LIVERED - hepatic cirrhosis
CHICKEN-LOVERED - the betrothed of Miles Standish (just ask John Alden)
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HYSTERICPRONUNCIATION: (his-TER-ik) MEANING: adjective: Exhibiting an uncontrolled or overly emotional state, volatility, attention-seeking behavior, etc. noun: An overly emotional or unstable person. ETYMOLOGY: Via Latin from Greek hystera (uterus), from the former belief that disturbances in the uterus resulted in such behavior. Earliest documented use: 1652. ________________________________ SHYSTERIC - like a less-than-principled lawyer WHY STERIC? - Is there a reason for the three-dimensional configuration? HYSTERICA - Alice's description of the US (see Edward Hope, Alice in the Delighted States: "...the continents are Aphasia, Paprika, North Hysterica, South Hysterica, Stirrup, and Nostalgia. Or something like that.")
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JIM CROW
PRONUNCIATION: (jim kroh)
MEANING: noun: The systematic practice of discriminating against Black people.
ETYMOLOGY: From Jim Crow, the name of a Black character in a 19th-century minstrel show. Earliest documented use: 1832.
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JAM CROW - Knotts Berry Farm advertising
TIM CROW - Wee Cratchit says, "God Bless us, every one!"
JIM CROWN - orthographically-challenged champion body-builder's title
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SIMON LEGREE
PRONUNCIATION: (SY-muhn li-GREE)
MEANING: noun: A harsh taskmaster.
ETYMOLOGY: After Simon Legree, a brutal slaveholder in the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896). Simon Legree has Uncle Tom, an enslaved man, whipped to death for refusing to divulge the whereabouts of two enslaved women who had escaped to freedom. Earliest documented use: 1857.
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SIMON DEGREE - an MBA in Shopping Mall management
SIMON LE TREE - a simple French arbre
I'M ON LE GREEN - pretty good golf shot, non?
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UNCLE TOM
PRONUNCIATION: (UHNG-kuhl tom)
MEANING: noun: A person regarded as betraying their cultural allegiance by being subservient to another.
ETYMOLOGY: After Uncle Tom, an enslaved man in the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-96). Earliest documented use: 1852.
NOTES: The term is considered disparaging and offensive, especially when applied to a Black person seen as being subservient to White people. In the book, Uncle Tom is a heroic figure. For example, he disobeys the orders to beat other enslaved people. In minstrel shows he was depicted as a passive figure and that image has taken root in the language.
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UNCLEFT OM - the mantra is uniform and in one piece
NUNC LE TOM - Here we are in Ancient Rome, and Brady takes the field...
UNCLE ATOM - J Robert Oppenheimer was considered by many to be the "Father of the Atomic Bomb." What does that make his younger brother Frank?
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TOPSY
PRONUNCIATION: (TOP-see)
MEANING: noun: Something growing without intention or direction.
ETYMOLOGY: After Topsy, a young enslaved girl, in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Earliest documented use: 1885.
NOTES: Topsy, a young girl, is purchased by the slaveholder Augustine and she becomes friends with his daughter Eva. When Eva asks Topsy who made her, she replies, “Nobody, as I knows on. I s’pect I growed. Don’t think nobody never made me.” The cute reply became popular in the English language to refer to an unplanned or an enormous growth.
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STOPSY - alternative name for the urban game "Red Light"
TOPS'L - just below the Crows' Nest
TOPHY - full of gouty lumps on fingers, hands, toes, and feet, and in the skin
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AUNT TOM
PRONUNCIATION: (ant tom)
MEANING: noun: A woman considered to be a traitor to a cause.
ETYMOLOGY: Coined as a feminine version of Uncle Tom. Earliest documented use: 1956.
NOTES: There’s no such character as Aunt Tom in the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Uncle Tom’s wife is actually named Chloe. The term Aunt Jemima is also used sometimes as a synonym for Aunt Tom. The term could be derogatory and offensive, applied to a Black woman who is seen as servile to White people.
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TAUNT TOM - what non-NE fans liked to do when he was a Patriot
QUANTTOM - a weird mechanics about to descend upon the Tampa football team
GAUNT TOM what he looks like after he develops anorexia
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ZOÖNOSIS
PRONUNCIATION: (zo-AHN-uh-sis, zo-uh-NOH-sis)
MEANING: noun: Any disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek zoo- (animal) + nosos (disease). Earliest documented use: 1873.
NOTES: It’s too late now. The COVID-19 has already jumped from animals to humans. Let’s not make it jump from humans to humans. So, let’s wear a mask when in a public place.
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OZONOSIS - what you get from too much tri-molecular oxygen
ZOOMOSIS - what you get from participating in too many streamed on-line meetings
ZONOSIS - I'm sick of this defense !
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FOMITES
PRONUNCIATION: (FOM-uh-teez, FOH-myts)
MEANING: noun: Any inanimate object, such as a book, money, carpet, etc., that can transmit germs from one person to another.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin fomites, plural of fomes (touchwood, tinder), from fovere (to warm). Earliest documented use: 1803.
NOTES: The word fomites is a plural of fomes, but the s at the end of the word led people to assume it’s a plural and make a singular: fomite (FOH-myt). Some would say that it’s an error, but then there are many more words formed like this: cherry, from the singular cherise, pea from the singular pease, for example. The word is often used as a singular nowadays, similar to other technically plural words such as agenda or errata.
All this should be the least of our worries right now. Don’t be a walking fomites. Wear your mask when away from home.
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FORMITES - things that are shaped like ants
UFO MITES - parasites that infest visiting spaceships
FO-LITES - what the enemy uses to see, when it's dark
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ASYMPTOMATIC
PRONUNCIATION: (ay-simp-tuh-MAT-ik)
MEANING: adjective: Not showing any symptoms of disease.
ETYMOLOGY: From a- (not) + Latin symptoma (symptom), from Greek symptoma (occurrence), from sym- (together) + piptein (to fall). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pet- (to rush or fly), which also gave us appetite, feather, petition, compete, perpetual, propitious, appetence, lepidopterology, peripeteia, pinnate, petulant, and pteridology. Earliest documented use: 1932.
NOTES: If you’re asymptomatic you don’t show any symptoms, but it’s still possible you are infected and can transmit the infection to others. That’s why it’s important to wear a mask.
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ASYMPTOMATIN - genetic material that confers freedom from disease symptoms (we wish)
ASYMPTOMAGIC - what it looks like when you have the trait above
ASYMMTOMATIC - having symptoms on only one side of your body
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TYPHOID MARY
PRONUNCIATION: (TY-foid MAIR-ee)
MEANING: noun: A person from whom a disease or something undesirable spreads.
ETYMOLOGY: After Mary Mallon (1869-1938), a cook in New York, who was a healthy carrier (contagious but showing no symptoms: asymptomatic) of typhoid. She died of pneumonia. Earliest documented use: 1909.
NOTES: One Typhoid Mary is enough in the history of humankind. Don’t let yourself be the new Typhoid Mary. Wear your mask when out and about.
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TYPHOID WARY - worried about getting a Salmonella disease
TYCHOID MARY - another late 16th century Danish astronomer, daughter of Mr Brahe
TOPHOID MARY - unfortunate woman afflicted with crippling gout
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VACCINATE
PRONUNCIATION: (VAK-si-nayt)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.:
1. To administer a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease.
2. To immunize against something.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin vacca (cow), because in the beginning the cowpox virus was used against smallpox. Earliest documented use: 1803.
NOTES: Don’t vacillate when it’s time to vaccinate. But until a COVID-19 vaccine appears, the next best thing is to wear a mask. Some are resistant to the idea, so we see billboards with encouraging messages: “Real Heros Wear Masks”
No, wearing a mask does not make you a hero. Neither is having to wear a mask some sort of tyranny any more than having to wear a seat belt is. But if you need a medal, we can nominate you for a Presidential Medal of Freedom. They are going cheap these days.
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VACCINNATE - born with smallpox immunity
VA: CC IN A TEE - veterans can get their shot even if casually dressed
VACCINA-TEL - offers disease prevention and Web access together
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CLITICIZE
PRONUNCIATION: (KLIT-uh-syz)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To attach or become attached.
ETYMOLOGY: From clitic (an unstressed word that occurs in combination with another word), from enclitic/proclitic, from klinein (to lean), from klitos (slope). Ultimately from the Indo-European root klei- (to lean), which also gave us decline, incline, recline, lean, client, climax, ladder, heteroclite, and patrocliny. Earliest documented use: 1970s.
NOTES: In linguistics, to cliticize is to attach a clitic to another word. What’s a clitic? An unstressed linguistic element that can’t exist on its own and is dependent on its neighbor. An example in the previous sentence is ’t in can’t”.
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CLINICIZE - translate from research to patient care
GLITICIZE - add a single medication treat diabetes, kidney trouble, and heart failure (see SGLT2 inhibitor)
CLIO-TICIZE - reduce to the stature of a small goldfish, so it fits in a Walt Disney cartoon movie
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ORDONNANCE
PRONUNCIATION: (OR-dn-uhns, or-duh-NAHNS)
MEANING: noun: The systematic arrangement of parts in art, literature, architecture, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From French, from alteration of Old French ordenance (order), from Latin ordinantia, from ordinare (to put in order), from ordo (order). Earliest documented use: 1660.
NOTES: The same Old French ordenance has also given us two more cousins of today’s word. So the whole lineup is:
ordnance: military supplies
ordinance: an order, decree, law, etc.
ordonnance: a systematic arrangement
I say we go back to communicating in grunts.
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OR DON NANCY - then again, maybe it's the Italian nobleman with the unusual name
ORLONNANCE - conversion to a synthetic fabric
ORDO NUANCE - the ordering is very subtle
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SETTLOR
PRONUNCIATION: (SET-luhr/lohr)
MEANING: noun: One who makes a settlement of property.
ETYMOLOGY: From alteration of settler, from settle, from Old English setlan (to seat or place). Earliest documented use: 1818.
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SENT L.O.R. - I've just dispatched the Letter of Recommendation
SEAT L'OR - King Midas' Golden Chair
S.E.T.I.-LOR - the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence has its own mythology
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EXORCISE
PRONUNCIATION: EK-sor/suhr-syz)
MEANING: verb tr.:
1. To drive out something or someone undesirable, such as an evil spirit, malign influence, troubling feeling, etc.
2. To free a person or place of an evil spirit.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French exorciser, from Latin exorcizare, from Greek exorkizein (to swear a person), from ex- (out) + horkizein (to make one swear), from horkos (oath). Earliest documented use: 1546.
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EXHORCISE - to issue a command
EXO-CISE - to peel away the outer covering
EXPORCISE - to decree that bacon no longer comes from a pig
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EQUIPOLLENT
PRONUNCIATION: (ee-kwuh-PAH-luhnt)
MEANING: adjective: Equal in power, force[align:center][/align], effect, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French equipolent, from Latin aequipollent (of equal value), from aequus (equal) + pollens (able), present participle of pollere (to be strong). Earliest documented use: 1420.
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EQUIPOLLEN - allergic to two irritants exactly the same amount
EQUIPULLENT - tugging just as strongly but in opposite directions
AQUIPOLLENT - determining whether people say they prefer Evian or Poland Springs water or some other brand entirely
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WHEEL HORSE
PRONUNCIATION: (HWEEL hors)
MEANING: noun:
1. Someone responsible and diligent, especially one who bears the biggest share of burden in a group.
2. A horse harnessed closest to the front wheel(s) of a carriage.
ETYMOLOGY: From wheel, from Old English hweol + horse, from Old English hors. Earliest documented use: 1708.
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WHEEL HOARSE - the CEO has a sore throat and a raspy voice
WHEEL HORDE - a mob of Hell's Angels on their bikes
WHEEL GORSE - a variety of tumbleweed
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CABALLINE
PRONUNCIATION: (KAB-uh-lyn/leen)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Giving inspiration.
2. Relating to horses.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin caballus (horse). Earliest documented use: 1430.
NOTES: In Greek mythology, Hippocrene was a spring on Mt. Helicon that was created by a stroke of Pegasus’s hoof. If we can have a word coined after Greek hippos (horse), why not coin one after Latin caballus (horse), as well.
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CABALLINT - what's in the conspirators' belly button
COBALLINE - blue-colored
Ca BALLITE - a spherical crystal of calcium salt
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HORSE'S MOUTH
PRONUNCIATION: (HOR-ses/siz mouth)
MEANING: noun: The original or authentic source of some information.
ETYMOLOGY: The term has its origin in horse racing. If you wanted tips on how a horse was doing on a particular day, what better way than to hear it directly from the horse’s mouth? Earliest documented use: 1896.
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HORSE'S MONTH - May, when the Kentucky Derby is run (except this year)
HORSE SMOOTH - flawlessly even, like a well-trained thoroughbred's gait
GORSE'S MOUTH - what a thorny invasive bush eats with
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CHIVALROUS
PRONUNCIATION: (SHIV-uhl-ruhs)
MEANING: adjective: Having qualities of chivalry, such as courtesy, honor, bravery, gallantry, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French chevalerie, from chevalier (knight), from Latin caballus (horse). Earliest documented use: 1374.
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CHI VALOROUS - the 22nd Greek letter has done heroic and yet ethical deeds
CHIVAL ROUT - the horsemen were defeated handily
CHIVAS-ROUS - like good Scotch whiskey
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COCK-HORSE
PRONUNCIATION: (KAHK-hors)
MEANING: adverb: Mounted with a leg on each side.
noun: A hobby horse.
ETYMOLOGY: From cock (rooster) + horse, perhaps from the strutting of a rooster. Earliest documented use: 1566.
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CORK-HORSE - a child's floating swim-toy in the form of a horse that can be ridden in the water
COCK-HOUSE - medieval jargon for a brothel
CLOCK-HORSE - a model that goes around on a turntable when the clock strikes the hour
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BALLARDIAN
PRONUNCIATION: (ba-LAHR-dee-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Relating to a dystopian world, especially one characterized by social and environmental degradation, assisted by technology.
ETYMOLOGY. After the novelist and short story writer J.G. Ballard (1930-2009), whose works depict such post-apocalyptic scenarios.
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BALLYARDIAN - reminiscent of the Baltimore Orioles' baseball stadium
BALLADIAN - one who specialises in singing the songs collected by Francis James Child, published as The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
BALLARD I AM - Hugo Ballard, protagonist of an unwritten story by Herman Melville, introduces himself
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GRISELDA
PRONUNCIATION: (gri-ZEL-duh)
MEANING: noun: A meek and patient woman.
ETYMOLOGY: After Griselda, a woman in various medieval tales, who suffers without ever complaining as her husband puts her through various tests. The name Griselda is from Germanic roots meaning “gray battle-maid”. Talk about misnaming your character (see below)! Earliest documented use: 14th century.
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GRISELLA - what they called Cinderella after she turned grey
URISELDA - the first-born of the author's two children
GURISEL? DA! - Is that the Russian company that makes batteries?
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HOMERIC
PRONUNCIATION: (ho-MER-ik)
MEANING: adjective
1. Relating to Homer, his works, or his time.
2. Epic; large-scale; heroic.
ETYMOLOGY:\. After Homer (c. 750 BCE), who is presumed to have composed the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. Earliest documented use: 1594.
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HOME BIC - the ball-point pen I use in my kitchen
HOMER? ICK - I just can't stand The Simpsons
"WHOM," ERIC - young Severeid is admonished by his teacher for a grammatical error
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JUNO
PRONUNCIATION: (JOO-noh)
MEANING: noun: A woman of stately bearing and beauty.
ETYMOLOGY: After Juno, a goddess in Roman mythology. The name is from Latin Iuno, from iuvenis (young). Ultimately from the Indo-European root. yeu- (vital force), which also gave us youth, juvenile, rejuvenate, junior, and June. Earliest documented use: 1606. The adjectival form is junoesque.
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JUG? NO! - I don't like moonshine
JUNIO - after hours at the Mayo Clinic, the next doctor spoke Spanish
JA-NO - bizarre fortune-telling device
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PAVLOVIAN
PRONUNCIATION: (pav-LO-vee-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Relating to a conditioned or predictable response; automatic; involuntary.
ETYMOLOGY: After the physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), known for his work in classical conditioning. Earliest documented use: 1922.
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PAYLOVIAN - related to the World's Oldest Profession
PAULOVIAN - who received the loot after Petrovian was robbed
PA-BLOVIAN - about those aimless (and pointless) tales my father told
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TOXOPHILIC
PRONUNCIATION: (tok-SAH-fuh-lee)
MEANING: noun: The practice of, love of, or addiction to, archery.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek toxon (bow) + -phily (love), based on toxophilite, coined by Roger Ascham (1515-1568). Earliest documented use: 1887.
NOTES: Roger Ascham was the tutor for teen Lizzie, future Queen Elizabeth I. His book Toxophilus was the first book on archery in English. It was a treatise on archery, but it was also an argument for writing in the vernacular: in English. You could say he shot two birds with one arrow.
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TOCOPHILIC - Don't you just love being in labor
BOXOPHILIC - Little kids, who seem to like the boxes better than the presents that come in them. Cats, too.
TAXOPHILIC - one who likes to put classify things into proper categories
(and you thought it was going to be about enjoying paying money to the government. Hah!)
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SUPERCARGO
PRONUNCIATION: (soo-puhr-KAHR-goh)
MEANING: noun:
1. An officer on a merchant ship who is in charge of the cargo.
2. A superintendent or an agent.
ETYMOLOGY: By alteration of supracargo, from Spanish sobrecargo, from sobre (over), from Latin super (super) + cargo. Earliest documented use: 1667.
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SUPER-ARGO - 1. the spaceship that brought Kal-El from Krypton to Earth; 2. Jason's ship after being modified and re-outfitted
SUPER-C-ARCO - vigorously bowed on the lowest string on a cello
SUPERBARGO - to flood a port with goods so as to clog it (the shipping equivalent of a Denial-of-Service computer attack)
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VOTIVE
PRONUNCIATION: (VOH-tiv)
MEANING: adjective: Relating to a vow, wish, desire, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin votum (vow), from vovere (to vow), which also gave us vow, vote, and devote. Earliest documented use: 1582.
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VORTIVE - twisting and turning
VODIVE - plunge into the water seeking Canadian whiskey
VOTICE - an official pronouncement announcing the importance of casting your ballot
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VERBIGERATE
PRONUNCIATION: (vuhr-BIJ-uh-rayt)
MEANING: verb intr.: To obsessively repeat meaningless words and phrases.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin verbigerare (to talk, chat), from verbum (word) + gerere (to carry on). Earliest documented use: 1656.
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VERBIGERA TEA - a soothing brew made from the bark of verbigera trees
VERBIAGE RATE - number of meaningless words/phrases per minute
VERB ICE-RATE - refrigeration fee (new word, gaining popularity since Global Warming became an issue.)
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RECREANT
PRONUNCIATION: (REK-ree-uhnt)
MEANING: adjective: 1. Unfaithful to a cause, duty, person, belief, etc.
2. Cowardly.
noun: 1. A disloyal person.
2. A coward.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French recreant, present participle of recroire (to yield, to surrender allegiance), from Latin recredere (to yield or pledge), from re- + credere (to believe). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kerd- (heart), which also gave us cardiac, cordial, courage, record, concord, discord, credit, credo, and accord. Earliest documented use: 1330.
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RECREDANT - someone whose credentials were just validated again
RECUREANT - the disease is gone once more
PRECREANT - before even being thought of
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FANCY-PANTS
PRONUNCIATION: (FAN-see-pants)
MEANING: noun: Someone attractive, silly, or pretentious.
adjective: Snobbish; pretentious; newfangled; overly complicated.
ETYMOLOGY: From fancy, a contraction of fantasy, from Old French fantasie, from Latin phantasia, from Greek phantasia (imagination, appearance), from phantazein (to make visible) + pants, short for pantaloons, plural of pantaloon. St. Pantaleone/Pantalone was a popular saint in Venice. As a result, it was also a common name among the Venetians. As a result, a comic character in the Italian commedia dell’arte was named Pantalone. The leggings this character wore became known as pantalone (plural pantaloni). And that became pantaloons in English. Earliest documented use: 1870. A related word is smarty-pants.
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FANCY-PANES - stained-glass window
FANCY-PAINTS - fine art
FANNY-PANTS - very tight shorts
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SHIRTSLEEVE
PRONUNCIATION: (SHUHRT-sleev)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Relating to pleasant warm weather.
2. Informal; direct.
3. Hardworking; having a can-do attitude.
ETYMOLOGY: From the idea of rolling up the sleeves of one’s shirt in warm weather, in an informal setting, or in preparation to get down to work. Could also be from the idea of simply wearing a shirt, without a formal coat. From shirt, from Old English scyrte + sleeve, from Old English sliefe. Earliest documented use: 1567.
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SHIFTSLEEVE - the arm covering attached to a dress that falls straight down from the shoulders
SHIRT-SALE EVE - the night before the haberdashery reduced its prices
SHIRE SLEEVE - a specific cut of clothing worn in Bilbo Baggins' homeland
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TROUSER ROLE
PRONUNCIATION: (TROU-zuhr rohl)
MEANING: noun: In opera, drama, film, etc.:
1. A role in which a female character pretends to be a male.
2. A male part played by a female actor.
Also known as a breeches role or a pants role.
ETYMOLOGY: From the traditional view of trousers as male clothing. From an alteration of earlier trouse, from Scottish Gaelic triubhas, influenced by drawers. Earliest documented use: 1955.
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TROUSER POLE - a rod stuck into the wall to hang your pants on after removal
TARO USER ROLE - a part in a play involving a Hawaiian chef
TROUSER ROPE - last resort when your belt breaks
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BROWNSHIRT
PRONUNCIATION: (BRAUN-shuhrt)
MEANING: noun: A member of police or military trained for carrying out a sudden assault, especially one marked by brutality and violence.
ETYMOLOGY: After Nazi storm troopers, from the color of their shirts. Earliest documented use: 1932.
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BRAWN SHIRT - with cutoff sleeves to show off your bod
GROWN SHIRT - made completely from organic cotton
BROWNSHIRE - severe drought in Hobbit country
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SEAT-OF-THE-PANTS
PRONUNCIATION: (see-tuhv-thuh-PANTS)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Using experience, instinct, or guesswork as opposed to methodical planning.
2. Done without instruments.
ETYMOLOGY: The term has its origin in aviation. Before modern instruments, a pilot flew a plane based on how it felt. For example, in fog or clouds, in the absence of instrumentation one could tell whether the plane was climbing or diving by how heavy one feels in the seat. Seat of the pants is the area where one sits, i.e. the buttocks. Earliest documented use: 1929.
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SEAT-OFF-THE-PANTS - what you do with your Doctor Dentins to use the toilet
SEAN-OF-THE-PANTS - saga of a plucky Irish tailor; also known as "Seven-with-One-Blow"
SEAT-OF-THE-RANTS - long-since-forgotten childhood trauma that is the source of explosive outbursts of anger in later life
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PACTOLIAN
PRONUNCIATION: (pak-TOH-lee-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Golden; lavish.
ETYMOLOGY: After Pactolus (now called Sart Çayı), a river in ancient Lydia (in modern Turkey), known for its golden sands. Earliest documented use: 1586.
NOTES: According to the legend, King Midas bathed in the river Pactolus to get rid of his golden touch, really a golden curse. Midas’s story has given us such terms as Midas touch and Midas-eared. It was this golden sand that supposedly made Croesus rich.
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PECTOLIAN - pertaining to sternal alcohol
PACTOLICAN - a pelican with an overstuffed pouch
CACTOLIAN - derived from cactus oil
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JEDBURGH JUSTICE
PRONUNCIATION: (JED-buh-ruh juhs-tis)
MEANING: noun: Punishment before trial.
ETYMOLOGY: After Jedburgh, a town in Scotland, where in the 17th century people were summarily executed. The town lies on the Jed Water river. Earliest documented use: 1698.
NOTES: Jedburgh justice, also known as Jedwood justice or Jeddart justice, is, in essence: Hang now, ask questions later. The term is coined after Jedburgh, a town near Edinburgh, where under the orders of King James VI and I, people were executed without trial. See also: lynch.
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JEDI BURGH JUSTICE - performs marriages and such in Yoda's home town
JED B: URGE JUSTICE - Attention, Sheriff B: [Black Life du jour]Matters!
JEDBURGH, JUSTINE - Durrell's anti-heroine after marrying a rich magnate
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DERWENTER
PRONUNCIATION: (DUHR-wuhnt-uhr)
MEANING: noun: An ex-convict.
ETYMOLOGY: After Derwent, a river in Tasmania. There used to be a convict settlement on its banks. Earliest documented use: 1853.
PRONUNCIATION: (DUHR-wuhnt-uhr)
MEANING: noun: An ex-convict.
ETYMOLOGY: After Derwent, a river in Tasmania. There used to be a convict settlement on its banks. Earliest documented use: 1853.
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DER RENTER - the Berliner who takes an apartment
DER WENTER - the one who departed without notice (or payment)
DE-RENTER - the landlord who wants to convert the property to condominiums
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PALOUSER
PRONUNCIATION: (puh-LOO-zuhr)
MEANING: noun:
1. Strong, dangerous winds.
2. An improvised lantern.
3. A country bumpkin.
ETYMOLOGY: After the Palouse region in northern Idaho and eastern Washington, named after the Palouse river. Earliest documented use: 1903.
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PA, LOUDER! - Speak up, Dad, I can't hear you
PALE USER - drug addicts often don't get much sun
PAL OUSTER - they just deposed my buddy
PALO USHER - shows Stanford football patrons to their seats
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SCAMANDER
PRONUNCIATION: (skuh-MAN-duhr)
MEANING: verb intr.: To take a winding course.
ETYMOLOGY: After Scamander (modern name: Karamenderes), a river in Turkey. The river was named after a river god in Greek mythology. Earliest documented use: 1864. Also see meander.
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S. CA. MEANDER - southern California doesn't come to an end, it just wanders about near the Mexico border
SHAMAN, DER - the German word for "indigenous magical practitioner" is masculine
SCAM ENDER - a combined FBI/FCC/telecommunication-industry megaproject project
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UNICORN
PRONUNCIATION: (YOO-nih-korn)
MEANING: noun:
1. A mythical horse-like creature with a horn on the forehead.
2. Something or someone rare or unusual: highly desirable but hard or impossible to find.
3. A startup valued at one billion dollars or more.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin unicornis, from uni- (single) + cornu (horn), ultimately from the Indo-European root ker- (horn, head), which also gave us cornucopia, carrot, cranium, cornea, cervix, and cancer. Earliest documented use: 1225.
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UNICON - there's never been a scam like this before
U NICE, RN - Glad to have met you, Nurse
UNiCoRb - a semi-crystalline mixture of Uranium, Nickel, Cobalt, and Rubidium used to make superconducting magnets
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BUNYIP
PRONUNCIATION: (BUHN-yip)
MEANING: noun: An impostor.
adjective: Counterfeit; phony.
ETYMOLOGY: After bunyip, a large mythical creature of Australian Aboriginal legend, who lives in swamps, riverbeds, etc. The word is from Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia language of the Aboriginal people in Victoria. Earliest documented use: 1848.
NOTES: The most popular usage of the word is in the term “bunyip aristocracy” to refer to people pretending to be socially superior. It was first used by the journalist and politician Daniel Deniehy satirizing an attempt to establish a hereditary peerage in Australia. The label “bunyip aristocracy” stuck and the proposal was dropped
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BUNYIN - either a folklore logger or a painful big toe, take your pick
B. UNZIP - second line in the directions for putting on your new pants
CUNY IP - City University of New York has implemented its own Internet protocol
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GREMLIN
PRONUNCIATION: (GREM-lin)
MEANING: noun: A source of trouble, especially problems of technical nature.
ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps from an alteration of the word goblin or from Irish gruaimin (a gloomy person). Earliest documented use: 1929.
NOTES: Originally, the word gremlin was Royal Air Force slang for a low-level employee. From there it evolved to refer to a mythical creature responsible for problems in aircraft. The word was popularized by the novelist Roald Dahl, a former fighter pilot with the RAF, when he published his children’s book The Gremlins in 1943. It’s not certain how the term was coined.
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GRIM LIN - that guy who wrote Hamilton looks concerned
G: REM-LINE - the seventh trace on the EEG; reflects dream activity
GREMLING - a young grem
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SNARK
PRONUNCIATION: (snahrk)
MEANING: noun: 1. A mysterious, imaginary animal.
2. Something or someone hard to track down.
3. A snide remark.
verb intr.: To make a snide remark.
ETYMOLOGY: For noun 1, 2: Coined by Lewis Carroll in the poem The Hunting of the Snark in 1876. Earliest documented use (outside the poem): 1879.
For noun 3, verb: Of imitative origin, formerly used in the sense to snore or snort. Earliest documented use: 1866.
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U.S.N. ARK - a US navy vessel for sheltering couples
SIN-ARK - an trigonometry inverse function
SNARY - trappily frightful
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BIGFOOT
PRONUNCIATION: (BIG-foot)
MEANING: noun: A prominent person in a commanding position, especially a journalist.
verb tr.: To dominate or to take control of a situation from someone.
verb intr.: To behave in an authoritative, domineering manner.
ETYMOLOGY: Bigfoot is a nickname for a Sasquatch, a large, ape-like mythical creature who lives in a remote wilderness, especially the Pacific Northwest region of the US and the adjacent part of Canada. Earliest documented use: 1833.
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GIGFOOT - one billion feet, or just over one light-second (1.06 light-seconds, to be precise)
BIGFONT - what you use for newspaper headlines
BIGFOOL - who tells you to press on when you're Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
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ENDONYM
PRONUNCIATION: (EN-duh-nym)
MEANING: noun: A name used internally to refer to a place, people, language, etc.
For example, Germany’s endonym is Deutschland, because that’s what Germans call their country.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek endo- (inside, within) + -onym (word, name). Some related words endogenous and endogamy
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END ONLY, M? - Just play the final two bars of the music, James
END ON YMA - the list of sopranos with a 4-plus-octave range
ENDONAM - 30 April 1975, upon the capture of Saigon by the People's Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong
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BASILECT
PRONUNCIATION: (BAY-zuh/suh-lekt, BAZ/BAS-uh-lekt)
MEANING: noun: The least prestigious variety of a language.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin basis + dialectus (dialect). Earliest documented use: 1965.
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BA SELECT - What colleges did you say you're applying to?
BASIC ECT - common or garden variety shock therapy
BASIL SECT - herb worshippers
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METONOMY
PRONUNCIATION: (muh-TAHN-uh-mee)
MEANING: n nnoun: A figure of speech in which someone or something is referred to by the name of something associated.
For example, the use of the word crown to refer to monarchy.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin metonymia, from Greek metonymia (change of name), from meta- (after, beyond) + onama (name). Ultimately from the Indo-European root no-men- (name) which also gave us name, anonymous, noun, synonym, eponym, renown, nominate, misnomer, moniker, and ignominy. Earliest documented use: 1553.
NOTES: When a part is used to refer to the whole, it is synecdoche. For example, the use of the word eyeballs to refer to viewers or website visitors. In metaphor, the substitution is based on analogy, in metonym on association.
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ME TOO, AMY - I agree with you, Senator Klobuchar
MET ON MY _______ - How did you guys say you know each other?
METRONOMY - the art of naming cities
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HOMEOTELEUTON
(ho-mee-o-TEL-yuh-ton)
MEANING:
noun: A repetition of the same or similar endings in a sequence of words.
ETYMOLOGY:
From homeo- (similar) from Greek homoio + -teleutos, from teleute (end). Earliest documented use: 1592.
NOTES:
The word also refers to a form of scribal error where a copyist’s eye skips to a word with the same ending one or more lines below where they were.
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HO: MEOW ELEUTION - Look - they're washing all the sound out of the cat!
HOMEOTELEFUTON - if your TV is upsetting, you can roll over and sleep on it
ROMEO TELEUTO - young Montague gives instructions
HOMEO-PELEUTON - the main pack of bicycle racers hasn't changed
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HETEROPHEMY
PRONUNCIATION: (HET-uh-ruh-fee-mee)
MEANING: noun: The use of a word different from the one intended.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek hetero- (different) + pheme (speaking). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bha- (to speak), which also gave us fable, fairy, fate, fame, blame, confess, and infant (literally, one unable to speak), apophasis (allusion to something by denying it will be said), confabulate, and ineffable. Earliest documented use: 1875.
_____________________________
HETEROPHEME - speaking in tongues
PETER O'PHEMY - the Master of Castle Phemy (compare HESTERO'PHEMY, the Mistress of Castle Phemy)
HETEROPHEME - how I know that what I smell is the blood of an Hinglishman (along with HETEROPHIME, HETEROPHOME,and HETEROPHUMM)
Last edited by wofahulicodoc; 10/17/20 01:35 AM.
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BIDENT
PRONUNCIATION: (BY-duhnt)
MEANING: noun: A two-pronged instrument, weapon, implement, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin bidens (two-pronged), from bi- (two) + dens (tooth). Earliest documented use: 1675.
______________________________
BIDENT - two-toothed, like Oliver J Dragon
BADENT - Tolkien's renegade tree-monster
AIDENT - coronavirus relief program for dentists
BIDENOT - Don't stay here!
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TRUMPERY
PRONUNCIATION: (TRUHM-puh-ree)
MEANING: noun:
1. Something showy but worthless.
2. Nonsense or rubbish.
3. Deceit; fraud; trickery.
ETYMOLOGY: from French tromper (to deceive). Earliest documented use: 1481.
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THUMPERY - beating one's chest
TRAMPERY - vintage behavior
TRUS-PERY - prostate surgery guided by Trans-Rectal UltraSound
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PENSIVE
PRONUNCIATION: (PEN-siv)
MEANING: adjective: Sadly thoughtful; wistful.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French pensif (pensive), from penser (to think), from Latin pensare (ponder), frequentative of pendere (to weigh). Ultimately from the Indo-European root (s)pen- (to draw, to spin), which also gave us pendulum, spider, pound, pansy, pendant, ponder, appendix, penthouse, depend, spontaneous, vilipend, pendulous, ponderous, filipendulous, equipoise, perpend, and prepend. Earliest documented use: 1393.
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PENDIVE - where in the sty to go slumming
PENSIRE - the Alpha Hog
PENSAVE - why one might use email instead of writing
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DEVI
PRONUNCIATION: (DAY-vee)
MEANING: noun: A goddess.
ETYMOLOGY: From Sanskrit devi (goddess). Earliest documented use: 1799.
NOTES: Devi is her middle name. Really. Kamala means lotus; also the name of a goddess.
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ODE VI - the sixth in a series of laudatory poems
O DEVI - also, the introductory apostrophe of same
DEVIM - to sap one's energy
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JOE
PRONUNCIATION: (joh)
MEANING: noun:
1. A fellow; guy.
2. Coffee.
ETYMOLOGY: For 1: Short for Joseph, from Hebrew Yoseph, from yasaf (to add or increase). Earliest documented use: 1846.
For 2: Origin unknown, perhaps an alteration of java. Earliest documented use: 1941.
___________________________
JOEX - a female baby kangaroo (compare JOEY)
JOEI - Happiness, to a French-speaking dyslexic
JONE - the fourth beis in a game of beisbol. if you hit the ball fair and over the fence it's a jonron
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COQUELICOT
PRONUNCIATION: (KAHK/KOHK-lee-koh)
MEANING: adjective: Of orangish-red or reddish-orange color.
noun: Such a color.
ETYMOLOGY: From French coquelicot (red poppy), from its resemblance to the crest of a rooster, from coq (rooster). Earliest documented use: 1795. Also see, coxcomb.
_____________________
COQUELICOST - How much do you want for that scallop shell?
CO-QUELLCOT - it took both of us together to subdue that tent sleeper
COQUELI-CAT - like a calico, but less so
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CAPACIOUS
PRONUNCIATION:
(kuh-PAY-shuhs)
MEANING:
adjective: Having a lot of space; roomy.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin capax, from capere (to take). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kap- (to grasp), which also gave us captive, capsule, capable, capture, cable, chassis, occupy, and deceive. Earliest documented use: 1614.
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CARPACIOUS - something fishy
CA PAC IOUs - promissory notes from the California Political Action committee
ÇA PA. TOUS - that's just about all of Pennsylvania
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DOUBLE-TALK
PRONUNCIATION: (DUH-buhl-tahk)
MEANING: noun: 1. Speech that’s a mix of actual words and gibberish.
2. Evasive or ambiguous language meant to deceive or confuse.
verb tr., intr.: To engage in double-talk or to try to persuade with it.
ETYMOLOGY: From double, from Old French duble/doble (double), from Latin duplus (twofold), from duo (two) + talk, from Middle English talkien, from tale. Earliest documented use: 1938. Also see doublethink.
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DOUBLET-TALK - discussion of vest styles
DOABLE-TALK - says what he'll do, can do what he said
DOUBLE-TACK - attach with two rows of fasteners
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VAPOROUS
PRONUNCIATION: (VAY-puh-ruhs)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Relating to vapor.
2. Producing vapors; volatile.
3. Vague; hazy; obscure; insubstantial; transitory; unreliable; fanciful.
4. Translucent.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin vapor (steam). Earliest documented use: 1527.
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VAPORONS - newly recognized sub-atomic particle, the fundamental particle of Ether
APOROUS - impenetrable
V.A. POR US - after discharge Latins support the Veterans Administration, as it helps both the country and themselves
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LUTEOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (LOO-tee-uhs)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Of an orange-yellow or greenish-yellow color.
2. Muddy.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin luteus (yellow), from lutum (yellowweed, mud). Earliest documented use: 1656.
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LUTE-FOUS - crazy over plucked French stringed instruments
GLUTEOUS - buttery
LUK-E-OUS - "Aren't we fortunate?!"
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CUSHY
PRONUNCIATION: (KOO-shee)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Easy; not burdensome.
2. Soft; comfortable.
ETYMOLOGY: From Hindi/Urdu khushi (pleasure, happiness), from Persian khushi. The second sense probably influenced by the word cushion. Earliest documented use: 1887.
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CRUSHY - using an inappropriately strong handshake
CUSSY - afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome, blurting out offensive words uncontrollably
C.U., SAY - name an organization purporting to be for consumers' protection ["Consumers' Union"]
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POGONIP
PRONUNCIATION: (POG-uh-nip)
MEANING: noun: A dense winter fog having ice particles.
ETYMOLOGY: From Shoshone paγinappih (cloud). Earliest documented use: 1860.
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PROGONIP - in favor of encouraging toothless puppies to bite
PIGONAP - 3.14159... says it's going to lie down and rest now
VOGON I.P. - the intergalactic highway-builders want to copyright their ideas
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PISHOGUE
PRONUNCIATION: (pi-SHOHG)
MEANING: noun: Sorcery; witchcraft; spell.
ETYMOLOGY: From Irish piseog (witchcraft). Earliest documented use: 1829.
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PASHOGUE - a town in Suffolk County (South Shore of Long Island, NY), a couple of miles west of Brookhaven
PISH AGUE - dysuria
PIS-HAGUE - those old Dutch cities are going from bad to worse
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ZARF
PRONUNCIATION: (zarf)
MEANING: noun: A sleeve or holder designed to hold a hot cup.
ETYMOLOGY: From Arabic zarf (container, sheath). Earliest documented use: 1836.
_____________________________
AARF - the sound made by retired dogs
OARF - coamposer of Carmina Burana
ZARO - sweet syrup with no calories
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PICARO
PRONUNCIATION: (PEE-kuh-roh)
MEANING: noun: A rogue; an adventurer.
ETYMOLOGY: From Spanish picaro (rogue). Earliest documented use: 1622. Also see picaresque and picaroon.
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PICRO- - prefix meaning one trillionth ( 10 ^ -12 )
PI, CLARO - What does a Spanish mathematician call the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter?
PICA PRO - someone with ingests bizarre substances, like ice or lead paint chips or dirt, for a living
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ANEMIOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (uh-NEE-mi-uhs)
MEANING: adjective: Growing in windy conditions.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek anemos (wind). Earliest documented use: 1879.
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ANEMIONS - microscopic particles that suppress your red blood cell count
MNEM-IOUS - to help you remember your debts
ÂNE MIAOUS - catlike noises made by a French donkey
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ACEDIOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (uh-SEE-dee-uhs)
MEANING: adjective: Characterized by apathy, boredom, or sloth.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin acedia, from Greek akedia, from a- (not) + kedos (care). Earliest documented use: 1609. Also see acedia.
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ACTEDIOUS - behave tiresomely
ABEDIOUS - sleep excessively
ACETIOUS - sharp, vinegary
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ADVENTITIOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (ad-ven-TI-shuhs)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Arising from an external source.
2. Happening by chance.
3. Appearing in an unusual place.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin adventicius (coming from outside, foreign), from advenire (to arrive), from ad- (toward) + venire (to come). Earliest documented use: 1603. Also spelled as adventious.
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ADDVENTITIOUS - installing additional windows
ADVENDITIOUS - for the purpose of selling more promotional messages
ADENTITIOUS - toothless
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CAESIOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (SEE-zee-uhs)
MEANING: adjective: Bluish or grayish green.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin caesius, probably from caelum (sky). Earliest documented use: 1835.
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CAESEOUS - cheesy
CADS IOUS - promissory notes, generally not repaid
CANESIOUS - a college in Buffalo NY, source of Jesuit sugar
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ANNELIDOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (uh-NEL-uh-duhs)
MEANING: adjective: Of or relating to worms.
ETYMOLOGY: From French anneler (to ring), from Latin anellus, diminutive of anus (ring). Earliest documented use: 1835.
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PANNE-LIDOUS - like a bread-cover
ANNELI-NOUS - We're the Parisian branch of the Anneli family...
ANNELID FOUS - ...and we're crazy over earthworms!
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GAMBIT
PRONUNCIATION: (GAM-bit)
MEANING: noun:
1. An opening in which a minor piece is sacrificed to obtain a strategic advantage.
2. A maneuver used to secure an advantage.
3. A remark used to open or redirect a conversation.
ETYMOLOGY: From Spanish gambito, from Italian gambetto (the act of tripping someone), from gamba (leg). Earliest documented use: 1656.
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GUMBIT - the masticatory equivalent of "Man Bites Dog"
GAMEBIT - money purchased and used within an App
GAMBIN - where you keep chess and checkers, Clue, Sorry, Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, Magic: the Gathering, and such, when you're not playing
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PROPUGNACULUM
PRONUNCIATION: (praw-puhg-NAK-yuh-luhm)
MEANING: noun: A fortress; defense; protection.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin propugnaculum (bulwark), from propugnare (to fight in defense of something), from pro- (toward) + pugnare (to fight), from pugnus (fist). Ultimately from the Indo-European root peuk- (to prick), which is also the source of point, puncture, pungent, punctual, poignant, pounce, poniard, oppugn, repugn, impugn, pugnacious, pugilist, and repugnant. Earliest documented use: 1773.
____________________________
PRE-PUGNACULUM - little skirmish leading up to the actual conflict
PROPUGNOCULUM - in favor of the beady little eye of a small short-nosed dog
PROPUGNACUUM - a suction cleaning device that's angry all the time
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FLATFOOTED
PRONUNCIATION: (flat-FOOT-id)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Clumsy; unimaginative; uninspired.
2. Forthright.
3. Unprepared.
4. Uncompromising.
5. Having the arch of the foot flattened so the entire sole touches the ground.
ETYMOLOGY: From flat, from Old Norse flatr + foot, from Old English fot. Earliest documented use: 1601. (A flatfoot is not necessarily flatfooted.
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FATFOOTED - bloated and edematous from the ankle down
FEATFOOTED - world's-record-holder in the 100-meter dash
FLATFOOLED - convinced he was in the wrong apartment
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CONSANGUINEOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (kon-sang-GWIN-ee-uhs)
MEANING: adjective: Related by blood; having a common ancestor.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin consanguineus, from con- (with) + sanguineus (bloody), from sanguis (blood). Earliest documented use: 1616.
________________________
CON SANGUINE BUS - brings prisoners back from their Anger Management sessions
CONAN GUINEOUS - Night-show host O'Brien acted like Obiwan Kenobi (or the British Colonel at the River Kwai)
CONS AN' QUINEOUS - fake COVID-19 cure is actually good for malaria
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HAM-HANDED
PRONUNCIATION: (HAM-han-did)
MEANING: adjective: Clumsy; tactless; lacking social grace.
ETYMOLOGY: From ham + hand. It’s the same ham (one who overacts), apparently from the minstrel song, “The Hamfat Man”. Earliest documented use: 1918.
____________________________
WHAM-HANDED - a very hard-punching boxer
HAT-HANDED - begging
HAM-WANDED - a showy but incompetent magician
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EUPHORIA
PRONUNCIATION: (yoo-FOHR-ree-uh)
MEANING: noun: A feeling or state of elation or well-being.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek eu- (well) + pherein (to bear). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bher- (to carry, to bear children) that gave birth to words such as basket, suffer, fertile, burden, bring, bear, offer, prefer, birth, adiaphorism, delate, opprobrious, sufferance, and paraphernalia. Earliest documented use: 1684.
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EUPHORBIA - Spurge, or bastard spurge, a genus of plants of many species, mostly shrubby, herbaceous succulents, yielding an acrid, milky juice. Most of them have powerful emetic and cathartic products. [Honest. YCLIU!]
EDUPHORIA - delight in acquiring knowledge
GUPHORIA (pr. "guf-FAW-ree-uh") - laughing loudly and uncontrollably
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QUATERNION
PRONUNCIATION: (kwuh/kwah-TUHR-nee-uhn)
MEANING: noun: A set of four persons, things, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin quattuor (four). Earliest documented use: 1384.
________________________
QUAKER'N'ION - breakfast cereal made of charged oatmeal particles
'QUATER NICON - a fine camera made at very low latitudes
AQUATERNION - a waterfowl whose best friend is T-Berton
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URTICACEOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (uhr-tih-KAY-shuhs)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Relating to a nettle.
2. Stinging.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin urtica (nettle), from urere (to burn). Earliest documented use: 1836.
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URBICACEOUS - citified
URTICAREOUS - makes your cavities itch
UTICA CEO: US - We've just been put in charge of that city in upstate NY
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AUTOTELIA
PRONUNCIATION: (ah-toh-TEH-lik)
MEANING: adjective: Having a purpose, motivation, or meaning in itself; not driven by external factors.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek auto- (self) + telos (end). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kwel- (to revolve), which also gave us colony, cult, culture, cycle, cyclone, chakra, collar, telic, entelechy, talisman, col, and accolade. Earliest documented use: 1864.
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AUTOTELLIC - car with built-in reporting to the police whenever you exceed the speed limit
Au HOTELIC - very posh lodgings, with all gold fixtures
AUTHOTELIC - the final chapter in a long story, such as Homer's Iliad or Odyssey
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VINACEOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (vy/vi/vuh-NAY-shuhs)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Relating to wine.
2. Of the color of red wine: reddish.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin vinum (wine). Earliest documented use: 1688.
______________________
PINACEOUS - bromeliad, like a pineapple
WINACEOUS - overfond of having a pair of Aces in the hole
BINACEOUS - synonym for BINARY
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YEANLING
PRONUNCIATION: (YEEN-ling)
MEANING: noun: The young of an animal, especially of a sheep or a goat.
adjective: New-born; infant.
ETYMOLOGY: From yean (to give birth to a young), from Old English geeanian, from eanian (to bear young) + -ling (small, young, inferior). Earliest documented use: 1644.
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YEARNLING - the first faint glimmering of a desire
YE, MANLING - I'm talkin' ta you, punk
YEAN LINGO - spoken in the land of Ye
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URSIFORM
PRONUNCIATION: (UHR-suh-form)
MEANING: adjective: Having the form or appearance of a bear.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin ursus (bear). Ultimately from the Indo-European root rtko- (bear), which also gave us arctic (literally, of the bear), the name Ursula (diminutive of Latin ursa: bear), and arctophile (one who is very fond of teddy bears). Earliest documented use: 1791.
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CURSIFORM - 1. oathsome; 2. scriptlike
ARSIFORM - British: ass-shaped
URSIFARM - where bears are grown
URSIDORM - the final room that Goldilocks entered
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LEPTODACTYLOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (lep-tuh-DAK-tuh-luhs)
MEANING: adjective: Having slender fingers or toes.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek lepto- (thin) + -dactyl (toed, fingered). Earliest documented use: 1855.
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KLEPTODACTYLOUS - finger-stealing (not welcome at KFC)
LEPTO-d-ACETYL OPS - skinny-fingered vinegary penguin
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ZAFTIG
PRONUNCIATION: (ZAF-tik, -tig)
MEANING: adjective: Full-figured; pleasingly plump; buxom.
ETYMOLOGY: From Yiddish zaftik (juicy), from German saftig (juicy), from Saft (juice). Earliest documented use: 1921.
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ZAFTING - alternative form meaning "betraying"
WAFTIG - blowing in the gentle breeze with your nose stuffed
ZAPTIG - Calvin shoots Hobbes with a Taser
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NOCTILUCENT
PRONUNCIATION: (nok-tuh-LOO-suhnt)
MEANING: adjective: Shining at night.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin nocti- (night) + lucent (shining). Ultimately from the Indo-European root leuk- (light), which also gave us lunar, lunatic, light, lightning, lucid, illuminate, illustrate, translucent, lux, lynx, pellucid, lutestring, lustrate, lucubrate, limn, and lea. Earliest documented use: 1691.
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NOCTILUSCENT - the night is deepening
NOCTILU CANT - Prime Minister Noctilu of Roumania regrets he is unable
NON-TILUCENT - my bathroom walls do not glow
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BRAZEN
PRONUNCIATION: (BRAY-zuhn)
MEANING: adjective: 1. Shamelessly bold.
2. Made of or relating to brass.
verb tr.: To face an embarrassing or difficult situation in a shamelessly bold manner.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old English braes (brass). Earliest documented use: 1000.
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BLAZEN - how the outlaws galloped into town with their gunza
BRATEN - the wurst possible Viennese sausage
BRAKE N - - how to slow down the fourteenth car of the train
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AURICOMOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (au-RI-kuh-muhs)
MEANING:. adjective: Relating to golden hair.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin auricomus, from aurum (gold) + coma (hair). Earliest documented use: 1864.
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AURICOROUS - golden-throated voices singing together
AGRICOMOUS - your typical Roman farmer's rodent
AFRICOMOUS - Sherlock Holmes' Giant Rat of Sahara
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PHILARGYRY
PRONUNCIATION: (fil-ARJ-uh-ree)
MEANING: noun: The love of money; greed.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek phil- (love) + argyros (silver). Ultimately from the Indo-European root arg- (to shine; white) that is also the source of argue (from Latin arguere, to make clear), argillaceous (clayey), and French argent (money). The word also appears in the chemical symbol for silver (Ag) and in the name of the country Argentina (where flows Rio de la Plata, Spanish for “river of silver”). Earliest documented use: 1529.
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PHIL-ARMY RY. - train taking fans from Philadelphia to West Point
PHILARGYRO - pile the makings into our submarine sandwich at that stand next to the Liberty Bell
CHILARGYRY - ...keep the sandwiches in the refrigerator till we get there
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TINPOT
PRONUNCIATION: (TIN-pot)
MEANING: adjective: Unimportant; of little worth.
ETYMOLOGY: Alluding to a tin pot, in quality or sound, broadly from a reference to tin as a base metal compared to precious metals. Earliest documented use: 1838.
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INPOT - your status after calling a bet
LIN-POT - composer Manuel Miranda's beer-belly
TIN PLOT - one kind of mining survey
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LEAD BALLOON
PRONUNCIATION: (led buh-LOON)
MEANING: noun: A complete failure.
ETYMOLOGY: From lead (a heavy metal), from Old English lead + balloon, from Italian dialectal ballone (large ball), augmentative of balla (ball). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhel- (to blow or swell), which also gave us ball, boll, bole, bulk, bowl, boulevard, boulder, ballot, folly, and fool. Earliest documented use: 1924.
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PLEAD BALLOON - dialog from Judge Parker comic strip
LEAD GAL LOON - the matriarch of the loon flock
LEAN BALLOON - a zeppelin
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IRREFUTABLE
PRONUNCIATION: (ir-ih-FYOO-tuh-buhl, ih-REF-yuh-tuh-buhl)
MEANING: adjective: Impossible to deny or disprove; indisputable.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin in- (not) + refutare (to rebut). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhau- (to strike), which also gave us refute, beat, button, halibut, buttress, confute, prebuttal, and surrebuttal. Earliest documented use: 1620.
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MR REFUTABLE - never made a statement that couldn't be disproved
IRREFUL, ABLE - angry but competent
IRREPUTABLE - nobody anywhere knows anything about him !
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AMNESIA
PRONUNCIATION: (am-NEE-zhuh)
MEANING: noun: Loss of memory or a gap in one’s memory.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin amnesia, from Greek amnesia (forgetfulness), from a- (not) + mimneskesthai (to remember). Ultimately from the Indo-European root men- (to think), which also gave us mind, mental, mention, automatic, mania, money, praying mantis, monument, music, amnesty, mantra, remonstrate, monish, and mantic. Earliest documented use: 1786.
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NAMNESIA - inability to learn the lessons of history
DAMNESIA - complaint of a football player after multiple ACL injuries
AMNOSIA - "I poke around other people's business more than you do"
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PSYCHOGENIC
PRONUNCIATION: (sy-kuh-JEN-ik)
MEANING: adjective: Originating in the mind (having a psychological rather than a physiological cause).
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek psycho- (mind) + -genic (producing). Earliest documented use: 1897.
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PSYCHO GENIE - Aladdin's companion, such as voiced by Robin Williams
PAY C.H.O.- GENIC - This new DNA will let you breed corn with a higher carbohydrate content, but it'll cost you
P.S. YECHOGENIC! - Oh, and another thing: that's disgusting !
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POLYDIPSIAPRONUNCIATION: (paw-lee-DIP-see-uh) MEANING: noun: Excessive or abnormal thirst. ETYMOLOGY: From Greek poly- (much, many) + dipsa (thirst). Earliest documented use: 1661. _________________________________ POLYPIPSIA - misreading your card as a ten when it's really an eight POLYDIP ASIA - an Indonesian RijstafelPOLY DISSIA - that parrot just cussed you out !
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PROPENSITY
PRONUNCIATION: (pruh-PEN-suh-tee)
MEANING: noun: An inclination to behave in a particular way
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin pro- (toward) + pendere (to weigh). Ultimately from the Indo-European root (s)pen- (to draw, to spin), which also gave us pendulum, spider, pound, pansy, pendant, ponder, appendix, penthouse, depend, spontaneous, vilipend, pendulous, filipendulous, equipoise, perpend, pensive, and floccipend. Earliest documented use: 1550.
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PR OPEN SITE - where publicists and agents are welcome
PROP ENMITY - I can fly any jet plane made, but I just don't get along with the other kind...
PRODENSITY - I like the massive ones
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MISOCAINEA
PRONUNCIATION: (mis-oh-KY-nee-uh, mi-soh-)
MEANING: noun: A hatred of new ideas.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek miso- (hate) + -cainea (new). Earliest documented use: 1938.
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MISO-CAINE - Japanese soup that numbs the back of your throat
MISS O'CAINEA - that Irish lass whose father had a boat named after him
ISO-CAINEA - the class of compounds with the same atomic composition as cocaine, but different in molecular structure
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POLYGYNY
PRONUNCIATION: (puh-LIH-juh-nee)
MEANING: noun: The practice of having two or more female partners.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek poly- (many) + -gyny (woman). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gwen- (woman), quean, banshee, zenana, gynecology, and gynophobia (the fear of women). Earliest documented use: 1780.
NOTES: A counterpart of this term is polyandry, the practice of having two or more male partners. The generic term is polygamy, having two or more partners.
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POLYGON Y - twenty-fifth in a series of closed figures comprised of straight lines chained end-to-end, never crossing and with the last completing the chain by attaching to the free end of the first
POLOGYNY - the all-women's polo team
POLGY, NY - a Catskills community with mostly Polish residents
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DEONTOLOGY
PRONUNCIATION: (dee-ahn-TAH-luh-jee)
MEANING: noun: The theory or study of duty and obligation, with a focus on the right action as determined by a set of rules, irrespective of the consequences of the action.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek deont- (obligation) + -logy (study). Earliest documented use: 1829.
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DENTOLOGY - knowleldge of teeth
DON'T-OLOGY - the art of proscribing
ODEONTOLOGY - the study of grand roofed performance venues
DEO-NATOLOGY - lore pertaining to the birth of the gods
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SILVICOLOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (sil-VIK-uh-luhs)
MEANING: adjective: Living or growing in woods.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin silvi- (wood) + -colous (inhabiting). Earliest documented use: 1906.
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SILVICOLOURS - what the Lone Ranger's horse looks like on the BBC
SILICOLOUS - afflicted with ludicrous bowel habits
SILICOLOUS - having predominantly the characteristics of element #14
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BOUNDER
PRONUNCIATION: (BAUN-duhr)
MEANING: noun: An ill-bred, vulgar man.
ETYMOLOGY: From bound (to leap or jump), from French bondir (to bounce), from Latin bombitare (to hum), from Latin bombus (humming), from Greek bombos (booming, humming). Earliest documented use: 1842.
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BOXUNDER - what is beneath the gazinta, with the gazonta uppermost. See also GO-UNDER
BOULDER - more stonily impudent
B.U. UNDER - site of much of the action in Neal Stephenson's The Big U
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TOPLOFTYPRONUNCIATION: (TOP-lof-tee) MEANING: adjective: Haughty; pretentious. ETYMOLOGY: From top + loft (upper floor, attic), from Old English loft (air, sky), from Old Norse loft (air, sky, upper room). Earliest documented use: 1859. __________________________________ STOPLOFTY - an anti-snobbery movement TOOL OF TY - A Louisville Slugger bat, 34.5 inches long, weighing 40 to 44 oz. (see here) TOP OF TEY - The Daughter of Time, or perhaps Brat Farrar, by mystery writer Josephine Tey. It's hard to give one the edge over the other.
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WORRYWART
WUH-ree-wahrt)
MEANING: noun: One who worries excessively and unnecessarily.
ETYMOLOGY: From worry, from Old English wyrgan (to strangle) + wart, from Old English wearte. The word wart was apparently chosen for alliteration. Earliest documented use: 1956.
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WORRYWARP - the twisted viewpoint you get from worrying too much
WORRYTART - pastry you eat when you're stressed
LORRYWART - fanciful name for the ding you got in a London parking lot on your new truck
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AIRLING
PRONUNCIATION: (AIR-ling)
MEANING: noun: A carefree, thoughtless person.
ETYMOLOGY: A combination of air, from Latin aer (air) + -ling (small, young, inferior). Earliest documented use: 1611.
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AIRLING'S - flight leaving from Dublin
HAIRLING - Carnogie for men
AIRFLING - tossing my baby son straight up and then catching him again
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APPROBATION
PRONUNCIATION: (ap-roh-BAY-shuhn)
MEANING: noun: Approval, praise, commendation, or official sanction.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin approbation, from ad- (toward) + probatus, from probare (to test the goodness of). Earliest documented use: 1393.
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APT. PROBATION - when you try living in a flat for a month to see how you like it, before you sign the lease
AP-PRONATION - turning the news agency onto its belly
A.B. PROBATION - they announce your degree but don't actually award it to you until you've proved you deserve it
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PROMONTORY
PRONUNCIATION: (PROM-uhn-tor-ee, -tree)
MEANING: noun:
1. A point of high land projecting into a body of water.
2. A projecting part of the body, for example, of a bone.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin promontorium, alteration of promunturium, influenced by mons (mountain). Ultimately from the Indo-European root men- (project), which is also the source of menace, mountain, eminent, promenade, demean, amenable, mouth, and minatory. Earliest documented use: 1548.
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PROMONITORY - in favor of watchers
PROTON TORY - a subatomic British politician
PROMO-STORY - an infomercial
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EXIGENCY
PRONUNCIATION: (EK-si-jen-see, eg-ZIJ-uhn-see)
MEANING: noun: An urgent need or requirement.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin exigere (to demand, to drive out), from ex- + agere (to drive). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ag- (to drive, draw), which also gave us act, agent, agitate, litigate, synagogue, ambassador, exiguous, incogitant, intransigent, cogent, axiomatic, ambagious, ambage, agonistes, and actuate. Earliest documented use: 1588.
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EX-AGENCY - used to work for the CIA
EXILENCY - 1. title of great respect; 2. expulsion
EIGENCY - property of a vector which, when operated by a non-zero square matrix, gives a scalar multiple of itself
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CONSTRUE
PRONUNCIATION: (kuhn-STROO)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To interpret, understand, analyze, or explain.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin construere (to construct), from con- (with) + struere (to pile up or arrange). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ster- (to spread), which also gave us structure, industry, destroy, street, stratagem, stratum, stratocracy, and Russian perestroika. Earliest documented use: 1362.
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CORNS TRUE - when your feet tell you it's going to rain, and it does
CONSTRUM - the prisoner invented a new guitar-picking style
COMSTRUE - what happens to your dream when you wish upon a star
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DISINTERESTED
PRONUNCIATION: (dis-IN-truh-stuhd, dis-IN-tuh-res-tid)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Free of bias or self-interest; impartial.
2. Indifferent or not interested.
3. No longer interested.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin dis- (apart, away) + interesse (to be in between), from inter- (between) + esse (to be). Earliest documented use: 1631.
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DISH - INTERESTED? - look at the figure on that girl!
DIS I'N'T 'ERS, TED - Teddy, it doesn't belong to that woman
DIS IN: THERE'S TED ! - Headline: "Senator Kennedy found!"
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VARDY
PRONUNCIATION: (VAHR-dee)
MEANING: noun: Judgment or opinion.
ETYMOLOGY: A dialect variant of verdit, from verdict, from Anglo-Norman ver (true) + dit (statement, speech), from dicere (to say). Ultimately from the Indo-European root deik- (to show, to pronounce solemnly), which also gave us judge, verdict, vendetta, revenge, indicate, dictate, paradigm, interdict, fatidic, diktat, retrodiction, and interdigitate. Earliest documented use: 1738.
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PARDY - what you do when you break it
VERDY - a green opera composer
BARDY - Shakespearean
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[Anu added:
...this shortening (or respelling of a word based on its pronunciation) happens more often than you might think. Chances are you already use such words without a second thought. Examples: ornery (from ordinary), raiment (from arrayment), and donut (from doughnut).
An extreme example of this process of linguistic evolution is the transition of eleëmosynary to the present-day alms.]
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JUBEROUS
PRONUNCIATION: (JOOB-uhr-uhs)
MEANING: adjective: Doubtful; undecided; hesitating.
ETYMOLOGY: An alteration of dubious. Earliest documented use: 1871.
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J-JUBEROUS - resembling a small jelly candy
JABEROUS - like a manxome creature with biting jaws and snatching claws and flaming eyes, that burbles as it whiffles through the woods
UBEROUS - for hire to drive you somewhere
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SCROOCH
PRONUNCIATION: (skrooch)
MEANING: verb intr.: To crouch or huddle.
verb tr.: To squeeze.
ETYMOLOGY: A dialect variant scrouge (to squeeze or crowd), perhaps influenced by crouch. Earliest documented use: 1844.
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SHROOCH - when the catch-of-the-day was Haddock, instead of Cod (cf. scrod/shrod)
SACRO-OCH - said by a Scotsman with a pain shooting down his leg
SCROOGH - he who said "Bah, 'umbug"
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[not "scrunch" ?]
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VARDY
PRONUNCIATION: (VAHR-dee)
– a leading British soccer player (plays for Leicester City).
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VARDY
PRONUNCIATION: (VAHR-dee)
– a leading British soccer player (plays for Leicester City). Interesting. One might expect Anu to be aware of the football world. Is there also a Jouber or a Scrooch or a Meech who plays?
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MEECH
PRONUNCIATION: (meech)
MEANING: verb intr.:
1. To move in a furtive manner.
2. To loiter.
3. To whine.
ETYMOLOGY: A variant of mitch (to steal, hide, shirk), from Old French muchier (to hide). Earliest documented use: 1624.
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CME - ECH - never was fond of compulsory Continuing Medical Education
MERCH - Newspeak for "sales goods"
MEECE - several gadgets I use for I/O on my old computers
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SNOOT
PRONUNCIATION: (snoot)
MEANING: noun: 1. A snob. 2. A nose or snout.
verb tr.: To treat with disdain.
ETYMOLOGY: A variant of snout, of German/Dutch origin. Earliest documented use: 1861.
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SMOOT - a unit of length, measuring about 67 inches. Used in particular to measure the length of the MIT Bridge (Cambridge, MA), which is about 364.4 Smoots long (plus-or-minus one ear)
SUNOOT - the weather on a bright day in Glasgow
SNOWT - there's been a blizzard!
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DIVERSIVOLENT
PRONUNCIATION: (dy-vuhr-SIV-uh-luhnt)
MEANING: adjective: Desiring strife.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin diversus (diverse), from divertere (to turn aside), from di- (away, apart) + vertere (to turn) and volens, present participle of velle (to wish). Earliest documented use: 1612.
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DIVERSIVALENT - describing an element with many different possible valencies, e.g. carbon or silicon
DIVERS "I VOLE...NOT!" - assorted protestations in response to the question "Are you a man or a rodent?"
DIVER'S TiVo LENT - Greg Louganis doesn't have his TV streamer right now, but he expects it to be returned shortly
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SMATCHET
PRONUNCIATION: (SMACH-uht)
MEANING: noun: An insignificant contemptible person.
ETYMOLOGY: Of Scottish origin. Earliest documented use: 1582.
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MATCHET - what you do to call a bet at the poker table
SMATSHET - what you will probably do if you see an ugly bug on the table in front of you
SMART CHET - what David Brinkley called his fellow newscaster, after a particularly penetrating insight
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MENSCH
PRONUNCIATION: (mench, mensh)
plural menschen (MEN-chuhn, MEN-shuhn) or mensches
MEANING: noun: A decent, upright, honorable person.
ETYMOLOGY: From Yiddish mentsh (man, human being), from Middle High German mensch, from Old High German mennisco. Earliest documented use: 1911.
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AMENSCH - response to a prayer, mumbled by a drunken congregant
MENSAH - a social group of very high-IQ Southerners
MEN'S "ICH" - a treatise about the German male ego
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UNFLAPPABLE
PRONUNCIATION: (uhn-FLAP-uh-buhl)
MEANING: adjective: Staying calm even in difficult circumstances.
ETYMOLOGY: From Middle English flap (to beat or shake), probably of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1958.
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UN-LAPPABLE - impossible to outrace by more than one full length around the course
UNIFLAPPABLE - when you can shake the wrinkles out, but only once
UNFAPPABLE - Major Hoople when he can't be disconcerted or taken aback
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CIRCUMSPECT
PRONUNCIATION: (SUHR-kuhm-spekt)
MEANING: adjective: Careful to consider all circumstances and potential consequences; prudent.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin circumspicere (to look around; to take heed), from circum (around) + specere (to look). Earliest documented use: 1422.
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CIRCUMSPENT - all-around just plain broke
CIRCUS PECT - can't wait to get to out see the Big Top and the wild animals (especially the trained chickens)
SIR CUMSPECT - an occasional visitor the the Round Table, never without his eyeglasses
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CYNEGETIC
PRONUNCIATION: (sy-nuh-JET-ik)
MEANING: adjective: Relating to the chase or hunting.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek kunagos (hunter), from kuon (dog) + igetis (leader). Earliest documented use: 1716.
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CYNEGESIC - feeling like a dog
CINEGETIC - always looking for a good movie
ICYNEGETIC - promoting melting
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CATERWAUL
PRONUNCIATION: (KAT-uhr-wol)
MEANING: verb intr.: 1. To make a shrill sound as if of a cat in heat or of cats quarreling.
2. To quarrel noisily.
noun: 1. The cry of a cat in heat.
2. A shrill sound, such as a shriek or a loud cry.
ETYMOLOGY: From Middle English caterwawlen, from cater (tomcat or cat) + wawlen (to howl). Earliest documented use: 1386.
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CATERWALL - when the side of the house is covered with gypsy moth larvae
CATE, RAUL - Señor Cate's full name
CATER WAFL - what you'll get if you're careless about arranging for brunch
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DOGGED
PRONUNCIATION: (DAW-gid, DOG-id)
MEANING: adjective: Stubbornly determined or persistent.
ETYMOLOGY: If you have ever faced a dog digging in his heels, you know what dogged is. The word dog is from Old English docga. Also see recalcitrant. Earliest documented use: 1300.
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DOGGE - an olde Irish setter (see aso DOG RED)
NOGGED - tipsy after too much New Years' cheer
DONGED - the next step after your car is dinged
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CANICULAR
PRONUNCIATION: (kuh-NIK-yuh-luhr)
MEANING: adjective: Relating to the dog days.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin canicularis (relating to the dog star, Sirius), from canicula (small dog, Sirius), from canis (dog). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kwon- (dog), which is also the source of canine, chenille (from French chenille: caterpillar, literally, little dog), kennel, canary, hound, dachshund, corgi, cynic, cynosure, cynegetic, canaille, and cynophobia. Earliest documented use: 1398.
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CANINULAR - like small eyeteeth
CARICULAR - of the schedule of what's to be learned in Spelling class (obviously much needed)
CLANICULAR - like a small totem
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FAT CAT
PRONUNCIATION: (FAT cat)
MEANING: noun: A rich, privileged person, especially one who influences elections by making contributions to political campaigns.
ETYMOLOGY: The term was originally used in the 1920s to describe rich political backers in the US elections. Earliest documented use: 1925.
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FAT RAT - Templeton after a week at the fairground
FAT CAPT - Major Hoople before his promotion
FATMAT - 1. where Garfield sleeps; 2. place for Sumo wrestling matches
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