Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 8 of 91 1 2 6 7 8 9 10 90 91
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1

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.
__________________________

IRON-HEATED - when you should strike

L.RON-HEARTED - believing in Dianetics

IRONY-HEARTED - pretending to believe in Dianetics, knowing its origin

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1

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.
___________________________________

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

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1

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.
__________________________

ITCHYPHALLIC - horny

THY PHALLIC - how his subjects address Pan Priapus

IT HYPE ALL I.C. - integrated circuits are to be encouraged

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1

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.
______________________________________

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)

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1

HYSTERIC

PRONUNCIATION: (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.")

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1

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.
_____________________________________

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

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1

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.
________________________________

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?

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1

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.
__________________________________

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?

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1

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.
____________________________________

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

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,358
Likes: 1

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.
___________________________________

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

Page 8 of 91 1 2 6 7 8 9 10 90 91

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,910
Posts229,084
Members9,175
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Standy, Teytonon, jgronk71, gronk1964, MiscPractice
9,175 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 153 guests, and 3 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,358
LukeJavan8 9,909
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2023 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5