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 29 of 101 1 2 27 28 29 30 31 100 101
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,510
Likes: 1
HOYLE

PRONUNCIATION: (hoyl)

MEANING: noun:
1. A rule book.
2. Rules.

ETYMOLOGY: After Edmond Hoyle (1672?-1769), British writer on games. Earliest documented use: 1906. The word is typically used in the phrase according to Hoyle, meaning strictly following rules and regulations.
_______________________________________________

H. PYLE - 1) Gomer's younger brother; 2)familiar form of name of a bacterium associated with gastric ulcers

TOYLE - one-quarter of a witch's spell, along with two bubbles and some trouble

HO, YALE - Greetings, all you Eli
(alternatively, HOY ALE - what I'm drinking today in Tijuana)

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

PRONUNCIATION: (hoo-DEE-nee)

MEANING: noun: An escape artist.
verb intr.: To escape.

ETYMOLOGY: After Harry Houdini (1874-1926), a magician and escape artist. Earliest documented use: 1923.

NOTES: Houdini was born as Ehrich Weiss, but he admired the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin so changed his name. His nickname Ehri became Harry. Watch a Houdini straitjacket escape in Houston, 1923: (video, 3 min.). How did he do his magic tricks and escapes? Read all about it here. In his later years, Houdini devoted his life to debunking psychics, mediums, and other fraudsters. He worked with the Scientific American magazine to expose them.
__________________________

HOUNDINI - dog-shaped pasta

HOUDING - present participle of to houd

FOUDINI - Magician/Portrait featured in the 1950s kids' TV program featurng puppets, 5 PM weekdays in the New York City area, Pinhead and Foudini. His magic word was not "Abracadabra" but "LY-CO-PO-DIUM !" accompanied, unsurprisingly, by a flash of light and a puff of smoke.

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

PRONUNCIATION: (TAW-dree)

MEANING: adjective: Cheap, showy, and gaudy.

ETYMOLOGY: Short for tawdry lace, a contraction of St Audrey lace. The story goes that Æthelthryth (c. 636-679 CE), also known as Etheldreda and Audrey, loved fine silk laces in her youth. She died of a throat tumor which she considered a punishment for her fondness of necklaces. She was a queen, but later became a nun, and eventually a saint. Cheap laces sold in St Audrey’s Fair in Ely, England, came to be known as St Audrey lace, and eventually shrank to tawdry lace. Earliest documented use: 1612. Also see, trumpery.
___________________________________

PAWDRY - what you do for your dog after the rain

TAPDRY - get the good last drop out of the keg

T AWRY - T

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

PRONUNCIATION: (muhk-dah-nuhl-dai/duh-ZAY-shuhn)

MEANING: noun:
1. Standardization that focuses on efficiency, predictability, control, etc., at the expense of individuality or creativity.
2. The spread of the influence of American culture.

ETYMOLOGY: After McDonald’s, a fast-food chain started by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1940. Earliest documented use: 1975. Also see McJob.
________________________________

MACDONALD IZ AT INN - the old farmer has reached the motel

MACDONALD IZ A TOON - Surely you've seen an animated Ronald MacD

MACDONALD IZ A LION - that's why he knows so much about hamburgers

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

PRONUNCIATION:
(POO-bah)

MEANING: noun:
1. A person who holds a high office or has great influence.
2. A pompous, self-important person.
3. A person holding many offices or positions of power.

ETYMOLOGY: After Pooh-Bah, a government official in Gilbert & Sullivan’s 1885 operetta The Mikado. Pooh-Bah holds all the high offices of the state (except Lord High Executioner), including relating to complaints about himself. He is also known as the Lord High Everything Else. Earliest documented use: 1886.
________________________

POOH-BAR - where Winnie goes to have a cup or two of mead

POOCH-BAH - cat-lover's dismissal

POSH-BAH - high-priced Boston drinking club

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

PRONUNCIATION: (KHOOT-spuh, HOOT-)

MEANING: noun: Shameless boldness; brazen nerve; gall.

ETYMOLOGY: From Yiddish khutspe, from Late Hebrew huspa. Earliest documented use: 1853.
_____________________

CHUTE, PA - Son, before I dive out of this airplane, did I forget anything?

CHUT SPA - a health resort where as a sideline they grow chutney for distribution and sale

CHUTZ PATH - a wilderness trail blazed by explorer Igor Chutz

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

PRONUNCIATION: (KWIK-suh-tree)

MEANING: noun: Absurdly chivalrous, idealistic, or impractical ideas or behavior.

ETYMOLOGY: After Don Quixote, hero of the eponymous novel by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). Earliest documented use: 1703. Also see quixotic and quixote.
_________________________________

QUIXOTORY - futile

QUIXOT-RAY - an automated light-energy weapon designed to knock over windmills with a lance

EQUI-XO-TRY - striving for the same number of kisses as hugs

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

PRONUNCIATION: (BLOU-zee)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Having a coarsely ruddy complexion.
2. Disheveled.

ETYMOLOGY: From English dialect blowze (wench). Earliest documented use: around 1770.
_______________________________

LOWZY - the worst possible letter grade

BROWZY - just looking around, to see what's here

B'LOW ZY - submerged in the ocean

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

PRONUNCIATION: (KWIN-kuhnks)

MEANING: noun: An arrangement of five objects with one at each corner and one at the center.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin quincunx (five twelfths), from quinque (five) + uncia (twelfth part). Earliest documented use: 1606.

NOTES: In ancient Rome, a quincunx was a coin equivalent to five twelfths of the coin known as an “as” or “libra”. The coin’s value was sometimes represented by five dots, four in corners and one in the middle. The number five on a die is represented by five dots in a quincunx.
______________________________

QUID-CUNX - the twelfth part of one Pound Sterling, i.e. one shilling eightpence

QUIDNUNX - old Roman gossips

QUID C? UNIX? - Don't you think it would have been more efficient to program it in UNIX?

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

PRONUNCIATION: (WHIZ-bang)

MEANING: noun: 1. Someone or something extraordinarily successful.
2. Someone or something flashy, impressive, technologically innovative, etc.
3. A firework that makes whizzing sounds and loud bangs.
adjective: 1. Highly successful or talented.
2. Flashy, impressive, fast-paced, loud, etc.

NOTES: The term has its origin in the onomatopoeic representation of the sound made by a firearm or firework. It was popularized in WWI as high-speed shells were called whizbangs. It was also the name given to a rocket launcher used by the US Army during WWII.

ETYMOLOGY. Of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1881.
_________________________________

PHIZBANG - how an exploding cigar does in your face

WHIPBANG - the crack of Indiana Jones' favorite weapon

WHIZBANE - a prodigy's downfall


_

Page 29 of 101 1 2 27 28 29 30 31 100 101

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 302 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

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

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5