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REPTILIAN

PRONUNCIATION: (rep-TIL-ee-uhn, -TIL-yuhn)

MEANING.
adjective:
1. Contemptible.
2. Treacherous.
3. Like a reptile.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin reptile, from repere (to creep). Earliest documented use: 1835.
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SEPTILIAN - a one followed by about a gazlllon zeroes (or maybe only 21)

REPTILICAN - inhabitant of the country of Reptilica

RETILIAN - someone who favors redoing the bathroom down to the grout

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eager beaver
PRONUNCIATION:
/(ee-guhr BEE-vuhr)

MEANING: noun: One who is enthusiastic and hard-working, sometimes to the point of being overzealous.

ETYMOLOGY: From eager, from Old French egre, from Latin acer (sharp) + beaver, from Old English beofor. Earliest documented use: 1942.
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EAGER BEAVER

PRONUNCIATION: (ee-guhr BEE-vuhr)

MEANING: noun: One who is enthusiastic and hard-working, sometimes to the point of being overzealous.

ETYMOLOGY: From eager, from Old French egre, from Latin acer (sharp) + beaver, from Old English beofor. Earliest documented use: 1942
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EAGLER BEAVER - a swimming toothed rodent who hunts raptors

EAGER BEATER - a gung-ho Quiddich player with a paddle

EAGER SEAVER - Tom can't wait for his next turn to pitch

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TESTUDAL

PRONUNCIATION: testudinal

PRONUNCIATION: (tes-TOOD/TYOOD-i-nuhl)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Slow.
2. Arched.
3. Old.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin testudo (tortoise). Earliest documented use: 1823.
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TEST U, DAN'L? - before you go into the Lion's Den, we should see whether you're coming down with COVID-19

TEST URAL - assay the earth from the euro-asian mountains

UTES-'TUDAL - really dislikes the Southwestern Indians

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WEASEL

PRONUNCIATION: (WEE-zuhl)

MEANING: noun: 1. Any of various small slender carnivorous mammals of the genus Mustela.
2. A sneaky, cunning person.
verb intr.: 1. To evade an obligation.
2. To be evasive by using ambiguous or misleading words.

ETYMOLOGY: From Old English wesule. Earliest documented use: c. 450 CE.
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WHEASEL - have a mild attack of asthma

WE, ABEL - Adam's son has a split personality

WEAK SEL - this Parisian salt has no flavor

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BIG FISH

PRONUNCIATION: (big fish)

MEANING: noun: An important person or entity.

ETYMOLOGY: From big, perhaps of Scandinavian origin + fish, from Old English fisc (fish). Earliest documented use: 1827.
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I.G. FISH - the Inspector General in charge of seafood

BIG GISH - Lillian's put on a lot of weight since her acting days, hasn't she

BIG FIST - adapted from Theodore Roosevelt: what you may need to carry if you don't have a stick but still you want to speak softly

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BRIDEWELL

PRONUNCIATION: (BRYD-wel)

MEANING: noun: A prison.

ETYMOLOGY: Originally it was a well, named for St. Bride (or Brigid) in London. The name St. Bride’s Well became Bridewell. Over time, the site has served as a church, a palace, an orphanage, a hospital, and finally, gained notoriety as a prison. Earliest documented use: 1583.
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BRIDGEWELL - what you have to play to be a Life Master

RIDEWELL - desirable quality for a horse at a Dude Ranch

BRIDE WEILL - generic way to refer to Lotte Lenya immediately after she married Kurt

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GULAG

PRONUNCIATION: (GOO-lahg)

MEANING: noun:
1. The system of forced labor camps in the former Soviet Union.
2. Any prison or forced labor camp, especially one for political prisoners.
3. A place of great hardship.

ETYMOLOGY: From Russian Gulag, acronym from Glavnoe Upravlenie ispravitel’no-trudovykh LAGerei (Chief Administration for Corrective Labor Camps). Earliest documented use: 1946.
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G. SLAG - seventh on a list of by-products of the production of iron from ore

GAUL A.G. - the Attorney General of ancient France

GUY-LAG - men can take a little longer to understand things sometimes

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CALABOOSE

PRONUNCIATION: (KAL-uh-boos)

MEANING: noun: A prison.

ETYMOLOGY: From Louisiana French calabouse, from Spanish calabozo (dungeon), from Latin calafodium, from fodere (to dig). Earliest documented use: 1797. Another Spanish word for a prison that has become part of the English language is hoosegow.
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CA. LA BOSE - high quality speakers made near Louisiana

CALLABOOSE - the lily display was rudely heckled

CA. LAB OOZE - my place in UCLA just synthesized Slime

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PANOPTICON

PRONUNCIATION: (pan-OP-ti-kon, puh-NAHP-ti-kahn)

MEANING: noun:
1. A circular prison with a watchtower in the center so that any inmate can be observed from a single point.
2. A place marked by constant surveillance.

ETYMOLOGY: The design of such a prison was proposed by the utilitarian and philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1787. From Greek pan (all) + optikon (sight, seeing). Earliest documented use: 1787.
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ANOPTICON - a magnifying device with no lenses in it (per Isaac Asimov)

PA? NO PAT ICON - when the states each selected a logo, Pennsylvania couldn't decide what theirs should be

PAIN-OPTICON - my hearing aids hurt my ears

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