January 2012
SYBARITE
sybarite
PRONUNCIATION:
(SIB-uh-ryt)
MEANING:
noun: A person devoted to luxury and pleasure.
ETYMOLOGY:
After Sybaris, an ancient Greek city in southern Italy noted for its wealth, and whose residents were notorious for their love of luxury. Earliest documented use: 1598.
USAGE:
“Tom Naylor sounds like a bit of a sybarite himself, who’d enjoy a good wine, cigar, or work of...
METTLE
mettle \MET-l, noun:
1. Courage and fortitude. 2. Disposition or temperament.
Who is so ignorant as not to know that knights-errant are beyond all jurisdiction, their only law their swords, while their charter is their mettle and their will is their decrees? — Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
“—must do something to justify your existence,” Marlene was...
BLEB
bleb \bleb, noun:
1. A bubble. 2. Medicine/Medical. A blister or vesicle.
One day, as he was bathing her, a bleb of shampoo had streamed into her eye, and she had kept a hand pressed to it for the rest of the day, quailing away from him whenever he walked past. — Kevin Brockmeier, Things That Fall From the Sky
His gaze skims over the computer out the side-yard window, to rest on a fat...
DAMASCENE
damascene
PRONUNCIATION:
(DAM-uh-seen, dam-uh-SEEN)
MEANING:
verb tr.: To inlay a metal object with gold or silver patterns; to gild. noun: A native or inhabitant of Damascus. adjective: 1. Relating to Damascus or the Damascenes. 2. Having a wavy pattern as on Damascus steel. 3. Sudden and significant.
ETYMOLOGY:
After Damascus, the capital of Syria. Earliest documented use: around 1386. For...
“Elegance doesn’t mean being noticed, it means being remembered.”
– Giorgio Armani (via musingsinfemininity)
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Life is a tragedy when seen...
ARGOSY
argosy
PRONUNCIATION:
(AHR-GUH-see)
MEANING:
noun: 1. A large ship, or a fleet of ships, especially one carrying valuable cargo. 2. A rich source or supply.
ETYMOLOGY:
Shortening of Italian nave Ragusea (ship of Ragusa), after Ragusa, a maritime city on the Adriatic sea, modern day Dubrovnik, Croatia. Earliest documented use: 1577.
USAGE:
“Shylock: He hath an argosy bound to Tripolis,...
SLIMSY
slimsy \SLIM-zee, adjective:
Flimsy; frail.
“Nice girl …” he mused, “but sort of thin and slimsy and delicate, not robust and hearty like the kind of girl you ought to have on a farm.” — Bess Streeter Aldrich, A White Flying Bird
The coat was a slimsy bit of dark silk, with a glister in it; and the hat was the thinnest straw, the brim curling a little in...
“I am still so naive. I know pretty much what I like and dislike, but please,...”
– Sylvia Plath
(via girlinlondon)
der Zungenbrecher (n.)
deutschoftheday:
- tounge twister
Ein berühmter, deutscher Zungenbrecher ist: Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische. - A well known, german tounge twister is: Fisherman’s Fritz fishes fresh fish.
chillen (v.)
deutschoftheday:
-to chill
We’re just chilling - Wir chillen nur.
Submitted by tanbrian
writingcircles:
starstealing:
25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing
nudityandnerdery:
1. Stop Running Away
Right here is your story. Your manuscript. Your career. So why the fuck are you running in the other direction? Your writing will never chase you — you need to chase your writing. If it’s what you want, then pursue it. This isn’t just true of your overall writing career, either. It’s...
der Akku (n.)
deutschoftheday:
-battery
Mist! Der Akku meines Handys ist leer! - Damn! My (mobile) phone’s battery is dead!
Submitted by lewrob
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to...”
– Winston Churchill (via julie911)
CONNUBIAL
connubial
PRONUNCIATION:
(kuh-NOO-bee-uhl, -NYOO-)
MEANING:
adjective: Pertaining to marriage or the married state.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin con- (with) + nubere (to marry) which is also the source of nubile and nuptial. Earliest documented use: 1656.
USAGE:
“You wouldn’t think Donald Trump would need much connubial coaxing to picture himself in the Trump White House. But a Globe...
DEUCEDLY
deucedly \DOO-sid-lee, adverb:
Devilishly; damnably.
When I went in I had seen that there was a deucedly pretty girl sitting in that particular seat, so I had taken the next one. — P. G. Wodehouse, Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories
It’s most important. You will put me in a deucedly awkward position if you don’t. — C. S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew
...
“Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts,...”
– Bob Marley
(VIA Light-essence)
VENIAL
venial
PRONUNCIATION:
(VEE-nee-uhl, VEEN-yuhl)
MEANING:
adjective: Minor; easily excused.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin venia (forgiveness). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wen- (to desire or to strive for), which is also the source of wish, win, ween, overweening, venerate, venison, Venus, and banyan. Earliest documented use: before 1300.
USAGE:
“Wealthy fraudsters are given chieftaincy...
SHIV
shiv \shiv, noun:
A knife, especially a switchblade.
Then this one cop, the guy, he pulls out a picture, shows me a photograph, see, of my shiv. Now, I gotta tell ya, this shiv of mine’s no ordinary blade. — Ashok Mathur, Once Upon an Elephant
“Why would he wipe the shiv?” Decker said. “Supposedly it was his shiv, not hers. Of course it would have his prints on it. Seems to me...
“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the...”
– Christopher Mccandless (via light-essence)
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The...”
– Nelson Mandela (via quote-book)
“… It is unbearably painful
For the soul to love silently.”
– Anna Akhmatova, from The Complete Poems (translated by Judith Hemschemeyer)