February 2011
“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”
– Martin Luther King Jr. (via quote-book)
THIMBLERIG
thimblerig \THIM-buhl-rig, verb:
1. To cheat or swindle, as in the traditional shell game known as thimblerig.
noun: 1. A game in which the operator rapidly moves about three inverted thimbles, often with sleight of hand, one of which conceals a token, the other player betting on which thimble the token is under.
Vending wonder, big diversions with little fibs, my father loved to play the...
GASCONADE
gasconade
PRONUNCIATION:
(gas-kuh-NAYD)
MEANING:
noun: Boastful talk. verb intr.: To boast extravagantly.
ETYMOLOGY:
From French gasconnade, from gasconner (to boast), after Gascon, a native of the Gascony region in France. First recorded use: 1709.
NOTES:
Were people from Gascony full of boast and bravado? Not necessarily. Historical rivalries lead one people to generalize others’...
VULPINE
vulpine \VUHL-pahyn, adjective:
1. Cunning or crafty. 2. Of or resembling a fox.
His olive complexion surrounded a vulpine smile whenever he looked in the direction of the defendant. — Jeffrey R. Ryan, A Volcano Heard Afar
McCone was aware of what was happening, and his leaning posture became more and more vulpine. — Stephen King, Richard Bachman, The Running Man
Vulpine derives...
January 2011
Are you wearing Hotel Mattress?
“A man does not buy his wife a fur coat to keep her warm, but to keep her...”
– Seymour Hicks (via bitchville)
Trust
“She needs a new journal. The one she has is problematic. To get to the present,...”
– Dave Eggers, How the Water Feels to the Fishes (via quote-book)
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
– Ernest Hemingway (via quote-book)
CACOETHES
cacoethes \kak-oh-EE-theez, noun:
An irresistible urge; mania.
We must talk, think, and live up to the spirit of the times, and write up to it too, if that cacoethes be upon us, or else we are nought. — Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers
A cacoethes for travel seemed suddenly to have possessed the old gentleman, and an airy allusion to Damascus had struck her dumb. — Leonard...
RAKISH
rakish \REY-kish, adjective:
1. Smart; jaunty; dashing. 2. Of a vessel: having an appearance suggesting speed. 3. Like a rake; dissolute: rakish behavior.
Just as they stepped into the house Beard remembered that it was Patrice’s afternoon off, and there she was, at the head of the stairs, in rakish blue eye patch, tight jeans, pale green cashmere sweater, Turkish slippers, coining down...
INOSCULATE
inosculate
PRONUNCIATION:
(in-OS-kyuh-layt)
MEANING:
verb tr., intr.: To join or unite.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin in- (within) + osculare (to provide with a mouth), from osculum (little mouth), from os (mouth). Also see osculate. Earliest documented use: 1683.
USAGE:
“The frozen images of delicate leaves and inosculating branches. The still street, the black windows of the other houses!...
What is going on in Egypt right now?
dashedlines:
This seems a bit terrifying.
Seriously
“There must be a million people all over the world who never get any love...”
– Charlie Brown (via thoughtsdetained)
“Love is a serious mental disease.”
– Plato (via kari-shma)
JOBBERY
jobbery \JOB-uh-ree, noun:
The conduct of public or official business for the sake of improper private gain.
To a large portion of the people who frequent Washington or dwell there, the ultra fashion, the shoddy, the jobbery are as utterly distasteful as they would be in a refined New England City. — Mark Twain, The gilded age and later novels
Casting about for some way of breaking...
PROCUMBENT
procumbent
PRONUNCIATION:
(pro-KUM-buhnt)
MEANING:
adjective: 1. Lying face down; prone; prostrate. 2. Of a plant: Growing along the ground without putting new roots.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin procumbent- (bending forward), present participle of procumbere (to lean forward), from pro- (forward) + cumbere (to lie down). Earliest documented use: 1668.
USAGE:
“You could lie procumbent on...
tamburina:
Petrichor - noun, the smell of rain on dry ground.
“If someone betrays you once, it’s their fault; if they betray you twice, it’s...”
– Eleanor Roosevelt (via kari-shma)
GUNG-HO
gung-ho \GUHNG-HO, adjective:
1. Wholeheartedly enthusiastic and loyal; eager; zealous. 2. In a successful manner.
You end up becoming this perky, gung-ho version of yourself that you know is just revolting. — Douglas Coupland, Microserfs
It’s not because he’s such a gung-ho company man, he’s too smart for that. — Jonathan Franzen, Strong motion: a novel
Gung ho...
GUERDON
guerdon
PRONUNCIATION:
(GUHR-duhn)
MEANING:
noun: A reward or recompense. verb tr.: To reward or recompense.
ETYMOLOGY:
Via French from Latin widerdonum, alteration (by influence of Latin donum: gift) of Old High German widarlon (repayment). Earliest documented use: Before 1366.
USAGE:
“The report claims Furse will also pick up a one-off payment of almost double her annual salary in...
“To achieve great things, we must first dream!”
– Coco Chanel (via kari-shma)
DHARNA
dharna \DAHR-nuh, noun:
In India,the practice of exacting justice or compliance with a just demand by sitting and fasting at the doorstep of an offender until death or until the demand is granted.
Surely thou hast heard that Munda Ram, banker, having failed to procure his moneys from Narain Das, thy kinsman, hath sworn to obtain them by dharna? — Maud Diver, Siege perilous: and other...
CAPTIOUS
captious
PRONUNCIATION:
(KAP-shuhs)
MEANING:
adjective: Having an inclination to find faults, especially of a trivial nature.
ETYMOLOGY:
Via French from Latin capere (to seize). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kap- (to grasp), which is also the root of captive, capsule, capable, capture, cable, chassis, occupy, and deceive. Earliest documented use: 1380.
USAGE:
“Simon Cowell,...
