January 2012
December 2011
MAZARD
mazard
PRONUNCIATION:
(MAZ-uhrd)
MEANING:
noun: Face, head, or skull.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Middle English mazer (a large wooden drinking bowl), from mazer (a hardwood, especially maple). It’s not clear how we got from the bowl to the head, perhaps from the shape of the bowl. Earliest documented use: 1584.
USAGE:
“Shakespeare is really clear that the skull is handled roughly. You know,...
LAVE
lave \leyv, verb:
1. To wash; bathe. 2. (Of a river, sea, etc.) to flow along, against, or past; wash. 3. Obsolete. To ladle; pour or dip with a ladle. 4. Archaic. To bathe.
noun: 1. The remainder; the rest.
adjective: 1. (Of ears) large and drooping.
One must have a freshness of mind, a cleanliness of body. One must lave oneself in sparkling springs— — Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy
And...
ABY
aby
PRONUNCIATION:
(uh-BY)
MEANING:
verb tr.: To pay the penalty for. verb intr.: To suffer, to endure.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Old English abycgan (to pay for), from bycgan (to buy). Earliest documented use: before 1225.
USAGE:
“‘But we have you — and you shall aby it.’ There were knives drawn on every side of him as these words were spoken.” Walter Scott; Quentin...
INTERPOLATION
interpolation \in-tur-puh-LEY-shuhn, noun:
1. The act or process of introducing something additional or extraneous between other parts. 2. Something interpolated, as a passage introduced into a text. 3. Mathematics. A. The process of determining the value of a function between two points at which it has prescribed values. B. A similar process using more than two points at which the function...
REECHY
reechy
PRONUNCIATION:
(REE-chee)
MEANING:
adjective: Smoky, dirty, or rancid.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Old English rec (smoke). Earliest documented use: 1660.
USAGE:
“The writing is fast and punchy, the gore reechy, the science mad as HG Wells.” Meet 007 Jr; The Times of India (New Delhi, India); Apr 25, 2005.
FUSTY
fusty \FUHS-tee, adjective:
1. Having a stale smell; moldy; musty. 2. Old-fashioned or out-of-date, as architecture, furnishings, or the like. 3. Stubbornly conservative or old-fashioned; fogyish.
He could even smell the old woman in the buggy beside him, smell the fusty camphor-reeking shawl and even the airless black cotton umbrella in which (he would not discover until they had reached...
“There is immeasurably more left inside than what comes out in words.”
– Fyodor Dostoevsky (via claudere)
der Feminist (m), / die Feministin (f) (n.)
deutschoftheday:
- feminist
Es ist leicht, einen Feministen zum Freund zu haben, weil er nie etwas sexistisches sagt. - It’s easy to have a feminist as a friend because he never says anything sexist.
Submitted by fridablida
nackt (adj.)
deutschoftheday:
- naked
Wir wollen dich nackt sehen! - We want to see you naked!
ADVENTIVE
adventive \ad-VEN-tiv, adjective:
1. Not native and usually not yet well established, as exotic plants or animals.
noun: 1. A not native and usually not yet well established plant or animal.
I’m sure it’s hard to be adventive, temporarily naturalized, that is. — Gish Jen, World and Town
Carrion beetles usually avoid competition with blowflies by visiting the carcasses at...
INWIT
inwit
PRONUNCIATION:
(IN-wit)
MEANING:
noun: 1. Conscience. 2. Reason, intellect. 3. Courage.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Old English inwit, from in + wit (mind, thought). Earliest documented use: 1230.
NOTES:
The word is usually seen as part of the phrase agenbite of inwit. Agenbite (remorse) is literally, again-bite, a variant of ayenbite, from ayen (again) + bite. James Joyce reanimated this ancient...
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: A writer must refuse to allow...
The Worlds Weirdest Hotels.
I want to go to all of them.
http://www.budgettravel.com/slideshow/worlds-weirdest-hotels,8023/?src=inset
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness. -George Sand [pen name of Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin], novelist (1804-1876)
MICKLE
mickle
PRONUNCIATION:
(MIK-uhl)
MEANING:
noun: A large amount. adjective: Great, large. adverb: Much.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Old English micel (much). Ultimately from the Indo-European root meg- (great), which is also the source of magnificent, maharajah, mahatma, master, mayor, maestro, magnate, magistrate, maximum, and magnify. Earliest documented use: 9th c.
NOTES:
The word appears in the proverb...
SOLATIUM
solatium \soh-LEY-shee-uhm, noun:
1. Something given in compensation for inconvenience, loss or injury. 2. Law. Damages awarded to a plaintiff as compensation for personal suffering or grief arising from an injury.
Perhaps something could be done. And the following week it was. Arthur found himself awarded a solatium of £7, which had accumulated in some overlooked fund, and which the...
“Life is short,
And pleasures few,
And holed the ship,
And drowned the crew,...”
– Clive Barker (from the character Righteous Bandy in Abarat)
der Barkeeper (n.)
deutschoftheday:
- bartender
I’ll hold my whiskey up high, kiss the bartender twice, I’m a loser. - Ich werde meinen Whiskey hochhalten, den Barkeeper zwei Mal küssen, Ich bin ein Versager (Loser).
“Now hatred is by far the longest pleasure; men love in haste but they detest at...”
– George Gordon Byron (via quote-book)
männlich (adj.)
deutschoftheday:
- male
I have many male colleagues. - Ich habe viele männliche Kollegen.
“Everything is more beautiful
because we’re doomed.
You will never be lovelier...”
– The Iliad (via narcosis)
CANTICLE
canticle \KAN-ti-kuhl, noun:
1. A song, poem, or hymn especially of praise. 2. One of the nonmetrical hymns or chants, chiefly from the Bible, used in church services.
And, yes, finally, I understood the love in this canticle not just as love between man and woman as they unite, but between the Creator and His people, our Israel. — Donna Jo Napoli, Song of the Magdalene
Of course,...
der Schwindel (n.)
deutschoftheday:
- shenanigan
“That’s what we call shenanigan” - “Das ist es, was wir Schwindel nennen”
