July 2011
#907
achoiceinthematter:
Someone who gives me the butterfly feeling that we’re meeting for the first time.. every time.
“People tend to forget their duties but remember their rights.”
– Indira Gandhi (via creatingaquietmind)
“Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don’t start sentences with a...”
– William Safire, “Great Rules of Writing” (via writingcircles)
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
PAVONINE
pavonine
PRONUNCIATION:(PAV-uh-nyn) MEANING:adjective: 1. Of or resembling a peacock. 2. Vain; showy. ETYMOLOGY:From Latin pavo (peacock). Earliest documented use: 1656. USAGE:”The artists were attacked for being a narcissistic, pavonine, and self-regarding group.” Arifa Akbar; The Cult of Beauty; The Independent (London, UK); Mar 29, 2011.
AUREATE
aureate \AWR-ee-it, adjective:
1. Characterized by an ornate style of writing or speaking. 2. Golden or gilded. 3. Brilliant; splendid.
“Nothing in the aureate language of the English poets can match the splendid virtuosity of Ane Ballat of Our Lady.” — Whitney French Bolton, The Middle Ages
“Scholasms, by the way, may be divided into two classes: aureate terms and...
“Don’t get it right, just get it written.”
– James Thurber (via writingcircles)
“The natural enemy of all writers is blank paper. It is what offends us and...”
– Steven Moffat (via brightandtacky)
HOARY
hoary \HAWR-ee, adjective:
1. Tedious from familiarity; stale. 2. Gray or white with age. 3. Ancient or venerable.
Compare that with the elements of a musical in about 1920: the star in a cliche story that was merely a framing device for generic musical numbers, hoary joke-book gags, and the usual specialty performers in a staging more often than not by a hack. — Ethan Mordden, Coming...
BOVINE
bovine
PRONUNCIATION:(BO-vyn, -veen) MEANING:adjective: 1. Of or relating to cattle, especially a cow. 2. Dull; sluggish; stupid. ETYMOLOGY:From Latin bos (cow, ox), from Greek bous (ox). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gwou- (cow, bull) that is also the source of beef, bugle (literally, an instrument made of ox horn), bulimia (literally, hunger like an ox), boustrophedon, and Hindi gai...
DEADPAN
deadpan \DED-pan, adjective:
1. Marked by or accomplished with a careful pretense of seriousness or calm detachment. 2. Displaying no emotional or personal involvement.
“He sat down on the top step with a rare deadpan expression, his best attempt yet at a poker face.” — Carol O’Connell, Shell Game
“She had instructed the kids to remain deadpan, because she did...
narcosis:
Velvet Underground - After Hours
the...
“How many people would never fall in love if they hadn’t heard the word?”
– La Rochefoucauld (via markmoney)
The Writing Circles: Advice on Plotting →
writingcircles:
A lot of you have asked that I make posts about how to plot a story. I’ve found some stuff online, but before I share it, I thought I’d give you some ideas/advice based on how I plot my stories.
1. Let your characters drive your story
If you have written strong, complex characters, with flaws…
Who knew L.A.'s red-light camera fines were... →
latimes:
Drivers who paid the tickets, some of which are $476, fume at the disclosure that authorities cannot force violators to pay up. But don’t expect to get a refund.
“Listen up, Fives. A Ten is speaking.”
– Jenna Maroney (via 30rockquotes)
“As you know, my single, “My Single Is Dropping,” is dropping.”
– Angie Jordan (via 30rockquotes)
narcosis:
Lou Reed - Perfect Day
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not. -Jean de la Bruyere, essayist and moralist (1645-1696)
PORCINE
porcine
PRONUNCIATION:(POR-syn) MEANING:adjective: 1. Of or related to swine. 2. Piggish: greedy; sloppy; boorish. ETYMOLOGY:From Latin porcus (hog, pig). Ultimately from the Indo-European root porko- (a young pig) that is also the source of farrow, aardvark, porcelain, pork, porcupine, and porpoise. Earliest documented use: before 1425. USAGE:”The lipstick on this pig was thick and...
MANTIC
mantic \MAN-tik, adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to divination. 2. Having the power of divination.
“She spent some evenings secretly working to expand the ever-present taint of the mantic sight still trapped within her.” — Barb Hendee, J. C. Hendee, In Shade and Shadow
“It is these mantic responses that alert the intelligence to the presence of something that calls...
“Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings — always darker, emptier, simpler.”
– Nietzsche (via narcosis)
“One does not want to allow oneself to be deceived because one assumes that it is...”
– Frederich Nietzsche (via totrulyexist)
“We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.”
– Anaïs Nin, the New Shelton wet/dry (via coolcooldeath)
HANDSEL
handsel \HAN-suhl, noun:
1. First encounter with or use of something taken as a token of what will follow. 2. A gift or token for good luck or as an expression of good wishes. 3. A first installment of payment.
Breakfast done, the seekers made little delay, so eager as they were to behold the King, and to have handsel of their new sweet life. — William Morris, The Story of the...
HIRCINE
hircine
PRONUNCIATION:(HUHR-syn, -sin) MEANING:adjective: 1. Of or relating to a goat. 2. Having a strong odor. 3. Lustful; lewd. ETYMOLOGY:From Latin hircus (goat). Earliest documented use: 1656. USAGE:”The showgirls, all looking to be in their early 20s, came out and posed next to the hircine and bearded Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill, the guitarist and the bassist.” Peter Watrous;...
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
– Carl Sagan (via quote-book) 