Word of the day strikes back

Discussion about miscellaneous topics not covered by other forums
Richard Frost
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Fri Apr 16 2021 8:58am

FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2021

pandiculation
[ pan-dik-yuh-ley-shuhn ]
noun

the act of stretching oneself, especially on waking.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF PANDICULATION?
Pandiculation, “stretching” (as when waking up),” comes via French pandiculation from the Latin verb pandiculārī “to stretch, grimace.” Pandiculārī is a derivative of pandere “to spread out, extend.” In Latin pandiculārī occurs only twice: the first time in a play by the Roman comic playwright Plautus (d. 184 b.c.), and the second time in the Epitoma Festi by the Benedictine monk Paulus Diaconus (Paul the deacon), who died about a.d. 799. Pandiculation entered English in the early 17th century.

HOW IS PANDICULATION USED?
There is a shared animal and human behaviour of “having a stretch” and yawning called pandiculation. It is often a combination of elongating, shortening and stiffening of muscles throughout the body.
EYAL LEDERMAN, THERAPEUTIC STRETCHING: TOWARDS A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH, 2014

I had hoped to deal, here, with two other minor emotional luxuries that have been hitherto hidden in obscurity. They are oscitation (yawning) and pandiculation (stretching) which may be practiced separately or together.
LEON GELLERT, "THE DELIGHTS OF SNEEZING," SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, JULY 17, 1949
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Sarah
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Fri Apr 16 2021 2:12pm

Tick as many as you feel apply:
Susie Dent wrote:'-cracy' is a useful suffix:
kakistocracy: government by the worst of citizens.
plutocracy: government by the wealthiest.
aristocracy: government by the best (etymologically).
kleptocracy: government by thieves.
ochlocracy: mob rule.
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 99841?s=20
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Sat Apr 17 2021 9:51am

17th April - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sinuous

sinuous
adjective

sin·​u·​ous | \ ˈsin-yə-wəs , -yü-əs \

Definition of sinuous
1a: of a serpentine or wavy form : WINDING
b: marked by strong lithe movements

2: INTRICATE, COMPLEX

bending, crazy, crooked, curled, curling, curved, curving, curvy, devious, serpentine, tortuous, twisted, twisting, winding, windy

Antonyms

straight, straightaway

Did You Know?
Although it probably makes you think more of snakes than head colds, sinuous is etymologically more like sinus than serpent. Sinuous and sinus both derive from the Latin noun sinus, which means "curve, fold, or hollow." Other sinus descendents include insinuate ("to impart or suggest in an artful or indirect way") and two terms you might remember from math class: sine and cosine. In English, sinus is the oldest of these words; it entered the language in the 1400s. Insinuate appeared next, in 1529, and was followed by sinuous (1578), sine (1593), and cosine (1635). Serpent, by the way, entered English in the 13th century and comes from the Latin verb serpere, meaning "to creep."

Examples of sinuous in a Sentence

She moved with sinuous grace.
the river flowed in a sinuous path through the lush valley

Recent Examples on the Web
Widow explores the sinuous and sinister ways in which self-delusion is used—by individuals, by the ownership classes, by entire societies—to launder horror into heroism, villains into victims, history into kitsch.
— Justin Taylor, Harper's Magazine, "Every True Pleasure Is a Secret," 16 Mar. 2021

Labyrinthine hedges almost merge with sinuous wooden pavilions, blurring the line between nature and architecture.
— Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, "This Hans Christian Andersen Museum Asks You to Step Into a Fairy Tale," 2 Mar. 2021
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Sun Apr 18 2021 9:05am

Word of the Day : April 18, 2021 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

forfend
verb for-FEND

Definition
1 a archaic : forbid

b : to ward off : prevent

2 : protect, preserve

Did You Know?
When forfend was first used in the 14th century, it meant "to forbid." The term is still used with this meaning in phrases like "heaven forfend" or "God forfend," but it bears an antiquated patina communicated in our dictionary with an "archaic" label. Other uses of the word are current, though somewhat uncommon. Forfend comes from Middle English forfenden, from for- (meaning "so as to involve prohibition, exclusion, omission, failure, neglect, or refusal") and fenden, a variant of defenden, meaning "to defend."

Examples
"All too often, the selfie is looked down upon with condescension, viewed as the narcissist's calling card, treated with scorn and disdain. But why? Heaven forfend we show evidence of loving ourselves." — Rachel Thompson, Mashable, 24 Dec. 2020

"Juvenile birds left on a quest for their own feeding grounds, to avoid competition with parents and siblings. Going out on their own also forfends against inbreeding, which would have a deleterious effect on the gene pool of their species." — Gary Clark, The Houston Chronicle, 21 Sept. 2018
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Mon Apr 19 2021 8:51am

MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021

brummagem
[ bruhm-uh-juhm ]
adjective

showy but inferior and worthless.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF BRUMMAGEM?
Brummagem, an adjective and noun meaning “showy but inferior and worthless; something of that kind,” comes from the local Birmingham (England) pronunciation of Birmingham. The original (and standard) spelling and pronunciation of the city is bir-; the nonstandard or dialect spelling bru– is an example of metathesis, the transposition of sounds, a very common phenomenon. Compare Modern English bird with Middle English brid (brid was the dominant spelling until about 1475; the spelling bird is first recorded about 1419). The name Birmingham is first recorded as Bermingeham in William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book (1086); spelling variants with Br- first appear in 1198 as Brumingeham. In the mid-17th century Birmingham was renowned for its metalworking and notorious for counterfeit coins. Brummagem entered English in the second half of the 17th century.

HOW IS BRUMMAGEM USED?
In an effort to brighten up austerity-ridden Britain, the Southern Region of the state-owned railway system devised a pub-on-wheels (bar car) which was supposed to be very quaint. The outside of the car features leaded windows, cream panels, false brickwork and fake timbers, and the motif of brummagem antiquity is carried on inside.
"FOREIGN NEWS: YE OLDE-TIME GYNMILLE," TIME, JUNE 13, 1949

Anthony lay upon the lounge looking up One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Street toward the river, near which he could just see a single patch of vivid green trees that guaranteed the brummagem umbrageousness of Riverside Drive.
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD, THE BEAUTIFUL AND DAMNED, 1922
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Mon Apr 19 2021 10:58am

Word of the day from Susie Dent today:
Word of the day is ‘ingordigiousness’: extreme greed; an insatiable desire for wealth at any cost.
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 50436?s=20
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Tue Apr 20 2021 10:24am

Word of the Day : April 20, 2021 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

adulate
verb AJ-uh-layt

Definition
1 a : to praise effusively and slavishly : flatter excessively : fawn upon

b : to pay homage to without exercising a critical sense of values

2 : to admire or be devoted to abjectly and excessively

Did You Know?
Man's best friend is often thought of in admiring terms as faithful and true, but there are also people who more clearly perceive the fawning and cringing aspect of doggishness. When the Romans used the Latin verb adūlārī to mean "to fawn on," they equated it with the behavior of a dog toward its master. The noun adulation—meaning "exhibition of excessive fondness" (similar in meaning but not etymologically related to adoration)—was first to develop in English, settling into the language in the 15th century. The adjective adulatory followed in the late 16th century (an adulatory speech, for example, is an excessively flattering one), and the verb adulate was being called into service by the early 17th century.

Examples
A portrait of the family patriarch, a man adulated by the public but generally feared by his family, hung above the mantle.

"At his career's start, Elvis Presley was feted as a musical pioneer and adulated by millions of adoring fans captivated by his onstage charisma. But by 1968, musical tastes had changed drastically. " — Eric Marchese, The Orange County (California) Register, 11 Jan. 2018
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Wed Apr 21 2021 10:24am

Word of the Day : April 21, 2021 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

touchstone
noun TUTCH-stohn

Definition
1 : a fundamental or quintessential part or feature : basis

2 : a test or criterion for determining the quality or genuineness of a thing

3 : a black siliceous stone related to flint and used to test the purity of gold and formerly silver by the streak left on the stone when rubbed by the metal

Did You Know?
Since the early 16th century, touchstone has referred to a particular kind of siliceous stone (that is, stone containing silica) used to do a particular job: determine the purity of precious metals. The process involves comparing marks made by rubbing a sample of a metal of known purity to marks made by a metal of unknown purity. The method is accurate enough in the case of determining the purity of gold that it is still in use today. Figurative use extended from this literal use, with touchstone functioning as a word for a test or criterion to determine the quality of a thing, and later to refer to a fundamental or quintessential part or feature of something.

Examples
"Reviewers mocked the movie 'Love Story,' but it was among the biggest box office hits of its time and became a cultural touchstone, especially for the catchphrase 'Love means never having to say you're sorry.'" — Hillel Italie, The Associated Press, 18 Feb. 2021

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was an immediate success; over the 150-plus years since it has never gone out of print, remaining a touchstone of children's literature." — Eve Watling, The Independent (United Kingdom), 17 Mar. 2021
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Thu Apr 22 2021 10:30am

Word of the Day : April 22, 2021 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

ebullient
adjective ih-BULL-yunt

Definition
1 : boiling, agitated

2 : characterized by ebullience : having or showing liveliness and enthusiasm

Did You Know?
Someone who is ebullient is bubbling over with enthusiasm, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that ebullient derives from the Latin verb ebullire, which means "to bubble out." When ebullient was first used in the late 1500s its meaning hewed closely to its Latin source: ebullient meant "boiling" or "bubbling," and described things like boiling water and boiling oil. Only later did the word's meaning broaden to encompass emotional agitation as well as the roiling of a boiling liquid.

Examples
"Coach Kristen Kirkman, who guided the Bulldogs' boys and girls, is ebullient about her junior class, which she hopes can take the program even beyond last season's Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association finishes of fifth for boys and fourth for girls." — Sonny Dearth, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), 14 Jan. 2021

"Born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the ebullient O'Ree had a very brief NHL playing career…. A goodwill ambassador for the league for the better part of the last quarter-century, he was the first player of African heritage to play in the NHL when he suited up for the Bruins on Jan. 18, 1958, for a weekend series vs. the Canadiens." — Kevin Paul Dupont, MSN.com, 12 Jan. 2021
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Thu Apr 22 2021 1:36pm

Posted by Susie Dent today:
'Clatterfart' (16th century): a prolific gossip.
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 32864?s=20
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