November 2009
1 post
tenebrous
ten·e·brous (tn-brs) also te·neb·ri·ous (t-nbr-s)
adj.
Dark and gloomy.
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An outburst of unchained fury, a vicious rush of the wind absolutely steadied the ship; she rocked only, quick and light like a child’s cradle, for a terrific moment of suspense, while the whole atmosphere, as it seemed, streamed furiously past her, roaring away from the tenebrous earth.
Typhoon, Joseph...
June 2009
2 posts
parthenogenous
Parthenogenesis (from the Greek παρθένος parthenos, “virgin”, + γένεσις genesis, “creation”) is an asexual form of reproduction found in females where growth and development of embryos occurs without fertilization by a male.
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Athene, the Athenians City-goddess, was the parthenogenous daughter of the immortal Metis, Titaness of the fourth day and all the planet...
growler
A small iceberg.
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We sailed the 30-mile stretch of the Atlantic Sound, otherwise known as Iceberg Alley. The smaller, granite-hard growlers are to be avoided just as deftly as the enormous floating glacial islands.
May 2009
2 posts
anagnorisis
recognition or discovery, as of a disguised character, one thought to be lost, or a critical fact.
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Pantechnicon
Pantechnicon has become the generic name for vehicles specially designed and constructed to transport furniture, except where “moving van” is usual. This is derived from a building of that name in Motcombe Street, Belgravia, London. The Seth Smith brothers, originally from Wiltshire, were builders in the early 19th century and constructed much of the new housing in Belgravia, then a...
April 2009
2 posts
Sedulous
sed·u·lous
play_w2("S0213100")
adj. Persevering and constant in effort or application; assiduous.
Galimatias
gal·i·ma·ti·as
n.
Nonsense; gibberish.
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March 2009
1 post
Pettifogger
pet·ti·fog·ger
n. 1. A petty, quibbling, unscrupulous lawyer. 2. One who quibbles over trivia.
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“Juridicial pettifoggery got mixed into it, and on the basis of this pettifoggery we are threatened with being chucked off the premesis!”
The Idiot
February 2009
5 posts
Autocthonous and Amaranth
Autocthonous
ADJECTIVE:
1. Originating where found; indigenous: autochthonous rocks; an autochthonous people; autochthonous folktales. See Synonyms at native.
2. Biology Originating or formed in the place where found: an autochthonous blood clot.
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Amaranth
1. Any of various annuals of the genus Amaranthus having dense green or reddish clusters of tiny flowers and including several...
Pataphysics
‘Pataphysics (French: ‘Pataphysique), a term coined by French writer Alfred Jarry (1873 – 1907), is a philosophy dedicated to studying what lies beyond the realm of metaphysics. It is a parody of the theory and methods of modern science and is often expressed in nonsensical language.
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I seldom agree with Baudrillard, not least because I am never too certain how seriously...
Exoteric
adj.
Not confined to an inner circle of disciples or initiates.
Comprehensible to or suited to the public; popular.
Of or relating to the outside; external.
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This concept occurs in the discussion of exoteric and esoteric religions.
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Sophistry
n. pl. soph·is·tries 1. Plausible but fallacious argumentation. 2. A plausible but misleading or fallacious argument.
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Apposite
suitable; well-adapted; pertinent; relevant; apt: an apposite answer.
Origin: 1615–25; < L appositus added to, put near (ptp. of appōnere), equiv. to ap- ap- 1 + positus placed (posi- place + -tus ptp. suffix)
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January 2009
2 posts
Coprolalia
Coprolalia is involuntary swearing or the involuntary utterance of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks. Coprolalia comes from the Greek κόπρος (kopros) meaning “faeces” and λαλία (lalia) meaning “babbling, meaningless talk”, from lalein, “to talk”.
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badinage
Light, playful banter.
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Without saying it,
unless as a negative of the smile in the photograph,
of the worldly chit-chat,
of the cultivated badinage,
So as to say nothing, Jacques Sojcher
November 2008
8 posts
motile
mo·tile
ay_w2("M0440600")
adj.1. Biology Moving or having the power to move spontaneously: motile spores.2. Psychology Of or relating to mental imagery that arises primarily from sensations of bodily movement and position rather than from visual or auditory sensations.
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Eventually Gladwell appears, small, motile, hands making refined shapes in the air, part concert pianist, part...
suttee
sut·tee also sa·ti
play_w2("S0097200")
n.1. The now illegal act or practice of a Hindu widow’s cremating herself on her husband’s funeral pyre in order to fulfill her true role as wife.2. pl. sut·tees also sa·tis A widow who commits such an act.
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“Say, what’re you doing to-day, anyhow? All dressed up and mooning around like the prologue to a suttee.”
The...
ambit
am·bit
n.
1. An external boundary; a circuit.2. Sphere or scope.
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“Speculation is not in my ambit.”
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
cynosure
cy·no·sure
n.1. An object that serves as a focal point of attention and admiration.2. Something that serves to guide.
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It thus happened that he found himself the cynosure of the policial eyes; and the cases were not few in which attempt was made to engage his services at the Prefucture.
The Mystery of Marie Roget, Edgar Allen Poe.
jacitate
Verb 1. jacitate - Move or stir about violently
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You simply plug in what booze you’re drinking, when you drank it and how much you weigh and it tells you whether you are above or below the legal limit. Well soused, positively jactitating? It’ll let you look up numbers of taxi cab companies or even DUI attorneys.
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rubato
Tempo rubato (Italian stolen time) is a musical term for slightly speeding up or slowing down the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor. It also requires the use of altering the relationships among the written note values and the played ones. While it is often associated with music of the Romantic Period, good classical performers frequently use it for emotional...
pasquinaded and quondam
pas·qui·nade n. A satire or lampoon, especially one that ridicules a specific person, traditionally written and posted in a public place.tr.v. pas·qui·nad·ed, pas·qui·nad·ing, pas·qui·nades To ridicule with a pasquinade; satirize or lampoon.
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quon·dam
(kwndm, -dm)adj. That once was; former:
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Chantilly was a quondam cobbler of the Rue St. Denis, who, becoming stage-mad, had attempted the...
Haruspex
In Roman practice inherited from the Etruscans, a haruspex (plural haruspices) was a man trained to practice a form of divination called haruspicy, hepatoscopy or hepatomancy. Haruspicy is the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry.
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People are always trying to gin up these Goddamned voodoo signifiers in multiplatform...
October 2008
9 posts
Apocope
In phonology, apocope (pronounced /əˈpɒkəpi/, from the Greek apokoptein “cutting off”, from apo- “away from” and koptein “to cut”) is the loss of one or more sounds from the end of a word, and especially the loss of an unstressed vowel.
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Amanuensis
Amanuensis [ipa: əˌmænjuˈɛnsɪs] is a Latin word adopted in various languages, including English, for certain persons performing a function by hand, either writing down the words of another or performing manual labour. The term is derived from a Latin expression which may be literally translated as “manual labourer”.
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Cornelius and Polly, Amanuensis Eroticus. We could chose a...
perquisite
per·qui·site
play_w2("P0204500")
(pûrkw-zt)
n.1. A payment or profit received in addition to a regular wage or salary, especially a benefit expected as one’s due. See Synonyms at right.2. A tip; a gratuity.3. Something claimed as an exclusive right: “Politics was the perquisite of the upper class” Richard B. Sewall.
via For even the high lifted and chivalric Crusaders of old...
'Slid and Phiz
‘Slid: By God’s lid [eyelids]; an oath.
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Main Entry: phizPronunciation: \ˈfiz\ Function: nounEtymology: by shortening & alteration from physiognomyDate: 1685
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‘Slid! man, but I was frightened. Such a phiz!
Herman Melville, Moby Dick - Chapter 31
Faucial
fau·ces
pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The passage from the back of the mouth to the pharynx, bounded by the soft palate, the base of the tongue, and the palatine arches.
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I could find, indeed, but one vulnerable point, and that, lying in a personal peculiarity, arising, perhaps, from constitutional disease, would have been spared by any antagonist less at his wit’s end than...
Avoirdupois
The avoirdupois (IPA: /ˌævərdəˈpɔɪz/; French IPA: [avwaʀdypwɑ]) system is a system of weights (or, properly, mass) based on a pound of sixteen ounces. It is the everyday system of weight used in the United States.
Wikipedia
Gravity, avoirdupois
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Cataleptic
cat·a·lep·sy
n. pl. cat·a·lep·sies A condition characterized by lack of response to external stimuli and by muscular rigidity, so that the limbs remain in whatever position they are placed. It is known to occur in a variety of physical and psychological disorders, such as epilepsy and schizophrenia, and can be induced by hypnosis.
via The disease which had thus entombed the lady in the maturity...
Munificently
mu·nif·i·cent
adj.
1. Very liberal in giving; generous.2. Showing great generosity: a munificent gift
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Recall Henry James’s lamentation over his culminating New York Edition, with its considered revisions and invaluable prefaces: the mammoth work of a lifetime unheralded, unread, unsold. That all this came to be munificently reversed is of no moment: the denizens of Parnassus are deaf...
Ahasuerus
Ahasuerus (Hebrew: אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, Standard Aḥašveroš Tiberian ʾĂḥašwērôš, Latin:Xerxes, Persian: Khashayarsha, commonly transliterated Achashverosh) is a name used several times in the Hebrew Bible, as well as related legends and apocrypha.
Wiki article
Third among the harpooners was Daggoo, a gigantic, coal-black negro-savage, with a lion-like tread - an Ahasuerus to behold.
Moby Dick,...