GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

stentor

noun
1 literary a person with a powerful voice.
2 Zoologya sedentary trumpet-shaped single-celled animal that is widespread in fresh water.
Genus Stentor, phylum Ciliophora, kingdom Protista

Origin:
early 17th century: from Greek Stentōr, the name of a herald in the Trojan War


PROYECTO AGUA on Flickr

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Years of classroom experience as a teacher helped me develop a definite stentorian delivery. My wife often says, "Shh! You're using your teacher voice." [What's the "literary" limitation? Don't most politicians seek a stentorian delivery?]


Doesn't this picture look a lot like the one above?


Westside Shooter on Flickr

[Algot Runeman]

brioche

noun
a light sweet yeast bread typically in the form of a small round roll.

Origin:
French, from Norman French brier, synonym of broyer, literally 'split up into very small pieces by pressure'
Spelling help

Spell brioche with - che at the end; it is a French word.


"clairity" on Flickr

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Bobby bounced beautifully on his mother's knee, gnawing gently on a buttery brioche.
It was long after that when he started gulping cans of beer and stuffing pepperoni pizza in in greasy maw.

[voralfred]

For once, I'll be prevenient in using the WOTD in a sentence....

[Algot Runeman]

Then I guess I'll provide a preliminary notice to congratulate you on your precedence, voralfred.

[Algot Runeman]

skitter

verb
[no object]
1 move lightly and quickly or hurriedly: the girls skittered up the stairs figurative her mind skittered back to that day at the office
2 [with object] draw (bait) jerkily across the surface of the water as a technique in fishing.

Origin:
mid 19th century: apparently a frequentative of skite 'move rapidly', perhaps of Norse origin


LostTulsa on Flickr

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Spiders cross their webs so fast it is difficult to see them skitter, stepping lightly, only on the non-sticky parts of the web.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

skitter
...
Spiders cross their webs so fast it is difficult to see them skitter, stepping lightly, only on the non-sticky parts of the web.

Nubile girls may try, in blissful innocence, to skitter across the web, but the spider will inexorably catch them when they're trapped on the sticky strands.

My grandma managed to reverse the roles though. It was grandpa who was dazzled and got caught in his own web, unable to skitter away.

Not that he minded or complained about it, he was happily mesmerized for life ...

[Algot Runeman]

lucifugous

adjective
chiefly Zoology
shunning the light.

Origin:
mid 17th century: from Latin lucifugus (from lux, luc- 'light' + fugere 'to fly') + -ous


Usonian on Flickr

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Okay, the image is not a serious look at vampires, the most famous and overdone lucifugous creatures of our times. I couldn't bring myself to put in a plug for any current "literary" exploration of the topic.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

lucifugous
...
I couldn't bring myself to put in a plug for any current "literary" exploration of the topic.

I can.

When my grandpa took grandma to Paris, France, for what he described as an umpteenth romantic honeymoon, they also visited the Crazy Horse to watch the cabaret show.

They had the good fortune to see the Crazy Horse's highly praised star performer, Lucy Fugous. Aka Lucy la Buff by her regular fans. Born in Argentina her official name was Lucia Fuego de Tierra y Ushuaia.

After Lucy's act, grandma whispered in grandpa's ear, 'You know darling, I can't put on as good a show as Miss Fugous, but in my case you're allowed to watch AND touch."

[Algot Runeman]

But, E.P.S., were any of the members of your excellent tale a vampire, the girlfriend of a vampire or even the cousin of a vampire?

Fangs for your response, anyway.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... a vampire, the girlfriend of a vampire or even the cousin of a vampire?

For a few weeks, my grandpa took over for a sick friend as soccer umpire.
Does that count?

[Algot Runeman]

Yes. Umpires are good. Referees are reasonable, too.

[Algot Runeman]

doula

noun
a woman who is trained to assist another woman during childbirth and who may provide support to the family after the baby is born.

Origin:
1960s: modern Greek, from Greek doulē 'female slave'


Ann Douglas on Flickr

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Dawnice was their doula. Marcy was their au pair. Louise came in to clean once a week. Carla was the visiting nurse.
Ben and Nancy were very tired. Keeping up with the paperwork for all these domestic assistants took so much time, that their baby reached the age of 18 before Nancy's postpartum transition ended.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

doula

Doula?

That reminds me of Motown female performers singing elaborate background lyrics in close harmony.

♫ Doula -- doula, doula, ♫
♫ Doula -- doula. ♫


♫ Doulaaaah. ♫

[voralfred]

On LMB's Barrayar (and, possibly, in old Russia, too) before the Doula could come take care of the baby, the Baba had to come to arrange the marriage. A baby prevenient to the Baba was considered babad manners...

incidentally, it seems that I did not realize prevenient wad the WOTD three days before I used it.. I was at the bottom of the wrong page...

[Algot Runeman]

voralfred,
I wonder how long the "bottom of the page" description will be around. We watch commercials these days in which guys like Lance Armstrong pinch the sky in front of them to change the terrain for the bike ride. Will "page" mean the same thing to our great grandchildren as it does today, especially If holography takes off?

[Algot Runeman]

ruderal

botany
adjective
(of a plant) growing on waste ground or among rubbish.

noun
a plant growing on waste ground or among rubbish.

Origin:
mid 19th century: from modern Latin ruderalis, from Latin rudera, plural of rudus 'rubble'


Giles San Martin on Flickr

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"Waste ground" sounds like a human judgement, ground we no longer care about. Nature is very patient, though. When the steady tramp of feet, carts, cars, trucks has moved on, seeds settle, rain falls. Ruderal plants, which would be called weeds by most, crack open the soil, defy the burning sun and grow, and grow, and grow.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

ruderal

I went looking for the Dutch translation of ruderal.

My English - Dutch dictionary gave me ruderaal.
Google Translate did no better with ruderale.
A bit rude, don't you think?

May I assume that feral is to animals what ruderal is to plants?

[Algot Runeman]

May I assume that feral is to animals what ruderal is to plants?

I think feral represents more the return to the wild of domesticated animals: feral cats, dogs, pigs, etc.
Ruderal plants are not necessarily garden escapes, which would be the plant equivalent for feral pets. There are, however, many garden escapes which have become significant as infestations, flourishing at the expense of less aggressive native plants. They might be successful in poor soil, etc.

[Algot Runeman]

exhilarate

verb
make (someone) feel very happy, animated, or elated: the children were exhilarated by a sense of purpose (as adjective exhilarated) all this hustle and bustle makes me feel exhilarated

Origin:
mid 16th century: from Latin exhilarat- 'made cheerful', from the verb exhilarare, from ex- (expressing inducement of a state) + hilaris 'cheerful'
Spelling help

Remember that exhilarate and the related word exhilaration have an h after the x.


Dennis Dore on Flickr

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Though my own surfing has been limited to the more mundane "body surf" form, I can attest that it is exhilarating.
Now, bungie jumping...I don't think so.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

exhilarate
verb
make (someone) feel very happy, animated, or elated ... all this hustle and bustle makes me feel exhilarated
...

Exhilaration is something my grandpa knew all about, experiencing it very often.

When she was feeling amorous, my grandma modelled a fur coat, boa or muff for him. Grandpa was titillated of course, but the moment she took off the fur was when he felt delightfully exhilarated.

[Algot Runeman]

punt

Definition 1

noun
a long, narrow, flat-bottomed boat, square at both ends and propelled with a long pole , used on inland waters chiefly for recreation.

verb
travel or convey in a punt.

Origin:
Old English, from Latin ponto, denoting a flat-bottomed ferryboat; readopted in the early 16th century from Middle Low German punte or Middle Dutch ponte 'ferryboat', of the same origin


Anthony Dodd on Fotopedia

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Clevus sat in his square ended fishing boat, line dangling in the water. He wasn't going to catch anything this Sunday morning. His mind wasn't on it...fishing. He was gazing at the shore where the pickup was waiting. Today needed to pass quickly. Fishing was one way to use up the time. By 5:00 this afternoon, he would be in his seat in the stadium roaring cheers down with the rest of the crowd. His beloved Saints were in the Super Bowl.

For now, though, he sat in his punt. He didn't call it that, of course. That was what his English buddy, Clive, called the boat when he joined Clevus for fishing. Clive was a former NFL kicker, a punter to be exact, and it always made the two of them laugh to think of the distinct meanings for that word between an Englishman and a Yank.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

punt
...
For now, though, he sat in his punt. He didn't call it that, of course. That was what his English buddy, Clive, called the boat when he joined Clevus for fishing. Clive was a former NFL kicker, a punter to be exact, and it always made the two of them laugh to think of the distinct meanings for that word between an Englishman and a Yank.

If Darb were to join these two on a fishing jaunt, I'm sure he would spout puns galore. Would that make him a punting punster or a punning punter?

P.S.
In Dutch a ferryboat crossing a river is still called a veerpont (ferrypunt).

[Algot Runeman]

Do the Dutch call a ferryboat "veerpont" because it veers back and forth while crossing the channel?

[MidasKnight]

That's an incomplete definition unless I didn't read it thoroughly.

[Algot Runeman]

You are correct. First prize, MidasKnight. The WotD, as listed, was only the first of several definitions. That's the way it came. I'm not sure why.