GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

precursor

/prɪˈkəːsə/
noun
1 A person or thing that comes before another of the same kind; a forerunner.
1.1 A substance from which another is formed, especially by metabolic reaction.

Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin praecursor, from praecurs- ‘preceded’, from praecurrere, from prae ‘beforehand’ + currere ‘to run’.

==========

I hope it will not come as a surprise that the precursor is the one who arrives first. In a race that person is called the "winner".

[Algot Runeman]

jogtrot

/ˈdʒɒɡtrɒt/
noun
A slow trot.

==========

After an initial slow advance, the troops broke into a jogtrot, spreading the ranks, just before the cry, "CHARGE!"

[Algot Runeman]

cordwainer

/ˈkɔːdweɪnə/
noun
archaic
A shoemaker (still used in the names of guilds)

Origin
Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French cordewaner, from Old French cordewan, ‘of Cordoba’ (see cordovan).

==========

Alec aspired to be a cordwainer. He settled for becoming a shoe designer and shoemaker so he could be, at least, contemporary, if not avant garde.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

cordwainer

One can wonder if Cordwainer Smith was a shoemaker before writing SF.

But the Wikipedia does not confirm it.

[Algot Runeman]

catastrophe

/kəˈtastrəfi/
noun
1 An event causing great and usually sudden damage or suffering; a disaster.
1.1 Something very unfortunate or unsuccessful.
2 The denouement of a drama, especially a classical tragedy.

Origin
Mid 16th century (in the sense ‘denouement’): from Latin catastropha, from Greek katastrophē ‘overturning, sudden turn’, from kata- ‘down’ + strophē ‘turning’ (from strephein ‘to turn’).

==========

A minor catastrophe struck my computer early yesterday, failure to boot. Two days of work with a new disk drive has mitigated the issue, but delayed this word.



[This word skirts the no-repeat rule. We used eucatastrophe before, but I'm under pressure here!]

[Algot Runeman]

neoteric

/ˌniːə(ʊ)ˈtɛrɪk/
adjective
formal
New or modern; recent.
noun
A modern person; a person who advocates new ideas.

Origin
Late 16th century: via late Latin from Greek neōterikos, from neōteros ‘newer’, comparative of neos.

==========

After a thorough and formal examination, it has been determined that today's word is neoteric...and is "neoteric"...ahem.

[voralfred]

cordwainer

One can wonder if Cordwainer Smith was a shoemaker before writing SF.

But the Wikipedia does not confirm it.

Possibly, his father, as well as many of his forefathers, worked with metal, and he hoped for his son an easier job, that he should work with leather instead ?

[voralfred]

neoteric

/ˌniːə(ʊ)ˈtɛrɪk/
adjective
formal
New or modern; recent.
noun
A modern person; a person who advocates new ideas.

Origin
Late 16th century: via late Latin from Greek neōterikos, from neōteros ‘newer’, comparative of neos.

==========

After a thorough and formal examination, it has been determined that today's word is neoteric...and is "neoteric"...ahem.

Does a word really have to be neoteric to deserve being the WOTD ? Even a very old word, like cordwainer, for instance, did deserve this honor, provided, of course it had not been used before.
The word zephyr to designate a west wind , is certainly a precursor of the word chinook (in its first acception), and both were perfectly valid WOTDs !

[Algot Runeman]

A clarification:

Over the years in this thread, it has been common to explore and expose archaic words first used centuries ago along with neologisms of very recent coinage.
Consistently, "new" and "old" are less important than the rule: "not used before" as a formal entry.

Using the word flexibly and frequently in an "irreverent" sort of way has been common.

As a result, it is common that the word chooser's sentences and silly rhymes frequently bend a word while sticking somewhat close to the dictionary definition. The use of "neoteric" might have been bent more than usual.



Apologies to all who prefer their words less mangled.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

neoteric

So could the name "Neo" in "The Matrix" trilogy be short for "Neoteric"?

[Algot Runeman]

cortina

/kɔːˈtiːnə//kɔːˈtʌɪnə/
noun
Botany
(in some toadstools) a thin weblike veil extending from the edge of the cap to the stalk.

Origin
Mid 19th century: from late Latin, literally ‘curtain’.

==========

Toadstool or mushroom,
Seen in the forest gloom
Often has as a little ring
Left by that cortina thing.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

cortina

I do like mushrooms, à l'escargot, à la Grecque, teppanyaki and in many other styles, even raw in a salad.

But I never had the opportunity to get a taste of the Ampezzo style, although when I was 11 or so, I visited there with my parents, unfortunately in high summer.

Spoiler: show

[Algot Runeman]

chunder

/ˈtʃʌndə/
verb
[no object]NZ, Australian
informal
Vomit.
noun
mass noun
NZ, Australian
informal
Vomit.

Origin
1950s: probably from rhyming slang Chunder Loo ‘spew’, from the name of a cartoon character Chunder Loo of Akim Foo, who appeared in advertisements for Cobra boot polish in the Sydney Bulletin in the early 20th century.

==========

After a bender on Saturday night, there is sometimes a bit of chunder to deal with.

[Algot Runeman]

cameleer

/ˌkaməˈlɪə/
noun
A person who controls or rides a camel.

==========

Sam strode steadily across the hard-packed sand, leading his camel. He was proud to be both a pedestrian and a cameleer.



[What was known as ODO in these posts https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/ now redirects to https://www.lexico.com/en with a new color scheme, but sourced from Oxford, apparently. I have hopes the quality of definitions will remain the same or improve. Stay tuned.]

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

cameleer

In the eventuality you collide with a cameleer and his charge, you might need a BED.

Spoiler: show

BED = British English Dictionary - https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/

Spoiler: show

[Algot Runeman]

bosky

/ˈbɒski/
adjective
literary
Covered by trees or bushes; wooded.

Origin
Late 16th century from Middle English bosk, variant of bush.

A swale is swell
If it's tended well,
But nature does its best,
Well beyond our behest
To block the sun to merely dapling
With bosky bits of shrub and sapling.

You might wish to grump and grouse
As you wander, aimless, through your house.
I'll attempt to reassure a bit
You'll need not have a literate fit.
I tried to avoid well known "bosky Dell"
And, of course, swell HP just as well.

[Algot Runeman]

Procedural Note:

Oxford University Press has entered into an agreement with Dictionary.com for the latter to take over operation of the definition site I've called ODO here.

So far as I can determine, changes to the service will be incremental and should not make any big impact on this daily fun we enjoy together.

ODO/Lexico FAQ

[voralfred]

bosky

/ˈbɒski/
adjective
literary
Covered by trees or bushes; wooded.

Origin
Late 16th century from Middle English bosk, variant of bush.

A swale is swell
If it's tended well,
But nature does its best,
Well beyond our behest
To block the sun to merely dapling
With bosky bits of shrub and sapling.

You might wish to grump and grouse
As you wander, aimless, through your house.
I'll attempt to reassure a bit
You'll need not have a literate fit.
I tried to avoid well known "bosky Dell"
And, of course, swell HP just as well.

I also visited Cortina d'Ampezzo some years ago but I did not eat mushroom there. It is quite a bosky place, where you hardly see any cameleers.

[Algot Runeman]

cranky

/ˈkraŋki/
adjective
crankier, crankiest
1 British informal Eccentric or strange.
2 North American Bad-tempered; irritable.
3 (of a machine) working erratically.

Origin
Late 18th century (in the sense ‘sickly, in poor health’): perhaps from obsolete (counterfeit) crank ‘a rogue feigning sickness’, from Dutch or German krank ‘sick’.

==========

Relax. There is no need to be cranky about it, You have a recent backup, right?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

cranky

As a safety net before the June Patch Tuesday (very early Wednesday for me), I had my computer crank out a system disk image.

Spoiler: show

[Algot Runeman]

EPS,

You've clearly decided the imaging is a pressing job!

[Algot Runeman]

cuddlesome

/ˈkʌdls(ə)m/
adjective
Endearing and pleasant to cuddle.

==========

It really helps when you see your significant other as cuddlesome.

[Algot Runeman]

telemarketer

/ˈtɛlɪmɑːkɪtɪŋ/
noun
mass noun
A person or company which markets of goods or services by means of telephone calls, typically unsolicited, to potential customers.

==========

In spite of low conversion rates, telemarketers continue to deluge potential customers with calls.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

telemarketer

In Belgium the Do-not-call-me.be site enforces restrictions on telemarketers. (sorry, only French, Dutch or German pages)

People only need a free registration of their phone number on the site. From then on, commercial calls and advertising to these phone numbers are forbidden and punishable by stiff fines.

[Algot Runeman]

prole

/prəʊl/ noun
informal, derogatory
A member of the working class.
adjective
informal, derogatory
Working class.

Origin
Late 19th century abbreviation of proletariat.

==========

Proles make my cellphone, my car, my fast-food lunch. They build my house and repair the pipes. I wear fine clothes which they make and I tell others what to do. I am high class, their better.