GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Darb]

As with doing unto others ... do untoward as your would have your Ward do unto you.

/me pictures Bruce Wayne smacking Dick Grayson upside the head.

[laurie]

That is a very untoward image, Brad.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Thursday May 19, 2005

menagerie \muh-NAJ-uh-ree; -NAZH-\, noun: 1. A collection of wild or unusual animals, especially for exhibition. 2. An enclosure where wild or unusual animals are kept or exhibited. 3. A diverse or varied group.

No palace had such a fine menagerie, stocked with howler monkeys, hill mynahs and Moluccan cockatoos that eliminated any need for a wind-up Swiss alarm clock.
--Pogo, "Life of Pi," Reviewer's Bookwatch, October 2004

Once, when he was too ill even to visit the zoo, Gerald was provided with a sort of substitute zoo of his own by the family butler, Jomen, who modelled a whole menagerie of animals -- rhinoceros, lion, tiger, antelope -- out of red laterite clay from the garden.
--Douglas Botting, Gerald Durrell: The Authorized Biography

They must have been an amiable lot, however, for she was so obviously unprepared for the veritable menagerie of cabin passengers on the return voyage to New York.
--Joan Druett, Hen Frigates

Leaner organizations may not have the infrastructure or a menagerie of specialists, but they are able to offer greater personal attention, accountability and economy.
--Marc Diener, "Seeking counsel: how to find Mr. or Mrs. Right, Esq," Entrepreneur, January 2003

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Menagerie comes from French ménagerie, from Middle French, from menage, from Old French mesnage, "dwelling."


The ménage were a menagerie of mangy managers who loved to manege.

[laurie]

The ménage were a menagerie of mangy managers who loved to manege.

Tut, tut, Ghostie - should be manage.

Ghost

[Ghost]

The ménage were a menagerie of mangy managers who loved to manege.

Tut, tut, Ghostie - should be manage.

Ghost

No I meant:

manège also manege n.

The art of training and riding horses.
The movements and paces of a trained horse.
A school at which equestrianship is taught and horses are trained.

[laurie]

Ok - my bad. I've never seen it without the accent mark over the "e".

(and yes, I do know the word. My college roomie competed in dressage - still does, in fact.)

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Friday May 20, 2005

presage \PRES-ij\, noun: 1. An indication or warning of a future event; an omen. 2. A feeling or intuition of what the future holds.
3. Prophetic significance. 4. [Archaic] A prediction; a prognostication.

\PRES-ij; prih-SAYJ\ transitive verb: 1. To indicate or warn of beforehand; to foreshadow. 2. To have a presentiment of.
3. To predict; to foretell.

\PRES-ij; prih-SAYJ\ intransitive verb: To make or utter a prediction.

Although the enlightenment and liberation which had been expected to come after the war had not come with victory, a presage of freedom was in the air throughout these post-war years, and it was their only historical meaning.
--Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago

Never before, perhaps, in the history of the world, was an hour so fateful, so full of presage, as the present. Big with starting possibilities, unfolding vistas of unimagined boldness and beauty, it speaks with a very trumpet-call of eternally recreative energy to us "upon whom the ends of the world are come."
--Clara M. Codd, Looking Forward

"It [the comet] had been there for some time," said Todd, "and for the Sherpas it presaged things not going terribly well." A superstition, yes, thought Todd, but a matter of serious concern, because the people who knew the mountain best said it mattered.
--Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt, The Climb

Earlier in the day a supply teacher I had never seen before sat down a few chairs away with the happy ostentatious sigh that invariably presages an invasion of privacy.
--Michael Foley, Getting Used to Not Being Remarkable

Warhol, a wigged-out psychic, had presaged the whole thing.
--Phoebe Hoban, Basquiat

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Presage is derived from Latin praesagium, "presentiment," from praesagus "having a presentiment," from prae-, "before" + sagus, "prophetic."

[Darb]

The savory aroma of sage presaged the arrival of the Thanksgiving Turkey.

To happily split the wishbone afterwards, along with a post-degustatory infinitive, was the ultimate goal of the forthcoming feast.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Monday May 23, 2005

pallor \PAL-urh\, noun: Unusual or extreme paleness.

Across the table, Joseph appeared pale, as if he never spent enough time out-of-doors on golf courses, in ballparks, or on fishing boats. He had earned this bureaucrat's pallor honestly, behind his desk, under fluorescent light, in candlelit church ceremonials.
--Eugene Kennedy, My Brother Joseph

Although we had known each other for a couple of years, I don't think that I had ever seen you by daylight before, so I was surprised by the pallor of your skin.
--David Bourdon, "A Letter to Charlotte Moorman," Art in America, June 2000

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Pallor is from Latin, from pallere, "to be pale."

[felonius]

Having spent the better part of two years spinning music in the wee hours at the club, Josh was determined to spend some quality time in the sun during the upcoming summer in order to offset his less-than-beautific graveyard pallor.

He wasn't quite as bad as red-haired Scotsmen from the Highlands - the ones who go to the beach not so much to get a tan as to neutralize the blue - but he knew he was probably running a close second.

Those were the days...

[Darb]

{Brad picked his way across the hot sand, umbrella, towel, and cooler in hand. Staking out a spot at last, he plunked down on his towel, popped a bottle of Stella Artois, and took in the palloramic view ... of the sand, sea, and tightly packed pallid and prone persons, well oiled and already anticipating their first good sunburn of the season, like so much bacon anticipating a good morning Scottish fryup.}

Take that, Felon.

[laurie]

I kind of like my Irish pallor. It beats skin cancer any day.

[Darb]

I thought for sure you were gonna *wham* me for that 'palloramic' neologism.

[laurie]

Not in the *wham* mood at the moment.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Tuesday May 24, 2005

suffuse \suh-FYOOZ\, transitive verb: To spread through or over in the manner of fluid or light; to flush.

She gave me a long slow look, as if she were deciding something, and then she allowed herself to blush, the color suffusing her throat in a delicious mottle of pink and white.
--T. Coraghessan Boyle, T. C. Boyle Stories

Have you ever felt happiness suffuse all the cells in your body and a smile light up your face?
--Sarabjit Singh, "Queen of the Hills," India Currents, November 30, 1996

Like an angel or an earthquake, it isn't there and then it is; it doesn't steal over us and suffuse us with a festive spirit like the gradual effects of alcohol or good deeds.
--Barbara Peters Smith, "Gladness descends on her home," Sarasota Herald Tribune, December 27, 2003

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Suffuse comes from the past participle of Latin suffundere, "to overspread; to suffuse," from sub-, "under" + fundere, "to pour."

[felonius]

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes?"

"Could you tell me how far I am from Portland Street?"

"You should say 'Suffuse me.'"

"Excuse me?"

"No - don't say 'Excuse me.' Say 'Suffuse me with knowledge, thou potentially-knowledgeable street patron.'"

"Uhh - right. Thanks anyway."

"This city needs a fresh infusion of Suffusion-Sayers! There're a dying breed, I tell you! Suffuse! Reuse! Recycle!!"

[Ghost]

"Excuse me, sir?"

You're suffused.

[Darb]

Suffused = Neologistic concatenation of "Suffering" + "Confused"

[laurie]

Suffused = Neologistic concatenation of "Suffering" + "Confused"

"Mommy, Brad stole my joke !"


I actually had a door sign in college that said:

The inhabitant of this room is suffused* with knowledge.

* suffering + confused

[Aunflin]

Very suffusing!

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Wednesday May 25, 2005

artifice \AR-tuh-fis\, noun: 1. Cleverness or skill; ingenuity; inventiveness. 2. An ingenious or artful device or expedient. 3. An artful trick or stratagem. 4. Trickery; craftiness; insincere or deceptive behavior.

Built by design and artifice, it fell apart in confusion and chaos.
--John Gray, False Dawn

This theatricality is necessary to signal Prospero's farewell to magic, and indeed the play debates that very contrast between artifice and reality, illusion and truth.
--Amy Rosenthal, "An insubstantial pageant," New Statesman, February 3, 2003

The smoke had cleared enough for him to see bayonets flash in the distance, behind the wall, what looked like thousands of them, the wall itself appearing to rise out of the smoke as if produced by the artifice of some magician.
--Kathleen Cambor, In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden

The intuitive connection children feel with animals can be a tremendous source of joy. The unconditional love received from pets, and the lack of artifice in the relationship, contrast sharply with the much trickier dealings with members of their own species.
--Frans De Waal, The Ape and the Sushi Master

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Artifice comes from artificium, from artifex, artific-, "artificer, craftsman," from Latin ars, art-, "art" + facere, "to make." It is related to artificial.

[Darb]

Since the cornice was badly damaged, the curator of the museum hung the priceless painting from the artifice instead.

(yes, I know ... deliberate misuse for the sake of a cheap pun. Sue me.)

[laurie]

artifice \AR-tuh-fis\, noun: 1. Cleverness or skill; ingenuity; inventiveness. 2. An ingenious or artful device or expedient. 3. An artful trick or stratagem. 4. Trickery; craftiness; insincere or deceptive behavior.

Laurie =====> definition # 1

Brad ======> definition # 4

[Kvetch]

This reminds me of the anecdote whereby the relevent king (my memory fails) described Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral as "awful, artificial and conceited" - meaning of course that it was awe-inspiring, full of artifice and extravagant. - exactly what he ordered.

St Paul's was built a mere three hundred years ago - how fast does language change!

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Thursday May 26, 2005

saturnine \SAT-uhr-nyn\, adjective: 1. Born under or being under the astrological influence of the planet Saturn. 2. Gloomy or sullen in disposition. 3. Having a sardonic or bitter aspect.

His saturnine spirit appealed to younger bohemians who were anxious to make idols of an earlier generation's tormented souls, but even so, it cannot have been easy for Rothko always to be the pessimist among the optimists.
--Jed Perl, review of Mark Rothko: A Biography, by James E.B. Breslin, New Republic, January 24, 1994

A saturnine prison guard sits and broods -- and every now and then, gets up and shoots an unseen prisoner.
--John Walsh, review of The Silence Between Two Thoughts, Independent, June 11, 2004

Several others . . . echo his saturnine disposition, a gnawing sense that life itself -- certainly his own -- was a disaster waiting to happen.
--Haim Chertok, "Benjamin: A powerhouse failure," Jerusalem Post, October 1, 1999

This captures perfectly the tone of his writing: saturnine, droll, with a fascinating, deliberate bureaucratic dowdiness.
--Andrew Martin, "Class conscious," New Statesman, November 13, 2000

Ivgi, with his striking stage presence, opts for sour, saturnine irony instead of the mawkish modesty that usually colors the role.
--Naomi Doudai "Drought, what drought? It's still raining on-stage," Jerusalem Post, January 2, 1996

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Saturnine comes from Saturn, in Medieval times believed to be the most remote planet from the Sun and thus coldest and slowest in its revolution.