GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by **Kvetch** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:04 pm

naif-er you mind about that?

Post by **laurie** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 8:08 pm

felonius wrote:And here I thought the Yanks didn't have any geography...

We had geography class - but most of us called it "la hora de siesta."

Post by **Ghost** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 8:05 am

Word of the Day for Friday June 17, 2005

altercation \awl-tuhr-KAY-shuhn\, noun: A heated, noisy, or angry dispute; noisy controversy or argument.

Like Epaminondas, he fought continuously with his fellow generals and was nearly court-martialed for his altercations with his superiors -- like Epaminondas he was relieved of command after his greatest victories.
--Victor Davis Hanson, The Soul Of Battle

He indulged in a heated altercation with his fellow-townsmen over some land which they thought theirs, though it was certainly his.
--Carl Van Doren, The American Novel

The professor had had a trifling altercation in the morning with that young gentleman, owing to a difference about the introduction of crackers in school-time.
--William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair

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Altercation comes from Latin altercatio, altercation-, from altercari, "to dispute (with another)," from alter, "other." The verb form is altercate.

Post by **Darb** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:50 pm

The Kaifeng police eventually arrived on the scene, and after pushing their way though the crowd of yammering bystanders, brought the altercation to a stop.

{translation}

FELONIUS: "I was just walking along, and that &@$% ancestorless vagabond brained me with her begging bowl !"

FAUX-NAIF WAIF: "Comrades, I am an officer in the People's Army Intelligence Service. That man is a Formosan agent, sent here to coordinate insurrection with members of Falun Gong, while posing as a English teacher on vacation. Arrest him !"

POLICEMAN#1: The fresh faced young officer turned to the foreigner. "Papers, please."

FELONIUS: "Here you go, comrade."

POLICEMAN#1: Looks over the identification papers, and grudgingly returns them, before turning to the Faux-Naif Waif next. "Papers, please."

FAUX-NAIF WAIF: Rummages around inside her tattered clothing, with a growing sense of anger and frustation. "I ... they're gone !!"

POLICEMAN#1: Turning to his fellow officers ... "Take her away !". Turning next to the foreigner ... "I'm very sorry about this, Sir. Have a nice day."

Felonius nodded politely and wandered off, with the Faux-Naif Waif's wallet, identity papers, and the contents of her begging bowl, safe and snug in his jacket pocket. After turning the corner, he pockets the cash, ditches the stolen papers in a pile of refuse, re-inserts the earphones to his IPod, and begins grooving to Sade's "Smooth Operator".

felonius · Post by **felonius** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:44 pm

I am not going to use any emoticons or any contractions. I am just going to tell you that I am laughing a lot right now.

Post by **laurie** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 7:38 pm

felonius wrote:I am not going to use any emoticons or any contractions. I am just going to tell you that I am laughing a lot right now.

Me too ...

Can't top THAT one, eh Mr. Smooth Operator?

Post by **Ghost** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 8:50 am

Word of the Day for Monday June 20, 2005

exigent \EK-suh-juhnt\, adjective: 1. Requiring immediate aid or action; pressing; critical. 2. Requiring much effort or expense; demanding; exacting.

Legislative sessions are long, constituents' demands are exigent, policy problems are increasingly complicated.
--Anthony King, "Running Scared," The Atlantic, January 1997

An exception to the warrant rule was established when exigent circumstances required officials to act immediately.
--Warren Richey, "Of merchant ships and crack-sellers' cars," Christian Science Monitor, May 20, 1999

It is true that the greatest modern novels ask more of us, and of themselves as well. But within their own less exigent terms, Roth's novels amount to an impressive achievement.
--Michael Andre Bernstein, "The vivid fabrications of a great elegist," The New Republic, May 7, 2001

The purpose of the book is "to confirm the poet in a lonely and exigent task, which is all the more necessary in these times".
--Patsy McGarry, "The mad monk of the mid-west," Irish Times, December 22, 2001

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Exigent is derived from the present participle of Latin exigere, "to demand."

Post by **Ghost** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:54 am

Word of the Day for Tuesday June 21, 2005

irascible \ih-RASS-uh-buhl\, adjective: Prone to anger; easily provoked to anger; hot-tempered.

The lawyer described his client as an irascible eighty-two-year-old eccentric who alternated between spinning fascinating tales about her past and cussing him out.
--Jack Olsen, Hastened to the Grave

His father was an irascible and boastful bully, a heavy drinker and a gambler.
--Robin Waterfield, Prophet: The Life and Times of Kahlil Gibran

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Irascible is from Latin irascibilis, "prone to anger," from ira, "anger," which is also the source of ire and irate.

Irascible describes Yosemite Sam or sounds like something he mumbles when he is acting irascibly.

Post by **laurie** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:33 pm

GHOST: Do you become irascible if no one comments on your WOTD?

Post by **Ghost** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 8:51 am

Word of the Day for Wednesday June 22, 2005

ineluctable \in-ih-LUCK-tuh-buhl\, adjective: Impossible to avoid or evade; inevitable.

. . . ineluctable as gravity.
--Marilynne Robinson, The Death of Adam

California's vision of itself as a car culture grew out of the impracticality of mass transit in reaching most of its scenic wonders, the innate restlessness of its inhabitants and the ineluctable attraction of an open road.
--"From the Land of Private Freeways Comes Car Culture Shock," New York Times, October 16, 1997

Linnaeus' classification scheme became popular not because it captured some ineluctable truth about nature. Rather, by the botanist's own admission, the system divided species based more on intuition than science, much as an art historian might group paintings into schools.
--"Cultivating a New Tree," Los Angeles Times, September 25, 1999

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Ineluctable is from Latin ineluctabilis, from in-, "not" + eluctari, "to struggle out of, to get free from," from ex-, e-, "out of" + luctari, "to struggle."

Post by **Darb** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 12:04 pm

The ever-irascible General slammed down the phone in disgust. His hand picked operative (code named "Faux-Naif") was in jail, and the spy she'd been assigned to follow had disappeared. It was her very ineluctability that had made her so attractive a choice for tailing the slippery Formosan agent, and now her failure and exigence grated on his nerves. If it weren't for her peerless talents in the boudoir, he would have already ordered her execution.

An excited aide suddenly burst into the room. "General ! The Formosan army, and the American fifth and seventh fleets, have launched pre-emptive strikes on our naval bases ! Radar shows inbound fighter planes, approaching our position."

General Tso's jaw hung open, like he'd been shot ... but after a brief surge of pure rage, his chickenhearted insticts kicked in, and he dove for cover under his highly polished rosewood desk.

felonius · Post by **felonius** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 1:03 pm

"Uh - hey Dad."

"Hello, son."

"Uh - whatcha doin'?"

"Do you recognize the item I am holding in my hands?"

"Uh - newspaper. So uh - what's happening in the world?"

"Cut to the chase, son. What do you want?"

"The car keys. Stu and Vance are playin' at the Roadhouse tonight and they might need an extra axe."

"An extra what?"

"An extra guitar, Dad. Told 'em I'd back 'em up. I can't let 'em down, they're counting on me."

"An exigent matter if ever there was one."

"Huh? No, there're plenty of exits - the place is up to fire code."

"Of course it is. I suppose it goes without saying that your friend Stu is still up to his irascible ways?"

"His voice isn't that raspy, Dad. People think it goes great with the band's hard chords. And he scores LOTS of chicks...uh, I mean, he..."

"I understand. No doubt they find his pseudo-angst-ridden vocals and quasi-rebellious-swagger an ineluctable force as he shrieks and prances in the throng."

"Uh - that's sarong, Dad. But he doesn't wear it that much when he goes on anymore - it kept falling off when he did his big full-arm power strums."

"Mmm. The logistics of a live performance can be quite complex."

"Yeah. Uh - so! How 'bout those keys, Dad?"

"On the table."

"Awwright! No probs, Dad! You ROCK! Wicked! 'Bye, then!"

"And son?"

"...yeah?"

"If the gas tank hasn't been re-filled by morning you'd do well to expect death by sarong-smothering."

Post by **laurie** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 7:45 pm

I see Felonius is now writing his memoir: Go East, Young Man (Before the Parents Find Out).

Post by **Darb** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 7:04 am

Laurie:

felonius · Post by **felonius** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 7:52 am

Wasn't autobiographical in the slightest, m'lady.

Post by **Darb** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 7:59 am

Mr. McBoo is late with today's WOTD.

Perhaps he's stuck in traffic, on the great ethereal ghostway.

Post by **Ghost** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 8:07 am

What traffic???

Word of the Day for Thursday June 23, 2005

voluble \VOL-yuh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Characterized by a ready flow of speech. 2. Easily rolling or turning; rotating. 3. (Botany) Having the power or habit of turning or twining.

Rostow was voluble, exuberant and full of good and sometimes foolish ideas.
--Kai Bird, The Color of Truth

Two glasses of wine made him voluble and three made him bellicose, sentimental and sometimes slurred.
--"How Nixon turned into Tricky Dicky," Daily Telegraph, March 9, 1999

He listened patiently and with quiet amusement to my enthusiasm. Indeed, this turned out to be our pattern: I, more ignorant but more voluble, would babble on, while he would offer an occasional objection or refinement.
--Phillip Lopate, Totally, Tenderly, Tragically

Her tongue, so voluble and kind,
It always runs before her mind.
--Matthew Prior, "Truth and Falsehood"

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Voluble derives from Latin volubilis, "revolving, rolling, fluent," from volvere, "to roll."

Post by **Darb** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 8:18 am

Professor Ipschwitz was always voluble when waxing technical about lubricants, esters, phenols and assorted volatile aromatics. As a biochemist, as well as a notorious kink, highly flavored edible body gels were his speciality ... and he was fully intent on getting rich off them before his 40th birthday.

felonius · Post by **felonius** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 9:15 am

One or two spontaneous and voluble anecdotes on ornithology notwithstanding, deep in his heart Herman knew nothing he had ever said had been even remotely interesting to anyone else.

Post by **Kvetch** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 9:26 am

if you wrote more than 5000 words in thread 2382 would it be a voluble volleyb'll?

(That might not work if you pronounce voluble as voll-ew-BEL as opposed to vol-EE-bl - and that isn't a very good symbolic representation of either of the pronunciations I'm afraid. Not that anyone should really care))

nzilla · Post by **nzilla** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 2:26 pm

laurie wrote:I see Felonius is now writing his memoir: Go East, Young Man (Before the Parents Find Out).

Say, that wouldn't happen to a reference to this book I just posted, would it?

Post by **laurie** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 9:59 pm

NZILLA: No, I hadn't seen your book when I posted, but it is quite similar to what I was thinking at the time.

Post by **Ghost** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 8:05 am

Word of the Day for Friday June 24, 2005

commination \kom-uh-NAY-shuhn\, noun: 1. A denunciation. 2. A threat of punishment.

Vishnevskaya's powerful story is full of ferocious, grandly operatic comminations of vicious authorities and toadying colleagues.
--Terry Teachout, review of Galina: A Russian Story, by Galina Vishnevskaya, National Review, March 22, 1985

At last the leaders of the Democratic Party have moved decisively, hauling out their ripest comminations and hurling them at -- no, not at George Bush.
--Alexander Cockburn, "No place in the Democratic Party," The Nation, March 31, 2003

An early copy had been seen by Anne Fine, our retiring Children's Laureate, and, as one of her final acts..., she issued a commination against it in the Guardian newspaper, buttressed by many spicy quotations.
--Brian Alderson, "Message in a bottle," Horn Book Magazine, September 1, 2003

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Commination is derived from Latin comminatio, commination-, from comminari, "to threaten," from com-, intensive prefix + minari, "to threaten."

Post by **laurie** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 7:42 pm

Joseph McCarthy issued many comminations against commie nations.

/me says to Sir Spook: "No, I was NOT around to hear those firsthand."

nzilla · Post by **nzilla** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 8:08 pm

laurie wrote: /me says to Sir Spook: "No, I was NOT around to hear those firsthand."

My dad was (like 10).