GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

majlis

/madʒˈlɪs/
noun
The parliament of various North African and Middle Eastern countries, especially Iran.

Origin
Arabic, literally ‘assembly’.
Pronunciation

-=-=-=-=-

The maglis meets to codify the direction set by the country's leader, pretty much like most parliaments.

[Algot Runeman]

insomnia

/ɪnˈsɒmnɪə/
noun
mass noun
Habitual sleeplessness; inability to sleep.

Origin
Early 17th century: from Latin, from insomnis ‘sleepless’, from in- (expressing negation) + somnus ‘sleep’.

-=-=-=-=-

Are zombies just people who suffer from really, really bad insomnia?

(R.I.P. George Romero)

[Algot Runeman]

arrabbiata

/ˌarəˈbjɑːtə/
adjective
Denoting a spicy pasta sauce made with tomatoes and chilli peppers.

Origin
Italian, literally ‘angry’, feminine past participle of arrabbiare ‘make angry’.

-=-=-=-=-

Pauline channelled her inner Paolina as she prepared to create her grandmother's famous arrabbiata sauce.

[Algot Runeman]

chlorella

/kləˈrɛlə/
noun
mass noun
Biology
A common single-celled green alga of both terrestrial and aquatic habitats, responsible for turning stagnant water an opaque green.

Origin
Modern Latin, diminutive of Greek khlōros ‘green’.

-=-=-=-=-

Chlorella is a food for many animals. Humans are experimenting with it, too.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

chlorella

Chlorella, Barbarella, Nigella, Valpolicella, ...

Nice ring to it.

[Algot Runeman]

obvs
(also obv)

/ɒvz/
adverb
informal
Obviously.

Origin
1980s: shortening of obviously.

-=-=-=-=-

It's obvs that Esq is short for Esquire, but it is equally obv I don't qualify to be a lawyer. Some called me Doc during my teaching career, though I was neither a med. doctor nor officially a Prof.

[Sorry to disappoint those of you who were expecting that this post would be an abbreviated one.]

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

obvs
(also obv)
...

It's quite obv he's had some Valpolicella, or Chianti or something inebriating.

Too much of it anyway.

[Algot Runeman]

obturate

/əbˈtjʊəreɪt/
verb
[WITH OBJECT]technical
Block up; obstruct.

Origin
Late 16th century (as obturation): from Latin obturat- ‘stopped up’, from the verb obturare.

-=-=-=-=-=-

In order to create a safer home, beaver obturate streams, making a dam and creating a pond to surround their lodge.

[Algot Runeman]

regalia

/rɪˈɡeɪlɪə/
plural noun
1 treated as singular or plural The emblems or insignia of royalty, especially the crown, sceptre, and other ornaments used at a coronation.
1.1 The distinctive clothing worn and ornaments carried at formal occasions as an indication of status.

Origin
Mid 16th century (in the sense ‘royal powers’): from medieval Latin, literally ‘royal privileges’, from Latin, neuter plural of regalis ‘regal’.

-=-=-=-

Ron resisted resorting to the regalia of recognition. He was the clear king of his free software project, but his humility was real and cemented his leadership. The project's sticker was only one of many which he displayed on his laptop.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

regalia

Some men think of their genitalia as their "crown jewels" or "regalia".

This is, on their part, at best an unfortunate misunderstanding, or at worst a shameless sham.

Don't be taken in.

[Algot Runeman]

Eiswein

/ˈʌɪsvʌɪn/
noun
mass noun
Wine made from ripe grapes picked while covered with frost.

Origin
From German, from Eis ‘ice’ + Wein ‘wine’.

-=-=-=-=-

Martin made Eiswein mainly because he delayed harvesting his grapes until after the frosts froze the vines.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Eiswein

That makes Glühwein almost but not quite the opposite to Eiswein.

Spoiler: show

[voralfred]

arrabbiata

/ˌarəˈbjɑːtə/
adjective
Denoting a spicy pasta sauce made with tomatoes and chilli peppers.

Origin
Italian, literally ‘angry’, feminine past participle of arrabbiare ‘make angry’.

-=-=-=-=-

Pauline channelled her inner Paolina as she prepared to create her grandmother's famous arrabbiata sauce.

Sorry for my late reaction.

I really don't understand why this sauce is called that name. It does not make me angry at all.
What would really make me arrabbiato would be to be served pasta without it !


Incidentally I really would congratulate Doc Algot for being so obdurate in putting regularly his WOTD considering it is mostly only a two-person game with EPS...

[Algot Runeman]

And yet, voralfred, you show up every once in a while to dabble in the fun. Just don't stick your finger into the arrabbiata once it has been served onto my plate.

[Algot Runeman]

agflation

/aɡˈfleɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
mass noun
Economics
Rising food prices caused by increased demand for agricultural commodities.

Origin
Early 21st century: blend of agriculture and inflation.

-=-=-=-=-

The combination of late spring frosts and a summer-long drought caused serious agflation across the country.

[Algot Runeman]

brassard

/ˈbrasɑːd/
noun
1 A band worn on the sleeve, typically with a uniform.
2 historical A piece of armour for the upper arm.

Origin
Late 16th century: from French, from bras ‘arm’.

-=-=-=-=-

Hugo happily wore the brassard from his regional marathon whenever he went for a jog.

[Algot Runeman]

metacarpus

/ˌmɛtəˈkɑːpəs/
noun
The group of five bones of the hand between the wrist (carpus) and the fingers.

Origin
Late Middle English: modern Latin, alteration of Greek metakarpion.

-=-=-=-=-

"I never metacarpus I didn't like." was John's line whenever he took someone's hand to shake it. Most people missed the pun.



[This post has been edited. The original illustration tunnelled the carpals instead of the metacarpal bones. Rushed work never pays!]

[Algot Runeman]

bland

/bland/
adjective
1 Lacking strong features or characteristics and therefore uninteresting.
1.1 (of food or drink) unseasoned, mild-tasting, or insipid.
1.2 Showing no strong emotion.

Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense ‘gentle in manner’): from Latin blandus ‘soft, smooth’.

-=-=-=-=-

Seeking an engaging and exciting word for today was fruitless. Bland will have to do. That means that the challenge is to be excited about it, I suppose. Ho, hum.

[Algot Runeman]

poset

/ˈpəʊsɛt/
noun
Mathematics
A set whose members exhibit partial ordering.

Origin
1940s. From the initial letters of partially ordered + set.

-=-=-=-=-

Bob counted, "one, two, three, four..." and his friend, Sandy, a math teacher, commented, "You are giving an example of a POSET, albeit one which is also a totally ordered set."

As you might also suspect, the conversation did not go much further since Bob has very limited skill in math. But Bob did later consult Wikipedia, hoping to be able to sound smarter than he is when he next saw Sandy. He found out that geneology charts are a good example with some, but not all, relationships being ancestral, hence, partially ordered.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

metacarpus

Besides the metacarpus there's also the metatarsus.

This is nothing metaphysical though, far from it.

[Algot Runeman]

cereology

/ˌsɪərɪˈɒlədʒɪ/
noun
mass noun
The study or investigation of crop circles.

Origin
1990s: from Ceres + -logy.

-=-=-=-=-

Bob was impressed when he saw the photos of the crop circles in a local field. He thought it was very mathematical cereology.

[Algot Runeman]

misfortune

/mɪsˈfɔːtʃuːn//mɪsˈfɔːtʃ(ə)n/
noun
mass noun
1 Bad luck.
1.1 count noun An unfortunate condition or event.

-=-=-=-

Arnie Arnold suffered a misfortune. He lost all his money in a stock crash. He missed his fortune.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

misfortune

Does Forbes annually designate a Miss Fortune?

[Algot Runeman]

Does Forbes annually designate a Miss Fortune?

They certainly should!

[Algot Runeman]

cloudscape

/ˈklaʊdskeɪp/
noun
A large cloud formation considered in terms of its visual effect.

Origin
Mid 19th century: from cloud, on the pattern of words such as landscape.

-=-=-=-=-

The treelines in New England usually make a cloudscape view difficult, but then, there's the view from the coastline.