GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

disgruntle

/dɪsˈɡrʌnt(ə)l/
verb
[with object]
Make (someone) angry or dissatisfied.

Origin
Mid 17th century from dis- (as an intensifier) + dialect gruntle ‘utter little grunts’, from grunt.

=====-=====

The selection of dinners was designed to disgruntle at least one restaurant patron every day.

[Algot Runeman]

debris

/ˈdɛbriː/ /ˈdeɪbriː/
noun
mass noun
1 Scattered pieces of rubbish or remains.
1.1 Loose natural material consisting especially of broken pieces of rock.

Origin
Early 18th century from French débris, from obsolete débriser ‘break down’.

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Don donated the spring's landscaping debris to the town's composting center. He also benefited from the mature compost, of course.

[Algot Runeman]

lampoon

/lamˈpuːn/
verb
[with object]
Publicly criticize (someone or something) by using ridicule, irony, or sarcasm.
noun
A speech or text lampooning someone or something.

Origin
Mid 17th century from French lampon, said to be from lampons ‘let us drink’ (used as a refrain), from lamper ‘gulp down’, nasalized form of laper ‘to lap (liquid)’.

=====---=====

And now, a lampoon?
No, it's way too soon.
We'll wait until noon
On some day in June.
And then we will croon
'Bout some loony goon.

[Algot Runeman]

cakehole

/ˈkeɪkhəʊl/
noun
informal British
A person's mouth.

=====----=====

"Shut your pie hole!" hollered Harry.
Lord Hampstead countered, somewhat more stiffly, "It's cakehole, don't you know!"
The argument abated as they each tucked in to their favorite desserts.

[Algot Runeman]

toki pona

noun
Toki Pona is a philosophical artistic constructed language known for its small vocabulary. It was created by Canadian linguist and translator Sonja Lang for the purpose of simplifying thoughts and communication.

=====
Toki pona I don’t know.
To learn new talk can sure be slow.
But should it sometime happen
I’m sure I’ll let you know.


The motto on the "back" of the coin is written in toki pona: "kulupu ni li jo ala e jan lawa. - This community has no king."

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

toki pona

Makes one wonder what "poki tona" means?

[Algot Runeman]

transistor

/tranˈzɪstə/ /trɑːnˈzɪstə/ /tranˈsɪstə/
noun
1 A semiconductor device with three connections, capable of amplification in addition to rectification.
1.1 A portable radio using circuits containing transistors rather than valves.

Origin
1940s from transconductance, on the pattern of words such as varistor.

=====------=====

Transistors were a major breakthrough in electronics. They replaced vacuum tubes which needed high voltages and gave off a LOT of heat. They also were much smaller so that portable electronics could go into a pocket instead of having to sit on a table or even being built into huge furniture cabinets.

[Algot Runeman]

tawdry

/ˈtɔːdri/
adjective - tawdrier, tawdriest
1 Showy but cheap and of poor quality.
1.1 Sordid or unpleasant.
noun
mass noun - archaic
Cheap and gaudy finery.

Origin
Early 17th century short for tawdry lace, a fine silk lace or ribbon worn as a necklace in the 16th–17th centuries, contraction of St Audrey's lace Audrey was a later form of Etheldrida (died 679), patron saint of Ely where tawdry laces, along with cheap imitations and other cheap finery, were traditionally sold at a fair.

=====------=====

His costume was a tawdry one-off, intended for but a single use. He didn't care that it was falling apart by the end of his performance.

[Algot Runeman]

vexed

/ˈvɛkst/
adjective
1 attributive (of a problem or issue) difficult and much debated; problematic.
2 Annoyed, frustrated, or worried.

=====-=====

We seem to be routinely vexed
As if we were all actually hexed,
And, to be fair and all, it's true,
We do not know what's coming next.

[Algot Runeman]

biffo

/ˈbɪfəʊ/
noun
mass noun - informal Australian
Physical or verbal conflict.

=====--=====

Hey-ho,
Don't you know
A bad place for a biffo
Is on the edge of a cliff...oh!

[Algot Runeman]

leadership

/ˈliːdəʃɪp/
noun
mass noun
1 The action of leading a group of people or an organization.
1.1 The state or position of being a leader.
1.2 treated as singular or plural The leaders of an organization, country, etc.

=====---=====

Leadership

To be a chief,
Not just a thief
Requires a heart
Yes, that's a start.
Don't keep for oneself
The stock on the shelf.
Not to be greedy
Help all the needy.
See others in grief,
Plan out relief.



"kulupu ni li jo ala e jan lawa"
"This community has no king."

[Algot Runeman]

tokunbo

/tə(ʊ)ˈkʊmbəʊ/
adjective
Nigerian
Denoting an imported second-hand product, especially a car.

Origin
Yoruba.

=====----=====

Bob had never purchased or provided tokunbo to anyone. New, was, for him, the way to go.

[Algot Runeman]

largish

/ˈlɑːdʒɪʃ/
adjective
Fairly large.

=====-----=====

There are things we might wish
Were notably largish.
Say, one we can flash
Like a thick wad of cash.

[Algot Runeman]

illegible

/ɪˈlɛdʒɪb(ə)l/
adjective
Not clear enough to be read.

=====------=====

Sometimes what gets written in haste is illegible. Occasionally, it may also be unprintable!

[Algot Runeman]

goober

/ˈɡuːbə/
noun
1(also goober pea)
North American informal A peanut.
2 North American informal A foolish person.
2.1 dated - A person from the south-eastern US, especially Georgia or Arkansas.

Origin
Late 19th century from an earlier sense ‘peanut’, from Kikongo nguba.

=====-------=====

A goober is a nut,
Staying inside his hut.
Eating peanuts in their glut
And it seems he's in a rut.

[voralfred]

For me, words as goober or biffo are certainly not in the tokunbo category : I never heard them in my life !

They might as well be toki pona for all I know.

I am disgruntled, even vexed, by my blatant igonrance.

I grovel: please do not lampoon me for it !

[Algot Runeman]

I grovel: please do not lampoon me for it !

Never!
Niemals!
Nunca!
Jamais!

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

I grovel: please do not lampoon me for it !

Never!
Niemals!
Nunca!
Jamais!

You forgot "Nooit!" ...

(But you did it on purpose, to draw me out. Didn't you?)

[Algot Runeman]

governor

/ˈɡʌv(ə)nə/
noun
1 An official appointed to govern a town or region.
1.1 The elected executive head of a state of the US.
1.2 The representative of the British Crown in a colony or in a Commonwealth state that regards the monarch as head of state.
2 The head of a public institution.
2.1 A member of a governing body.
3 British informal The person in authority; one's employer.
4 A device automatically regulating the supply of fuel, steam, or water to a machine, ensuring uniform motion or limiting speed.

Origin
Middle English from Old French governeour, from Latin gubernator, from gubernare (see govern).

=====-=====

In the US, federal guidelines provide only counsel to each state governor who must interpret and implement them as they see fit. Paying for that implementation is yet another thing.

[Algot Runeman]

You forgot "Nooit!"

My off-the-top-of-the-head language skills are limited. AND it is always intended to draw you out.

Ich würde "nooit" nie vergessen! niemals (German, I'm pretty sure.)

Dutch? - Ik zou "nooit" nooit vergeten!

As to a particular Flemish idiom, I'd have no clue.

It must really be fascinating to live in an officially multi-lingual country like Belgium. In your career, I would suppose you had patients who spoke each of the "official" tongues. (Though of course, as you were working, you must have preferred that they kept their tongues still!)

English isn't specifically mentioned in the Belgian Languages Wikipedia article, but I surmise that it has become a fairly consistent alternate there and across the world with the availability of so many English language websites, not to mention movies, etc.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

...
Dutch? - Ik zou "nooit" nooit vergeten!
As to a particular Flemish idiom, I'd have no clue.
...

Zeg nooit 'nooit meer!'
Never say 'never again!'

Remember Sean Connery in "Thunderball" (1965) and its remake "Never Say Never Again" (1983)?
The expression became Flemish idiom after the second movie, and, for a short time as well, "My name ish Bond, Jamesh Bond", with a slight lisp.

[Algot Runeman]

flaunt

/flɔːnt/
verb
[with object]
1 Display (something) ostentatiously, especially in order to provoke envy or admiration or to show defiance.
1.1 flaunt oneself - Dress or behave in a sexually provocative way.

Origin
Mid 16th century of unknown origin.

=====--=====

Felicity shamelessly flaunted
What she sensed that others wanted.
Though her rivals did feel haunted
By harsh fears they'd be unwanted.

[Algot Runeman]

perfect

/ˈpəːfɪkt/
adjective
1 Having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.
1.1 Free from any flaw or defect in condition or quality; faultless.
1.2 Precisely accurate; exact.
1.3 Highly suitable for someone or something; exactly right.
1.4 dated - Thoroughly trained in or conversant with.
2 attributive - Absolute; complete (used for emphasis)
3 Mathematics
(of a number) equal to the sum of its positive divisors, e.g. the number 6, whose divisors (1, 2, 3) also add up to 6.
4 Grammar - (of a tense) denoting a completed action or a state or habitual action which began in the past. The perfect tense is formed in English with have or has and the past participle, as in they have eaten and they have been eating (present perfect), they had eaten (past perfect), and they will have eaten (future perfect).
5 Botany - (of a flower) having both stamens and carpels present and functional.
5.1 Botany Denoting the stage or state of a fungus in which the sexually produced spores are formed.
5.2 Entomology (of an insect) fully adult and (typically) winged.
verb
[with object]
1 Make (something) completely free from faults or defects; make as good as possible.
1.1 archaic - Bring to completion; finish.
1.2 Complete (a printed sheet of paper) by printing the second side.
1.3 Law - Satisfy the necessary conditions or requirements for the transfer of (a gift, title, etc.)
noun
Grammar
the perfect
The perfect tense.

Origin
Middle English from Old French perfet, from Latin perfectus ‘completed’, from the verb perficere, from per- ‘through, completely’ + facere ‘do’.

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It was a perfect storm. Even though predicted to be merely a dusting or coating, every necessary weather condition came together along the New England coastline. It snowed for four days straight, dumping up to four feet in places.



[For the third day in a row for me, Lexico is showing the same word as word of the day, "guber". Alternates are in play, of course. I think I chose a perfect one today, even if it is possibly the longest combined definition I've been privileged to post.]

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

perfect
...
I think I chose a perfect one today, even if it is possibly the longest combined definition I've been privileged to post.]

I'm sure your spouse must have caught you swooning in perfect nirvana.

[Algot Runeman]

hypaethral

(also hypethral)
/hʌɪˈpiːθr(ə)l/ /hɪˈpiːθr(ə)l/
adjective
(of a classical building) having no roof.

Origin
Late 18th century via Latin from Greek hupaithros (from hupo ‘under’ + aithēr ‘air’) + -al.

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Hurricane Harry re-instituted a hypaethral style for buildings across the island.