GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Monday September 20, 2004

fatidic \fuh-TID-ik\, adjective:
Of, relating to, or characterized by prophecy; prophetic.

Throughout his very considerable body of work, there is an obsession with time, with dates, with temporal coincidences, with the fatidic power of numbers over our birth and death.
--James Kirkup, "Obituary: Ernst Junger," Independent, February 18, 1998

With a fatidic clarity that comes only occasionally and only to the young, she understood that . . . this too was a sign, an omen.
--Kathleen Cambor, In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden

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Fatidic comes from Latin fatidicus, from fati- (from fatum, "fate") + -dicus (from dicere, "to say").

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Tuesday September 21, 2004

tatterdemalion \tat-uhr-dih-MAYL-yuhn; -MAY-lee-uhn\, noun: A person dressed in tattered or ragged clothing; a ragamuffin.
adjective: Tattered; ragged.

Last time peasant blouses surfaced, in the 1960s and '70s, they were part of an epidemic of Indian bedspread dresses, homemade blue-jean skirts, Army surplus jackets, Greek bookbag purses and love beads, the whole eclectic tatterdemalion mix meant to express egalitarian sentiments and countercultural solidarity with underdogs everywhere.
--Patricia McLaughlin, "The peasant look," Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, April 25, 1999

I was expecting a wild hair, clanking jewelry, a tatterdemalion velvet cape from whose folds wafted the scent of incense, a house full of candles, dream catchers, cats, and bad art.
--David Rakoff, Fraud

To my ear, though, the prose has the tatterdemalion feel of something hooked together by commas, tacked together by periods.
--Brad Leithauser,"Capturer of Hearts," New York Times, April 7, 1996

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Tatterdemalion derives from tatter + -demalion, of unknown origin, though perhaps from Old French maillon, "long clothes, swadding clothes" or Italian maglia, "undershirt."

/or perhaps not.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Wednesday September 22, 2004

confabulation \kon-FAB-yuh-lay-shuhn\, noun:
1. Familiar talk; easy, unrestrained, unceremonious conversation.
2. (Psychology) A plausible but imagined memory that fills in gaps in what is remembered.

Their sentiments were reflected neither in the elegant exchanges between the Viceroy and Secretary of State, nor in the unlovely confabulations between the Congress and the League managers.
--Mushirul Hasan, "Partition: The Human Cost," History Today, September 1997

Sigmund Freud, a stubborn, bullying interrogator of hysterical women, harangued his patients into building fantasies and traumas that fit into his grand narrative scheme, eliciting confabulations rather than actual memories.
--Jennifer Howard, "Neurosis 1990s-Style," Civilization, April/May 1997

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Confabulation comes from Late Latin confabulatio, from the past participle of Latin confabulari, "to talk together," from con-, "together, with" + fabulari, "to talk." It is related to fable, "a fiction, a tale," and to fabulous, "so incredible or astonishing as to resemble or suggest a fable."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Thursday September 23, 2004
inkhorn \INK-horn\, adjective: Affectedly or ostentatiously learned; pedantic.
noun: A small bottle of horn or other material formerly used for holding ink.

. . . the widespread use of what were called (dismissively, by truly learned folk) "inkhorn terms."
--Simon Winchester, "Word Imperfect," The Atlantic Monthly, May 2001

In prison he wrote the De Consolatione Philosophiae, his most celebrated work and one of the most translated works in history; it was translated . . . by Elizabeth I into florid, inkhorn language.
--The Oxford Companion to English Literature, s.v. "Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus (c. 475 - 525)."

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Inkhorn derives from the name for the container formerly used (beginning in the 14th century) for holding ink, originally made from a real horn. Hence it came to refer to words that were being used by learned writers and scholars but which were unknown or rare in ordinary speech.

/it is always bad when you have to look up a word from the definition of another:

pe·dan·tic adj. Characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules: a pedantic attention to details.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Friday September 24, 2004
quash \KWOSH\, transitive verb:
1. (Law) To abate, annul, overthrow, or make void; as, "to quash an indictment."
2. To crush; to subdue; to suppress or extinguish summarily and completely; as, "to quash a rebellion."

The Shelby Globe attributed her death to acute heart failure and yellow jaundice and did its best to quash a curious town rumor that had her being poisoned by eating oyster sandwiches.
--Tim Page, Dawn Powell: A Biography

The German-French entente made NATO intervention to quash the Balkan civil wars possible, and the collapse of the Soviet Union made NATO's intervention deep into the former Soviet sphere of influence permissible.
--Thomas L. Friedman, "Was Kosovo World War III?" New York Times, July 2, 1999

[The law] . . . also installed newspaper censorship, enabling the government to quash anything "calculated to jeopardise the success of the operations of any of His Majesty's forces or to assist the enemy."
--Philip Hoare, Oscar Wilde's Last Stand

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Quash comes from Medieval French quasser, from Latin quassare, "to shake violently, to shatter," frequentative form of quatere, "to shake." Quash, "to annul," has been sense-influenced by Late Latin cassare, "to annul," from Latin cassus, "empty," whereas quash, "to crush," has been sense-influenced by squash.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Monday September 27, 2004
excursus \ik-SKUR-sus\, noun:
1. A dissertation that is appended to a work and that contains a more extended exposition of some important point or topic.
2. A digression.

And the eels not only have a role in the narrator's story . . . but receive a 12-page excursus on their genesis and (as it were) life style.
--William H. Pritchard, "The Body in the River Leem," New York Times, March 25, 1984

Sometimes, however, Mr. Honan's historical digressions wander far away from Jane Austen's concerns. An excursus on George III's insanity has precious little to do with "Pride and Prejudice," the subject nominally under discussion.
--Peter Conrad, "'Beside Her Joyce Seems Innocent as Grass,'" New York Times, February 28, 1988

Perhaps the most important objection to Mr. Hughes's method is that he views structural changes in both the Western and the Communist world systems chiefly through the filter of his rebels; sometimes I would have preferred an excursus on economic issues to one on intellectual history.
--Peter Schneider, "A New Breed at the Barricades," New York Times, January 8, 1989

Somewhat sprightlier than the long chapter on Stolypin is his 80-page historical excursus about Nicholas II, the last of Russia's hereditary autocrats.
--Irving Howe, "The Great War and Russian Memory," New York Times, July 2, 1989

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Excursus comes from the past participle of Latin excurrere, "to run out," from ex-, "out" + currere, "to run."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Tuesday September 28, 2004

credulous \KREJ-uh-lus\, adjective:
1. Ready or inclined to believe on slight or uncertain evidence.
2. Based on or proceeding from a disposition to believe too readily.

Credulous monarchs were easy game for the numerous charlatans and tricksters who toured the courts of Europe trying to dupe them into parting with real gold by means of little more than a promise that they would repay such investments thousandfold.
--Janet Gleeson, The Arcanum

To her critics, she was a madam and con artist who charged credulous clients . . . small fortunes to cast spells and bring about the deaths of rivals.
--Laurence Bergreen, Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life

And unless our educational system focuses more on teaching students how to think than on what to think, our populace will become increasingly credulous.
--Theodore Schick Jr., "The End of Science?" Skeptical Inquirer, March/April 1997

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Credulous derives from Latin credulus, "believing easily," from credere, "to believe."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Wednesday September 29, 2004

harangue \huh-RANG\, noun:
1. A speech addressed to a large public assembly.
2. A noisy or pompous speech; a rant.
Transitive verb: To deliver a harangue to; to address by a harangue.

Intransitive verb: To make a harangue; to declaim.

His emissaries, had attended the Priest's convocation of the people, and, without delaying to hear more than the main point of the harangue, hurried back with their intelligence to the rebel camp.
--Wilkie Collins, Iolani: Or, Tahiti as It Was

Wont to harangue the citizenry in public speeches with such lines as "Remember! My father gave you freedom!" Mrs. Gandhi did not take lightly to government officers with an independent turn of mind.
--Gita Mehta, Snakes and Ladders

Mostly, though, he functions as Exhibit A in the playwright's harangue against capitalist exploitation of the workingman.
--Matthew Gurewitsch, "A Country of Lesser Giants," New York Times, April 4, 1999

And Alexander Lebed, a Siberian governor and presidential hopeful, seemed to typify the punchy, touchy national mood when he lost control recently in front of television cameras and harangued a local businessman with bleeped-out expletives.
--Michael R. Gordon, "On Russia's Far-East Fringe, Unrealpolitik," New York Times, February 14, 1999

She was hardly anyone's idea of a good time, but at least she kept her hands to herself and showed him considerable amounts of affection, enough warmth of heart to counterbalance the periods when she nagged him and harangued him and got on his nerves.
--Paul Auster, Timbuktu

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Harangue derives from Medieval French arenge, from Old Italian aringa, from aringare, "to speak in public," from aringo, "a public place for horse racing and popular assemblies," ultimately of Germanic origin.

/what more can me say

[Kahrey]

There are some interesting and odd words....

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Thursday September 30, 2004

ignoble \ig-NOH-bul\, adjective:
1. Of low birth or family; not noble; not illustrious; plebeian; common; humble.
2. Not noble in quality, character, or purpose; characterized by baseness, lowness, or meanness.

Heroes are only human. Their noble deeds inspire, as they should. Their ignoble deeds make clear that even the greatest human is no god.
--Don Wyclif, "Dr. King's Moral Debit," New York Times, November 14, 1989

Although she returns to Ireland, Billy counts on her coming back to marry him, and when Dennis tells him she has died from pneumonia, he's shattered for life, drowning his romantic sorrow in alcohol and sliding passively toward a drunk's ignoble death.
--Celia McGee, "'Billy' captivates with quiet strength," USA Today, December 2, 1999

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Ignoble derives from Latin ignobilis, from in- "not" + nobilis (Old Latin gnobilis), "noble."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Friday October 1, 2004

enunciate \ee-NUN-see-ayt; ih-\, transitive verb:
1. To utter articulately; to pronounce.
2. To state or set forth precisely or systematically.
3. To announce; to proclaim; to declare.

intransitive verb: To utter words or syllables articulately.

And all agree that he was from his college days a wonderful speaker, one who enunciated clearly and crisply and never seemed to have to grope for a word.
--Louis Auchincloss, Woodrow Wilson

John Maynard Keynes, a famous economist and outstandingly successful investor, enunciated the theory most lucidly in 1936.
--Burton G. Malkiel, A Random Walk Down Wall Street

His concern about America's incipient drift out of manufacturing was widely challenged by many feel-good commentators, who proceeded to enunciate the now widely accepted doctrine that a shift to postindustrialism would boost U.S. income growth.
--Eamonn Fingleton, In Praise of Hard Industries

This is such an obvious, commonsensical truism that it seems almost foolish to enunciate it.
--Seymour Martin Lipset, American Exceptionalism

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Enunciate comes from Latin enuntiare, "to tell; to disclose; to declare; to pronounce clearly," from e- + nuntiare, "to announce," from nuntius, "a messenger."

[felonius]

What was that? I didn't quite catch it...

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Monday October 4, 2004

abulia, also aboulia \uh-BOO-lee-uh; uh-BYOO-\, noun:
Loss or impairment of the ability to act or to make decisions.

I was suffering from an aboulia, you know. I couldn't seem to make decisions.
--Anatole Broyard, "Reading and Writing; (Enter Pound and Eliot)," New York Times, May 30, 1982

There's little escape from her black hole of abulia.
--James Saynor, "Woman in the Midst of a Nervous Breakdown," New York Times, June 12, 1994

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Abulia derives from Greek a-, "without" + boule, "will." The adjective form is abulic.

/me doesn't know what to do next

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Tuesday October 5, 2004

didactic \dy-DAK-tik; duh-\, adjective:
1. Fitted or intended to teach; conveying instruction; instructive; teaching some moral lesson; as, "didactic essays."
2. Inclined to teach or moralize excessively; moralistic.

The show trial may be defined as a public theatrical performance in the form of a trial, didactic in purpose, intended not to establish the guilt of the accused but rather to demonstrate the heinousness of the person's crimes.
--Sheila Fitzpatrick, Everyday Stalinism

In class, embarrassed girlish laughter joined the "hee-haws" of our male classmates when centerfolds appeared in the middle of medical lectures, ostensibly to add a wake-up jolt to otherwise uninspired didactic presentations.
--Frances K. Conley, M.D., Walking Out on the Boys

While Cooper offers a nice message about the demands of friendship and the need to share and be flexible, her writing is not the least bit didactic or dogmatic.
--Stephen Del Vecchio, review of Pumpkin Soup, by Helen Cooper, Teacher Magazine, May 2000

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Didactic comes from Greek didaktikos, "skillful in teaching," from didaktos, "taught," from didaskein, "to teach, to educate."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Wednesday October 6, 2004

rapprochement \rap-rosh-MAWN\, noun:
The establishment or state of cordial relations.

Mikhail Gorbachev and his team of self-described reformers were publicly heralding a new era of rapprochement with the West.
--Ken Alibek with Stephen Handelman, Biohazard

The documentary record of initial White House-level efforts to initiate rapprochement with China . . . remains slim.
--William Burr, The Kissinger Transcripts

But I have no desire for some kissy rapprochement.
--Zoë Heller, Everything You Know

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Rapprochement comes from the French, from rapprocher, "to bring nearer," from Middle French, from re- + approcher, "to approach," from Old French aprochier, from Late Latin appropire, from Latin ad- + propius, "nearer," comparative of prope, "near."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Thursday October 7, 2004

tremulous \TREM-yuh-luhs\, adjective:
1. Shaking; shivering; quivering; as, a tremulous motion of the hand or the lips; the tremulous leaf of the poplar.
2. Affected with fear or timidity; trembling.

With an address for his father at last in his possession, Sead could scarcely contain a tremulous excitement.
--Roger Cohen, Hearts Grown Brutal

In any event, when I thrust myself out of bed so violently, my heart became tremulous, . . . and I had the direst sense of mortality I have ever experienced.
--Jim Harrison, The Road Home

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Tremulous comes from Latin tremulus, from tremere, "to tremble."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Friday October 8, 2004

histrionic \his-tree-ON-ik\, adjective:
1. Of or relating to actors, acting, or the theater; befitting a theater; theatrical.
2. Overly dramatic; deliberately affected.

As late as 1895, when George Bernard Shaw was reviewing new London productions of scripts by Henry James and Oscar Wilde, he was dealing with the interpretations imposed by an actor-manager, who would often select a play mainly because it had a role that promised to showcase his particular histrionic talents.
--Wendy Lesser, A Director Calls

And the same is true for the other judgments we make about tears, as when we deem them to be normal or excessive, sincere or manipulative, expressive or histrionic.
--Tom Lutz, Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears

Rose does have too many repetitive, histrionic fits.
--Frank Rich, "Miller's 'American Clock,'" New York Times, November 21, 1980

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Histrionic comes from Latin histrionicus, from histrio, histrion-, "an actor."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Monday October 11, 2004

indigence \IN-dih-juhn(t)s\, noun:
A state of extreme poverty or destitution.

He is ever a handful of pocket change away from utter indigence.
--Sven Birkerts, "The Socratic Method," New York Times, November 9, 1997

The lean and hungry, unkempt, and addled look I'd cultivated throughout my twenties was beginning to read like desperation and indigence as I stepped into my mid-thirties.
--Stephen McCauley, The Man of the House

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Indigence comes from Latin indigentia, "neediness," from indigens, indigent- present participle of indigere to be in need of, from Latin indu (archaic form of in-), "in" + egere "to be needy, to need, to lack." The adjective form is indigent.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Tuesday October 12, 2004

effusive \ih-FYOO-siv\, adjective: Excessively demonstrative; giving or involving extravagant or excessive emotional expression; gushing.

His speeches are embarrassingly effusive; treacle drips from their pages: "I yield to none in my admiration for our teachers, doctors, nurses and police . . . Our public servants are the best in the world, and when given the leadership and investment they need, they achieve world-class standards."
--Mary Ann Sieghart, "Blair lays bare his iron fist for change," Times (London), June 1, 2001

The effusive praise of critics has no doubt bolstered Beowulf's popularity.
--Brendan I. Koerner, "Required reading," U.S. News, March 20, 2000

This rectitude, even severity, was also a roundabout way of showing his affection and his generosity, for he was altogether incapable of indulging in effusive sentimentality.
--Patrice Debré, Louis Pasteur (translated by Elborg Forster)

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Effusive, at root meaning "pouring out," comes from Latin effusus, past participle of effundere, "to pour out," from ex-, "out" + fundere, "to pour."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Wednesday October 13, 2004

obeisance \oh-BEE-suhn(t)s; oh-BAY-suhn(t)s\, noun:
1. An expression of deference or respect, such as a bow or curtsy.
2. Deference, homage.

They made obeisance right to the floor, coiling like bright snakes from the arms of their astonished handlers.
--Ann Wroe, Pontius Pilate

His presence was betrayed to Miloš, who ordered his execution and then sent his rival's head to the Sultan to demonstrate his obeisance.
--Misha Glenny, The Balkans

In all, it had served to create a highly restrictive society where the arrogance of superiors was as ingrained as their subordinates' fawning obeisance.
--Robert Whiting, Tokyo Underworld

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Obeisance comes from Old French obeissance, from obeissant, present participle of obeir, "to obey," from Latin oboedire, "to listen to," from ob-, "to" + audire, "to hear." The adjective form is obeisant.

/ me expects obeisance when me enters the court room (or any room for that matter )

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Thursday October 14, 2004

affray \uh-FRAY\, noun:
A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl.

Mounted encounters by armored knights locked in desperate hand-to-hand combat, stabbing and wrestling in tavern brawls, deceits and brutalities in street affrays, balletic homicide on the dueling field--these were the martial arts of Renaissance Europe.
--Sydney Anglo, The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe

An Irish soldier was stabbed with a boar spear by a German mercenary in 1544 during an affray that followed Henry VIII's capture of Boulogne.
--James Williams, "Hunting, hawking and the early Tudor gentleman," History Today, August 2003

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Affray comes from Old French esfrei, from esfreer, "to disquiet, to frighten."

/we try to keep the affrays to a minimum in the Sopabox

[laurie]

The Yankee/Red Sox games are affrays waiting to happen.

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Friday October 15, 2004

prima facie \PRY-muh-FAY-shee; -shuh\, adverb:
At first view; on the first appearance. adjective: 1. True, valid, or adequate at first sight; as it seems at first sight; ostensible. 2. Self-evident; obvious. 3. (Law) Sufficient to establish a fact or a case unless disproved.

Rather, they are the product of considerable artistry in the analysis and exposition of statistical data, giving the conclusions a prima facie credibility.
--Arnold R. Weber, "Keeping Management Awake," New York Times, June 10, 1984

With all rich men and women there is, of course, a substantial body of populist literature that concludes that their riches were won from the labor of others, or that the structure of capitalist society ensured that the rich would grow richer as the poor grew poorer, or that riches are prima facie evidence of unethical behavior.
--Robin W. Winks, Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst for Conservation

Consumers pick up a CD at the store and think the difference between the 60 cents it takes to make a disk and the $16 retail price is prima facie evidence of gouging. But the dreary economic facts are these: Subtract all the costs and the overhead that serves to support other artists under the same roof, and the net profit that the record company retains is about 59 cents per CD.
--Randall E. Stross, "Napster nonsense," U.S.News & World Report, May 29, 2000

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Prima facie is from the Latin phrase meaning "at first appearance."

[Ghost]

Word of the Day for Monday October 18, 2004

maunder \MON-duhr\, intransitive verb:
1. To talk incoherently; to speak in a rambling manner.
2. To wander aimlessly or confusedly.

Two drunken couples . . . maunder in an all-too-familiar vein about love.
--Anatole Broyard, New York Times, April 15, 1981

It is a play with melodramatic themes, but García Lorca has put aside temptation to let it maunder, scream or otherwise let the emotions take over.
--Richard F. Shepard, "Stage: 'Bernarda Alba' Produced in Spanish," New York Times, November 23, 1979

As in one of his earlier novels , . . . Kerr invents a credibly grim scenario for our future: most of the earth's inhabitants are infected with a deadly virus and maunder in fetid cities.
--Charles Flowers, "Blood on the Moon (Really!)," New York Times, February 14, 1999

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Maunder is perhaps a dialectal variant of meander (possibly influenced by wander).

/WHAT, me maunder - me thinks not!

[felonius]

I like that one, Ghost.

...the conversation meandered and maundered, sped up and sauntered, flared with acid and then became placid - and not a little flaccid - finally flapped and floundered and tapped out the rounders and they all went home and slept pretty sounders (with the aid of some downers to soften their frowners).

/methinks I'm suffering from Seuss-syndrome again