Michael Gates's Blog, page 11

Words / Mind Dump

The yoke of destiny is a pain in the neck. (Not to be confused with the "yolk" of destiny -- those are pretty good.)

Do you prefer the haunting honk of a flugelhorn or the romanatic timbre of the sarrusophone? #decisions

"Lunatic fringe" was originally the name for a type of women's haircut.

Someone who daydreams is called a “vagarian”. Someone who daydreams about vegetables is called a “vegetarian vagarian”.

I couldn’t care less about “liberosis”. (You could look it up.)

Hmm. "Deep fakes". Acting is a sort of deep fake too, but we give it awards. Deep fake videos should have warning labels. By law.

Skipping breakfast isn’t so bad, especially if you’re just a cereal killer. Only the food biz says it’s the most important meal of the day.

Coffee, pee, coffee, pee, coffee, pee, coffee, pee, etc.

Ostrobogulous, Oneirodynia, Acephalia, Slantingdicular, and Conglobate

My ostrobogulous oneirodynia last night was all about acephalia. I saw my head roll down a slantingdicular street and conglobate into a pumpkin.

Read all about them:

ostrobogulous = weird or bizarre (TWITO, page 105)
oneirodynia = sleep disturbed by nightmares
acephalia = the absence of a head (page 10)
slantingdicular = at a slanting angle
conglobate = to form into a ball (page 33)

Nephelococcygia, Benthos, Stultiloquence, Ostrobogulous, and Ishkabibble

"Stop this nepheloccoccygia!" Terrence said, interrupting my reverie on the chaise lounge. "It's your turn to clean the benthos of this filthy swimmming pool."

"That's just stultiloquence!" I retorted. "It's just a swimming pool, not Lake Erie. And you cleaned it just last week. Your ostrobogulous obsession with the insignificant flotsam on the bottom is just pure ishkabibble!"

Read all about them:

nephelococcygia = cloud gazing (TWITO, page 95)
benthos = the bottom of an ocean, lake, or sea (page 20)
stultiloquence = foolish talk or babble (page 141)
ostrobogulous = weird or bizarre (page 105)
ishkabibble = nonsense (page 74)


Photo by me!

Ackamaracus, Cacoethes, Desideratum, Makebate, Gasconade, Ataraxia

Milicent thought it was ackamaracus that Louis, who drew nothing but anthropomorphized cats, had such a cacoethes for portraying his feline desideratums, but she didn't want to be a makebate about it, or gasconade about her own ataraxia when it came to artistic endeavors.

Read all about them!

ackamarackus = pretentious nonsense (TWITO, page 11)
cacoethes = a mania (page 26)
desideratum = something necessary or highly desirable (page 41)
makebate = a person who creates discord or conflict (page 86)
gasconade = to boast (page 60)
ataraxia = peace of mind (page 17)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Wain

Ubiety, Dendrophile, Rhathymia, Afflatus, Oscitancy

Ah nature! The ubiety of the park was ideal for dendrophiles, and gave Cedric, in the mood for rhathymia, a sudden afflatus. He closed his eyes and leaned toward Millicent, expecting a kiss, but all she offered was oscitancy.

Read all about them!

ubiety = the state of being in a particular place (TWITO, page 152)
dendrophile = a lover of trees (page 144)
rhathymia = carefree behavior (page 125)
afflatus = an inspiration or creative impulse (page 12)
oscitancy = the act of yawning, the state of being drowsy (page 104)

Anodyne, Rannygazoo, Fantods, Perspicacious, Embuggerance, Tohubohu

"Hector's fantods erupted when his rannygazoo, which he thought would be perceived by his perpicacious friends as annondyne, or at worst as an embuggerance, created a complete tohubohu."

Read all about them:

Fantods = a state of extreme nervoud anxiety (TWITO, page 52)
Rannygazoo = a joke or prank (page 122)
Perspicacious = having keen understanding, mental perception, or discernment (page 110)
Anodyne = something that lessens pain; isn't likely to disturb or annoy (TWITO, page 14)
Embuggerance = a small, annoying problem (page 46)
Tohubohu = a state of chaos or confusion (page 147)

Cosmotelluran, Carriwitchet, Rusticate, Minatory, Nullibicity

"Christmas up here is a cosmotellurian carriwitchet," sighed the astronaut, "when you'd rather rusticate than celebrate in the minatory nullibicity of space."

Read all about them!

Cosmotellurian = pertaining to both heaven and earth (TWITO, page 35)
Carriwitchet = a conundrum (page 29)
Rusticate = to go to the country (page 128)
Minatory = threatening (page 89)
Nullibicity = the state of being nowhere (page 98)

Ninnyhammer, Oikofugic, Illapse, Tittynope, Godwottery, Ataraxia

Henry the Ninnyhammer's unfortunate oikofugic tendency led to an illapse when he tripped over a tittynope of godwottery, destroying his ataraxia.

Read all about them!

Ninnyhammer = a fool, simpleton or silly person (TWITO, page 96)
Oikofugic = marked by the urge to wander (page 101)
Illapse = the act of falling or gliding (page 71)
Tittynope = a small quantity (page 147)
Godwottery = elaborate gardening (page 62)
Ataraxia = peace of mind (page 17)

Enantiodromia, Ensorcell, Vecordious, Vicambulation, Contorplicate

The enantiodromia of today's weather could ensorcell me into vecordious vicambulation on our contortuplicate thoroughfares.

Read all about them!

Enantiodromia = the tendency of things to turn into their opposites (TWITO, page 46)

Ensorcell = to bewitch (page 47)

Vecordious = mad, crazy, senseless (page 154)

Vicambulation = to walk about in the streets (page 156)

Contortuplicate = braided or twisted (page 34)

Learn 5 new vocabulary words in a single sentence

While walking through the bosk on a fulgent day, we came upon a tiny curwhibble on the path, which Elias, still in his widdendream, launched into a foofaraw about.

Read all about them!

Bosk = a small wooded area or thicket (TWITO, page 23)

Fulgent = shining brightly, radiant (page 58)

Curwhibble = a thingamajig or a whatchmacallit (page 37)

Widdendream = a state of confusion or mental distrubance (page 162)

Foofaraw = a great deal of attention paid to a trivial matter; much ado about nothing (page 56)