This Week in Word of the Day 12-13-2013
Taken from boingboing.net.
eurhythmic \yoo-RITH-mik\, adjective:
1. Characterized by a pleasing rhythm; harmoniously ordered or proportioned.
2. Of or pertaining to eurhythmics.
Doug and Sara were convinced that “The Eurhythmics” was the most clever name ever for their anarchist noise punk outfit which also featured their next door neighbor. Admittedly, their neighbor couldn’t play drums to save his life, but he looked really good in cut off shirts and his animalistic assault on his junior sized drum kit fit in with the band’s mission to devolve modern beliefs regarding sound, melody, and what it meant to truly “sing.” Once their fist gig was booked and 100 t-shirts were printed, their mom crushed the revolutionary band’s spirit by pointing out that there was a band who’d already claimed the “Eurhythmics” label.
filch \filch\, verb:
To steal (especially something of small value); pilfer: to filch ashtrays from fancy restaurants.
As Charles beat back fatigue during his overnight stocking job at Walmart, he was surprised to find, for the third day in a row, several empty bottles of Tide on the shelf. He shrugged it off and took the bottles to the back with the rest of the damaged goods. Months later, with the awful job in his rearview, a news program illuminated the bizarre trend. Hardened thieves were stealing and bartering with Tide, not because it could be turned into meth, but because “everyone needs to wash their clothes.”
pseudepigraphy \soo-duh-PIG-ruh-fee\, noun:
The false ascription of a piece of writing to an author.
Clint’s skills in pseudepigrapy were unrivaled and his deliberate use of forged love letters and call outs for playground battles made him the scourge of fourth grade.
pseudoclassic \soo-doh-KLAS-ik\, adjective:
1. Falsely or spuriously classic.
2. Imitating the classic: the pseudoclassic style of some modern authors.
Jim only read pseudoclassic political ramblings by the likes of Bill O’Reily, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity, proclaiming them to be the modern equivalents to Thomas Hobbes, John Stuart Mill, and John Locke. Jim dressed as a Founding Father every Halloween and handed out tea bags, American flags, and miniature books containing the Constitution (but not the Bill of Rights) to children downtown. He also explained to the bank teller, in exhausting detail, why he wasn’t a hypocrite for cashing his social security check, then asked her if she had “any interest in antique guns and older men?”
pseudomorph \SOO-duh-mawrf\, noun:
1. An irregular or unclassifiable form.
2. A mineral having the outward appearance of another mineral that it has replaced by chemical action.
Marty identified his career ambitions as consuming enough pseudomorphs that A: glowed, B: were radioactive or C: fell from space, all in the hope he will eventually develop superpowers. His parents were not impressed.
pseudology \soo-DOL-uh-jee\, noun:
Lying considered as an art.
Fixed with a permanent scowl and a roguish charm, the eight year old boy had only two interests in life: 1. the beautiful complexity of pseudology. 2. Dressing like Han Solo.
pseudonymous \soo-DON-uh-muhs\, adjective:
1. Bearing a false or fictitious name.
2. Writing or written under a fictitious name.
The pseudonymous act of creating an alter identity serves as a shelter where we can revel in our own darkness, our humiliation, our selfishness and other base weaknesses. It is a greater freedom than any confessional booth because, even though the mask we wear is thin and fools no one, its existence shades us from the glaring eye of our own shame.
