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What's Your Word for the Day?
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Ken, Moderator
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Aug 29, 2008 05:09PM
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noctivagateis that a real word?
off to look it up
seems to be and is used by one of my favorite authors in one of my all time favorite books
http://books.google.com/books?id=PTol...
Hm... couldn´t find it either in my Webster´s nor Oxford´s. Strange. What shall it imply? Rambling in the dark, "navigating" in the dark? No clue.Anyway, how about a ->
"Nocturnal Predator" ?? WORD!
As my last name is Pier, I feel a little like a vampier, vampire sorry.
That´s another one, actually. I have absolutely no clue where that name stems from, "Pier". Can of course be the actual pier at the beach, but I don´t think so. From French... I´d have a double-name, Pièrre Pièrre. Or it´s the pièrre in a creek, a little pebble- I guess I like that best. But please feel free to enlighten me ;-)
Best,
TheLurkingFear
To wander abroad at night.Keep that garlic on your nightstand and the cross under your pillow.
Hehe, David,per denomination mentioned in my passport, Roman Catholic, any actual vampire would have a hard time crossing my doorstep. Plus, I just love garlic...
Nevertheless- I like "good" vampire-tales. I´m pretty sure you know King´s "Jerusalem´s Lot". That IS a good one.
Sir, you didn´t offer any explanation for my name, Sir ;-)
Pjotr, Pietro, Pedro, Petrr, and so on- Peter
TheLurkingFear
My word of yesterday was desultory. The books I read were written by someone who clearly favored it. I was getting a little weary of reading it by the third time. I wonder why the editor didn't rein him in?
I love the word "desultory" because it expresses a meaning for which no other word adequately substitutes. People sometimes have had to rein in my use of that word, so your author isn't the only offender.
It is very precise, true, but in the context of the books meandering or disorganized could have replaced two of the instances without losing any meaning and thereby avoiding the resulting déjà vu. Overuse aggravates me only slightly less than misuse. It is my own flaw, without doubt.
New word of the day, from the always-interesting Pat Buchanan: "Where Obama has poodled along with the Daley Machine, Palin routed the Republican establishment."We already have Tony Blair as "George Bush's poodle" to his detractors, but "poodle along" is a new one on me. It's an unfair slam on poodles, who were in fact bred to assist hunters in water, but a fine coinage natheless.
As for desultory, Simon and Garfunkel used it as a song title in "A Simple Desultory Philipic." OK, for the classically challenged, a "philippic" is a denunciatory speech, from those given by Demosthenes of Athens against Philip of Macedon. Demosthenese gave great speeches; Philip won the war, just as the Spanish Loyalists had the good songs, but Franco won the war.
Enough for one morning.
Summer --Overuse aggravates me only slightly less than misuse. It is my own flaw, without doubt.
Yes, and overusing an unusual work makes it even more obvious. I've seen this occasionally in books.
David --
Speak of the devil, I encountered anodyne for the first time last night in something I was reading. That was a timely WFTD.
Mod
Pick one:__aleatory
__overdetermined
__serendipitous
__preordained
huh? how can one be over determinedyou're either determined or complacent
focused or fuzzy
there is no over!!!
you l&gers are freakin me out
Mod
Overdetermination means that multiple factors (as opposed to one or two) comprise a state. Human consciousness might be thought of as overdetermined if one rejects easy explanations of a person's psyche. That is, a man's state of mind is not reducible to his oedipus complex, to his narcissism, to his unconscious drive or whatever. Rather, it's made up of the innumerable events that have affected it.
nopethere is no over
over determined is obsessed
let's keep our words in neat little categories please
i don't so much mind the grosser defects
the broad snafus
but when you start messing with the subtle shades of meaning
the finer distinctions
i just can't countenance the deviation
the insult and injury
please leave my connotations intact
leave those subtle leanings subtle
lest we lose something
lose it in the free for all for all time
(and yes-i am an l&ger and content in the association)
well psychology hijacked ransomed and usurped all sorts of languageif we are going to offer up our innocent and fragile words to the scientific definition
we'll allow all sorts of perversion
Mod
hear hearwe're a concensus of two deb ;)
(or is it here here?)
okit's a real grown up word
but it still sounds borrowed and stupid
if something is overdetermined it's a moot point to me-still does not require that much thought
maybe overdetermination feels good for saying it's an easy or relatively easy math computation because a bunch of stuff is already figured out or for saying as tyler suggests that there are determinations of psychology that supercede the cliched or simple explanation of personality
my primary impetus for responding was to vouchsafe my disdain and dislike for the clabbered together term to explain something that doesn't really need so much explaining
as if the word itself is reaching for some overdetermination or seeking more respectability than the situation warrants
math/science is awash with these sorts of bastardized terms
altho i am fond of "sensitive dependence upon initial conditions"
(correct me if i'm in error)
oh and periodicityi love periodicity
yes another good undid you know without periodicity it's tough to reach the state of equilibrium?
stasis
it's so calm and complete, sated even stable
i think i'll go now and try for fake stasis as in sleep
bon mots mes amies
und gut nacht
More pendulous words:amplitude
oscillation
Coriolis
Aurora Borealis doesn't it sound fantastic?
it isone time
it was orange and yellow
and resembled flames flickering across the sky
another memorable time it glowed lime green on the horizon with a large ray cast up into the sky towards the north star
spectacular
Now, I'm green with envy. This is probably sight I'll never get to experience
why?just take a trip north of the 45th parallel and you stand a chance of seeing it
actually there are trips that go northern lights hunting
i saw them in Maine
and i'm sure they are seen in the scandinavian countries
Mod
take a planetake a train
go north
go north
now i heard that southern cross is something as well
Unfortunately a trip to the extreme North or South is not in my foreseeable future. We do have some pretty amazing skies on clear nights over the Aegean. One of the best memories I have is when my daughter pointed Orion to me and told me about the hunter and his dogs and how he goes after Scorpio every night after she visited the Planetarium
starry aegean nights? hmm
sounds boring NOT
Never mind the last comment. Posted to the wrong site.
sounds fascinating thowhat is it?
christian rock and roll?
a prophetic stone?
old testament landmark?
Mod
cramponcause it sounds energetic
and useful
and bracing
and i'm lying on the couch
having just had a wee bowl of ice cream
typing with the laptop on my outstretched lap
thinkin
i really
should get up
and do something energetic
that involves
crampons
or mountaineering
or some sort of gear
but really want nothing more
than to maybe
nap
Mod
I think I liked NE's explanation better.
Equidistant - I didn't have to look it up, but how did I escape knowing it before?
cosmopolite \koz-MOP-uh-lyt\, noun:1. One who is at home in every place; a citizen of the world; a cosmopolitan person.
2. (Ecology) An organism found in most parts of the world.
I like the global reach of this word.
We need more cosmopolites!
Perhaps, but aren't cosmopolites supposed to be:"deracinated."
pulled up by their roots?but why?
invasive species?
Ye gods and little fishes. Not only is [was--now deleted] the code wrong, but the link is [was} broken. (Why doesn't Goodreads have a preview function? Or let you delete a pots [post]?)Lost In Translation.
OK, at last it worked.Word for today: "imbroglio."
Compare "foofaraw," "brouhaha," and "donnybrook."
Hurl brickbats among yourselves. While I'm at it, what's a "brickbat," anyway?
Mod
And you can delete a "pots" by going to the edit function.
Ruth, thanks for that."Ye gods and little fishes" would be a good start for a patter song . . . hmm.
Ye gods and little fishes
You kids never do the dishes
And your laundry's in a mountain on the floor.
It seems you're always texting
And I worry that you're sexing
And when you leave you always seem to slam the door . . .
Yes, I live with teenagers (whom I love dearly).
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