What's Your Word for the Day? Showing 2,051-2,100 of 3,049

[Ken, Moderator]

Wasn't that word used in the title of a New Yorker cartoonist's book? He's the famous one who's name escapes me.

[Ruth]

Edward Gorey

[Ken, Moderator]

That's it. Amphigory with Edward Gorey. Can you find Edgar Allan in that Onomatopoeia?

[David]

Edgar Allen lives in the Poe house.

In an early episode of "The Wire," a tourist goes to the black side of Baltimore in search of "the Poe House," which gets the obvious misinterpretation.

[Ken, Moderator]

Heh. Edgar Allan gets all worked up about misspellings of his name. When it happened enough in the papers he wrote "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and told editors they'd rue the day they did it again.

Onomatopoeia.

[David]

That spelling error of mine ("Edgar Allen") drives me stark raven mad.

[Ken, Moderator]

Just say, "Nevermore," lad.

[Savvy]

poesia

[Carol]

[image error]

[Ken, Moderator]

expurgate (verb) -- to cleanse of something morally harmful (I get to decide), offensive, or erroneous. Especially to expurgate objectionable material before publication or presentation.

This entry is not expurgated.

[Carol]

Yeah the image was trademarked. I realized it too late, so I expurgated it.

[David]

steatopygia--having large, protuberant buttocks, typical of the Khoi people of South Africa and others. Presumably an adaptation to desert heat--the upper body cools itself more easily, while the buttocks store energy and moisture, akin to a camel's hump.

[Savvy]

FRICATIVE (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['frik-uh-tiv:]

Definition: Sound produced through friction through breath in the mouth.

Usage: Any sound produced by obstructing a part of the vocal tract is known as a fricative. Fricatives are formed in various ways. For example, the "z" sound forces air between the tongue and roof of the mouth, while the "f" forces air between the teeth and the lip. The letter "h," known as a pseudo-fricative, presses the breath through the throat. Fricatives are extremely important in the pronunciation of many consonants in the English language.

Suggested Usage: Fricative sounds like it could be a class of swear words that start with the letter "f," but in reality, any sound that forces air through a constricted part of the mouth is known as a fricative. Don’t let that stop you from using the word fricative as a minced oath. Say it under your breath, and when people ask what you said, just explain that you were testing out your voiceless labiodental fricatives.

Etymology: The word fricative comes from the New Latin fricativus, from the Latin fricatus. A past participle of fricare, to rub or to chafe, it is rather similar to the word "friction," of the same root. It is unclear when the word made its way into the English language, though "friction" is first seen in print in 1563.

[Ken, Moderator]

Fricassee. COoking, no? To cook by rubbing the hell out of.

Or maybe I should double check that.

[Savvy]

Oh...this is a fun one!

FOOZLE

foo·zle (fo̵̅o̅′zəl)

transitive verb, intransitive verb foozled -·zled, foozling -·zling

to make or do (something) awkwardly; esp., to bungle (a stroke in golf)
Etymology: < Ger fuseln, to bungle
noun

an act of foozling; esp., a bad stroke in golf

[Ken, Moderator]

Foozle me once, silly you; foozle me twice, silly me.

[grebrim]

Or foozle me twice, and you can't be foozled again, if you really wanted to foozle the saying.

[David]

footle--to waste time

[David]

Of course, you can't spend time, or waste it, or save it. It simply flows by inexorably.

[Savvy]

Our you can just foozle around! :-0

[Savvy]

BIBLIOTAPH
“Two interesting types of maniac are known respectively as the bibliotaph and the biblioclast.

Definitions (1) American Heritage Dictionary Century Dictionary (1)One who hides or buries books, or keeps them under lock and key. A bibliotaphe buries his books by keeping them under lock, or framing them in glass cases. I. D'Israeli, Curios. of Lit., IV. 252.

Any "Bibliotaphs" here???

[Ruth]

I frame my pieces done on the pages of old books. Aha. Maybe I'll use that as a title for my next series.

[Carol]

Not me. My are free for the borrowing.

[David]

A bibliocaust is a burning of books, as with the Spanish burning of the Mayan codices.

[Ruth]

A carnicaust is forgetting the porterhouse on the barbie.

[Carol]

You don't foozle around with a bibliocaust, especially with the checkbook. Burn after not fixing and start over.

[[deleted user]]

Indeed, bibliocausts are a foozle-free zone!

[Savvy]

BIBLIOPHAGIST

1-One who reads books omnivorously.

Examples Bibliophage, or bibliophagist, a book-eater, or devourer of books.

hhhmmmmmmm?....I wonder if my mom was a true bibliophagist?
....could I possibly be a scribliophagist?

[Ruth]

Which probably makes me an omniophagist.

[Ken, Moderator]

How is this different from a bibliophile?

[Carol]

omniophagist. Eating of raw fish???????????

[David]

albeit--something strange about this word, going back to Middle English. The dictionaries say it comes from "al(though) it be [subjunctive:]" but it strikes me as an unusual pattern.

[Ken, Moderator]

I like to use that one. I'm an unusual pattern, too.

[Ruth]

David wrote: "albeit--something strange about this word, going back to Middle English. The dictionaries say it comes from "al(though) it be [subjunctive:]" but it strikes me as an unusual pattern."

Yes, unusual nowadays, but we still have a few phrases like "so be it" & "be that as it may," so it's not dead.

Subjunctives be fun!

[Savvy]

BIBLIOMANE

A bibliomane is an indiscriminate accumulator, who blunders faster than he buys, cock-brained and purse-heavy. — The Book-Hunter A New Edition, with a Memoir of the Author

The answer is the usual one for the over-acquisitive bibliomane. — Telegraph Blogs

Bibliophobe, a hater of books: Bibliotaph, a burier of books -- one who hides or conceals them: Bibliomaniac, or bibliomane, one who has a mania or passion for collecting books. — A Book for All Readers An Aid to the Collection, Use, and Preservation of Books and the Formation of Public and Private Libraries

[Ken, Moderator]

BiblioMainiac -- a book lover from Maine

[Savvy]

Newengland wrote: "BiblioMainiac -- a book lover from Maine"

LOVE IT! :-)

[Lilyane]

BiblioMass - Bookreading in church on Sunday, particularly in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

[Ruth]

Bibliomass - the combined weight of books in any one building.

[Carol]

Density X Volume= BiblioMass

[Ken, Moderator]

BiblioMass -- a great name for an independent bookstore in Massachusetts. If there were any left....

[Lilyane]

A few, but not much more than that......

[Ken, Moderator]

Yes. It's a Borders war between Barnes & Ignoble.

[Carol]

Barnes & Ignoble is winning, Borders is suppose to be closing stores across the country this year.

[Savvy]

But AMAZON reigns supreme!

[Ken, Moderator]

Hate to see Borders go, as I like to see competition. But hey, if B&N goes, too, that will leave the field to mom and pops again. Nice!

nepotism -- giving jobs to friends and rellies. Frowned upon (unless you are said friend or said relly).

[Carol]

A FEN is a type of wetland fed by surface and/or groundwater. Fens are characterized by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline. Fens are different from bogs, which are acidic, fed primarily by rainwater (ombrotrophic) and often dominated by Sphagnum mosses.


My back yard is the FEN in rainy weather.People do not empty their pools and the excess water flows to my yard leaving us a soggy mess.

[David]

See The Ig Nobel Prize.

[Ruth]

A fen is at its most useful in crossword puzzles and Scrabble.

[Ken, Moderator]

Ig Nobel Prize -- stealing my stuff. My lawyer has been notified.

The most famous fen? The Fenway (Boston). Of course, half of Boston is sitting on top of water, but whatever.