What's Your Word for the Day? Showing 2,151-2,200 of 3,049

[Savvy]

Carol (Kitty) wrote: "suzerainty [ˈsuːzərəntɪ:]
n pl -ties


Carol, I came across "suzerain: a few years ago on the CORMAC MCARTHY site where a plethora of Academia hang out (most University English Dept variety)....they are a great source in finding new authors/books, etc. The main Professor who oversees the posts calls himself the suzerain and can delete anything he finds OT or offensive. Kinda like NE and Debbie are the "suzerains" of this site! :-)
Of course, I like to sign off as...
Suz

[Carol]

I guess you are a suzerain in your house Suz.

[Savvy]

Depends on the day...and how 'Alpha' is the male! :-)
Suz (who lives where it rains!)

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Suz o' rains!

[Savvy]

or "Suz who reigns!" :-)))

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Heehee!

[TheGirlBytheSeaofCortez]

Tyler wrote: "Here's an interesting Word For The Day: Quiddity

It means the quality that makes a thing whatever it is. I've occasionally come across it in philosophy, but I just recently read it in a Saul Be..."

Off subject, but what a beautiful dog, Tyler! So handsome!

[Tyler]

Thanks,Gabrielle. He's been a wonderful dog to have, and he's unusually intent on trying to read what we humans want. His eyes, too, have a certain humane quality about them. But I could go on and on ...

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Feel free......

[Ken, Moderator]

Canine, feline, leonine, porcine, ursine, vulpine...

Any of the above could be the word of the day, you animals....

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Bovine (from the old cow....)

[Ken, Moderator]

equine (for those who like to horse around)

[Carol]

Asinine(from the old fool)

[Ken, Moderator]

That's the donkey-like word, eh?

[Carol]

yep

[Scout]

Ha! Good one, Carol.

[Ken, Moderator]

I wonder what the word would be for "like an aardvark"? And don't say "aardvarkine."

[Scout]

Must be aardvarkian. The word sesquipedalian just came to mind. Surely I've seen it here. What would be the word for "like an oppossum"?

[Ken, Moderator]

possine, possibline.

[Scout]

Oops. Misspelled opossum. I guess there are some animals that don't have an appropriate adjective: raccoons, squirrels, snakes - or maybe there is one for snakes.

[Carol]

reptilian

[Scout]

Thanks, Carol:) I'm thinking now about birds. What adjective describes them? Ornith- something? Or not.

[TheGirlBytheSeaofCortez]

Tyler wrote: "Thanks,Gabrielle. He's been a wonderful dog to have, and he's unusually intent on trying to read what we humans want. His eyes, too, have a certain humane quality about them. But I could go on an..."

I know exactly what you mean, Tyler. Our beloved beagle, Charlie, died last August. Poor guy had adrenal cancer. He was gorgeous and he had the most loving, beautiful eyes.

[Carol]

Ornithology-the study of birds

[TheGirlBytheSeaofCortez]

Ichthyology is the study of fish, but I wonder what the study of crustaceans is? I can't stand crustaceans.

[Carol]

The scientific study of crustaceans is known as Carcinology

[Scout]

Well, that doesn't sound healthy.

[Tyler]

I'm sorry to hear that, Gabrielle. Dogs evolved to be our friends, and no matter what, that's just what they become.

[Raymond]

They're not really words of the day for me, but just a little crop of words that I consider my favorite words.

Just opened up dictionary.com to give you the definition so it sounds smarter than what I would have said.

==========
joc·u·lar
–adjective
given to, characterized by, intended for, or suited to joking or jesting; waggish; facetious: jocular remarks about opera stars.
==========
raun·chy
–adjective
vulgar or smutty; crude; earthy; obscene: a raunchy joke.
==========
pu·sil·lan·i·mous
–adjective
lacking courage or resolution; cowardly; faint-hearted; timid.
==========

Have to thank English 4 class and my friend Mayra for learning them all a year earlier then needed. Well... raunchy I've known for awhile but whatever, Mayra can have credit for that one too. I just love it because it sounds like what it means.

[Carol]

The lion was a pusillanimous quivering piece of jelly

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

One of my favourite scenes in MASH was the one where Father Mulcahy said "Jocularityjocularityjocularity"....was it instead of actually laughing? Can't remember that bit....

[Ken, Moderator]

Pusillanimous is a word you seldom see used (except on SAT vocabulary lists) and never HEAR used in everyday speech. I call it one of those $5 words.

Raunchy, on the other foot, belongs to the people. It's part of the vernacular.

Jocular? Good one. It means someone who's good at sports, right? ;-)

[Carol]

busticate: to break into pieces

interesting word.

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

So when you bust something you are actually abbreviating! I never knew that!

[Carol]

Origin:
Busticate came into existence in the Northern United States during the 19th Century, as the common verb bust became wedded to the Latin root -icate . This phenomenon occurred across the U.S.

[Savvy]

GREAT WORD TO KICK OFF AUGUST (and the dog days of...)

CANICULAR

Definitions
■(adj) Relating to the dog: as, a canicular tale.

■(adj) Pertaining to Canicula, the dog-star, or to the dog-days.

Notes
■'Canicular' comes the belief that Canicula, or Sirius, the Dog Star, caused the 'Dog Days,' the hottest and often laziest days of summer.

Examples
■“That is, under the canicular, or dog-star, and before the dog-star, purgations are painfull and difficill.”

■“Tiltass, but are you solarly salemly sure, beyond the shatter of the canicular year?”

[Ruth]

Years ago I used "canicular chorus" in a poem about the dogs barking in our neighborhood. I thought it was a clever word I'd made up. What a disappointment when I actually looked it up and discovered it was a real word.

[Ken, Moderator]

Caniculeeee, caniculaaaa

It's an Italian song, I think.

[Terence]

Here's Monday's Word of the Day from dictionary.com that sounds far worse than it turns out to be:

SPATCHCOCK

spatchcock \SPACH-kok\, verb: 1. To insert or interpolate, esp. in a forced or incongruous manner.

noun: 1. A fowl that has been dressed and split open for grilling.

verb: 1. To prepare and roast (a fowl) in this manner.

Regardless, I've determined to make it a regular part of my vocabulary from this day forward. In fact, I think I'm going to spatchcock that chicken in the freezer for dinner tonight.

[Carol]

We spatchcocked a chicken on Monday.

[Ken, Moderator]

To spatch one's cock or not to spatch one's cock? That is the question.

[Terence]

That also sounds painful.

[Ken, Moderator]

It separates the Hams from the lets, that's for sure!


bifurcation

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Funiculi funicular!
Bifurcation...new to me.....sounds like bilious bi-focals!!

[Carol]

I had read it in a book recently. Good book The Shining Shining Path

[Ken, Moderator]

bi·fur·cate / bifurcation

   

1. (verb) to divide or fork into two branches.


2. (adjective) divided into two branches.


3, (noun) bifurcation -- a division into two parts.

Origin:
1605–15; < ML bifurcātus, ptp. of bifurcāre ( bi- bi-1 + furc ( a ) fork + -ātus -ate1 )

—Related forms
bi·fur·cate·ly  /ˌbaɪfərˈkeɪtli; baɪˈfɜrkeɪtli, -kɪt-/ Show Spelled[bahy-fer-keyt-lee; bahy-fur-keyt-lee, -kit-:] Show IPA, adverb

bi·fur·ca·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.

[Savvy]

If I found a bifurcated spatchcock in my kitchen I'd pusillanimously blame the canicular for the bustication while absquatulaing out the back door to
acquire and install a sceptriferous seneschal to defend future encounters!

[Debbie, sardonic princess of cheerfulness]

Yeehah!!!!!!

[Carol]

LOL You coulda been a contender for the craziest sentence.

[Ken, Moderator]

Next challenge: 15 former Words of the Day in one sentence. Good luck, Suzereign. You'll need it!