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soupçon N [S] MAINLY HUMOROUS
a very small amount:
"Milk in your coffee?" "Just a soupçon, please."
Do I detect a soupçon of sarcasm in what you just said?From Hogfather by Terry PratchettQuote:
'They can't kill you unless it's for money,' said Catseye. But now tehre was a soupçon of doubt in his voice.
Tom Swiftie
A Tom Swifty (or Tom Swiftie) is a phrase in which a quoted sentence is linked by a pun to the manner in which it is represented as having been said. Tom Swifties may be considered a type of Wellerism.
e.g:
"I'll never stick my arm in the lion's mouth again," Tom said offhandedly.
"Let's go downstairs," said Tom to the robber condescendingly.
"I used to be a pilot," Tom explained.
"I just love camping!" Tom said, intently.
Wikipedia article
prolix ADJ.
1.Tediously prolonged; wordy: editing a prolix manuscript.
2.Tending to speak or write at excessive length.
prolixity N
boring verbosenessRomeo and Juliet, Act 1.4Quote:
ROMEO
What, shall this speech be spoke for our excuse?
Or shall we on without apology?
BENVOLIO
The date is out of such prolixity:
We'll have no Cupid hoodwink'd with a scarf,
Bearing a Tartar's painted bow of lath,
Scaring the ladies like a crow-keeper;
Nor no without-book prologue, faintly spoke
After the prompter, for our entrance:
But let them measure us by what they will;
We'll measure them a measure, and be gone.
eat humble pie
to admit that you were wrong
After boasting that his company could outperform the industry's best, he's been forced to eat humble pie.
eat humble pie
to be forced to apologize abjectly or admit one's faults in humiliating circumstances
platitude n [C] DISAPPROVING
a remark or statement that may be true but is boring and meaningless because it has been said so many times before:
Milosevic doesn't mouth platitudes about it not mattering who scores as long as the team wins.
platitudinous Adj FORMAL DISAPPROVINGFrom Lolita by NabokovQuote:
I put an end to this gibberish by suggesting Valeria pack up her few belongings immediately, upon which the platitudinous colonel gallantly offered to carry them into the car.
source
hagiography noun
1 [C or U] a biography in which the writer represents the person as perfect or much better than they really are, or the tendency to write so many admiring things about a person that it is not realistic
2 [U] SPECIALIZED writings about the lives of holy people such as saints
hagiographic adjective LITERARY
The biography has been criticized for being too hagiographic.
sourcefrom Possession A.S. ByattQuote:
He had a peculiarly vicious version of reverse hagiography; the desire to cut his subject down to size.
bower
noun [C] LITERARY
a pleasant place under the branches of a tree in a wood or garden
link
Biblophil,-phile:
1) lover of books
2)a collector of books.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/defi...7278&dict=CALD
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bibliophil
I thought it was a real word I noticed somewhere some one said they'd made it up :D
You do realise what this means? It means Biblophobia exsists.
:eek:
lackadaisical adjective FORMAL
lacking enthusiasm and effort:
The food was nice enough but the service was rather lackadaisical.
lackadaisically adverb
source
Ah Scher, "lackadaisical" is such a difficult and a long word.
I agree with you, Pensive; I learnt it only yesterday, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pensive
If you read it slowly, though, it is kind of funny: lack-a-daisy-cal! :D
April 1st 2006
Odontophobia-noun-a fear of teeth and/or dentists
http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?odontophobia
Fortunately I do not suffer from odontophobia!
Why not have 2 words since there hasn't been any for a long time. :P
toxophilite (tok-SOF-uh-lyt) noun
One who is fond of or expert at archery.
[Coined by Roger Ascham (1515-1568), scholar and writer, as a proper
name and
the title of his book Toxophilus, from Greek toxon (bow) + -philos
(loving).]
Roger Ascham was the tutor for teenager Elizabeth, future Queen
Elizabeth I.
His book Toxophilus was the first book on archery in English. It was a
treatise on archery but it was also an argument for writing in the
vernacular: in English. You could say he shot two birds with one arrow.
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fletcher (FLECH-uhr) noun
A maker of arrows.
[From Middle English fleccher, from Old French flechier, from fleche
(arrow).
Ultimately from Indo-European root pleu (to flow), which also gave us
flow,
fly, float, fleet, pulmonary, and pluvial.]
Philippic n.
1. Any of the orations of Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon in the fourth century B.C.
2. Any of the orations of Cicero against Antony in 44 B.C.
3. A verbal denunciation characterized by harsh, often insulting language; a tirade.
sourcefrom The Age of Innocence by Edith WhartonQuote:
The talk, as usual, had veered around to the Beauforts, and even Mr van der Luyden and Mr Selfridge Merry, installed in the honorary arm-chairs tacitly reserved for them, paused to listen to the younger man's philippic.
Xenophobia-noun- extreme dislike, hatred or fear of foreigners, their customs, their religions, etc.
Link
daguerreotype n.
1. An early photographic process with the image made on a light-sensitive silver-coated metallic plate.
2. A photograph made by this process.
from The Sound and the FuryQuote:
His hair was pale and fine. It had been brushed smoothly down upon his brow like that of children in daguerreotypes.
April 29
belles-lettres (bel-LET-ruh) noun
literary works that are beautiful and pleasing in an artistic way, rather than being very serious or full of information
Literary works valued for their aesthetic qualities rather than
information or instruction.
[From French belles (fine) + lettres (letters, literature).
source
For help understanding:
aesthetic, US ALSO esthetic adjective
1. relating to the enjoyment or study of beauty:
The new building has little aesthetic value/appeal.
2. describes an object or a work of art that shows great beauty:
furniture which is both aesthetic and functional
(Scher, please don't get mad at me! :eek: .)
necromancy noun [U]
the practice of claiming to communicate with the dead in order to discover what is going to happen in the future, or black magic (= magic used for bad purposes)
necromancer noun [C]
sourcefrom The Name of the Rose by EcoQuote:
The world all around the Abbey is rank with heresy; they tell me that on the throne of Rome there is a perverse pope who uses hosts of practices of necromancy and feeds them to his morays...
May 4th 2006
anabiosis (an-uh-bi-O-sis) noun
A return to life after death or apparent death.
A state of suspended animation, especially one in which certain aquatic
invertebrates are able to survive long periods of drought.
[From Greek anabiosis (coming back to life), from anabioun
(to return to life), from ana- (back) + bio- (life).]
link[Quote:
Many animals and plants can survive periods of extreme drought or cold.
They reach a state of suspended animation and can come back to life even
after being dormant for years. One such plant is the Rose of Jericho, also
known as Anastatica or Resurrection plant. In dry conditions, its stems curl
into a ball. When blown by the wind, it spreads its seeds along the way.
When moistened, it turns into a green plant again, even after years of
dryness. The curled ball is sold as a curiosity item.
Henotheism
In religion and philosophy, henotheism is a term coined by Max Müller, meaning devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of other gods. It is derived from the Greek heis theos, "one god". According to Müller, it is "monotheism in principle and a polytheism in fact". Variations on the term have been inclusive monotheism and monarchial polytheism, designed to differentiate differing forms of the phenomenon. Related terms are monolatrism and kathenotheism, which are typically understood as sub-types of henotheism. The latter term is an extension of "henotheism", from kath heno theon – "one god at a time". Henotheism is similar but less exclusive than monolatry because a monolator worships only one god, while the henotheist may worship any within the pantheon, depending on circumstances. In some belief systems, the choice of the supreme deity within a henotheistic framework may be determined by cultural, geographical, or political reasons.
pusillanimous adj
weak-spirited: showing a contemptible lack of boldness and resolve ( formal )
weak and cowardly; frightened of taking risks (source)
May 12th 2006
procellous (pro-SEL-uhs) adjective
Stormy, as the sea.
[From Latin procellosus (stormy), from procella (storm).]
"I likened myself to a sailor ... to brave the dangers of that
procellous sea."
a link to something
supererogatory adj
1. beyond call of duty: performed to an extent beyond what is required or expected
2. superfluous: beyond what is sufficient or necessary, and not wanted
may 23
Quire
noun 1 four sheets of paper or parchment folded to form eight leaves, as in medieval manuscripts. 2 25 (formerly 24) sheets of paper; one twentieth of a ream. 3 any collection of leaves one within another in a manuscript or book.
— ORIGIN Old French quaier, from Latin quaterni ‘set of four’
http://www.askoxford.com/results/?vi...r=score%2Cname
my knowledge of internet technology is so limited,so that means I can't say anything here? :sick: :brickwallQuote:
Originally Posted by Scheherazade
ululate
• verb howl or wail.
— DERIVATIVES ululation noun.
— ORIGIN Latin ululare ‘howl, shriek’.
http://www.askoxford.com/results/?vi...archtype=exact
June 1, 2006
terpsichorean (turp-si-kuh-REE-uhn, turp-si-KOR-ee-uhn, -KORE-)
adjective
Of or relating to dancing.
noun
A dancer.
[From Terpsichore, the Muse of dancing and choral song in Greek
mythology.
The word Terpsichore is the feminine form of terpsichoros (delighting
in the dance), a combination of Greek terpein (to delight) and khoros
(dance), which is ultimately from Indo-European root gher- (to grasp or to
enclose) that's also the source of chorus, carol, choir, garth, court, and
garden.]
"On the subject of Prezza: Ruskin College, Oxford, his alma mater, is
no doubt bracing itself for no end of inquiries following those
startling pictures of his terpsichorean skills. Where did he learn to dance?"
Peter Kingston; Conference Call; The Guardian (London, UK); May 2,
2006.
Of course not Apple! A good online dictionary to start with is: http://dictionary.cambridge.org When you run across interesting and complicated words, share them!
reconnoitre (US USUALLY reconnoiter ) verb [I or T] SPECIALIZED
(of soldiers or military aircraft) to obtain information about an area or the size and position of enemy forces
sourcefrom Watership DownQuote:
Later, Hazel had said that there was nothing for it but to cross the open pasture and under Silver's direction they had crossed it, with Dandelion running ahead to reconnoitre.
obsequious adj, formal disapproving
too eager to praise or obey someone
She is almost embarrassingly obsequious to anyone in authority.
cavil verb FORMAL
to make unreasonable complaints, especially about things that are not important
cavil noun [C] FORMAL
The one cavil I have about the book is that it is written as a diary.
source
We have a new quiz!
http://www.online-literature.com/for...php?quizid=386
jejune adjective FORMAL DISAPPROVING
very simple or childish:
He made jejune generalizations about how all students were lazy and never did any work.from Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn WaughQuote:
When at length I returned to my rooms and found them exactly as I had left them that morning, I detected a jejune air that had not irked me before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay
Hey, you looked that up! :D :thumbs_up
You were explaining something to me, if I remember correctly, and I was awfully grateful . . . how weird to remember that now. :alien:
In the light of the vicious vocab thread thought this might be what we nedd~~bump~~
I'm not sure if we have tried this one yet. How about a thread where you can post an interesting word you've come across and its definition. Lets come up with some good words. Are we not literate?
ca·price –noun [kuh-prees]
1. a sudden, unpredictable change, as of one's mind or the weather.
2. a tendency to change one's mind without apparent or adequate motive; whimsicality; capriciousness: With the caprice of a despotic king, he alternated between kindness and cruelty.
I like the way this word sounds:
pulchritude –physical beauty; comeliness.
bon vivant \bon-vee-VONT\, noun:
A person with refined and sociable tastes, especially one who enjoys fine food and drink.
Bon vivant comes from French bon, "good" (from Latin bonus) + vivant, present participle of vivre, "to live," from Latin vivere.
from www.dictionary.com
aphorism (af-uh-riz-uhm) - An aphorism is a short, pithy statement containing a truth of general import; an epigram is like an aphorism, but lacking in general import. Maxim and saying can be used as synonyms for aphorism.
re·ful·gent (ri-fuhl-juhnt) –adjective: shining brightly; radiant; gleaming: Crystal chandeliers and gilded walls made the opera house a refulgent setting for the ball.
votive candles lit in memory of someone in fullfillment of a vow to honor their death