tristful: /'trist-fel/

sad, melancholy

how to use in casual conversation:

"that ride to work this morning sure felt tristful"

not to be confused with:

wistful

how it makes me feel:

it certainly appears to be an appropriate entry for a day such as this one. you know what i'm talking about. the monday after a long weekend where that one or two well deserved and well placed days off results which reminded you what it was like to not constantly feel like some kind of desk surfing robot only to just as swiftly return to the desk of your discontent to be reminded of 'oh sweet jesus' how much you hate your job. maybe that's just me.

an apology:

sorry about last week. i was on a pseudo-vacation visiting family in california. i had every intention of posting through wednesday but i was a little bruised and hungover on tuesday and my primary occupation on wednesday morning was getting a burrito from campos. then there was the xbox. i logged something like 10 hours on assassin's creed 2 which was an odd feeling since i haven't spent that much time playing video games in something like 2 years. but it was a good reminder of how pedestrian and boring my life used to be and made me that much more grateful for the life and friends i have here in seattle so it wasn't all bad but either was i apologize.

pedantic: /pi-ˈdan-tik/

1 : of, relating to, or being a pedant
2 : narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned
3 : unimaginative, pedestrian

how to use in casual conversation:

"don't you hate it when you know someone whose 'art' is totally pedantic and you can't say anything? even when they refer to it as their 'art' and invite people over to 'do art'? i do."

not to be confused with:

didactic (click on this link and read it, it will change your life)

how it makes me feel:

well, WOTD wise its not terribly exciting. it's not bad. it's a good word. this word and i actually have a little bit of history. see my mom was a major debate dweeb in high school and while my father didn't receive a formal education until later in life he was quite a prolific reader. so growing up my parents were throwing big words around quite a bit, especially at each other. but my mom would always tell my dad he was being pedantic when really he was being facetious and when she'd tell him he was being facetious he was usually just being annoying. speaking of annoying i'm currently lounging around my sister's house in my manties because no one's home and i really don't want to put my pants on. vacation is sweet.

billingsgate: /bil-ingz-geyt /

coarsely or vulgarly abusive language.

how to use in casual conversation:

"not that i don't like my boss, it's just that the billingsgate he seems to enjoy throwing around at vendors is a little embarrassing."

not to be confused with:

bill gates (still waxing the ass of...)

how it makes me feel:

this is a good one. what it describes is near and dear to me. maybe not so much the 'abusive' aspect but i am always down for course or vulgar language. it's also a word that doesn't sound like it's definition which is something that always floats my boat. speaking of vulgar and abusive language......i'm going home for thanksgiving. and while i'm kind of looking forward to it, i'm also kind of not. 'specially since i realize how much of my time is going to be spent in front of my sisters giant tv with a direct tv remote in one hand and a bong in the other, never being that far away from the xbox controller or a decent burrito. i love my sister to death, i actually i love my whole family but that's not to say that there isn't always potential for our gatherings to erupt into a conflagration of self-righteous name calling and rehashing of 35-year-old traumas. it's a function of the fact that there's always plenty of booze and my family is generally snarky when they're sober. it's actually fun to watch so long as you aren't involved. that is until the little cousins start getting scared. but they're getting older now so maybe this year they'll jump on in there. i plan on drinking with my cousin rich and riding that sweet sweet wave of tryptophan all the way down to grandma's hardwood floor. what happens after that is someone else's problem. although last time that happened they threw a blanket over me and i learned the hard way that you can't lay in the fetal position of such a surface. but that's what 'life-long learning' is all about.

editorial note:

"Billingsgate is so called after Billingsgate, a former market in London celebrated for fish and foul language." - dictionary.com

anachronism: /uh-NAK-ruh-niz-um/

1 : an error in chronology; especially : a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other
2 : a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place; especially : one from a former age that is incongruous in the present
3 : the state or condition of being chronologically out of place

how to use in casual conversation:

"everytime i watch dr. who i'm surprised that none of the characters ever made a big deal about the anachronism of the doctor and his companion"

not to be confused with:

anacathartic

how it makes me feel:

i don't know about feelings on this one. but i do know that this is one of those days where i just really wish i was in bed still because i've woken up with my shoes on for the last two days which is an indication of a good night but not necessarily a comfy way to wake up. i'm also rather pressed for time at work and while i'll usually approach entries with a whatever kind of attitude today i allotted myself 10 minutes for this entry and we're currently on minute nine. so i thought this was a fitting WOTD since i am currently fixated with time. and because i love dr. who.

editorial note:

for the record, Rose Tyler was saucy. Martha Jones was not. Martha was smart, very smart, but not saucy.

WORD OFF!

this week's battle:

exegesis: /ek-si-jee-sis/

critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, esp. of the Bible.

vs.

littoral: /li-te-'ral/

of, relating to, or situated or growing on or near a shore, especially of the sea

last week's word winner:

asseverate

good call everyone. not only is asseverate an 'ass-' word which are always fun but douceur is pretty close to douche which taken in either it's literal of colloquial usage is not fun. ever seen that show tool academy? we watched an episode on our lunch break at work. i havent seen one since but i must say it was kind of intense. i wonder if those guys know how much fun is being made at their expense. even scarier is that some poor schlubs are probably envious of those dudes. *shivers* i mean yeah they could beat me up but bruises heal and chicks dig scars. that's what i heard on 'the simpsons' anyways...

flyting: /FLY-ting/

a dispute or exchange of personal abuse in verse form

how to use in casual conversation:

"i don't want to fight with you sweetheart, that is unless we're flyting"

not to be confused with:

flighty

how it makes me feel:

ohhh man. this is freaking brilliant. consider the overall improvement in
human-human relations if every time we got upset we had to articulate as
such in verse. no! - in haiku. picture an imaginary married couple:

"lay around the house
feet smell like dead marmot guts
why did we marry?"

"you were knocked up
father's shotgun threatening
i could have done worse"

or better yet imagine me interacting with all those goddamn seattlites who
refuse to properly yield the right of way to pedestrians and bicylcists while driving their stupid, stupid cars in the rain:

"own the road? no sir
right of way is mine, you ass.
sweet indignation"

editorial note:

i'm dedicating this entire post to my good friend anonymous on the internet, especially the haikus. happy early hanukkah - chowderhead.

hoi polloi: /hoi-puh-LOI/

the common people; the masses

how to use in casual conversation:

"it'll be easy to rob the hoi polloi of their hard earned wages"

not to be confused with:

oi polloi

how it makes me feel:

happy monday. it wasn't my first choice. the MW WOTD was dissertate which i would have chosen over a colloquial phrase which is slightly out of character for dictionary.com but when i tried to open the MW page at work i got a "server may be down" type message so i begrudgingly went with hoi polloi which as a former teenage anarchist i have to admit i have a soft spot for but i'm an old man now and wise enough to know that virtually every '-ism' is just another box people try to force things into to better be able to describe the world which isn't necessarily a bad thing except that it leads to you being a stubborn closed minded ideologue or worse yet infects you with a worldview which you then try to use to force the world into agreeing with ignoring nuance and grey areas which is what the world is really composed of and why waste all that grey matter trying to tell everyone what they are or are not just to have a cohesive outlook where everybody is either a 'them' or an 'us'. but then again it might be better than a life of equivocation and compromise.

carapace: /kar-uh-peys/

a bony or chitinous shield, test, or shell covering some or all of the dorsal part of an animal, as of a turtle.

how to use in casual conversation:

don't have time today

not to be confused with:

carrot face

how it makes me feel:

it's an excellent WOTD. but i have some things i need to deal with at work that are going to take make this the worst WOTDuh post ever. my apologies. have a good weekend.

WORD OFF!

this week's battle:

douceur: /dü-'ser/

a conciliatory gift

vs.

asseverate: /uh-sev-uh-reyt/

to declare earnestly or solemnly; affirm positively

last week's word winner:

skulduggery

i actually liked both words from last week invective is one of those words that stings. stings like a wasp not like a slap on the behind. however skulduggery is just one of those simply amazing words that sounds line funny little kid gibberish.

don't forget to vote!!!!!

forfend: /fawr-fend/

1. to defend, secure, or protect.
2. to fend off, avert, or prevent.

how to use in casual conversation:

"this coffee isn't doing anything to forfend me puking all over this cubicle"
"forfend your lady bits, have you no shame?"
"this whole 'trying to forfend imminent global disaster' thing is boring. sometimes a ship just has to sink."

not to be confused with:

portend

how it makes me feel:

i like it. it kinda makes me wonder why i've never heard of it. i've heard of fend and they're pretty close to each other in definition. but one is like maker's mark and the other is like old crow. don't get me wrong i've drank my share of old crow, but i know that i one saw a man use it to clean oil stains off his driveway and i can say with certainty that it'll do the same to your insides. so if someone else is buying i'll always take the shot of makers. i usually feel better about it in the morning. i really have no idea where i'm going with this. i'm not even sure how we got here. wait....where are we? i'm going back to sleep.

damn it! i just remembered i'm at work. screw it. i'm going back to sleep anyways.

day off: /dae-off/

a calendar day in which one refrains from tasks which would otherwise be considered laborious

how to use in casual conversation:

"i'm taking the day off"

not to be confused with:

face off

how it makes me feel:

don't ask.

here are your WOTDs, feel free to post your own WOTDuh entries in the comment section:

dictionary.com

merriam-webster.com

fungible: /fuhn-juh-buhl/

(esp. of goods) being of such nature or kind as to be freely exchangeable or replaceable, in whole or in part, for another of like nature or kind.

how to use in casual conversation:

"in this particular circumstance the term 'spliff' is wholly fungible with the word 'joint'."
"i feel like you consider me to be fungible with any other tall, skinny dude with a beard."

not be confused with:

fugacious

how it makes me feel:

it's a good word and a good WOTD. it's a good word because it has 'fun' in it, and as i have previously discussed any word with 'fun-' in it, is by it's very nature....fun. i don't make the rules. just the way it goes sometimes. it's a good word of the day because, well it has 'fun-' in it and it's sort of obscure. have you ever heard it before? actually, you might be smarter than (or at least have a better memory than) me so don't answer that question. but it's also been one f'ing hell of a monday, the kind on which you would have spent the first three hours of the day combing craigslist and/or monster trying to find a new job had you not been so damn busy because f' me if this place isn't stupid and then of course there's the background radiation that comes along with remembering your previous november traumas and before you know what's what you have your ipod turned up to full blast and can't hear anything that anyone around you is saying and they've figured out that you don't really want to be bothered and you can caulk it up 'a case of the mondays' if you really need to but who gives a crap what any of these people think anyways because after being a year and a half of being a temp it's pretty damn clear to everyone involved what your level of commitment and caring is to the point that no one seems shocked or asks questions when they walk past your desk and find you have the biotech/science jobs section open on your antiquated browser. i always say "i don't actually work here" and it is in fact kinda true.

monday can bite me. especially this particular monday.

nudnik: /'nud-nik/

a person who is a bore or nuisance

how to use in casual conversation:

"i may be a lot of things but a nudnik is not one of them"

not to be confused with:

sputnik

how it makes me feel:

the word itself isn't a whole lot to look at, so to speak. it's a little pedestrian as a WOTD but i do love the way people sound when they speak yiddish and i also like interjecting yiddish into everyday usage. i.e. babkes, chutzpuh, shtick, schlep, schlematzel. coincidentally, i've often wondered if a jewish magician would cast a spiel. i've also often wondered how many beers it would take for me to do the carmen electra strip-tease aerobic workout tape on a thursday night while someone video tapes it. the answer is eight. down-2-3-4-and up- 6-7-8-now hips-2-3-4-and spank-6-7-8. i haven't seen the videos yet since my work runs ie6 and blocks all good websites and even if i could see them at work i wouldn't be able to show them to you because the person that posted them made them private for the people involved. and her mom.

editorial note:

caitlin c. is one saucy bitch. most of you won't know what that means but a few of you will. have a good weekend.

maunder: /mawn-der/

1. to talk in a rambling, foolish, or meaningless way.
2. to move, go, or act in an aimless, confused manner

how to use in casual conversation:

"i think i'm gonna maunder over toward your side of town and stop at a few bars along the way"
"that homeless guy on the bus just kept maundering to anybody to who would listen, regardless of whether or not anyone was"

not to be confused with:

launder

how it makes me feel:

this word is freaking amazing. it's synonymous with meander which is also a kick ass word but it's also synonymous with gallivant, jaunt, and traipse all of which are excellent collections of letters. i also like the word for it's aesthetics. it makes me think of woody guthrie on his library of congress recordings where he's telling stories about the songs and his travels and how they came to be and it just sounds so goddamn beautiful. i personally have spent the last two years of the verge or dropping everything and maundering about the US (which is how i wound up here). because let's face it, at the end of your life what the hell is a career but a pool of co-workers who are willing to show up to your funeral and say what a nice person you were, assuming you don't live 20 years after retirement in which case everyone has long since forgotten you or died. and what good is rent when all it does is pay someone else's mortgage while the property appreciates, i mean my landlord is the nicest lady ever and she hasn't raised the rent in over 5 years but wouldn't our lives be better spent on the back of a scooter, putting around the south in the winter and sliding up north during the summer? digging ditches when you need to just to muster up enough money for gas and food which would certainly entitle you to 10 minutes alone with the restroom key so you can wash your face and possibly your reproductive parts but definitely your arm pits. why is life only meaningful in the context of being validated by or helping others? what if some of us are born to just move from place to place taking in everything we can and demonstrating that you don't have to do things the way 'they' tell you and just because everyone you went to high school with got married and bought a condo doesn't mean you should try to live up to those arbitrary standards where overall success is measured by how much you've earned and spent and how little interest you managed to pay along the way, because the one part 'they' never tell you about the school-college-marriage-property-babies sequence of life events are the consequences of trying to live that life and failing miserably. not that i know anything about that.

WORD OFF!

this week's battle:

skulduggery: /skuhl-duhg-uh-ree/

1. dishonorable proceedings; mean dishonesty or trickery
2. an instance of dishonest or deceitful behavior; trick

vs.

invective: /in-'vek-tiv/

of, relating to, or characterized by insult or abuse

last week's word winner:

luculent

i wasn't impressed with last week's choices myself. such that i don't even remember which one i voted for. speaking of voting, my guy is ahead by something on the order of 910 votes but the seattle mayoral race is still too close to call. all things being equal - always vote for the guy with the beard.

sommelier: /suhm-uhl-yey/

a waiter, as in a club or restaurant, who is in charge of wines

how to use in casual conversation:

"this restaurant has the most lovely sommelier"
"that jerk better work for his tips, he better be doing sommelier-ersaults"

not to be confused with:

nothing rhymes with sommelier. so if you confuse it with something else, you're obviously stupid.

how it makes me feel:

it kinda gives me an odd feeling. to start, the word sommelier is essentially synonymous with asshole. like that one knob on top chef whose name i can't remember. i hated that guy. it kind of reminds me of the time i was a kid and i asked my mom what it meant when someone had 'esq.' (as in esquire) after their name. she said "it means they're a pretentious asshole". it took me another couple of years to get a serious answer to my question and only then did i get a joke. thanks vicky. btw, vicky likes wine. but as far as i'm concerned if you ain't got a bottle of chuck somewhere behind the bar don't even bother to show me the wine list. it's just that red wine kind of gives me heart burn after the first bottle and that 2008 australian chardonnay was the bomb. plus wine is expensive. $8 a glass? for that money i can get 4 pbrs at any hour or 8 cans of oly between 5 and 7 on weekdays.

voluble: /väl-yu-bel/

1 : easily rolling or turning
2 : characterized by ready or rapid speech

how to use in casual conversation:
"i have for most of my life survived most situations by becoming instantly voluble and finding my way out of trouble"
"this wheel is pretty voluble"

not to be confused with:

volatile

how it makes me feel:

it's ok. i'm never really excited about what MW puts out, especially not on a monday. but last week was all dictionary.com and i'm feeling like i need to balance the universe and this is a lot better than the crap they were putting out last week. hobhob? pescatarian? freaking gag me already.

editorial note:

happy monday. lets just hope it can't get any worse than it feels right now.