word of the duh

2010-07-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD!

occlude: /uh-klood/

1. to shut in, out, or off.
2. physical chemistry - (of certain metals and other solids) to incorporate (gases and other foreign substances), as by absorption or adsorption.
3. dentistry - to shut or close, with the cusps of the opposing teeth of the upper and lower jaws fitting together.

last week's result:

according to a weighted average of your votes, spoor is a:

3

(2.875 to be precise)

....which sucks because y'all gave gizmo the same rating as spoor. spoor. really? i don't even think spoor deserves to be considered a word. plus, we already have a word for spoor. it's called 'track'. track isn't exciting but it isn't spoor. spoor feels like something someone does to you, not something you do an animal...i.e. "OMG, he took me back to his place, we started making out, i'm totally into it, then all the sudden he starts to spoor me! do i look like someone who'd wanna spoor? freaking pervert!"

2010-07-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

impedimenta: /im-ped-uh-men-tuh/

baggage or other things that retard one's progress

how to use in casual conversation:

"i have too much impedimenta to be in a relationship, baby"

not to be confused with:

magenta

how it makes me feel:

impeded. it's a good word. it's a latin derivative. latin is good. i like latin. yet for some reason i just kinda wanna nod my head and go "yup". and be done with it. but that wouldn't be fair to you. i figure you come here to read something. right? so how about this....

a story:

the why isn't important but my friend and I ended up walking home from a party a couple weeks ago. i was pretty hungry so we stopped for a burritos on "the ave".

my friend had to wait for the 44, so as we were walking down the ave to his stop he decided to take his burritos out and try to eat it. just as he took it out of the bag, the obviously intoxicated, heavy-set, young asian man randomly sitting on the stairs jumps up and just grabs at my friend's burrito.

at this point I was still buzzed and confused as shit. the only thing I could think to do was very sternly say "nooooooo!", in exactly the way you would reprimand a child or domestic animal.

apparently that was enough.

the only thing fatty could do was say "noooooo!" back, following it up with "ill stab you!". but seeing as how he said that as he was awkwardly positioning his jolly frame back down onto the stairs we found him on, I didn't take it to be a credible threat and we kept walking.

the moral of the story? don't mess with my friend's burrito or i will scold you!

2010-07-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

WORD OF THE WEEK!

subtilize: /suht-l-ahyz/

–verb (used with object)
1. to elevate in character; sublimate.
2. to make (the mind, senses, etc.) keen or discerning; sharpen.
3. to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.
4. to make thin, rare, or more fluid or volatile; refine.
–verb (used without object)
5. to make subtle distinctions or to argue subtly.

vestigial: /ve-stij-ee-uh/

of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a vestige

spoor: /spohr/

–noun
1. a track or trail, esp. that of a wild animal pursued as game.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
2. to track by or follow a spoor.

brannigan: /bran-i-guhn/

1. a carouse.
2. a squabble; brawl.

undercast: /uhn-der-kast/

1. mining - a crossing of two passages, as airways, dug at the same level so that one descends to pass beneath the other without any opening into it.
2. meteorology - an overcast layer of clouds viewed from above

last week's word winner:

squelch

i know, i thought it was a weird result too. i'm gonna chalk this exercise in poor taste up to the fact that none of you had a proper appreciation for gremlins during y'alls childhoods.

gizmo!!!!

2010-07-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

brannigan: /bran-i-guhn/

–noun
1. a carouse.
2. a squabble.
3. this guy...

how to use in causal conversation:

"there is something about your face that makes me want to start a brannigan"

not to be confused with:

mulligan

how it makes me feel:

anything that allows me to make a futurama reference is A-OK by me.

2010-07-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD!

spoor: /spohr/

–noun
1. a track or trail, esp. that of a wild animal pursued as game.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
2. to track by or follow a spoor.

last week's result:

according to a weighted average of your votes gizmo is a:

3

(2.538461538 to be precise)

argh. gizmo! i love gizmo! i'll admit, it's a lousy word. even as hogwash sounding words go, it's pretty weak. that is, it isn't a 'bumfuzzled' or anything like that - but gizmo! how can you think gizmo is a 3?! he's so cute!!!

2010-07-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

vestigial: /ve-stij-ee-uhl/

1. of, relating to, or constituting a vestige.
2. biology occurring or persisting as a rudimentary or degenerate structure.
3. your appendix

how to use in casual conversation:

"much like the coccyx, your existence has become a vestigial structure on the body that is humanity"

not to be confused with:

virginal

how it makes me feel:

darwinian!

that's it.

2010-07-09T11:27:00.001-07:00

WORD OF THE WEEK!

squelch: /skwelch/

–verb (used with object)
1. to strike or press with crushing force
2. to put down, suppress, or silence, as with a crushing retort or argument.
–verb (used without object)
3. to make a splashing sound.
4. to tread heavily in water, mud, wet shoes, etc., with such a sound.
–noun
5. a squelched or crushed mass of anything.
6. a splashing sound.
7. an act of squelching or suppressing, as by a crushing retort or argument.
8. Also called squelch circuit, noise suppressor. Electronics . a circuit in a receiver, as a radio receiver, that automatically reduces or eliminates noise when the receiver is tuned to a frequency at which virtually no carrier wave occurs.

bijou: /bee-zhoo/

1. a jewel.
2. something small, delicate, and exquisitely wrought.

gizmo /giz-moh/

1.A mechanical device or part whose name is forgotten or unknown

sibylline: /sib-uh-lean/

1. of, resembling, or characteristic of a sibyl; prophetic
2. mysterious

tantivy: /tan-tiv-ee/

–adverb
1. at full gallop
–adjective
2. swift
–noun
3. a gallop
–interjection
4. (used as a hunting cry when the chase is at full speed.)

happy voting, chowderheads!

2010-07-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

sibylline: /sib-uh-lean/

1. of, resembling, or characteristic of a sibyl; prophetic
2. mysterious
3. this guy....

how to use in casual conversation:

"it turns out that all that whining you did last month about it 'not feeling like summer' was incredibly sibylline."

not to be confused with:

alabastrine

how it makes me feel:

it kinda makes me feel like i'm looking at a whale in a g-string and when i say whale i mean the water mammal not as in a mean-way-of-telling-someone-something-they-already-probably-know. that is, i don't really know what anyone expects me to do with it. it's like a set of fireplace tools when you don't own a fireplace. it's like a million spoons when all you need is a knife. no, wait, that's ironic. don't you think? actually that isn't all that ironic. that's what happens when you bring a steak to an ice cream social, you fucking twit! (no, that wasn't a typo) and btw, most of that album is uncle joey's fault.

long story short: i'd rather just use the word 'prophetic'.

2010-07-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD!

gizmo: /GIZ-moh/

1. a mechanical device or part whose name is forgotten or unknown

yay for the return of rate-a-word! happy voting! (click that if you're using reader or whatever)

2010-07-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

bijou: /bee-zhoo/

1. a jewel.

2. something small, delicate, and exquisitely wrought.
3. this chick......

how to use in casual conversation:

"this bar is......i dunno, it feels kind of, bijou. much like my heart"

not to be confused with:

bayou

how it makes me feel:

to be honest, it just feels good to be back. so good in fact that i will ignore the fact that this is a fairly pedestrian word not to mention being of french origin. though i suppose that i should be grateful just to have an opportunity to use a photo of james "gollum" carville.

note:

as previously mentioned i am back from my sabbatical and ready to rock and roll on that WOTD tip. there are going to be some changes and a new feature (to limit the days where i actually have to compose a post) so stick around/come back/tell your friends but not your mom. even though things are changing, rest assured that the poor grammar and large number of typos will remain.

he's coming back y'all

2010-06-17T15:43:00.001-07:00

july 5th.

we resume.

stay tuned

on hiatus

2010-06-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

i need to take a break. i am finding it more and more difficult to find the time to post and i am going to step away for a while. actually, i already have. i've just now deciding to tell you. i'll be back once i have a chance to regroup and find a way to integrate posting into my routine. so slip me into your reader there so you'll know when i've figured out how to be sly and not have anyone i work with be aware of my internet activities.

ok. thanks. bye.
pony

2010-05-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

regnant: /reg-nuhnt/

1. reigning; ruling

2. exercising authority, rule, or influence.

3. prevalent; widespread.

how to use in casual conversation:

"i am the regnant authority on this here dance floor, son"

not to be confused with:

pregnant

how it makes me feel:

i like it. this word has marbles. (balls, moxie, gravitas, etc.) it sounds like putting your sack down. well not exactly. that kinda sounds like 'thud' but you get the point. if i was arguing with someone and they pulled out regnant, there's a good chance i would capitulate. not if you and i were arguing though. only if you do so spontaneously. if i know you read my blog, it won't work.

2010-05-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD

foppery: /ˈfä-p(ə-)rē/

1 : foolish character or action: folly
2 : the behavior or dress of a fop

last week's result:

according to a weighted average of your votes tipple is a:

2

(2.2777777777777778 to be precise)

i didn't think it was that bad...nor was i impressed either. in the hands of a skilled and thoughtful individual this word could be used to do great things but in the hands of a moron it could lead to disaster. kinda like nuclear energy.

personal note:

happy birthday, sis.

2010-05-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

WORD OFF!

bully pulpit: /BULL-ee-PULL-pit/

a prominent public position (as a political office) that provides an opportunity for expounding one's view

vs.

plucky: /PLUHK-ee/

having or showing pluck or courage

the winner from two weeks ago:

perpend

perpend was the winner, but only by one vote. it wasn't a terribly exciting contest, i know. i think it was because neither of the words really jumped out at you, as neither was very awesome on their own. it was like watching the mariners play baltimore. yeah, somebody is gonna win, but you're still watching a couple of losers. GO MARINERS!!!

2010-05-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

habitué: /huh-bich-oo-ey/

a frequent or habitual visitor to a place

how to use in casual conversation:

"i could easily see myself becoming a habitué of titty bars, but not until i am much, much older."

not to be confused with:

festue

how it makes me feel:

xenophobic. look, i don't believe that it's ok to pre-judge any person based on where they come from or look like. it's just kind of wrong. sure there are certain qualities that are unique to each culture; we all want to be part of something and sometimes the best way of doing that is to choose some arbitrary way of doing things, propagating it through the culture, eventually, collectively saying "it's just who we are". but with that said, i hate the french. not because of WWII, not because they wouldn't invade iraq, just because i hate arrogance. also (may have said this before) i used to work for a french company and let's just say i wouldn't do that again. so while i would never turn my back on french person, i can say, without reservation, fuck the french.

2010-05-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD

tipple: /tip-uhl/

1. to drink intoxicating liquor, esp. habitually or to some excess.
2. to drink (intoxicating liquor), esp. repeatedly, in small quantities.
3. intoxicating liquor.

last week's results:

based on a weighted average of your votes, mugwump is a

4

(4.346153846 to be precise, not to mention the highest ranking word ever in the history of the R-A-W feature)

good job peoples.

2010-05-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD

mugwump: /muhg-wuhmp/

1. a Republican who refused to support the party nominee, James G. Blaine, in the presidential campaign of 1884.

2. a person who is unable to make up his or her mind on an issue, esp. in politics; a person who is neutral on a controversial issue.

this was technically yesterday's word but i'm making an exception for the sake of us having a rad R-A-W this week.

last week's results:

based on a weighted average of your votes iatrogenic is a:

4

(3.714285714 to be precise)

i'm satisfied with the result. that's all.

2010-05-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

WORD OFF!

perpend: /pur-puhnd/

–noun

a large stone passing through the entire thickness of a wall.

–verb (used with object)

to consider.

vs.

plagiary: /ˈplā-jē-er-ē/

1 : archaic one that plagiarizes
2 : plagiarism

results from two weeks ago:

you all decided that wastrel and alacrity are equals? you all can kiss my ghostly pale irish ass.

2010-05-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

vamoose: /va-moos/

to leave hurriedly or quickly; decamp.

how to use in casual conversation:

"that asshole vamoosed with all the beer"
"sir, i'm afraid i'm going to have to ask you to vamoose the premises"

not to be confused with:

trampoose

how it makes me feel:

as my good friend would say "sexcellent". i really like this word. why? because it sounds fun. it's a fairly dismissive term but it also has a hint of whimsy to it. it's like referring to someone you think is an asshole by calling them 'fluffy' or something like that. i.e.:

"hey fluffy, vamoose!"

also, it's origins are reportedly rooted in the spanish "vamos" (to go) and was bastardized and folded into american culture, much like a burrito or the pervasive use of ground beef, cheese and lettuce to make tacos. lastly, the '-moose' sound is pretty prevalent here which is just an extra bonus since i borrowed 'into the wild' from the library and watched it while i was home sick today (actually yesterday, it's confusing since i'm writing this today and not yesterday) and if that poor bastard had just been able to keep those maggots off that moose meat, jon krakauer would've only been known for hating mormons. or something like that.

apology:

i've been slacking. i know. it's just that when i'm at work they kind of expect me to do work now. it's weird for me too. also, i was in vegas over the weekend celebrating my homies' bachelor party. which probably explains why i was home sick yesterday. i'm catching up. i'm sorry.

2010-05-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD!

iatrogenic: /ahy-a-truh-jen-ik/

caused by the diagnosis, manner, or treatment of a physician.

last week's result:

soi-disant

based on a weighted average of your votes, soi-disant is a:

3

(2.8 to be precise)

i didn't like this one. first of all it came from M-W and while i have in the past stated how much M-W just plain sucks, i'm revising my opinion to say that sometimes they suck. perhaps suck isn't the right word. it would be more fair to say that they aren't really considering the individual value of their WOTDs and are perhaps instead just finding ANY WOTD regardless of it's practical value. practical value matters to me which may be why they keep pissing me off.

2010-04-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

pellucid: /puh-loo-sid/

1. allowing the maximum passage of light, as glass
2. clear or limpid
3. clear in meaning, expression, or style

how to use in casual conversation:

"the pellucid and peaceful nature of your words was so relaxing that i couldn't help but to go right ahead and poop myself"

not to be confused with:

dilucid

how it makes me feel:

i like it. we're all familiar with the word lucid and while this one is most definitely related to lucid, pellucid just sounds better even though they seem to be interchangeable. it isn't like the relationship between penultimate and ultimate where you could ignorantly use the latter term thinking it's the former but making yourself look stupid in the process. ever played penultimate frisbee? it's just like ultimate frisbee but your team always comes in second. HA! not funny...

2010-04-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD!

soi-disant: /swah-dee-ZAHNG/

self-proclaimed, so-called

last week's results:

agrestic

based on a weighted average of your votes, agrestic is a:

4

(3.923076923 to be precise)

i would have given it a 3. it was good, but not great. it was like raul castro, not fidel. casey affleck instead of ben. jelly instead of preserves. latex, not sheepskin.

2010-04-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

WORD OFF!

wastrel: /wey-struhl/

1. a wasteful person
2. chiefly british.
a. refuse
b. a waif
c. an idler or good-for-nothing.

vs.

alacrity: /uh-LAK-ruh-tee/

promptness in response

last week's word winner:

pelf

i'm pretty ok with the result here. not that it was up to me, just that i agree with the result. i'm sorry, i'm not trying to argue. i'm just saying i'm glad it turned out this way. no, i don't MEAN anything by it. it's just that sometimes i don't get why people pick the words they do and this week, i did. jesus, i don't think the world revolves around me. i'm just happy. why don't you ever want me to be happy? you're only pleased when i feel like crap. that's it. wedding is off.

2010-04-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

empyrean: /em-puh-ree-uhn/

1. the highest heaven, supposed by the ancients to contain the pure element of fire.
2. the visible heavens

how to use in casual conversation:

"sometimes i look up to the empyrean and wonder if today will be the day the universe collapses in on itself."

not to be confused with:

papyrean

how it makes me feel:

i'm gonna go with jesusy. yes. jesusy. that's an adjective, right? a jesusy man.

jesusy: /gee-sus-ee/

of or pertaining to jesus

i never think about jesus. that's not true. i do think about jesus but in more of a "are you drinking with me jesus?" way as opposed to an "oh lord, who art in heaven..." kind of thing. i grew up in southern california and knew tons of hispanic dudes named jesus (like, 'hey-zeus') but i have never met a white guy named jesus ('gee-sus') or jesus ('hey-zeus') for that matter. but what do i know? i'm an atheist except on days when i listen to johnny cash. have i said all this before? oh well, you'll read it again anyway won't you?

p.s.:

if you feel inclined to write me an email telling me i'm going to hell, don't bother - i already know. thanks. toodles.

2010-04-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD!!!

agrestic: /uh-gres-tik/

1. rural; rustic.
2. unpolished; awkward

last week's results:

ne plus ultra

based on a weighted average of your votes, ne plus ultra is a:

2

(2.357142857 to be precise)

pretty sure i said all i needed to say about this last week.

speaking of agrestic:

today is april 20th. thats right, 420. which also happens to be hitler's birthday.

let me be careful and clear here - i love marijuana. i admit it. pot is, by far the best drug. BUT - it isn't the only drug, nor is it the best thing that ever happened to mankind such that it becomes advisable or acceptable to develop a one-dimensional personality based solely around the fact THAT YOU SMOKE POT!

so, today if you happen to see a bunch of scuzzy kids hanging out in a park who have nothing better to talk about besides "how rad hempfest was", remind them that there are equally as stupid people celebrating the life of a bavarian art school reject who engaged in a systematic extermination of an entire ethnic and religious group for the crime of a few of it's members not believing in his ability to paint professionally and that they aren't much better than them. ok, maybe that's a little harsh. but seriously people...don't be stupid. it’s just pot.

2010-04-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

WORD OFF!

pelf: /pelf/

money or wealth, esp. when regarded with contempt or acquired by reprehensible means.

vs.

scour: /skow-er/

1: to move about quickly especially in search
2: to go through or range over in or as if in a search

last week's word winner:

interlard

i was actually rooting for interlard. it sounds squishy or like a centralized marketplace for the exchange and manipulation of animal fats. which i admit is an uncomfortable thought, even for an omnivore like myself but it still sounds like fun although still somewhat gross. that is, gross in a double dare kind of way not a fear factor kind of way.

2010-04-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

bloviate: /bloh-vee-eyt/

to speak pompously.

how to use in casual conversation:

"i've had just about enough of your bloviation"
"hey jerkwad! bloviate me!

not to be confused with:

breviate

how it makes me feel:

i love this one - here's why: because it could be used comically in place of felatio (see: "how to use in casual conversation"). also, who likes pompous speakers? nobody! it's good to have a word for assholes like that. actually, i'm wrong. their are people who make their livings entirely off bloviation. whatever.

2010-04-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD!

ne plus ultra

1. the highest point; acme.
2. the most intense degree of a quality or state.

last week's results:

land of nod

based on a weighted average of your votes, land of nod is a:

2

(2.1428571428571428571428571428571 to be precise)

turns out 'land of nod' sucks. i probably could have told you that. actually, i think i might have in the initial post. let me check.....right. i slammed it pretty good going into the contest which i usually don't do but this was a special case. i don't know what's going on over at dictionary.com but they're falling into the old merriam-webster "we're just going to throw you some phrase and call it a WOTD" trap. at least m-w would use only latin phrases. phrases aren't words. some words can be phrases and conversely some phrases, words but i'm pretty sure that not all phrases are words. and if my memory serves (which it usually doesn't) i got a solid 'b' in critical thinking so you should totally trust, without question, everything that i write. just don't copy and paste it without doing a spell and grammar check first...

"put that in your venn diagram and smoke it!"

2010-04-09T16:00:00.000-07:00

WORD OFF!

interlard: /in-ter-lahrd/

1. to diversify by adding or interjecting something unique, striking, or contrasting (usually fol. by with): to interlard one's speech with oaths.
2. (of things) to be intermixed in.
3. obsolete. to mix, as fat with lean meat.

vs.

inkling: /iŋ-kliŋ/

1 : a slight indication or suggestion
2 : a slight knowledge or vague notion

last week's word winner:

hugger-mugger

really?!?!

this just further proves that there's no accounting for taste.

2010-04-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

megrim: /mee-grim/

1. low spirits
2. a whim or caprice.
3. migraine.

how to use in casual conversation:

"i know you'd like it if i was all megrim and stuff. too bad"
"on a megrim, i decided to start collecting the white hairs i periodically find in my beard"

not to be confused with:

stay grim

how it makes me feel:

this is a weird one. it gets points for obscurity which is always good but the differing definitions seem to be at odds. having low spirits and having a migraine would seem to be complementary:

"i'm megrim about this megrim" (this migraine has got me down)

nobody would look at you funny for that, right?

but throwing 'a whim' in there just makes it confusing:

"i'm megrim on a megrim" (i'm sad on a whim)

-or-

"on a megrim i gave myself a megrim" (i gave myself a skull-crushing headache because i felt like it)

if someone said that to me (and i sifted through the possible meanings to confirm they are saying what i think they're saying) the first thought that would come to mind would be something along the lines of "geez, who let the goth in?" or "cheer-up emo kid". however, using the same word twice in a sentence when it has different meanings and the same spelling would be sort of stupid to begin with so perhaps in the interest of being fair to the word i should just shut up, spell check this bad-boy and hit publish...

2010-04-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD!

land of nod: /nod/

the mythical land of sleep

i am just about fully prepared to call this an abysmal failure on the part of dictionary.com. first of all, it's a phrase. second of all, it's kind of some hokey-ass bull-pucky. even with those two things notched up against dictionary today, it was better than tantalize which is what m-w.com was offering. seriously - f' merriam-webster. f' them right in their stupid wernicke's areas. yeesh.

last week's result:

popinjay

according to a weighted average of your votes popinjay is a:

4

(3.625 to be precise)

i didn't really like that one too much either......

2010-04-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

slake: /sleyk/

–verb (used with object)
1. to allay (thirst, desire, wrath, etc.) by satisfying.
2. to cool or refresh
3. to make less active, vigorous, intense, etc.
4. to cause disintegration of (lime) by treatment with water.
5. obsolete to make loose or less tense
–verb (used without object)
6. (of lime) to become slaked.
7. archaic to become less active, intense, vigorous, etc.; abate.

how to use in casual conversation:

"i don't know if it's just because i'm getting old or what, but every time i go to a punk show i have to slake my balls when i get home"
"you're never going to dissolve that body properly if you don't slake that lime"

not to be confused with:

flake

how it makes me feel:

well, i'm pretty indifferent about it. i'm pretty indifferent about everything today - even the weather. apparently we're expecting some hairy atmospheric action here in western washington tonight. they're even warning us about power outages. but here's the thing about seattle weather - it NEVER materializes the way they tell you it's going to. so, i'm going out drinking tonight. supposedly we're avoiding golden city ("skip the restaurant and just dare to walk through the red door"), because we always go to golden city but the drinks are strong and cheap and we aren't "crabbers" which means we have money and don't generally start fights so they like us. plus, they have pbr in a bottle which while slightly more expensive than it would be if it were on tap, is still my favorite pbr delivery vector. but then again, you wouldn't want to even think about sleeping with anyone you'd meet at golden city plus kings has $2 tall cans of rainier AND skeeball . though the crowd doesn't get a little 'bellevue' on the weekends!

a friendly note:

have a swell weekend worders and wordettes!

2010-04-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

WORD OFF!

hugger-mugger: /huhg-er-muhg-er/

–noun
1. disorder or confusion
2. secrecy; reticence
–adjective
3. secret or clandestine.
4. disorderly or confused.
–verb (used with object)
5. to keep secret or concealed.
–verb (used without object)
6. to act secretly.

vs.

puerile: /pyu-r-i-l/

1: juvenile
2: childish, silly

results from two weeks ago:

magniloquent

by a 2-1 margin, magniloquent is the winner. in my opinion it isn't an interesting WOTD but it is by far one of the most elegant words i've come across. doesn't it just sound classy? magniloquent. say it with me...magniloquent...ahhhhh yeah.

for those of you who refuse to click out of reader - get over it!

2010-03-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

bedizen: /bih-dahy-zuhn/

to dress or adorn in a showy, gaudy, or tasteless manner.

how to use in casual conversation:

"what the hell makes you think it's ok to bedizen your 12-year-old daughter in victoria secret clothing and sweats with things written across their asses?"

not to be confused with:

denizen

how it makes me feel:

i'm okay with it. it isn't exactly like 'whoa!' but it isn't bad. i'd prefer it had more syllables. i was looking for a link between denizen and bedizen but it seems like a bit of a goose chase. then both end in '-zen' however, denizen is derived from the word deinz and bedizen is derived from dizen which is weird since they're anagrams of each other but don't have origins in the same time frame and one seems to appear in old and middle english but the other doesn't.

i have no idea what any of that means.

what i do know is that if i could become a bed-denizen i'd be a happy man.

2010-03-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD!

popinjay: /pop-in-jey/

1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
2. british dialect. a woodpecker, esp. the green woodpecker.
3. archaic. the figure of a parrot usually fixed on a pole and used as a target in archery and gun shooting.
4. archaic. a parrot.

last week's results:

exiguous

based on a weighted average of your votes exiguous is a :

4

(4.25 to be precise)

this could possibly be the highest result we've had in the short but exciting history of the RATE-A-WORD! feature. personally, i would have rather seen didactic score this high. but if i could read the pulse of a population of people i'd be president by now. well, 7 years from becoming president. damned constitutional age requirements....PONY FOR AMERICA! 2020!

note:

i'm screwing with the format to improve readability. also, i was reviewing old posts yesterday and noticed the staggering number of typos and spelling errors. i apologize. i swear i'm not as stupid as my use of the written word would imply. i just don't do a very good job of proofreading. thank you for your patience.

2010-03-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

uxorial: /uk-sor-ē-l/

of, relating to, or characteristic of a wife

how to use in casual conversation:

"if i felt i needed assistance of an uxorial nature, i would have stayed married"

not to be confused with:

unction

how it makes me feel:

this one is pretty good. first of all, it's fairly esoteric. i've never heard of it and i think some of you are going to say the same thing. it's also a latin derivative which also makes me think this word is pretty ok. additionally, i was married once (i know, hard to believe) and while i'm not bitter anymore i do take every opportunity to make ex-wife jokes, because why go through the trouble of getting divorced if you can't make ex-wife jokes regardless of how accurate they are?

i.e.:

"fuck, it's cold today"
"yeah, but not as cold as my ex-wife"
"......"

that kind of thing.

i hope she doesn't read this blog.

2010-03-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

defenestrate: /dē-fěn'ĭ-strāt'/

to throw out of a window

how to use in casual conversation:

"i love living on the fourth floor because i can defenestrate feces at passers-by and no one knows the difference!"

not to be confused with:

not sure. help me out here...

how it makes me feel:

i love this fucking word! no seriously, i would abandon everyone of my friends if this word asked me to. i would move back to simi valley if this word asked me to. i would stop drinking and smoking and doing drugs and save all my money to buy this word a big fat ring and make it unreasonable promises about the future. i would start drinking again when this word eventually decides to rip my heart out of my chest and show it to me. i would spend months on end saying horrible things about this word to anybody who would listen. i would drunk dial it and tell it how it ruined my life. two years later i would wonder how i ever let this word hurt me so bad. that is until alacrity enters my life to remind me of my feelings for defenestrate and then there i am back where i started with a broken heart and a bottle of rye, yelling at children walking around greenlake with their parents about how they "have no idea what life is going to do to them" and exposing myself to old ladies. isn't love grand?

2010-03-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD!

exiguous: /ig-zig-yoo-uhs/

scanty; meager; small; slender

last week's result:

hirsute

based on a weighted average of your votes hirsute is a:

4

(3.95 to be precise)

you guys were really into that one. especially people who know me in real life. i got a lot of emails and gchats telling me how hirsute i am. smartasses......

don't forget to vote yall!

2010-03-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

WORD OFF!

magniloquent: /mag-NIL-uh-kwunt/

speaking in or characterized by a high-flown often bombastic style or manner

vs.

cozen: /KUZ-un/

to cheat, deceive, or trick

results from two weeks ago:

fealty

yeah, the options really weren't that great. personally speaking i would have voted for licit, mainly because i like the word 'illicit'. thought i like the definition of illicit more than i like the definition of licit. licit things are boring. illicit is where it's at. you never hear anybody saying "man, i had the craziest night last night. i was doing licit drugs and drinking soda like it was nobodies business". it just doesn't happen. oh well.

reader-monkeys: don't forget to vote!

2010-03-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

potable: /poh-tuh-buhl/

–adjective
1. fit or suitable for drinking: potable water.
–noun
2. Usually, potables. drinkable liquids; beverages.

how to use in casual conversation:

portable water? that doesn't make sense. how can water be portable? huh? potable? that doesn't make any sense!"

not to be confused with:

[see above]

how it makes me feel:

it makes me nostalgic. i don't know about any of you but i distinctly remember being confused about this word when i was a kid. i'm having a particular flashback to a giant water truck full of potable water they used to control the dust at that one boy scout jamboree when i was 11. it wasn't first time i had seen the word but it was the first time it finally sunk in that the whole word wasn't misspelling portable at that there actually was a word 'potable'. incidentally i learned today that 46% of people living in africa don't have access to potable water. that sucks.

2010-03-16T03:31:00.000-07:00

RATE-A-WORD

hirsute: /hur-soot/

1. hairy; shaggy.
2. botany, zoology. covered with long, rather stiff hairs.
3. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of hair.

results from two weeks ago:

didactic

based on a weighted average of your votes didactic is a:

3

(3.2 to be precise)

seriously?!?! 3?!?! didactic is an amazing word!

what is wrong with you people?!

2010-03-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!

licit: /LISS-it/

: conforming to the requirements of the law : not forbidden by law

vs.

fealty: /fee-uhl-tee/

1. History/Historical.
a. fidelity to a lord.
b. the obligation or the engagement to be faithful to a lord, usually sworn to by a vassal.
2. fidelity; faithfulness.

last week's results:

gregarious won. by a lot. i have exactly 30 seconds before i lose my internet access at work forever. so this is a shorty.

don't forget to vote!

2010-03-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

eructation: /ih-ruhk-TAY-shuhn/

1. the act of belching; a belch.

how to use in casual conversation:

"i've got this massive eructation all up in me"

not be confused with:

surreption

how it makes me feel:

like a seventh grader. i.e. "haha, sean had an eructation in english class today". kinda like when we used to tell people that their "epidermis was showing" or said "hey, wanna fondle my weenis?"

2010-03-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

RATE-A-WORD!

didactic: /dī-dak-tik/

1 a : designed or intended to teach
b : intended to convey instruction and information as well as pleasure and entertainment
2 : making moral observations

last week's result:

fructuous

based on a weighted average of your votes, fructuous is a:

3

(3.045454545454545454545454545 to be precise)

this one really wasn't all that exciting. it made me think of fructose which is somewhat interesting to use dorks that love biology but otherwise a generally useless thought. whatev.

don't forget to vote!

2010-02-26T10:15:00.000-08:00

mulct: /muhlkt/

–verb (used with object)
1. to deprive (someone) of something, as by fraud, extortion, etc.; swindle.
2. to obtain (money or the like) by fraud, extortion, etc.
3. to punish (a person) by fine, esp. for a misdemeanor.
–noun
4. a fine, esp. for a misdemeanor.

how to use in casual conversation:

"i've never been mulcted quite like that before"
"i went to this party, and everyone was mulcting each other, it was awkward"

not to be confused with:

mulch

how it makes me feel:

in a word: bleggghhhh. this word is kinda gross. it reminds me of one of those really extreme sex acts involving someones rectum (damn near killed 'em) that you hear about so much about on the intertubes. it feels like it should be the name for what was happening on that 'two girls one cup' video. remember that? yeesh. not that there's anything wrong with that, i mean everybody has there own thing that they're into - but mulct feels icky to say. not only is the -lct ending awkward but the 'mu-' part just makes it feel like you just walked into a sex club to find your significant other contorted into a position you never would have though them capable, much less willing to put themselves into and surrounded by strangers doing things the marquee de sade would have been impressed with and the only thing they can manage to say to you is "we need to talk". which as we all know is one of the worst things you can hear when you're in a relationship and words that you should never say to another human being you're in a relationship with. speaking of which....

we need to talk:

right, so i got this new job. i'm excited. i'm pretty sure it's going to be fucking amazing. but my ability to blog will possibly be hampered by the fact that i might actually want to make a contribution to the overall harmony and functioning of the company i am to be working for. in other words, i think i'm gonna like this job and i don't want to screw it up by screwing off on the internet for the first hour of the day like i do now, at least not yet. so that leaves us with a few options.

do entries as i am able too, even if posted later in the day or if a day gets skipped here or there.
"what are you ambitious now!? f' your job, give me my posts!"
retire it - we've had a good run
retire it - i hate this blog anyways
pass it off to someone with better grammar and spelling

being that you all's entertainment is the main reason i do this, i suppose what you think matters. so up there on the left of the WOTDuh page is a poll. you're input and feedback on the matter is appreciated. thanks, and have a sweet weekend.

2010-02-25T09:27:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!

gregarious: /gri-gair-ee-uhs/

1. fond of the company of others; sociable.
2. living in flocks or herds, as animals.
3. botany. growing in open clusters or colonies; not matted together.
4. pertaining to a flock or crowd.

vs.

proscribe: /prō-skrīb/

1: to publish the name of as condemned to death with the property of the condemned forfeited to the state
2: to condemn or forbid as harmful or unlawful

google readers:

don't forget to vote

last week's word winner:

TIE!

that's right - we have a tie. duplicity and flexuous both had an even number of votes. i actually didn't vote so in theory i could break the tie, kinda like the vice-president can in the senate but that's a little dictatorial - even for me. even then i don't think i'd actually want to pick one of them over the other. so we'll just say the two of them are equal and move on with our day.

2010-02-24T08:10:00.000-08:00

abrupt: /uh-BRUPT/

1 a : characterized by or involving action or change without preparation or warning
b : unceremoniously curt
c : lacking smoothness or continuity
2 : giving the impression of being cut or broken off

how to use in casual conversation:

"i'm sorry for being abrupt with you earlier, it's just that i can't stand talking to you"

not to be confused with:

abscess

how it makes me feel:

i don't know what to say here. abrupt?! really?! abrupt!?!

do this for me - if you have never heard this word and had no idea what it's definition is, please leave a comment and tell me that i'm being to hard on MW for GIVING US THE STUPIDEST WOTDs EVER!!!

also:

i apologize for monday's entry. i got a a little hopped-up on hating bayer and didn't recognize the shear volume of spelling errors and typos (even though i DID spellcheck it, chowderhead) until much later. so, i am sorry.

2010-02-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

RATE-A-WORD!

fructuous: /fruhk-choo-uhs/

productive; fertile; profitable

i guess dictionary is on an 'f-word' kick this week. yesterday they had fractious so i'm kind of interested to see where this one ends up taking us. it should be noted that the real 'f-word' is one of the greatest entries i have ever seen on dictionary or MW and everyone should take a look at it, not to mention slip it into speech whenever possible.

last week's result:

parlous

based on a weighted average of your votes, parlous is a:

4

(3.9375 to be precise)

i personally wasn't that impressed with parlous. i'm not sure why but it made me think of sarah palin. i don't get it either. so, i don't know if that's why i wasn't that into it or if it was because it felt a little banal (to me - i'm not judging). but you guys seemed to like it and that's what is important.

2010-02-22T08:15:00.000-08:00

fractious: /frak-shuhs/

1. refractory or unruly
2. readily angered; peevish; irritable; quarrelsome

how to use in casual conversation:

"i find it exceptionally ridiculous that there are so many people leaving fractious comments about how much they hate facebook, on facebook."

not to be confused with:

fruticose

how it makes me feel:

i have for some time had a fractious relationship with the place i work. first of all, i'm a temp. which means that even though i've been here for over 18 months, i don't have vacation of sick time, i can't order things and that everyone in a while the company i work at (not for) finds an opportunity to remind me that they consider me a second class individual. that in addition to the fact that the company i work at (not for) has a long history of treating people horribly, not to mention institutionalized anti-semitism. this lovely company goes by the name of bayer. for starters, bayer was at one time a division of another company, IG Farben that was dissolved after world war II. why was it dissolved? well according to the internet (which never lies) IG Farben was "a conglomerate of German chemical industries that formed a part of the financial core of the German Nazi regime" and also controlled 42.5% of the company that manufactured zyklon b and had a hankering for using slave labor instead of paying people an honest wage for an honest days work (a tradition still carried on by bayer to this day, if only in spirit). additionally although aspirin had been around for sometime, it was a jewish scientist who was the first to create a formulation that wouldn't make you fart blood as a result of taking it. but being that he was jewish, the bayer corporation didn't exactly feel comfortable giving him credit. so they found a nice aryan boy, and said that he invented it. a story bayer sticks with to this day.

if that wasn't enough bayer also has had a hand in the distribution of genetically modified rice not deemed suitable for human consumption, the congolese civil war, negligent collection and distribution of HIV infected blood products not to mention a myriad of chemical poisonings, plant explosions and false claims that a multivitamin can prevent prostate cancer. but my fractious relationship with these fascism-loving jerks is coming to an end. last friday i was able to give bayer notice that i would no longer be it's bitch. i've got a new job with vacation, sick time, decent health insurance AND no potential for supporting the uber-capitalistic schemes of the world's 3rd largest pharmaceutical company.

yay!

2010-02-18T08:45:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!

duplicity: /doo-plis-i-tee/

deception, dissimulation.

vs

flexuous: /flek-sh(u-)ws/

1: having curves, turns, or windings
2: lithe or fluid in action or movement

last week's word winner:

panglossian

i don't even remember what this word means. according to M-W, it isn't panglossian but Panglossian, being named for some character in some freaking voltaire novel (damn voltaire). but as you may have noticed i am loathed to capitalize anything and my grammar leaves a little something to be desired. but, with 54% of the vote, panglossian is the winner.

2010-02-16T15:49:00.000-08:00

RATE-A-WORD!

parlous: /pär-los/

1: obsolete dangerously shrewd or cunning
2: full of danger or risk : hazardous

yes indeedie! this rate-a-word is actually provided by MW today. shocking, i know. dictionary's WOTD was inexorable, which i liked but didn't seem appropriate for rate-a-word.

last week's results:

vitiate

based on a weighted average of your votes vitiate is a:

4

(3.9615384615384615384615384615385 to be precise)

i kinda liked this one and i'm happy with the result. thank ya'll for restoring my faith in athenian style democracy.

2010-02-12T07:24:00.000-08:00

DAY OFF!

here are your WOTDs

dictionary

2010-02-11T08:02:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!

panglossian: /pan-glä-sē-an/

: marked by the view that all is for the best in this best of possible worlds : excessively optimistic

vs.

coquetry: /koh-ki-tree/

1. the behavior or arts of a coquette; flirtation.
2. dalliance; trifling.

last week's word winner:

pecuniary

that was actually pretty freaking sweet - by far the best word off to date. but with 52% of the vote pecuniary is the winner.

aside:

good job to MW for not screwing the pooch for once.

2010-02-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

tarradiddle: /tar-uh-did-l/

1. a small lie; fib.
2. pretentious nonsense.

how to use in casual conversation:

"he's one of those people who only seems to be capable of communicating in terradiddles"

not to be confused with:

pterodactyl

how it makes me feel:

this one makes me giddy. the suffix '-diddle' gives it a whimsical quality that makes me want to run through the cube farm frolicking in my underwear with no regard for being able to pay the rent. it's also a disarmingly gentle word for lying. i'm actually more into definition #2 - "pretentious nonsense". that alone makes the whole thing worth it. think about it - you know what nonsense is, you know what pretentious means, so how the hell would one identify 'pretentious nonsense'? the first thing that comes to mind is american apparel ads, which certainly are pretentious. just look at them. the whole thing is really designed to make you want to buy overpriced bandannas and gold colored windbreakers while frequently purchasing large quantities of cocaine to fuel the drug addled threesomes with tattooed girls in dive-bar-bathrooms. but is that nonsensical? i think that sounds like a friday night.

booyah!

seriously though. good WOTD, fun phonetics and a definition that you wouldn't associate with the word based solely on the way it sounds. me likey.

2010-02-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

RATE-A-WORD!

vitiate: /vish-ee-eyt/

1. to impair the quality of; make faulty; spoil.
2. to impair or weaken the effectiveness of.
3. to debase; corrupt; pervert.
4. to make legally defective or invalid; invalidate

at the beginning of this year i started drinking a single cup of coffee in the morning and haven't had my afternoon crash ever since. this has nothing to do with anything. i just felt like there needed to be some words here and i'm pretty brain dead this morning, so it wasn't going to be anything pertinent. sorry.

results:

gelid

based on a weighted average of your votes gelid is a:

3

(3.3333333333333333333 to be precise)

it spent most of the week as a 4 and part of yesterday as a 2, but in the end it turned out to be a solid 3. i had higher hopes for gelid, but you all apparently had other ideas. democracy is stupid.

2010-02-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

approbation: /ap-ruh-bey-shuhn/

1. approval; commendation.
2. official approval or sanction.
3. obsolete. conclusive proof.

how to use in casual conversation:

"i don't think that the approbation of NAMBLA for your political agenda is really something that you should consider as being positive"

not to be confused with:

reprobation

how it makes me feel:

this is certainly a monday WOTD. don't get me wrong here, it's a decent WOTD but as far as setting the tone for a day, this is definitely monday-appropriate. it's not really 'meh' but it is a little 'ehh' (less ugh. more thug). perhaps if it were tuesday i could get a little more excited about it. perhaps if lada gaga wasn't such a space alien i'd feel better about dancing to her music. coincidentally, while being hit on by a dude on saturday night i was told that "just dance" is essentially the soundtrack for his life. i knew at that point it would be polite to end the conversation not just because i don't bat for that team but also because even if i did i would never date ANYONE who said something like that. it definitely didn't help that he decided to have an in depth conversation with me about the implications of homosexuality in relation to the amount of hair you need to remove from your body, which was definitely gave me some yummy visuals. perhaps if he didn't have a penis i would have been interested. not to be vulgar or anything but in my opinion, vaginas are awesome.

2010-02-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

distrait: /di-strey/

inattentive because of distracting worries, fears,

how to use in casual conversation:

"i've been so distrait about hearing back from this new job that i've been very unproductive at work this week"

not to be confused with

dire straits

how it makes me feel:

i must confess to liking this word. other than that it makes me feel tired. maybe it's not the words' fault, i've just felt drained all week and i haven't gotten drunk once. i did stay up too late watching the first season of lost, because it's streaming on netflix, but that was only once. the whole rest of the week i went to bed at a reasonable hour like the broken old man i'm turning in to, with my crickity knee and bum lungs forcing me to retire at an early hour. this is a monday word. don't get me wrong, i like it but if i was dictionary.com i would have picked something a little more upbeat to end the week with. something like butterfly, or rainbow or some other happily-dappily shit.

oh no.

i just said 'shit'.

fuck.

a kind note:

everybody have a nice weekend. i'll be celebrating the birth of one pink robot tomorrow night at a dive bar with an overtly racist mural on the wall and the entire closing time album on the jukebox. whoo ho! happy birthday al!

2010-02-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!

pecuniary: /pi-kyoo-nee-er-ee/

1. of or pertaining to money
2. consisting of or given or exacted in money or monetary payments
3. (of a crime, violation, etc.) involving a money penalty or fine.

vs.

vulnerary: /vol-ne-rer-ē/

used for or useful in healing wounds

last week's word winner:

machination

that wasn't even anything that even closely resembled something that anyone would ever possibly come close to considering a fair fight. machination was the lion, maxixe was the lame gazelle. machination was train, maxixe was the shopping cart. machination was the pitcher, maxixe was the catcher. you get the idea. machination is actually fairly high on my list of favorite words. it's just so damned foreboding.

i saw a thing on tv last night about how much google pays attention to what you do, read and say on the internet and then sells it to people like me who want you to go their site. google is kinda creepy. so if you're using reader to view this don't forget to vote.

2010-02-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

aubade: /oh-bahd/

A song or poem greeting the dawn; also, a composition suggestive of morning.

how to use in casual conversation:

"after all the beer we drank last night, it was hard to avoid turning my usual aubade into a 'fuck-you' song"

not to be confused with:

auberge

how it makes me feel:

it's a pretty solid WOTD. it's sorta got the french thing going on, but that's really a personal problem of mine and not something any of you should worry about. it has a pretty specific definition - it isn't just a fancy word for a song or poem, but one specifically to greet the dawn. while this does conjure images of some douchebag standing on a bluff reciting his aubade, (sorry for the gender specific language, i don't know why i went that way) for some reason that doesn't bother me.

*thumbs up*

2010-02-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

RATE-A-WORD!

gelid: /jel-id/

very cold; icy

remember when i was all bitter and angry? well, more bitter and angry than i am....this word would have come in handy back then. oh well.

results:

martinet

based on a weighted average of your votes martinet is a:

3

(3.3461538461538461538461538461538 to be precise)

don't forget to vote!

2010-02-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

mondegreen: /mon-di-green/

a word or phrase resulting from a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that has been heard

how to use in casual conversation:

"i learned the hard way that excessive marijuana consumption and a filthy mind lead to hours of laughing at dirty mondegreens"

not to be confused with:

collared greens

how it makes me feel:

i like it! this is a fun word with fun implications across the board. i myself am a big fan of finding things that people say and turning it into a mondegreen. it's pretty entertaining. also, it's good to have a word for those weird little cultural moments where popular, or at least, well known lyrics and/or phrases are misconstrued to mean something else: the most famous of which being jimi hendrix's '' 'scuse me while i kiss this guy" ('scuse me while i kiss the sky). other notable mondegreens:

"thirty theives and the the thunder chief"- AC/DC (dirty deeds done dirt cheep)
"human bean" - my friend from high school (human being)

the list could go on for some time...

something that has nothing to do with anything that i feel i need to share:

so yesterday i went to breakfast in west seattle. on the way home i had to transfer buses downtown. i got off the bus at 3rd and pine and milled around while i checked the schedule. then i started to notice a ruckus between two caucasian males. one, (whom we will henceforth refer to as 'old man') was a clean-cut gentleman in his late 40's to early 50's with a full head of grey hair, wearing shorts. he wasn't a bum or anything but he wasn't an executive type either. the other was probably 20, or early 20's (whom we will henceforth refer to as 'punk ass' or 'the kid'). he had a puffy jacket, baggy jeans, baseball cap, shit-stache - pretty much looked exactly like what your preconceived notion of a white thuggy-tagger looking kid would make you think he looks like.

the old man had caught the punk ass doing something he shouldn't - i don't know exactly what. the part i heard started with the old man saying "i saw what you did, and there's cameras. you see those cameras there, they saw what you did". this caused the kid to fly into a rage. he started by saying "listen old man, you better shut your f__king mouth, you don't want any part of this". the old man then got a look on his face like he had opened up a big old can of worms and started walking away. punk ass kept after him as he walked down pine, intimidating him with check-swings and shit talking. then the kid did squiggly fingers on the old guys neck when the old guy told him not to touch him. the kid pretended to swing a few more times and the old guy kept flinching, obviously scared.

the old man then pushed punk ass, which i figured would be a big mistake for the old man and left me under the impression the old man's day was about to get a lot worse. then, as the kid recovered from the shove and came back at the old man:

BAM!

old man lands a left hook to the kids face! punk ass doubled back and fell to the ground. the old man then proceeded to jump on top of this little son-of-a-bitch and repeatedly punch him in the face before placing his hand over the kids mouth and saying something about him learning to keep his mouth shut. there was a fairly significant crowd as it is a fairly busy bus stop, all of which started laughing at the kid. popular sentiment was overwhelmingly sympathetic to the kid in the end though - as he had just gotten his ass kicked by an old man.

best. transfer. ever.

2010-01-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!

machination: /mak-uh-ney-shuhn/

1. The act of plotting.
2. A crafty scheme or cunning design for the accomplishment of a sinister end.

vs.

maxixe: /me-shēsh/

a ballroom dance of Brazilian origin that resembles the two-step

last week's word winner:

bibelot

the thing about bibelot is that i know i've encountered it previous to it being last week's winner. last week dictionary had it up, but i could swear MW had it as a WOTD and i posted on it. i just can't find it. either that or i've gone bitchcakes.

google readers don't forget to vote

2010-01-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

RATE-A-WORD!

martinet: /mär-te-net/

1: a strict disciplinarian
2: a person who stresses a rigid adherence to the details of forms and methods

according to MW this word originates from one Jean Martinet, a "17th century french officer". yet another example of how being an asshole will make people remember you forever.

results:

lacuna

based on a weighted average of your votes lacuna is a:

4

(3.8214285714285714285714285714286) to be precise.

don't forget to vote!

2010-01-26T08:42:00.000-08:00

evince: /i-vins/

1. to show clearly; make evident or manifest
2. to reveal the possession of (a quality, trait, etc.).

how to use in casual conversation:

"she went through great pains to evince the superiority of tom baker to sylvester mccoy"

not be confused with:

wince

how it makes me feel:

meh. i try not to be overly negative about words when i don't need to. if i get all hopped up about a mediocre WOTD, you won't take it seriously when i am legitimately angry about a horrible WOTD. so that being said, this is a mediocre WOTD. i'll admit to not being terribly familiar with the word itself, but based on it's constituent parts and it's definition we know that it is somehow related to other words we are all exceptionally familiar with. i suppose we could scape some value out of a sentiment along the lines of "wow, i've never heard of the word but it makes sense given that evidence is blah blah blah, and then convince is blah blah blah" but i'm not that chipper of a person and quite frankly that kind of hoo-ha just makes me irritated. speaking of being irritated, we lost internet at my house for like 3-whole-days. so not only was my porn spigot turned off, but i also had to resort to watching things from my severely limited DVD collection as netflix was a no-go. so i started watching season one of the west wing. again. but this wasn't the irritating part. actually i wasn't irritated at all. but i was thinking about what a pain in the ass toby zeigler was. internet is back by the way. porn galore!

2010-01-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

mrs. grundy: /MISS-uz-GRUN-dee/

one marked by prudish conventionality in personal conduct

how to use in casual conversation:

"stop being a mrs. grundy and take your pants off"

not to be confused with:

mrs. bundy

how it makes me feel:

it would be kind of funny were it not so sad. lets run with the funny. hahahahaha. it isn't a word. hahahahaha. it's a name. hahahahaha at best a phrase. hahahahahaha. it's an obscure reference to a late 18th century play. hahahahahaha. merriam-webster fails again.

i actually went to dictionary.com to see if they had an entry for this, which they kind of did. but they didn't try to pass off the phrase version. in my opinion this qualifies as guff, guff of an unacceptable sort. i'm actually thinking of organizing a letter writing campaign to m-w out of honest concern for the low quality of their WOTDs. for their sake i hope i get ultra lazy like i do about most things and it just goes down as another really good idea that i didn't do anything about, instead spending my hours watching dr. who spin-offs and smoking pot. oh yeah and knitting. don't forget the knitting.

2010-01-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!

this week's battle:

bibelot: /bib-loh/

a small object of curiosity, beauty, or rarity.

vs.

colubrine: /col-u-brīn/

1 : of, relating to, or resembling a snake
2 : of or relating to colubrids

last week's word winner:

i screwed up

yesterday. while cleaning up the gadgets and polls i accidentally erased the wrong poll (torpor vs. suborn). i think it was torpor, but it was a close race. if there is any concern about the integrity of the voting i must apologize for the error but i was rooting for suborn. torpor can be fun but suborning something is always an adventure.

2010-01-20T09:17:00.000-08:00

RATE-A-WORD!

lacuna: /luh-kyoo-nuh/

1. a gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series, or logical argument; hiatus.
2. anatomy. one of the numerous minute cavities in the substance of bone, supposed to contain nucleate cells.
3. botany. an air space in the cellular tissue of plants.

lacuna as you may remember was the name of the medical clinic in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. makes sense now - doesn't it?

results:

triskaidekaphobia/tris-kī-de-ke-fō-bē-a/

fear of the number 13

according to a weighted average of your votes triskaidekaphobia is a......

*drumroll*

.......3. (technically speaking it was a 3.0571428571428571428571428571429. sig figs people. sig figs.)

2010-01-19T08:07:00.000-08:00

perambulate: /per-am-byuh-leyt/

intransitive verb
1. To walk about; to roam; to stroll
transitive verb
1. To walk through or over.
2. To travel over for the purpose of surveying or inspecting.

how to use in casual conversation:

"anybody wanna perambulate?"

not to be confused with:

perameles

how it makes it feel:

it feels pretty good. not like '2 live crew' feeling good, but more like 'otis redding' feeling good. i like the idea of perambulating. my friend chelsea and i used to perambulate quite a bit when we were roommates. we would perambulate around ballard. that was a lot of fun. one time, while perambulating our way to the grocery store, we got into an argument. best. argument. ever.

2010-01-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

draconian: /drey-koh-nee-uhn/

1. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Draco or his code of laws.
2. rigorous; unusually severe or cruel.

how to use in casual conversation:

"the nazis i work for are so draconian about internet filtering that they decided to block huffington post"

not to be confused with:

draconic

how it makes me feel:

it's not exactly winning points for being esoteric. it's a fairly common word for anybody above the semi-/pseudo-intellectual level of intelligence. though it does sound kind of cool, probably because of it's ain't far from 'dragon' phonetically. but the real reason i chose draconian over doldrums was that this word is actually derived from the actions of one man - draco, who while being remembered for the historical contribution he made to athenian law will also be remembered as a prick of historical proportions. i mean his name is now synonymous with going way the hell over the top. other pricks of historical proportions who had words derived from their assholism - pompey (pompous) and the marquis de sade (sadistic). i wonder what the word 'ponisitc' will come to eventually represent.

2010-01-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

rate-a-word

today im introducing a new feature!

it's pretty simple - i pick a WOTD from dictionary or MW. a word that i'm not too sure about. it will then be your job to rate that word on a scale of 1-5.

so here we go:

triskaidekaphobia: /tris-kī-de-ke-fō-bē-a/

fear of the number 13

don't be afraid to hurt the word's feelings

2010-01-12T08:53:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!!!

torpor: /tawr-per/

1. sluggish inactivity or inertia.
2. lethargic indifference; apathy.
3. a state of suspended physical powers and activities.
4. dormancy, as of a hibernating animal.

vs.

suborn: /se-born/

1 : to induce secretly to do an unlawful thing
2 : to induce to commit perjury

don't forget to vote

2010-01-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

flagitious: /fluh-jish-uhs/

1. shamefully wicked, as persons, actions, or times.
2. heinous or flagrant, as a crime; infamous.

how to use in casual conversation:

"there is nothing flagitious about riding public transit without pants."

not to be confused with:

fergalicious

how it makes me feel:

first i'm going to say that i really like this word. phonetically it's nothing terribly exciting. but it is one of those ominously dark words that makes me tingle in my special place*. speaking of ominous, i was scanning the merriam-webster WOTD archive. it's kind of sad. here's a list of the one i find most offensive from december and january:

ominous
baptism of fire
receipt
pundit
pied-à-terre

i've been laying off the whole "merriam-webster" sucks, but in the name of not taking any guff i must say that indeed, merriam-webster sucks. and it's not that i am patiently waiting for them to continue sucking - i want them to be better. i want them to shine with all the word power they can muster. like some dorky care-bear cousin that shoots adjectives from it's chest like warren beatty dispenses baby batter. but for some reason their continued insistence on being mediocre means i'm using their site less which means less clicks for them. therefore it behoves them to improve, lest they continue to have their asses kicked almost daily by dictionary.com.

* my brain you perverts.

2010-01-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

gesticulate: /je-stik-yuh-leyt/

1. to make or use gestures, esp. in an animated or excited manner with or instead of speech.
2. to express by gesturing.

how to use in casual conversation:

"i couldn't understand what that man was saying, but his gesticulating action in his pocket revealed his true intent."

not to be confused with:

gestation

how it makes me feel:

the word itself isn't terribly sexy. not only is it (as a word) somewhat pedestrian, it also sounds like an adjective you wouldn't want someone to describe you with as it sounds dirty.

person: "hey pony - i heard you gesticulate quite frequently"
me: "what the hell? are you looking in my window and night or something?"

i'd much rather just refer to myself as being 'animated' and leave it at that.

a note:

have a nice weekend.

2010-01-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!

this week's battle:

magnanimous: /mag-na-ne-mus/

1 : showing or suggesting a lofty and courageous spirit
2 : showing or suggesting nobility of feeling and generosity of mind

vs.

quotidian: /kwoh-tid-ee-uhn/

–adjective
1. daily
2. usual or customary; everyday
3. ordinary; commonplace
4. (of a fever, ague, etc.) characterized by paroxysms that recur daily.
–noun
5. something recurring daily.

and to all you gazpacho-monkeys using reader: don't forget to vote

2010-01-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

flibbertigibbet: /flib-er-tee-jib-it/

1. a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
2. archaic. a gossip.

how to use in casual conversation:

"that girl is such a flibbertigibbet"

not to be confused with:

turkey giblets

how it makes me feel:

in a word, i'm flabbergasted. this is one of those words where you go "that's a word? huh. no shit." it sounds a lot like some nonsense word someone would try to slip in to scrabble game. it also sounds like some euphemism that your great-grandma would use for referring to a vagina. "don't let any boys be touching your flibbertigibbet" -or- "now don't you be running around chasing flibbertigibbet, find yourself a nice girl". anyway, this is one of those amazing nonsense words that would fit nicely into my new idiolalia of slipping double b's into the center of words i.e. i'vbbe bebben thinbbking abbbout goibbng babbck to schbbool bbbut i habbte makbbing cobbmmitmebbnts.

2010-01-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

atelier: /at-l-yey/

a workshop or studio, esp. of an artist, artisan, or designer

how to use in casual conversation:

"i spend so much time in this bar, it's practically become my atelier of drunkenness"

not to be confused with:

ateliosis

how it makes me feel:

happy new year! remember when i said i'd be back on the 4th? yeah. i kinda lied. i didn't want to lie but as it turns out i did. after my forced 12 day vacation from work i decided that the best way to deal with having a job i hate is to actually try to do my job. made the day go by soooo fast. i was busily toiling in my atelier (laboratory), adding chemicals to each other and watching them change color which kept me away from my other atelier (cubicle) where i craft these sweet sweet words you're reading right now. back to new years - here is my list of resolutions:

1. take no guff

i've made it a point to tell everyone, especially people i work with. they're kind of sick of hearing it but i don't care. because my atelier (laboratory) is not my own personal atelier (laboratory) and i am not taking any guff from anybody thinking my atelier (laboratory) is their own personal atelier (laboratory). but either way, 2010 will be guff-less. many have said, "hey pony, doesn't that mean that you should also refrain from guff-giving?" perhaps, but in the process of not taking any guff i will undoubtedly dole some out. it's up to the guffee not the guffer to decide if the guff will be received or refused. kinda like UPS. they bring the guff. you either sign for the guff or you don't. this year i refuse to use the stylus of resignation upon the electronic clipboard of life. (my name is pony. P-O-N-Y.)

2009-12-23T11:05:00.000-08:00

clinquant: /kling-kuhnt/

–adjective
1. glittering, esp. with tinsel; decked with garish finery.

–noun
2. imitation gold leaf; tinsel; false glitter.

how to use in casual conversation:

"if i see one more clinquant covered conifer i'm going to puke"

not to be confused with:

col. klink

how it makes me feel:

i'm not sure what i can tell you about this one. here's what i can tell you:

there is such a thing as drinking too much hot chocolate.
i know it's christmas but that doesnt make it ok to pub crawl in a santa hat.
i promised my mom i wouldn't open that package until christmas, but i knew there was a jacket in it and my other one was starting to smell.
i am one of those damned-pussy liberals who is trying to steal christmas from jesus and hand it over to al qaeda

also:

i neglected to post yesterday and i am sorry.
my work is offering me a free vacation from tomorrow until the 4th. actually, it isn't free - they aren't paying me for it. actually it isn't vacation either as i had no choice but to take it. which is why it was that much more entertaining when that d-bag facility manager sent an email to everyone who works here referring to it as "a well deserved break".
my new years resolution is to not make any.
i'm taking some time off from the blog. i'll be back sometime next year.

so what i'm trying to say is:

happy holidays. (not merry christmas). take care. be safe. or don't.

2009-12-21T10:42:00.000-08:00

dolorous: /dol-er-uhs/

full of, expressing, or causing pain or sorrow

how to use in casual conversation:

"funerals are dolorous"
"sing me another one of those dolorous songs"

not to be confused with:

dolores (a.k.a. the future ex-mrs. pony)

how it makes me feel:

while the pronunciation sounds a lot like dolores, it's more like doleres which is remarkably along the lines of an incident i learned about at brunch yesterday. (i believe zee americans pronounce it 'appiness). and yes the cranberries were like, so 15 years ago. but dolores o'riordan is still damn hot. i'd like to show her my 'appiness. ok. i don't mean that. i've done a lot of things but i've never flashed someone in public, or in private for that matter, at least not in an unsolicited manner. i've never really understood what someone would get out of that. i.e. "i made a girl cry and run away from me in terror. it was so hot." i mean i know that in pornos a guy just kind of pulls it out and the girl is all like "ooooh yeah i did order extra sausage, give it to me pizza man" but everyone knows those people are acting. i mean seriously, those actresses are NOT comfortable in those positions for sustained periods of time, hence the term 'actress'. and jenna jameson is going to have some major arthritis one day. i'm just saying...

2009-12-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

diaphanous: /dahy-af-uh-nuhs/

1. very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent.
2. delicately hazy.

how to use in casual conversation:

"the atmosphere had an almost diaphanous appearance this morning"
"grandpa's underwear were so old that they were basically diaphanous"

not to be confused with:

cacophonous

how it makes me feel:

you may notice that this post is a little late in relation to the normal time i usually publish. suffice it to say it this week was a little demanding on the work front, which is weird because it also marked the first time i had both the balls, opportunity and the time to take a nap at work. the reason for me telling you this is that i'm six minutes away from leaving for the weekend and walking to the bus stop. you can call me lazy if you want to. you'd probably be correct.

a note:

have a nice weekend.

2009-12-17T15:40:00.000-08:00

paroxysm: /par-uhk-siz-uhm/

1. any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of violent action or emotion
2. Pathology. a severe attack or a sudden increase in intensity of a disease, usually recurring periodically.

how to use in casual conversation:

"it's only around christmas that my rage filled paroxysms start to manifest"

not to be confused with:

raxacoricofallapatorius

how it makes me feel:

i'm trying to think of the most family-friendly way to say this: it makes me feel...hmmmm. let me think about this some more......it makes me feel the urge to.......nope. whatever. it makes me horny. you heard me. this word has moxie and gumption in addition to x and y (much like my chromosomes). it's one syllable shorter than i'd like it to be but as my father used to say "never look a gift horse in the mouth". he also used to say "son, never trust a woman in spandex". he never said anything about vinyl or leather though...

2009-12-16T09:02:00.000-08:00

sastruga: /sas-trü-guh/

a wavelike ridge of hard snow formed by the wind —usually used in plural

how to use in casual conversation:

"......she wasn't watching where he was going and them 'BAM' she walks right into a sastruga"

not to be confused with:

beluga

how it makes me feel:

i like it. sastruga! it's strong word. like bear. according to MW, it's technically of german descent but was borrowed from russian. hence the "strong like bear" thing. stay with me here people....

it also makes me think of snow. they kept telling us it was going to snow in seattle, but it was always tomorrow. and then you’d check the forecast on the next day and they’d change it to tomorrow. now it’s in the high 40’s and although it’s been pouring the chances of snow have evaporated completely. damn you el nino. and i know that some of my fellow seattleites will say dumb things like "oh no pony, don't wish for snow, that was terrible waaah waaaah waaaaaah" to which i say "eat it!". some of us made the best of snowpocalypse 08' and didn't take it as an opportunity to whine about everything. i enjoyed sledding on corrugated plastic signs. i enjoyed learning that converse and snow are a terrible mix. and for some reason there was only one day where i had trouble with the bus system even though it seems to screw everyone else.

2009-12-15T16:01:00.000-08:00

appellation: /ap-uh-ley-shuhn/

1. The word by which a particular person or thing is called and known
2. The act of naming.

how to use in casual conversation:

"and in a grand act of appellation, i dubbed myself 'asshole' so that there wouldn't be any further ambiguity"

not to be confused with:

appalachia

how it makes me feel:

i like it. 5 syllables, solid definition, nice phonetics. plus, much like a neologism, appellation definitely has a place in my life at this current juncture. i mean people throw words like 'asshole' around a lot these days. has anyone ever considered what it would take to be an actual 'asshole' besides being a dual set of muscular rings through which poo is passed? i'm serious here. because it's one thing to feel like an asshole, another to act like one. but to actually be an asshole.... that's tough. yet i have repeatedly been dubbed with the appellation 'asshole', from both external and internal stakeholders, such that i no longer have a choice but to believe that it is in fact true. i will soon update my blogger profile to reflect this. thank you.

2009-12-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

numinous: /noo-muh-nuhs/

1. of, pertaining to, or like a numen; spiritual or supernatural.
2. surpassing comprehension or understanding
3. arousing one's elevated feelings of duty, honor, loyalty, etc.

how to use in casual conversation:

"that cheesecake was positively numinous"

not to be confused with:

luminous

how it makes me feel:

i think that it's supposed to be some kind of uplifting word. that's what i'm getting out of the definition. but to me the phonetics feel like i'm covered in some kind of gross algae. numinous. say it out loud......

numinous

isn't that a little weird? it feels like skinny dipping in greenlake. yeah it's fun and liberating, but when it's over you feel the an urgent yearning to cauterize your urethra prophylactically.

2009-12-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

namby-pamby: /nam-bē-pam-bē/

1 : lacking in character or substance
2 : weak, indecisive

how to use in casual conversation:

"this is one of the most namby-pamby WOTDs merriam-webster has ever thrown at us"
"did you seriously just say 'namby-pamby'?

not to be confused with:

gumby

how it makes me feel:

this is kinda, sorta, just a little bit bunk. bunk as in, 'that's some bunk-ass, jive-turkey baloney.' i really don't know what to say to this. as far as i can tell it's akin to phrases like 'nancy-boy' which is language i can only condone when done tounge-in-cheek. i mean......yeah. what else can i say?

2009-12-10T13:47:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!

this week's battle:

provender: /prä-ven-der/

1 : dry food for domestic animals

2 : food, victuals

vs.

cogitate: /koj-i-teyt/

1. to think hard; ponder; meditate
2. to think about; devise

last week's word winner:

myrmidon

you'd think MW would be on the ball with this action. so far as i can tell they have no idea that their WOTDs are being evaluated and pitted again dictionary's WOTDs in a hipster(ish) battle royale to see which word has the most esoteric value or emotional pull. i can understand where they're coming from though. you know.......you start out working at MW in the WOTD department. you're eyes are sparkly and filled with hopeful-hoping that finally (finally!) will your life amount to something more than a series of drunken adventures sprawled out across your facebook page only to find that everyone you work with has been so beaten down by the juggernaut that is MW that little hope exists to find self worth from your occupation much less actually being ok with getting up in the morning and picking a good WOTD until one day you find yourself hunched over a dictionary with your eyes closed saying "eenee, meenee, minee....awww fuck it....moe." that kind of thing. so anyways, pundit never had a chance. myrmidon wins.

2009-12-09T13:45:00.000-08:00

ratiocination: /rash-ee-os-uh-ney-shuh/

the process of logical reasoning

how to use in casual conversation:

"there are somethings in this life, things so important that they cannot be left to ratiocination to solve"

not to be confused with:

fascination

how it makes me feel:

now that's what i call a WOTD. i count six syllables (via the hand clapping method, i.e. rat-i-o-cin-a-tion). i think WOTDs should be at least five. yesterday Merriam-Webster's WOTD was fiery. fiery?!? are you f__king kidding me? as in "of, relating to, or characterized by fire"? i call b.s. today was technically supposed to be a word-off but ratiocination makes me happy so i'm holding off until tomorrow. actually "ratiocination" makes me happy. ratiocination actually once made me exceptionally miserable. well it wasn't ratiocination's fault, but rather my attempt to apply it to every life decision which led to long string of compromises until one day i realized that all my decisions had made me exceptionally miserable. that's more like it. you know what else makes me miserable? nothing really, except mushrooms but they don't really make me miserable as much as they taste like earth. anyways, i know that pointed indignance can be quite humorous i.e. bill maher or dennis leary before he went batshit but i am neither bill maher or dennis leary or george carlin for that matter, which is why you must believe that i'm not nearly as angry as some of my posts would make me seem. i am just as much of a drunk though (don't tell anybody) and there ain't nothing ratiocinative about that. booyah!

note from the author:

yes. i said "booyah!".

2009-12-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

solicitous: /suh-lis-i-tuhs/

1. anxious or concerned (usually fol. by about, for, etc., or a clause)
2. anxiously desirous
3. eager (usually fol. by an infinitive)
4. careful or particular

how to use in casual conversation:

"i should probably be more solicitous about my liver."
"he was solicitously waiting for the game-shop door to open so he could get the newest set of magic cards."

not to be confused with:

solicitors

how it makes me feel:

apparently i'm dead inside because words just aren't doing anything to me this week. it's not good. it's not bad. it just is. it's a word. it doesn't have ass- in it, (or tits- for that matter). it doesn't make me think of pizza or beer or carmen electra. you know what i'm thinking about? knitting. that's right, knitting. i got this sweet skein of some homespun wool/rayon and there's only16 days until christmas. if i knock out 3 scarves a day, everyday for the next 16 days i will have enough scarves for everyone i want to give one to including my real change guy, willie. willie is a nice man. it was 15 degrees (F) this morning and willie was out there selling his papers, shakin his tail feather, flingin' them around like there was no tomorrow. no matter how crappy i feel in the morning, seeing willy dancing around out there every morning without being solicitous about how he looks to others, willie always makes me feel better.

2009-12-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

fatuous /fach-oo-uhs/

1. Inanely foolish and unintelligent; stupid.
2. Illusory; delusive.

how to use in casual conversation:

"no, i called you fatuous, not fatass."

not to be confused with:

fattism

how it makes me feel:

ehh, it's better than what MW was offering. it's kind of a fun word but it isn't really doing it for me. i'll tell you what else isn't doing it for me - not being able to feel my fingers. here's a shout out to everybody who had to defrost when they got to work this morning.

2009-12-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

gallimaufry: /gal-uh-maw-free/

1. a hodgepodge; jumble; confused medley.
2. a ragout or hash.

how to use in casual conversation:

"i'd invite you in but my room is a gallimaufry of dirty laundry, pizza boxes and empty juice bottles"

not to be confused with:

gallifrey

how it makes me feel:

i like it or at least i like the idea of it. the only thing is that when i try to say it out loud it feels like there's cotton in my mouth and i gag a little bit. gallimau.... gallimau.... BLEHHHHHHH. that kind of thing. i don't know what else to say about it.

note from pony:

have a nice weekend. or don't. i can't really do anything about it either way and actually don't really care. well maybe a little since i went so far as to type all of this. i'm hungover.

2009-12-03T13:25:00.000-08:00

roborant: /rob-er-uhnt/

–adjective
1. strengthening.
–noun
2. a tonic.

how to use in casual conversation:

"i refuse to treat red bull like it's some kind of magical roborant"
"the manner with which willy minces about while selling his real change papers has a roborant effect on my early morning psyche"

not to be confused with:

robosapien

how it makes me feel:

this is actually an amazing WOTD. here's why:

the robo- prefix.
it sounds like a diatribe from an incensed automaton.
the definition is remarkably unlike what you would assume from it's name.
it gave me an opportunity to take pot shots at someone though ultimately i opted out of doing so. it would have been entertaining but i'm way past doing such things. however, the things i came up with in my head made me laugh and i attribute said laughing to the word. and the fact that this person is a jerk.

2009-12-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

WORD OFF!

this week's battle:

pundit: /'pun-det/

1 : pandit
2 : a learned man
3 : a person who gives opinions in an authoritative manner usually through the mass media

vs.

myrmidon: /mur-mi-don/

1. Classical Mythology. one of the warlike people of ancient Thessaly who accompanied Achilles to the Trojan War.
2. (lowercase) a person who executes without question or scruple a master's commands.

word winner from two weeks ago:

exegesis

a.k.a. x-a-jesus.

bible words have always kind of freaked me out. especially ones from the old testament. remember when god was pissed all the time? those were the days.

to you jerks that use google reader:

VOTE!

2009-12-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

disputatious: /dis-pyuh-TAY-shus/

1 : inclined to dispute
b: marked by disputation
2 : provoking debate : controversial

how to use in casual conversation:

"remember when news was news and not a series of disputatious dingbats spouting opinion and calling it fact?"

not to be confused with:

dispensation

how it makes me feel:

i'm kind of on the fence about it. it's a good WOTD and in fact i can remember a time in my life where i was a lot more disputatious in general but as things go i have lost that part of myself. kind of like a car you couldn't afford rims for so like most normal people you just used the normal wheels it came with until you lost that hubcap going around that corner when you were probably too tipsy to be driving but you did it anyways and in the morning you looked at the wheel and went 'oh yeah, that was stupid' but you have a car that's missing a hubcap - and you feel like somebody with one gold tooth but not someone who has a 'grill'. now after all this time of looking at your gold tooth you think to yourself 'what do i have to do to get my tooth back?' but you can't. it's gone maaaan. like forever. and now all you feel is the permanence of knowing that the things you lose in life (especially teeth or parts of teeth) are in most cases irretrievable and all you can hope for is some facsimile of a tooth like substance that can be built up to look like a tooth. or you can just say f the whole thing and start ripping them out and save up for a good set of dentures.

2009-11-30T08:05:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-20T11:24:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-19T09:03:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-18T09:33:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-11-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

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.