September 2011
7 posts
3 tags
3 tags
3 tags
July 2011
2 posts
June 2011
3 posts
6.6.11 WOTD
pecksniffian
\pek-SNIF-ee-uhn\ , adjective; 1. Hypocritically and smugly affecting benevolence or high moral principles.
“This is your life and its ending one moment at a time.”
– Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club (via libraryland)
May 2011
8 posts
WOTD
materfamilias
\ MEY-ter-fuh-mil-ee-uhs \ , noun; 1. The mother of a family.
Playing through the pain →
Killing the Magic →
WOTD
epigamic
\ ep-i-GAM-ik \ , adjective; 1. Attracting the opposite sex, as the colors of certain birds.
wotd
purlieu \ PUR-loo \ , noun;
1. A place where one may range at large; confines or bounds. 2. A person’s haunt or resort. 3. An outlying district or region, as of a town or city. 4. A piece of land on the edge of a forest, originally land that, after having been included in a royal forest, was restored to private ownership, though still subject, in some respects, to the...
April 2011
9 posts
WOTD
oppugn \ uh-PYOON \ , verb;
1. To assail by criticism, argument, or action. 2. To call in question; dispute.
WOTD
balderdash \ BAWL-der-dash \ , noun;
1. Senseless, stupid, or exaggerated talk or writing; nonsense. 2. (Archaic:) A muddled mixture of liquors.
“Our real discoveries come from chaos, from going to the place that looks wrong...”
– Chuck Palahniuk
WOTD
tenterhooks \ TEN-ter-hooks \ , noun;
1. On tenterhooks, in a state of uneasy suspense or painful anxiety. 2. One of the hooks or bent nails that hold cloth stretched on a tenter.
How do we handle fear?
Do we let it overtake us, do we confront it, or do we simply tell ourselves the fearful move with wise steps and with caution through a storm of emotion?
WOTD
Kismet
\ KIZ-met; -mit \ , noun;
1. Destiny; fate.
March 2011
27 posts
WOTD
bedaub \ bih-DOB \ , transitive verb;
1. To smudge over; to besmear or soil with anything thick and dirty. 2. To overdecorate; to ornament showily or excessively.
The Video-Game Novel →
WOTD
visceral
–adjective 1. of or pertaining to the viscera. 2. affecting the viscera. 3. of the nature of or resembling viscera. 4. characterized by or proceeding from instinct rather than intellect: a visceral reaction. 5. characterized by or dealing with coarse or base emotions; earthy; crude: a visceral literary style.
WOTD
bumptious \ BUMP-shuhs \ , adjective; 1. Crudely, presumptuously, or loudly self-assertive.
Whispers of Immortality by T.S. Eliot
WEBSTER was much possessed by death And saw the skull beneath the skin; And breastless creatures under ground Leaned backward with a lipless grin. Daffodil bulbs instead of balls Stared from the sockets of the eyes! He knew that thought clings round dead limbs Tightening its lusts and luxuries. Donne, I suppose, was such another Who found no substitute for sense, To seize and clutch and penetrate;...
WOTD
largess \ lar-ZHES; lar-JES; LAR-jes \ , noun;
also largesse 1. Generous giving (as of gifts or money), often accompanied by condescension. 2. Gifts, money, or other valuables so given. 3. Generosity; liberality.
WOTD
interregnum \ in-tuhr-REG-nuhm \ , noun;
plural interregnums -nuhmz\ or interregna -nuh\ 1. The interval between two reigns; any period when a state is left without a ruler. 2. A period of freedom from authority or during which government functions are suspended. 3. Any breach of continuity in an order; a lapse or interval in a continuity.
WOTD
apposite\ AP-uh-zit \ , adjective; 1.Being of striking appropriateness and relevance; very applicable; apt.
Word of the day
pusillanimous\ pyoo-suh-LAN-uh-muhs \ , adjective;
1.Lacking in courage and resolution; contemptibly fearful; cowardly.
Word of the day
Epicene \ EP-uh-seen \ , adjective;
1.Having the characteristics of both sexes. 2.Effeminate; unmasculine. 3.Sexless; neuter. 4.(Linguistics) Having but one form of the noun for both the male and the female. noun: 1.A person or thing that is epicene. 2.(Linguistics) An epicene word.
Word of the Day
chortle
\CHOR-tl\ , transitive and intransitive verb;
1. To utter, or express with, a snorting, exultant laugh or chuckle. noun: 1. A snorting, exultant laugh or chuckle.
For The Anniversary Of My Death by W. S. Merwin
Every year without knowing it I have passed the day When the last fires will wave to me And the silence will set out Tireless traveller Like the beam of a lightless star Then I will no longer Find myself in life as in a strange garment Surprised at the earth And the love of one woman And the shamelessness of men As today writing after three days of rain Hearing the wren sing and the falling cease...
Damien Rice “Volcano”