moirologist

 

(moy-ROL-uh-jist) 

 

noun: A hired mourner. 

Word of the Day for Tuesday, January 20, 2009

pandiculation \pan-dik-yuh-LEY-shuhn\, noun:

an instinctive stretching, as on awakening or while yawning

"Pandiculate for Health! Grow Tall! Get Well! Be Young!" Exuberant ads like this, running in health-fad magazines since 1914, have proclaimed the virtues of a spine-stretching device called the "Pandiculator."
-- Time, 1942-04-12

by 1611 from French pandiculation from Latin pandiculari "to stretch oneself" and French suffix -ion.

At loggerheads

Meaning

In dispute with.

Origin

'At loggerheads' is of UK origin. The singular 'loggerhead' occurs as a name in several contexts - as a species of turtle, a bird and as a place name. Originally, a loggerhead was none of these but was first used with the meaning of 'a stupid person - a blockhead'. Shakespeare used it that way in Love's Labours Lost, 1588:

"Ah you whoreson logger-head, you were borne to doe me shame."

 OMG.

http://current.com/items/89607661/world_hunger_now_close_to_1_billion_people.htm

Dear Lisa,

Did you notice the ads after last night's presidential debate?

ABC had Chevron. CBS had Exxon. CNN had the coal lobby. But you know what happened last week? ABC refused to run our Repower America ad -- the ad that takes on this same oil and coal lobby.

I sent a letter asking ABC to reconsider their decision and put our ad on the air, but still we haven't heard back more than a week later. I think they need to hear from all of us. Can you help? Please send a message to ABC and tell them to air the Repower America ad this Friday on 20/20. Just click here:

http://www.wecansolveit.org/page/m/679d103495913667/Snawp0/VEsC/
http://www.wecansolveit.org/ABC

We're working to get 100,000 public comments to ABC before 20/20's next airing.

Our Repower America ad has a clear and simple message -- that massive spending by oil and coal companies on advertising is a key reason our nation hasn't switched to clean and renewable sources for our energy.( Snip! )

This week's theme: insults.

flibbertigibbet (FLIB-uhr-tee-jib-it) noun

Someone who is regarded as flighty, scatterbrained, and talkative.

[Apparently from the imitation of the sound of idle chatter.]

Twice Shy

Her scarf a la Bardot,
In suede flats for the walk,
She came with me one evening
For air and friendly talk.
We crossed the quiet river,
Took the embankment walk.

Traffic holding its breath,
Sky a tense diaphragm:
Dusk hung like a backcloth
That shook where a swan swam,
Tremulous as a hawk
Hanging deadly, calm.

A vacuum of need
Collapsed each hunting heart
But tremulously we held
As hawk and prey apart,
Preserved classic decorum,
Deployed our talk with art.

Our Juvenilia
Had taught us both to wait,
Not to publish feeling
And regret it all too late -
Mushroom loves already
Had puffed and burst in hate.

So, chary and excited,
As a thrush linked on a hawk,
We thrilled to the March twilight
With nervous childish talk:
Still waters running deep
Along the embankment walk.

Seamus Heaney

I will die either of lung cancer or a car accident.

www.poverty.com

It has an amazing, but depressing, hunger-related death counter.

Nah, I want some holy goat.

sacred cow

(SAY-krid kou)

Something that is beyond criticism.

From the special regard for a cow in the Hindu religion.

"There are no sacred cows in the Philippine Army, Army chief Lt. Gen. Victor Ibrado claimed, as he vowed not to tolerate any unlawful acts of soldiers, whatever their rank or position may be."
Gilbert Bayoran; Army General Faces Court Martial; The Visayan Daily Star (Bacolod City, Philippines); Jul 28, 2008.

popinjay (POP-in-jay)

noun: Somone who indulges in vain and empty chatter.

Via French and Spanish from Arabic babbaga (parrot). The last syllable changed to jay because some thought the word referred to that bird instead of a parrot.

"Because You Asked about the Line between Prose and Poetry"

Sparrows were feeding in a freezing drizzle
That while you watched turned into pieces of snow
Riding a gradient invisible
From silver aslant to random, white, and slow.

There came a moment that you couldn't tell.
And then they clearly flew instead of fell.

Howard Nemerov

--

In a title, capitalize
Any conjunction or preposition of five letters or more --(This is optional. You can choose to go with an older rule that says not to capitalize prepositions or conjunctions regardless of length. The five letters or more standard has developed over the last two decades or so. Either form would be acceptable, as long as you use it consistently.) Cool. I'm not going to capitalize the prepositions then.

"Saying 'no offense' doesn't excuse the offensive remark that inevitably follows/had preceded it."

I think I heard this on television. It popped in my head out of nowhere just now, so I'm writing this down before I forget.

fescennine (FES-uh-nyn, -nin) adjective

  Obscene or scurrilous.

[After Fescennia, a town of ancient Etruria known for its ribald and
scurrilous songs sung at festivals and weddings.]

From AWAD:

Mark Twain once said, "When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear."
While swearing is considered uncouth and vulgar, it has its place and
purpose. It helps provide an emotional release and clears the system.
Isn't a verbal venting of emotions better than a physical manifestation?

You don't have to rely on those worn-out four-letter terms to inflict
rude remarks on the offending party. With careful selection of words,
it's possible to elevate insults to an art form. Why not use this week's
exquisite words for one of those times when nothing less will do?

But remember, everything in moderation.


jackanapes (JAK-uh-nayps) noun

An impertinent conceited person.

[Probably from Jack Napes, from "jack (man) of an ape". This word was the
nickname of William de la Pole (1396-1450), Duke of Suffolk, as his badge
was a clog and chain, as might be tied to an ape.]

I love Indie rock.

I've never seen the music video for this old song.