Beauty synonym
Just learned a word I have absolutely never heard before. Pulchritude, meaning beauty. Attempts to pronounce it begin now.
Just learned a word I have absolutely never heard before. Pulchritude, meaning beauty. Attempts to pronounce it begin now.
Today’s word of the day is “malingerer.” This is someone who “exaggerates or feigns illness in order to escape duty or work.” Today’s sunny weather of 76°F makes it an almost ideal time to be a malingerer. Good luck to you!
Today was fail. Tomorrow we try again. Tonight, we prepare for tomorrow. This weekend… well, I haven’t thought that far ahead. Also: this text brought to you by a first-person plural personal pronoun used in the archaic (for English) T-V distinction.
The English language has the word happenstance, which is a chance happening or event. I propose a modified version of this word as an addition to the language. When something bad happens, it’s crappenstance.
Impress your friends, etc.
The interesting source UsingEnglish.com defines “storm in a teacup”:
If someone exaggerates a problem or makes a small problem seem far greater than it really is, then they are making a storm in a teacup.
Designers Toolbox: Proof Reading Marks. Many of these are obsolete in this era of computers, but I still use the marks for delete, new paragraph, comma insertion, transpose, and change to lowercase.
I’ve learned a new word today: perspicacious; “having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning: to exhibit perspicacious judgment.” Now, if I can only master the pronunciation of such an unfamiliar word.
I rather doubt the mpg claim, but nevertheless, here’s a good headline: Prius Stretch Limo Achieves 50mpg and Seats 8.
Well folks, we’ve got another Prius modder here that deserves some recognition as well. He did not use solar cells in his modification, but managed to stretch out his Prius and insert a row of seating to accommodate all his children. The result is a Prius SUV Limo contraption.
Here’s an excerpt from “Stuff You Didn’t Know,” which (among other things) explains why English (though lacking grammatical gender), is still unbelievably difficult for non-native speakers:
I’ve been thinking about the prefix “auto.” Scientifically, there’s the autoionization of water, autotroph, autoclave, etc. So, of course, the word “automobile” makes sense in that the machine appears “self-mobile.” These all are very simple on their own, but it is interesting to see the intersection between science and an Americanism. (Forgive me, my use of that term is a bit of a misnomer, given that the shortening of the word resulted in the word “auto,” which is the actual Americanism).
Obscure slang: 23 skidoo - “23 skidoo (sometimes 23 skiddoo) is an American slang phrase popularized in the early twentieth century, first appearing before World War I and becoming popular in the Roaring Twenties. It generally refers to leaving quickly. One nuance of the phrase suggests being rushed out by someone else. Another is taking advantage of a propitious opportunity to leave, that is, “getting [out] while the getting’s good.”
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Another source of the term has been rumored to come from the area around the Flat Iron building on 23rd street in NYC. Apparently, winds would swirl around the building and in the roaring 20’s groups of men would gather to watch women walk by with their skirts being blown up by the winds. The police would then ask the men to break-it-up and leave… hence the term 23 skidoo.”
A etymological analysis of why you can say “hots” in lieu of “heats” - Beginning with the omission of a letter from a headline to say “hots up,” this article goes on into some intriguing territory:
This might be me and my primary-literature addled brain acting up, but I have to ask something. Sometimes, I’m fine when I read the word “dishonest.” But other times, when I read the word “dishonest,” my brain says “dish-honest.” Should I be seeing a doctor for this? We’ll try an example. This is a writer for The Inquirer who is talking about ethical guidelines when editorial content and the interests of advertisers clash.
While it isn’t all that funny (or even punny), I thought I’d get the “word” (ok, ok, I’ll stop) out on this one. If you combine two words which both mean, roughly, “a bad thing has happened,” you’ll get a new word endowed with a more potent delivery of “a bad thing has happened.”
When I say I ran into my English teacher today, I do almost mean it in the literal sense. I was biking and he was driving, the corner was rather blind, and we both swerved and braked in emergency avoidance maneuvers. We casually chatted afterwards, but I the pounding heart-rates of both parties precluded the pretenses most people usually observe in polite conversation. I guess I am a bit socially awkward, not really in a debilitating sense, but still an inconvenience I could do without. My mantra is and almost always has been, be yourself. You can turn up the volume and turn down the volume on the traits, characteristics, and actions that make you as the situation dictates, but you should always go with being you. “Me,” as I currently stand, is a little bit awkward. The price of sincerity, I guess.
Word of the Day: glomp - “… in the grey area between a caring embrace, and a flying leap to tackle someone.” Now, glomp is certainly a good word, and I will use it more in the future. However, the word “spudger” also came to my attention tonight. It doesn’t scratch plastic or metal, so you can pry apart really awesome computers with it.
Cool word of the day: cowling - Impress your friends!
Pronounce GIF correctly, dangit - I was right!
Pop versus Soda versus Coke - Covers where in America people call soft drinks by certain names. Hey look at pop: it’s got a stronghold in Alaska, plus, it goes from MN all the way out to WA! Woo!
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