Word for the Day

    My goal is to find an excuse to use this word tomorrow.

Waldo

Word for the day: *Waldo* (n.): a remote manipulator, as for puppets, operated either mechanically or electronically.

Word for the Day

    Word for the Day: "Proustian" (adj.): relating to or characteristic of the French writer Marcel Proust or his works, particularly with reference to the recovery of the lost past and the stimulation of unconscious memory.

Word for the Day

Word for the Day

    Widow’s Walk (n.; phrase) : a railed or balustraded platform built on a roof, originally in early New England houses, typically for providing an unimpeded view of the sea.

Word For the Day

    Gleeking came up in a book I just finished reading.  It was set in the 1580's, and there are two definitions for the word, one modern, one archaic.

    I presume the archaic definition was the one the author intended for the book, and it is "joking" or "gibing", which fit the context of the passage in the book.

    The modern meaning is considerably different, although still akin to the 1600's version.  I'll let you google it.  I was quite amazed there was a specific word to cover this bodily action.

Sporran

    Word for the day: Sporran (n.): "a small pouch worn around the waist so as to hang in front of the kilt as part of men's Scottish Highland dress."

    Who the heck knew there was a word for this thingamajig?!

Word for the Day - Optimizating

    "Work smarter, not better."

Xylographer

    Word for the Day: Xylographer (n.): a person who makes engravings on wood, especially for printing.

    Sounds pretty primitive, eh?  Well, the above picture was made from a xylograph, created by Albrecht Durer in 1498.

Word for the Day

Word for the Day : Pleonasm

    Pleonasm : (n.) : the use of more words than are necessary (e.g.: "to see with one's own eyes") either as a fault of style, or for emphasis.

Word For The Day : Recidivist

   Yeah, that could be me.

Portmanteau

    Portmanteau is one of the kewlest word ever!

Word for the Day : Vellichor

Word for the day : "Vellichor" : n. the strange wistfulness of used bookstores, which are somehow infused with the passage of time—filled with thousands of old books you’ll never have time to read, each of which is itself locked in its own era, bound and dated and papered over like an old room the author abandoned years ago, a hidden annex littered with thoughts left just as they were on the day they were captured. (Source : The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows)

And here's the link for TDoOS :

http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/

Word for the day : Stylite

   Stylite (n.) : a religious ascetic who spends his life on top of a pillar.

    The original, and the most famous stylite was one Simeon Stylites the Elder.  He's the dude on the left in the picture above.  He reportedly stayed up there for 37 years.  You can read about him here.

  The second pic is also of our Simeon the Elder.  His little perch was originally only 9 feet high.  But over time, his townspeeps built it up to a towering height fo 50 feet.

    It's comforting to know that the 20th/21st Century doesn't have a monopoly on religious nutjobs

Word for the Day : Octothorpe

    Yes, Octothorpe really is a word, although like the step-mom here, I'd call it a Pound Sign.  Likewise, Pilcrow is a real word, and also stands for a symbol in the English language.  I'll let you look it up.

    Seriously though, I love it when a comic strip actually challenges the reader's brain, instead of dumbing everything down to the intelligence level of a 5-year-old.  Strips like Foxtrot, Mythtickle, XKCD, and of course, the above-showcased Barney & Clyde.

Britishism for the Day

Britishism for the Day : Pantechnicon (n.) : a large van for moving furniture and other household items. (in the US, we'd call it a moving van).

    I ran across this word in Tom Holt's "Faust Among Equals".

Tautological

    I used the word "tautological" in an e-mail at work today.  My life is complete.  I think I'll declare it the Word For The Day.

Word For The Day - Gunwale

    As shown in the diagram.  I'd call it the railing, but hey, I'm a landlubber.  It shows up in the lyrics of the song The Mad Sailor by the Danish Folk Power Metal group Wuthering Heights, although I've run across it in books before as well.

    It rates being dubbed Word for the Day because of its pronunciation.  It's "Gunnel", not "Gun-Whale" which is the way I've been mentally saying it all my life.  Who knew?!

   The made-up word "Misanthropoetica" also shows up in the lyrics of that song, which is way, way kewl.  Go find the YouTube video of this, it includes the lyrics.

    And FWIW, Wuthering Heights is a fantastic band.  I've been playing the piss out of this CD on my morning commute for about a week now.

   

Word for the Day : Ouroboros Serpent

   Well, it's a phrase, actually.  Ouroboros Serpent means :  (the symbol of) a snake eating its tail.  I know the English language is "wordy", but who knew there was a specific term for this?!