Word of the day

B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Poignant

In something I was reading about sub-atomic particles they had this following quote-

About the paradoxes of the quark model we have nothing to add, except perhaps to make these
Paradoxes more poignant by exhibiting the mysteriously good fit of a particular model.

Normally, I think of poignant as meaning evoking a keen, emotional, pang of sadness or regret, touching, pathetic.
But, in the above quotation it means "relevant". I had never seen it used in that sense before, and will never use it
that way myself- but there you are.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Rocks

Scree- scree is all the loose stone that you slip on as you scramble up slope. Scree is formed by the constant
expansion and contraction of the stone surface which fragments it into bits and pieces.

Talus- talus is bigger stones and boulders that often slide or roll down to the lower slope.

Moraines- are also rocks, but this time, deposited by glaciers that scoop them up as they advance, and leave them behind as they recede.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Obeisance- showing respect, homage, veneration to someone.

Obsequious- doting, subjugating your interests to others, fawning submission,servile behavior.

Sycophant- someone who behaves in an obsequious manner- usually for advancement or personal gain.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Totally unrelated words

Dolt- a fool, simpleton, idiot. Doltish= foolish.

Retinue- a group of advisors, followers, assistants, trainers, entourage, "posse".

Thane- a Scottish nobleman, similar to an earl- like Macbeth- Thane of Cawdor.

Oenology- the study of wine.

Chasuble- an ornate sleeveless vestment worn by a Catholic priest during mass. Looks something like a fancy Mexican Pancho.

Tsetse- an African blood-sucking fly known to transmit sleeping sickness.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Boondoggle- a word describing a plan or project that is perceived of as a foolish waste of money.
The term was originally coined to describe the making of woven bracelets from scrap ( like kids do in camp),
but when Republicans found out that children were being paid as part of Theodore Roosevelt's WPA
Program, it became associated with wastefulness.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Moon

Of course the satellite of a planet, but also,
It means to become listless and pine or brood as one infatuated or in love, gloomy, moody.

It also means to expose ones buttocks in an insulting manner.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Short and simple words

Aegis (also egis)-the protection, backing, support, over authority of a person or organization. Derived from the
shield of Zeus.

Aeon- a long, long period of time, ages and ages, a billion years, a geological period.

Ion- an atom with a net positive or negative "charge" due to gaining or losing electrons.

Scion- the descendant of a notable family, heir, offspring. In plants, a cutting or shoot or graft.

Aerie- a large nest of a bird of prey, especially an eagle, atop a high cliff or tree. By extension, any secluded, isolated, structure or position.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Alimentary, my dear Watson

Maw- the jaws and throat of a voracious animal- and by association, anything all consuming, and devouring without end.

Craw- the crop or storage pouch of many birds/insects... where food is held before entering the stomach. Stuck in my craw as a phrase, means something "hard to swallow" or accept- something irritating, annoying.

Gizzard- a part of a birds stomach (past the craw/crop) where food is ground up for digestion.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
The devil you say
Just as "the devil" may be depicted differently- as a blue thing, or a red thing-
with horns, or without- wearing flames or a tuxedo; there is also a slew of different words,
names or "nicknames" for the personification of evil.

Serpent, Old Nick, Lucifer, Fiend, Beelzebub, Satan, Prince of Darkness,

Mephistopheles, Lord of the Flies, Moloch, Father of Lies, Tempter, Deuce,

Dickens, Lbils, Antichrist, Fallen Angel, Old Scratch, Old Boy, Mephisto,

Old Ned, Split-foot, Slew-foot, Tempter, Abaddon, Ruler of Darkness, Deceiver

More?
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Just started reading a "new" book. Here are some words from that book.

Erudite- having or showing great knowledge or learning.

Opaque- something you cannot see through, not transparent. Just a thought- would a mirror be considered opaque?

Turpitude- weakness, moral depravity, wickedness.

Gnostic- relating to knowledge, especially mystical knowledge. Gnosticism suggested that humans were divine souls,
trapped in an imperfect material world, and release from ignorance would free them.

Esoteric- intended for and/or understood by a small number of people with specialized knowledge or interests.

The book uses the term gnostical turpitude. More reading is necessary???
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Red idioms

Red flag- a warning of some sort of danger or problem- especially weather, fire, safety.

Red herring, a false clue, distraction, misleading information. From an old practice of
dragging cooked herrings to create a "false" trail in fox hunting.

Red handed- caught in the act of doing something wrong- as in hands covered with blood.

Red tape- excessive bureaucracy, rules, formalities, hoops to jump through.

Red letter day- special, noteworthy, important- from an old practice of printing special, quotable passages
in a book with red ink.

Paint the town red- to splurge, go out and enjoy yourself, party, carouse.

More?
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Traduce- to slander or damage someone's reputation through lies. To speak badly about someone.

Balmy- just as balm (ointment, salve) is soothing and healing- balmy refers to pleasantly warm, mild,
refreshing weather. On the other hand, it can also mean idiotic, nutty, foolish- like a balmy idea.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Self test- first the definitions

1. Something out of place in time- like spotting a watch in a Roman gladiator movie.

2. Something divided or portioned into two parts, like stolen loot or society at large- a part, piece, share.

3. Language that is used in ordinary conversation, not formal or literary.

4. Crooked, off-center, askew.

5. Something like a novel, or lecture that is "instructive", promotes some doctrine or message- preachy.

Match up with these words-

A. Wonky B. Anachronism C. Didactic D. Moiety E. colloquial
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Why words?

Yaw- the twisting, oscillating, of a ship or aircraft about its vertical axis.

YHWH- consonants representing the "name" of the Israeli God.

Yew- a tree sacred to the Druids, having poisonous leaves.

Yahoo- a loud, rude, stupid person.
 
Dedans Penthouse

Dedans Penthouse

Legend
Bagumbawalla said:
Yaw- the twisting, oscillating, of a ship or aircraft about its vertical axis.
YHWH- consonants representing the "name" of the Israeli God.
Yew- a tree sacred to the Druids, having poisonous leaves.
Yahoo- a loud, rude, stupid person.
Click to expand...
Maw - the jaws or throat of a voracious animal

YHWH - Young Hebrew Woman's Association

Mew - a Danish band https://mewsite.com

Yoo-hoo - "me hee for Yoo-hoo"

180px-2019-07-29_21_07_52_A_glass_bottle_of_Yoo-hoo_chocolate_drink_in_the_Franklin_Farm_section_of_Oak_Hill%2C_Fairfax_County%2C_Virginia.jpg
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Umami- recognized as the 5th taste- after salt, sweet, bitter and sour.
Umami, or savoriness, affects sensors sensitive to glutamates and nucleotides
that are found in broths, cooked meats and fermented products.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Anomy (anomie)- an instability or breakdown of standards, values, economics in society, resulting in a loss of purpose or ideals and motivation among the population- which may cause unrest, social instability, crime...
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Hemicycle- a curved or semicircular form, structure, or arrangement.
A beach-town might be laid out as a hemicycle, following along the curve of the bay.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Steamroll

It was announced that Djokovic steamrolled over Nishikori.
Who has even/ever seen a steamroller? Maybe back in the 1800s.
Isn't there a more recent example that we can use to suggest being
overwhelmed by a powerful, irresistible force?

Suggestions?
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Leftyocity

Mary Carillo coined this term the other day while commenting on Olympic tennis.
Does it mean anything more than the advantage of being left-handed because it is less common?
 
stringertom

stringertom

Bionic Poster
Bagumbawalla said:
Leftyocity

Mary Carillo coined this term the other day while commenting on Olympic tennis.
Does it mean anything more than the advantage of being left-handed because it is less common?
Click to expand...
Lefties with a good spinning serve always get to serve out wide on ad points, both in and out. On grass or carpet that was a UUUGGGEEE advantage for her and her mixed dubs partner JMac.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Will-O'-Wisp
also, Will-O'-The-Wisp
also Ignis Fatuus (foolish fire)

Refers to a glowing, firey, ghost-like appearance, most often seen over marshland or bogs-
sometimes assumed to be fairy-like beings with a flame-like appearance,
or otherwise thought to be the tortured souls of evil beings.

Most often thought of as "marsh gas".

Something light, insubstantial, delicate, mysterious, short-lived,
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Archetype

An archetype is a sort of rucurring pattern in literature, art, mythology, etc. A typical example is the "hero" archtype
where the hero, an ordinary person, is called to adventure by circumstances where he/she must confront his/her greatest
fears that ultimately cause a transformation- sometimes death and rebirth. Think Luke in Star Wars.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Allegory

An allegory might be found as literature or artwork.
Basically, it is something that seems simple and straight forward at first
glance, but it has a "deeper" symbolic meaning- often political, moral or philosophical.

A simple story of kids playing marbles that devolves into name-calling and a fight, might
be written as an allegory about the senselessness of war. A more complex, well known, allegory
is Plato's allegory of the cave, where a man in the cave cannot see the outer world directly, but only as
shadows cast onto the cave wall. It might be interpreted as representing different levels of understanding "reality".
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
GNOMON

GNOMON

You know that slanty, spike, wedge-like thing that sticks up from a sundial and casts a shadow.

That is the gnomon- pronounced like a Rastafari telling you he doesn't want your help "no, mon".

The degrees between each hour is always 15, but the slant of the gnomon will depend on your

latitude.

What follows is a a video of how to make a simple paper sun dial, but it contains all the basic information
to make something nicer or more complex.

 
Last edited:
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Gainsay

The word has a sort of biblical feel to it.

Deny, contradict, declare to be untrue, oppose, deny.
No one could gainsay the evidence against hin/her.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Victuals

food usable by people. Supplies of food : provisions. "Vittles".

Use this word when you want to sound like the Clampets or cowboys of the old West.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Fulcrum

The point at which a lever pivots (as in a teeter-totter (see-saw)-
and by extention, anything or any person who is the cerner or focal point of an activity.
She acted as the fulcrum of the Spring celebration activities.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Scrim

If you go to plays, the scrim is a light, woven material used as a backdrop- that seems to be opaque
but when lit from behind, allows us to see everything that was formerly "hidden".
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Grunion

So you want to go on a grunion run. There are a few things you must know before you go. First, do you know what grunion are? For those not familiar, Grunion are a species of fish that leave the water at night to spawn on beaches during the spring and summer months throughout Southern California (San Diego to San Luis Obispo County).

Over three to four consecutive nights, beginning on the nights of the full moons and new moons, spawning occurs after high tides and continues for several hours. Peak spawning is from late March to early June.

Once I went to Pismo Beach to see the grunion "run" sometime after midnight, but I was so tired, I slept right through it.

 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Olallieberry

What is an Olallieberry?

The Olallieberry (pronounced oh-la-leh) is the primary fruit grown at the Linns' family farm. The berry was first developed in 1949 at Oregon State University by the U.S. Department of Agriculture by crossing a Loganberry with a Youngberry. The result was called Olallie, a Native American word meaning "berry". The Olallieberry has the physical characteristics of the classic blackberry, but it is genetically about two-thirds blackberry and one-third red raspberry. The Olallieberries grown on the Linns' farm are fairly tart making them perfectly suited for Linn's delicious More Fruit - Less Sugar Olallieberry Preserves, Pies, and Sauce.
 
Harry_Wild

Harry_Wild

G.O.A.T.
virtue
[ vur-choo ]SHOW IPA

See synonyms for: virtue / virtues on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.
  2. conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude.
  3. chastity; virginity: to lose one's virtue.
  4. a particular moral excellence.Compare cardinal virtues, natural virtue, theological virtue.
  5. a good or admirable quality or property: the virtue of knowing one's weaknesses.
  6. effective force; power or potency: a charm with the virtue of removing warts.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/virtue
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Virtuosity- additional material

great skill in music or another artistic pursuit.
"a performance of considerable virtuosity"

Virtuosity is a related term of virtuous.

As a noun virtuosity
is the technical skills and fluent style of a virtuoso.

As a adjective virtuous is
full of virtue, having excellent moral character.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Pulchritude

physical beauty or attractiveness

Pulchritude means physical beauty or attractiveness. Pulchritude is a fancy (and outdated) way of talking about how someone or something is good-looking.
It's quite rare and, for that reason, usually used for humorous effect. The adjective form of pulchritude is pulchritudinous, meaning beautiful.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
agathokakological

composed of both good and evil

Agathokakological is likely the creation of Robert Southey, a reviewer and poet who was born in Bristol in the late 18th century.
This thorny mouthful is made by combining the Greek roots agath- (good), kako-
(a variant of cac-, meaning bad), and -logical (the adjectival suffix based on logos, meaning word).

Most likely he formulated this word after haven eaten a dinner prepared by some ancestor of my wife.

(Joke)
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Pantograph

A pantograph is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line drawing is traced by the first point, an identical, enlarged, or miniaturized copy will be drawn by a pen fixed to the other.

 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
orangutan
[ aw-rang-oo-tan, oh-rang-, uh-rang- ]

noun
Either of two species of long-armed, arboreal great ape, the only extant members of the subfamily Ponginae, inhabiting Borneo (Pongo pygmaeus) and Sumatra (P. abelii): both species, including all three of the Bornean subspecies, are endangered.
Also o·rang-u·tan; o·rang·u·tang or o·rang-ou·tang [aw-rang-oo-tang, oh-rang-, uh-rang-] . Also called o·rang [aw-rang, oh-rang]

I saw a video of an orangutan putting on and wearing sunglasses- but what caught my attention was how just about everybody pronounced the name differently.
You can see, above, about 8 or 10 variations in how it might be pronounced.

Good luck.
 
Vcore89

Vcore89

Talk Tennis Guru
It used to be the good Lord is in the detail [God is in the detail], the horn-rimmed version of the expression was a much later iteration.
 
B

Bagumbawalla

G.O.A.T.
Vcore89 said:
It used to be the good Lord is in the detail [God is in the detail], the horn-rimmed version of the expression was a much later iteration.
Click to expand...
You are correct-
The earlier God version tends to mean that deatils are important, and it you pay attention to them you will have greater rewards/success-
sort of like measure twice, cut once?
The devil version implies that something may seem simple on the surface- but the details can mess things up- sort of like Murphy's law?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top