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Post by stepper on Mar 27, 2011 22:36:35 GMT -6
I was reading a book the other night and came across this one.
SWALE: a low-lying or depressed and often wet stretch of land; also a shallow depression on a golf fairway or green Origin unknown First Known Use: 1584
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Post by Siren on Apr 1, 2011 20:11:11 GMT -6
Very interesting word, Step. I've never heard that one before.
~~~~~~~~~
truc·u·lent truhk-yuh-luhnt, troo-kyuh- –adjective 1. fierce; cruel; savagely brutal. 2. brutally harsh; vitriolic; scathing: his truculent criticism of her work. 3. aggressively hostile; belligerent.
Origin: 1530–40; < Latin truculentus, equivalent to truc-, stem of trux savage, pitiless + -ulentus -ulent
—Related forms truc·u·lence, truc·u·len·cy, noun truc·u·lent·ly, adverb
—Synonyms 1. See fierce.
—Antonyms 1. amiable, gentle.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 2, 2011 5:34:36 GMT -6
Oh, oh, oh, pick me, pick me! I know about swales, and have even used it in sentences...many times. There's a small one in the ravine; this time of year with the snow melt and spring rains, it'll be full of standing water for months.
I've never heard of "truculent" though; that's definitely one I want to remember. In its definition is another word I wasn't familiar with that is just as interesting: vitriolic.
The root word of "vitriolic" is "vitriol", which is sulphate of iron. It comes from the Latin word vitreus, meaning "of glass, or glassy" because of vitriol's glassy-like appearance in certain states.
It's the word's figurative meaning that is interesting. "Bitter or caustic feelings" is in reference to the corrosive properties of vitriol.
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Post by stepper on Apr 3, 2011 20:58:47 GMT -6
It's SWALE that you knowed what that meant Phalon!
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Post by Siren on Apr 4, 2011 20:46:16 GMT -6
vitriolic - great word! cool origins.
Lol, Step!
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Post by stepper on Apr 15, 2011 21:31:06 GMT -6
You know, this makes sense, I just never thought of it before.
outro - pl -tros (Music) Music informal an instrumental passage that concludes a piece of music; conclusion of a body of work. antonym- intro
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Post by Siren on Apr 16, 2011 9:23:55 GMT -6
Yeah, it does make sense. We use the term outro in radio all the time. I used this word in another thread, and figured it would have fun origins. It does. from www.thefreedictionary.comtit·il·late (ttl-t) v. tit·il·lat·ed, tit·il·lat·ing, tit·il·lates v.tr. 1. To stimulate by touching lightly; tickle. 2. To excite (another) pleasurably, superficially or erotically. v.intr. To excite another, especially in a superficial, pleasurable manner: "Once you decide to titillate instead of illuminate . . . you create a climate of expectation that requires a higher and higher level of intensity" (Bill Moyers). [Latin ttillre, ttillt-, to tickle.]
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Post by katina2nd on Apr 16, 2011 21:13:42 GMT -6
Yeah, it does make sense. We use the term outro in radio all the time. I used this word in another thread, and figured it would have fun origins. It does. from www.thefreedictionary.comtit·il·late (ttl-t) v. tit·il·lat·ed, tit·il·lat·ing, tit·il·lates v.tr. 1. To stimulate by touching lightly; tickle. 2. To excite (another) pleasurably, superficially or erotically. v.intr. To excite another, especially in a superficial, pleasurable manner: "Once you decide to titillate instead of illuminate . . . you create a climate of expectation that requires a higher and higher level of intensity" (Bill Moyers). [Latin ttillre, ttillt-, to tickle.] It mush have been your titillating touch that caused the little blighter to pee on your shoe Siren. One of the footy broadcasters used this the other day ....... dis·com·bob·u·late (dskm-bby-lt) tr.v. dis·com·bob·u·lat·ed, dis·com·bob·u·lat·ing, dis·com·bob·u·lates To throw into a state of confusion. See Synonyms at confuse. now I know there's an actual word that describes my state of being most of the time.
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Post by stepper on Apr 16, 2011 21:40:31 GMT -6
I've used that word a few times myself Kat. Been that way a few times too.
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Post by Siren on Apr 17, 2011 21:10:50 GMT -6
Or maybe my hands were cold, kat. ;P
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Post by stepper on Apr 21, 2011 19:53:48 GMT -6
Ah, but you have such a warm heart.
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Post by Siren on Apr 24, 2011 21:28:09 GMT -6
Lol - I like to think so, Step. I actually captured a toad the other night, after a heavy rain. Saw him seemingly overwhelmed by the rain in the street. I emptied a coke cup in my car and placed him in it to take home with me. He's now in my flowerbed, unless he liked his original digs better.
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Post by katina2nd on Apr 24, 2011 21:29:33 GMT -6
Ah, but you have such a warm heart. Ahhh you're a smoothie mate ........... and quite correct in this instance as well.
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Post by stepper on Apr 25, 2011 17:30:39 GMT -6
I would have dumped it in the street. Okay, maybe it wasn't all that funny. Thank you for saying so, but it's an illusion brought about by the fact that I merely stated the obvious. Of course, it's always nice to get credit even when unearned.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 26, 2011 4:58:23 GMT -6
He is one lucky toad! I'm sure he'll be quite happy in your flower bed, Siren. In what better place can he find such a warm heart, gentle squeezes, and the occasional shoe to pee on?
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Post by stepper on Apr 26, 2011 20:20:55 GMT -6
BOLL! Nice.
Agelast - A person who never laughs. (Strangely, Merriam did not have this word, but other dictionaries did.)
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Post by Siren on May 8, 2011 22:45:02 GMT -6
I hope the toad has chosen to stick around. I haven't seen him since that rainy night.
Agelast - Wow, I have never heard or seen that one before, Step.
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Post by moonglum on May 9, 2011 13:26:07 GMT -6
My mum was doing a crossword over the weekend and came across this little gem. Neither of us had heard it before.
Toxophilite - an archer, one skilled in the use of a bow.
[from Toxophilus, the title of a book (1545) by Ascham, designed to mean: a lover of the bow, from Greek toxon bow + philos loving]
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Post by Phalon on May 10, 2011 5:49:59 GMT -6
Interesting, Moonglum. If a toxophilite is a lover of the bow, then...
...governments, of course, would be taxophilites.
Lovers of smoked salmon would be loxophilites.
People who shake Christmas presents to try to figure out what's inside before opening them would be boxophilites.
Those who love little red-furry woodland animals, or extremely good-looking two-legged animals would be foxophilites.
And you, Moonglum, are a....(here it comes. ready?)....Voxophilite!
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Post by moonglum on May 10, 2011 13:51:03 GMT -6
groooaaaann!
Wife, pass me my trusty blade for I shall fall upon it forthwith; or even with forth.
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Post by Phalon on May 10, 2011 17:58:04 GMT -6
Hey, what'd you expect?
Skip the blade. Use the toxophilite instead; he comes forthwith, I hear, and never misses. Now, the whiskeyphilite comes with fifth.
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Post by Siren on May 10, 2011 21:26:28 GMT -6
Some very cutting comments around here, from sharp-tongued and sharp-witted folk. Cut each other some slack!
~~~~~~~~
Check out the origin on this one:
brusque adj \ˈbrəsk\ Definition of BRUSQUE 1 : markedly short and abrupt 2 : blunt in manner or speech often to the point of ungracious harshness
Origin of BRUSQUE French brusque, from Italian brusco, from Medieval Latin bruscus butcher's-broom (plant with bristly twigs) First Known Use: 1651
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Post by Phalon on May 11, 2011 4:41:47 GMT -6
Ewwww....did that come off as sounding sharp-tongued on my part? I didn't mean to be brusque (I love words that end in "que", btw - good one, Siren).
Just messing around, Moonglum. I miss your sharp wit and wish you could stop in more often. My apologies, Dear Sir, forthwith. (Regarding the whiskeyphilite "with fifth" comment. My apologies for that too; a bad pun, no matter how groan-producing, is hard to resist).
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Post by Phalon on May 15, 2011 21:42:55 GMT -6
I ran across a word the other day, and after looking it up, found its origins very disturbing.
The word was "edentulous", an adjective meaning toothless.
It comes from the word "edentate", another adjective that means lacking teeth.
This is the disturbing part: Both words originate from the Latin word edentatus, which means to make toothless.
To make toothless!!!! How many people went around making people toothless that there had to be a word for it?!
I think that's one for the Dental Dominatrix, for sure.
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Post by Siren on May 15, 2011 22:24:10 GMT -6
Ewwww....did that come off as sounding sharp-tongued on my part? Actually, no, it did not. I was just trying to be punny. Sorry! When you think about it, there was probably no such thing as preventive dentistry back then, or the fixing of a broken or diseased tooth. They just pulled them. Thus, the need for a name for those specialists. *shudder*
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Post by moonglum on May 16, 2011 14:08:45 GMT -6
Ewwww....did that come off as sounding sharp-tongued on my part? I didn't mean to be brusque (I love words that end in "que", btw - good one, Siren). Just messing around, Moonglum. I miss your sharp wit and wish you could stop in more often. My apologies, Dear Sir, forthwith. (Regarding the whiskeyphilite "with fifth" comment. My apologies for that too; a bad pun, no matter how groan-producing, is hard to resist). No offense taken. I thought it was a good pun (or should that be a good bad pun? A gad pun egad. I wish I could get on here a bit more often too. Too much going on at the moment. Still, on the bright side, the word count is up around 20,000 so far. I think I might actually be able to do it this time.
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Post by stepper on May 16, 2011 19:39:49 GMT -6
Interesting, Moonglum. If a toxophilite is a lover of the bow, then... ...governments, of course, would be taxophilites. Lovers of smoked salmon would be loxophilites. People who shake Christmas presents to try to figure out what's inside before opening them would be boxophilites. Those who love little red-furry woodland animals, or extremely good-looking two-legged animals would be foxophilites. And you, Moonglum, are a....(here it comes. ready?)....Voxophilite! I know I'm coming in late here, but if I like Robin Hood and his home town crew so I sneak them to the woods in wooden crates and feed them with fish from a stream but leave the woodland creatures alone because they're cute, and we practice archery because we all hate the sheriff and wanna stick him, does that make me a toxo-loxo-boxo-foxo-anti-taxo-philite?
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Post by stepper on May 16, 2011 19:47:05 GMT -6
Ewwww....did that come off as sounding sharp-tongued on my part? I didn't mean to be brusque (I love words that end in "que", btw - good one, Siren). Just messing around, Moonglum. I miss your sharp wit and wish you could stop in more often. My apologies, Dear Sir, forthwith. (Regarding the whiskeyphilite "with fifth" comment. My apologies for that too; a bad pun, no matter how groan-producing, is hard to resist). Por que? And just to say it, one wonders what it'd be like to write some of this after a forth fifth. I don't think I could even say forth fifth! At least, not so's anyone could understand what I was saying. (I'm thinking anything I typed would come out like Joxie's letter scrambler.)
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Post by Phalon on May 18, 2011 21:18:05 GMT -6
Makes perfect sense, Siren. I wonder why I didn't think of that. Probably because I didn't want to think about it!
<double shudder>
Oooo.....good for you, Moonglum! Keep at it! I'm in your cheering section. I think it'd be so cool if one of us Whoosh want-to-be writers made it.
If you can say it, you can be it, Stepper!
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Post by stepper on May 18, 2011 22:02:59 GMT -6
{Walking away from the keyboard for a few mintues, and then to return having overcome the temptation.} Ahem. Let me point out that I could say many, many, things, but this is a public forum readable by those of the under aged persuasion so I have resigned myself to merely reflecting on the Oh So Wonderous thoughts you just inspired.
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