Word Search to Your Mother

A reader contributed the following puzzle, made entirely of words covered in "Words to Your Mother". And I do mean entirely. If you find all of the words, there will not be any letters left. As such, to create more of a challenge, I am not providing a list of words in the puzzle: You'll have to figure out for yourself which words they are. You should be able to find 79 words, most or all of which you can find on my last word index. (I don't believe there are any from more recent posts.)

Here you go:

WEREVENANTERATONYMENIUQK
HKDNPANGRAMTSIDOPORIHCUH
OHNUBVERISIMILITUDEVITAA
MCOJEEDULTSOPETARETEVNIR
UTIEARPIGNIFFUGCAMSTBULA
KOTJUPFRONLAMIXAMEASAQBN
LHCPCDHNOZAEHCUOLRSILNOA
UCEEOPRIEPIRYABAUURLEEDW
KTRRUSIALDIHAIHHOOEUEHHB
SYREPEICCOANCHURGALBNEIC
IROSPSMSAOLHQSOAIBBMNMSH
SECTUUUBOYNOCUMECUAAUAAU
PNRRTESOAEUIGSISTGCNITTR
EOEONOCCRRHNAYTTHISMVOTL
LOPKRKRUUOATENEUYDAOILVI
LRYIONEGDLNZORRASARSROAS
YTHAKUEIBAAIAPARBMIZTGVH
SLAKEJDRHRCRCDAYDEXAUIAA
PANACEAPEDARBAACHTUNGSSG
HPARGIDIMPRESSFULSOMETTI
TUETROPLOCONTEMNEVLOVEDM
EDUTITRECITCILCNEOCTAVEA

Hiatus

Hiatus is the temporary state that this blog is entering while I do some traveling. I'm not completely sure how often I'll be near an Internet connection, and I don't expect to have much time to make these posts while I'm gone in any case. (In my preparation to leave I haven't even had much time to make them while I'm here.) I might post occasionally, but don't expect my roughly daily post to show up again until early December.

A few things to help hold you over while I'm gone:

The menal_floss blog has a nice little list of words today. See if you can guess which ones are realy and which aren't.

Also, if you want to keep up your vocabulary while I'm gone, here are thirty words randomly selected from the list of words that I've been considering posting about. (The total list would be over 150 words at this point.) I've assigned each word a day for the next month should you choose to go back and research any of them. (I may still use some of these when I get back.)

November 8: hyacinth
November 9: whinge
November 10: recazier
November 11: telemores
November 12: mata hari
November 13: hemantaschen
November 14: piquante
November 15: melanoma
November 16: caprice
November 17: declension
November 18: poxy
November 19: fin de siecle
November 20: triptych
November 21: chalet
November 22: tureen
November 23: sonata
November 24: diaspora
November 25: lannguorous
November 26: funereal
November 27: abortifacient
November 28: aphorism
November 29: furtive
November 30: ichnologist
December 1: scrye
December 2: bugaboo
December 3: mycelium
December 4: inveterate
December 5: usurer
December 6: ferous
December 7: xenial
December 8: zylorimba

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, hiatus

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Rumspringa

Rumspringa is Deitsch for a "running around". In the Amish community, this is a period in which Amish youths are encouraged to explore the "English" world before deciding to live permanently in the Amish community. This usually lasts from age sixteen through to the early twenties. During this time the Amish youths experience things normally considered sinful, potentially including dating, driving, drinking, smoking, and drug use, among other things. According to the Amish, around 80-90% of these youths return to their communty.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, Pennsylvania German, Pennsylvania Dutch, Amish

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This blog is officially legitimate

It has attracted attention. How do I know? I just had my first comment spam.

(The message itself has been deleted, but I left the name and time as a memento of this special occasion.)

technorati tags:blogs, blogging, comments, spam

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Bicameral

A bicameral government is composed of two separate legislative chambers or branches. The U.S. government is one example of this, since it has both a Senate and a House of Representatives.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, bicameral

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Apophenia

You might be a victim of neuroses (being unwanted mental lack of mental fitness) if, unlike most folks, you have encountered the symptoms for apophenia.

For example, your tendency to see patterns in otherwise meaningless data might lead you to look suspiciously for a hidden message in every tenth letter in the first paragraph of this post. Lunatic.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, apohpenia, lunatic

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Revenant

Revenant can mean a few things:

A revenant is one who returns after a lengthy absence.

Another type of revenant is a person who returns from the dead (i.e., a ghost), possibly to achieve a specific goal (e.g., taking revenge on their killer). I believe this is the most common form of the word.

Revenant can also be an adjective meaning something typical of a revenant. Of course, since I firmly believe the dead aren't wandering around, I'm not really sure what a typical sound of a dead person would be. However, "revenant shrieks and groans" is one example phrase that should give you a rough idea.

Revenant can also mean returning or recurring. I would guess this is the least common of the four uses.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, revenant

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Crepuscular

Something that is crepuscular is dim or like twilight. It can also refer to animals that become active during twilight or between twilight and sunrise.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, crepuscular

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Irascible

I'm slowing down... I believe this is the first time that I've had a (approximately) 72 hour gap between posts. So, to catch up (although I still insist that this isn't necessarily a daily feature), I will use Flock's "blog this" feature to minimize the amount that I have to write. I'll try to minimize my laziness for future posts. Until then:

i·ras·ci·ble Pronunciation (-rs-bl, -rs-)adj.1. Prone to outbursts of temper; easily angered.2. Characterized by or resulting from anger.

irascible - definition of irascible by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, irasicble

Edit: Due to a daylight-saving-related time warp, this post is listed after the two following posts. Go figure.

MacGuffin

My third and final (for the moment) lazy-catch-up post:

A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or Maguffin) is a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story.The director and producer Alfred Hitchcock popularized both the term "MacGuffin" and the technique. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Hitchcock explained the term in a 1939 lecture at Columbia University: "[W]e have a name in the studio, and we call it the 'MacGuffin.' It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is always the necklace and in spy stories it is always the papers."

MacGuffin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, MacGuffin

In medias res

Again, I'm feeling lazy, so I'll let Wikipedia speak for me. I will note that the Star Trek: The Next Generation epsiode "Suspicions" is one of many examples of this technique.

In medias res (Latin for "into the middle of things") is a literary technique where the narrative starts in the middle of the story instead of from its beginning (ab ovo or ab initio). The characters, setting, and conflict are often introduced through a series of flashbacks or through characters relating past events to each other. Classical works such as Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad begin in the middle of the story.

In medias res - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, in medias res, Latin

Slake

To slake is to satisfy or quench ("to slake one's thirst), to moderate ("to slake one's anger"), to refresh by moistening, or to combine lime wit h moist air. It is more common in older English, but still in modern usage.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, slake

Poltroonery

Double-post today to make up for a missing day:

Poltroonery is cowardice.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, poltroonery, poltroon

Scroobious

Scroobious is a word from the nonsense poetry of Edward Lear. It is applied to people to imply disapproval of their conduct; however, it is not a real word.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, scroobious, Edward Lear, nonsense words

Vita

A vita is a short account of a person's life. More than one vita would be vitae. A vita can also be a curriculum vitae (which is singular in this case), which is basically a resume (or, if you prefer, resumé, or if you just want to be snooty, résumé)

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, vita, vitae, curriculum vitae

Mukluk

A mukluk is a soft boot made of reindeer skin or sealskin and worn by Eskimos.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, mukluk, shoes, eskimos, Inuits

Hoi polloi

The hoi polloi are the common people.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, hoi polloi

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ສະບໃຢດີ (sabaai dee)

Today, we again venture into southeast Asian linguistics with a consideration of ສະບໃຢດີ (pronounced "sabaai dee" or "sa-baaj-dii"), which is Lao (or, if you prefer, Laotian) for "Hello".

Lao is closely related to Thai. Laotian generally uses the Thai alphabet for writing, and I believe that the phrase discussed here is the same in both languages, as well as in Isan. Like the related Khmer alphabet, this is an abugida (or syllabic alphabet) rather than a true alphabet.

As with Vietnamese, Lao is a highly tonal language. I can't claim to be an expert on Laotian tones, but I believe the following to be the correct interpretation of this phrase:

ສະ = sa (with a low rising tone)

ບໃ = bay (with a low tone)

ຢ = y (with a low rising tone)

ດີ = dee (with a low tone)

In practice, you may still be understood without the proper tones for such a common phrase (especially given the contexts you would be most likely to use it in), but it is definitely better to try to achieve the proper tone when speaking.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, ສະບໃຢດີ, sabaai dee, sa-baaj-dii, hello, Lao, Laotian, Thai, Isan, abugida, syllabic alphabet, tone, tonal language, Vietnamese, Khmer, Cambodian

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101st Anniversary Index (10/21/06)

And to think I missed my own anniversary...

The main feature of the blog that wasn't supposed to last more than a week or two has now reached its 101st anniversary. The 101 words that I've included below (not counting Foster's or words that shared a definition under another word's heading) represent what you may or may not have learned so far. Honestly, I don't remember what many of them mean myself. Here's your chance for a refresher. Note that seventeen of the words below fail Flock's spell-check (not counting words marked as non-English or the phrase "Rashomon effect", which includes a proper noun). Enjoy.

abrade
abugida
achtung (German)
ἀγάπη (agape) (Koine Greek)
amiga (Spanish)
apothecary
apotheosis
avast
axed
baleen
bodhisattva
brae (Scottish)
bwana (Swahili)
beaucoup
caduceus
certitude
chào (Vietnamese)
chiropodist
churlish
colporteur
contemn
danke schön (German)
de riguer (French)
decimation
devolve
digraph
discomfit
dobar dan (добар дан) (Serbo-Croatian)
懂嗎 (懂吗/dong ma) (Mandarin Chinese)
draconian
ebay (Pig Latin)
ekorn (Norwegian)
embarazada (Spanish)
enclictic
ennui (French)
estuary
facinorous
fata morgana
flustrated
fulsome
גנבֿ (ganef) (Yiddish)
grotto
hakuna matata (Swahili)
harangue
hematologist
hypercorrection
icthys
impeachment
impress
inter arma enim silent leges (Latin)
inveterate
!*(f ^^/~ (iœ yye) (Oou)
jejune
jiffy
ជំរាបសួរ (joom reeup sooa) (Cambodian/Khmer)
junk
khara (Sanskrit)
klaatu barada nikto (fictional language)
lacuna
languorous
louche
maximal
meretricious
miter
momento mori (Latin)
n'est-ce pas (French)
noblesse oblige (French)
nuqneH (Klingon)
octave (poetry)
panacea
pangram
perestroika
phantasmagoria
philology
picayune
postlude
prig
propinquity
quail
qu'est-ce que c'est? (French)
quine
Rashomon effect
schadenfreude
schizoid
screed
סלה (selah) (Hebrew)
somnambulist
sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble (French)
souma yergon (Wolof [?])
spick and span
sushi
syllepsis
tchotchke (Yiddish)
teratonym (not a real word)
uff da (Norwegian)
uhuru (Swahili)
verisimilitude
virtu
whom
yare
zimbra (not a real word)

If you can read this, you don't need glasses. You know, unless you're wearing them right now. Or unless you increased the font size or you're using a magnifier program or a text-only browser without font sizes. Cheater.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, Words to Your Mother, index, anniversary, 100, 101

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Propinquity

Propinquity can refer either to physical proximity or to a sort of kinship or bond between people or things.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, propinquity

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Grotto

A grotto is a small cave or cavern

It can also be a garden like such

Is this in iambic pentameter?

I think I'm stuck from yesterday - oh, drat.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, grotto

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Octave (poetry)

A couplet is a poem

That consists of two lines

A quatrain is a poem

That consists of four lines

A sestet is a poem

That consists of six lines

An octave has eight in iambic pentameter

So this doesn't count as one (even if it were a poem)

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, poetry, couplet, quatrain, sestet, octave

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Ennui

Ennui (pronounced "on-we") is boredom. Extreme, extreme boredom.

Yup.

That's about it.

Did I mention that it's related to the word "annoy"?

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, ennui

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Hypercorrection

Hypercorrection is something that is familiar to you and I , even if you haven't heard of it before. A hypercorrection is a phrase that is formed by taking existing grammatical rules and misapplying them in an attempt to be more correct but resulting in an improper statement.

Some examples of hypercorrection:

Pluralizing "virus" as "virii". (The proper pluralization is viruses.)

Forcibly removing prepositions from the ends of clauses.

Using "you and I" as an object since it sounds more "proper". ("He gave it to you and I.")

Hyperforeignism: Misapplying pronunciation rules for other languages to words that do not follow these rules. (Lots of good examples of this at Wikipedia.)

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, hypercorrection, hyperforeignism

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Lacuna

A lacuna is a blank space or a gap.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, lacuna, lacunae

Worthless Word for the Day

No, I'm not talking about this blog.

Check out the Worthless Word for the Day site for plenty of obscure and purportedly useless words. Good stuff.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary

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More words from mental_floss

Check out last Friday's Weekly Word Wrap at mental_floss for definitions of words like eosophobia (fear of dawn), parnel (a priest's mistress), and gynotikolobomassophile (one who likes to nibble on a woman's earlobes).

technorati tags:words, eosophobia, parnel, gynotikolobomassophile

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Facinourous

Facinorous means extremely or atrociously wicked.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, facinorous

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Inveterate

Inveterate means firmly and long established.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, inveterate

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Hematologist

Boy, if I kept going down the list of medical specialties, that could probably support this blog for a month or two by itself... I'll try not to fall back on it too often.

A hematologist (or haemotologist) is a doctor that studies blood disorders, as well as blood-forming organs and blood in general.

For reasons that escape me, hematology seems to be frequently linked with oncology, which involves the study, prevention, and treatment of cancer and other tumors.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, hematologist, haemotologist, hematology, haemotology, oncology, oncologist, doctors, medical specialties

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Schizoid

Someone who is schizoid is characterized by a lack of interest in social relationships, extreme shyness, reclusiveness, discomfort with others, and an inability to form close relationships.

Now I'm going back to my cave until tomorrow.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, schizoid

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Danke schön

Danke schön is German for "thank you for... all the" --

Come to think of it, just "thank you" (or "thanks a lot") pretty much covers it. Danke schön is only one of numerous ways of saying "thank you" in German. Danke on its own can mean "thank you" as well, but can also mean "no, thanks" in response to an offer. It is effectively required by German custom to respond to this with "bitte schön" (or just "bitte" if you are responding to "danke" on its own): otherwise you may be viewed as refusing the thanks of the person in question.

Incidentally, the second word is pronounced more like "schone" or "scheun" than "shane". Follow the first link in this post for a pronunciation.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, danke schön, danke, German, thank you

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Syllepsis

A syllepsis is a type of a zeugma, a sentence or phrase in which the same word is used with two different meanings, but (usually) only appears once in the sentence.

The best way to explain what syllepses are is really by example. (All examples stolen from Wikipedia unless mentioned otherwise.)

He took my advice and my wallet (The Free Dictionary)

On his fishing trip, he caught three trout and a cold. (Dictionary.com)

If we don't hang together, we shall hang separately (Benjamin Franklin)

Oh, flowers are as common here, Miss Fairfax, as people are in London. (The Importance of Being Earnest)

Are you getting fit or having one? (M*A*S*H)

You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you see fit. (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

He leaned heavily on the lectern and stale jokes.

He said, as he hastened to put out the cat, the wine, his cigar and the lamps... ("Madeira M'Dear")

You can leave in a taxi. If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff. (Groucho Marx)

She stirred my soul and my risotto.

You can find a few more here.

Interestingly, a sentence is also a zeugma or syllepsis if part of the sentence is applied improperly to the wrong half of the sentence. For example:

To wage war and peace (Dictionary.com)

A zeugma, more broadly, can be any phrase joined by a common noun or verb.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, syllepsis, syllepses, zeugma

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Digraph

I won't count "!*(f ^^/~ ? " as today's word/phrase, but I will take a useful word out of it: "(f" is a shining example of a digraph, which is essentially a letter composed of two separate characters. Oou aside, this type of character appears in English via "ch", "sh", and "ai" among others. Perhaps more notably, it creates actual letters in some languages such as Vietnamese, which treats "ng" and "tr" (among others) as individual letters. Vietnamese even uses one trigraph: ngh.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, digraph, trigraph, Vietnamese, Oou

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!*(f ^^/~ ?

"!*(f ^^/~" (pronounced /ioœ yye/) is Oou for "I love languages". Or "I love a langugage". Or "You love a language". Or "I avoid languages". Or "My turnip language". Or "I flatten languages". Or "I love genocide". Or many other equally correct translations depending on context and state of mind.

Oou is a conlang (constructed language), an artlang (a conlang designed for aesthetic pleasure), and a jokelang (a conlang created as a joke). It is properly written only in monospace fonts.

The full (very short) dictionary and description of Oou can be found at the link below. Be warned: There is some strong language on this page, both inside and outside of the dictionary.

http://kisa.ca/oou.html

Update (10/21/06): Made a slight correction to the word itself (the question mark at the end was intentionally part of the title, but is not part of the word).

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, !*(f, ^^/~, Oou, conlang, artlang, jokelang

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Enclitic

An enclitic is a clitic that always binds to another word.

Okay, that probably wasn't very helpful.

A clitic is something that basically acts like a word but is always followed or preceded by another word: it never appears on its own. An enclitic actualy attaches itself to therelated word. Examples:

I'm
You're
She's
They'll
They've

The boldface sections are enclitics.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, enclitic, clitic

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Ekorn

Am I nuts?

I don't know any other Norwegian words, but you have to love this word right here:

Ekorn is Norwegian for squirrel.

Yep. That's right. And it is a coincidence. Ekorn basically means "oak kitten".

I'm just going to let you sit on that one for a while.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, ekorn, Norwegian, squirrel

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Abrade

To abrade is to wear down, erode, or chafe. It can also mean to make weary in a spiritual sense.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, abrade

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Prig

Even though it's not improper or vulgar, I'm not sure how often you want to use this word around Mom... Nonetheless, here it is:

A prig is someone who displays or demands pointlessly precise conformity, fussiness about trivialities, or exaggerated propriety, especially in a self-righteous or irritating manner. Not to be confused with a similar sounding word that means "an obnoxious or contemptible person", but is considered vulgar.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, prig

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Yare

Something that is yare is agile or lively. The term is primarily used in a nautical sense, referring to a vessel that is easily maneuvered.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, yare

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Discomfit

To discomfit someone is to make them lose their composure; to make them uneasy or embarrassed. You might notice an odd similarity to someone experiencing discomfort: This is not a coincidence. It is considered likely that the current meaning of the word resulted from people mixing it up with "discomfort". The original meaning (which is still correct, if rare) has to do with thwarting the plans of one's opponents. The meaning "to frustrate" falls somewhere in between the other meanings.

Interestingly, both comfit and discomfit come from the Latin word "conficere" (to prepare), but otherwise the words have little to do with each other: Comfit is a food consisting of spices or dried fruits or nuts coated with sugar.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, discomfit, comfit

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Fata morgana

Making up for a missed day with a quick double-post:

A fata morgana is a mirage. Fata morgana can also refer to many other things, but perhaps most notably (and most related to our primary definition), it is also an alternate name for Morgan le Fay, the shape-shifter of Arthurian legend.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, fata morgana, Morgan le Fay

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De rigueur

De rigueur (usually italicized when used in English) is a French phrase meaning "of rigor" or "of strictness". However, when used in English, it more commonly means that something is required by custom or fashion.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, de rigueur, French

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Meretricious

Something that is meretricious is brummagem, meaning that it is gaudy or attracts attention in a vulgar manner. It can also mean something having to deal with prostitutes or prostitution.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, meretricious, brummagem

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Quine

In computer programming, a quine is a metaprogram that outputs its entire source code. Wikipedia gives several examples of this, including the following JavaScript example:

function a() {
alert (a + "\na();");
}

a();

Quine is also occasionally used to mean "to deny resolutely the existence or importance of something real or significant".

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, quine, programming, metaprogramming

Momento mori

After having my self-righteousness self-deflated again, I need to throw out a Latin phrase to recoup:

"Momento mori" is a cheery Latin phrase that means "remember that you are mortal" or "remember you will die". Mentos, on the other hand, are fresh and full of life.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, momento mori, Latin, blatant product placement

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Axed

If someone has "axed" you, then they have struck you with a bladed tool, or perhaps terminated your job. However, as with my previous rant on the word flustrated, I am surprised to find that another meaning has some legitimacy.

Yes, The Free Dictionary lists one meaning of "ax" as "variant of ask". Read on:

ax has become stigmatized as substandard—a fate that has befallen other words, like ain't, that were once perfectly acceptable in literate circles.

Not convinced?

This should not be surprising since ax is a very old word in English, having been used in England for over 1,000 years. In Old English we find both scian and csian, and in Middle English both asken and axen. Moreover, the forms with cs or x had no stigma associated with them.

Still doesn't do it for you?

Chaucer used asken and axen interchangeably, as in the lines "I wol aske, if it hir will be/To be my wyf" and "Men axed hym, what sholde bifalle," both from The Canterbury Tales.

Unless you're from Iowa, I think you'd be hard-pressed to argue with Chaucer.

Besides, in a thousand years we'll all be saying it that way, so I guess we might as well get used to it again.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, axed, ask, axen, slang

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From pirates to prospectors

If Talk Like a Pirate Day didn't suit your fancy, check out the mental_floss blog for instructions on "How to Swear Like an Old Prospector".

technorati tags:vocabulary, pirates, prospector, swearing

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Words to Your Mother Index (9/28/06)

Believe it or not, it's been seventy-five words and phrases covered and still going strong (and Foster's didn't even count), with no sign of running out anytime soon. Here's out story so far. As usual, some of the more distinctively non-English words have notes as to the language they are from and used in, and words written in non-Latin character sets are alphabetized by approximate English spellings.

abugida
achtung (German)
ἀγάπη (agape) (Koine Greek)
amiga (Spanish)
apothecary
apotheosis
avast
baleen
bodhisattva
brae (Scottish)
bwana (Swahili)
beaucoup
caduceus
certitude
chào (Vietnamese)
chiropodist
churlish
colporteur
contemn
decimation
devolve
dobar dan (добар дан) (Serbo-Croatian)
懂嗎 (懂吗/dong ma) (Mandarin Chinese)
draconian
ebay (Pig Latin)
embarazada (Spanish)
estuary
flustrated
fulsome
גנבֿ (ganef) (Yiddish)
hakuna matata (Swahili)
harangue
icthys
impeachment
impress
inter arma enim silent leges (Latin)
jejune
jiffy
ជំរាបសួរ (joom reeup sooa) (Cambodian/Khmer)
junk
khara (Sanskrit)
klaatu barada nikto (fictional language)
languorous
louche
maximal
miter
n'est-ce pas (French)
noblesse oblige (French)
nuqneH (Klingon)
panacea
pangram
perestroika
phantasmagoria
philology
picayune
postlude
quail
qu'est-ce que c'est? (French)
Rashomon effect
schadenfreude
screed
סלה (selah) (Hebrew)
somnambulist
sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble (French)
souma yergon (Wolof [?])
spick and span
sushi
tchotchke (Yiddish)
teratonym (not a real word)
uff da (Norwegian)
uhuru (Swahili)
verisimilitude
virtu
whom
zimbra (not a real word)

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, Words to Your Mother, index

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גנבֿ (ganef)

גנבֿ (ganef, gonef, gonif, or goniff) is Yiddish for "thief", "scoundrel", or "rascal". However, the word may be used as a general term of abuse. It is based on a Hebrew word meaning "to steal".

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, גנבֿ, ganef, gonef, gonif, goniff, Yiddish

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Dobar dan (добар дан)

"Dobar dan" (pronounced "dough-bar Dan") is a greeting in Serbo-Croatian. Well... Actually let's get back to "dobar dan" in a minute.

Serbo-Croatian is not technically a language. It is rather a family of languages that includes Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian. These languages are considered to be ausbauspraches, which in practice means that they are basically different dialects of the same language. While there is some measure of debate on this, those who have lived in the area tell me that the main difference between the two titular languages—Serbian and Croatian—is that Serbian uses the Cyrillic alphabet (AKA the Russian alphabet), whereas Croatian uses the Latin alphabet (AKA the Roman or English alphabet, although it has been slightly expanded for Croatian). However, it is also said that Serbian uses both alphabets, so I suppose this is not a hard-and-fast rule.

"Dobar dan"—meaning "good day"—is the same in Serbian and Croatian (and presumably Montenegrin). One source lists "zdravo" as the equivalent greeting in Bosnian, but other sources say that "zdravo" is the Serbian word for "hello" (as opposed to "good day"), so I. My guess is that the Serbian Cyrillic version of the word would be "добар дан". This seems to be confirmed by the previously cited reference.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, dobar dan, добар дан, Serbo-Croatian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, Cyrillic alphabet

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Bodhisattva

Technical problems delayed my posting last night, so I'll shoot for a double-whammy tonight.

A bodhisattva is defined by The Free Dictionary as "an enlightened being who, out of compassion, forgoes nirvana in order to save others". The concept of the bodhisattva comes from the Buddhist religion. In fact, Siddhārtha Gautama himself was considered a bodhisattva before he became a buddha (or Buddha, as the case may be). Essentially, the bodhisattva delays his own enlightenment for the benefit of others, practicing self-sacrifice by training others.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, bodhisattva, Buddhism, Buddha

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Spick and span

The phrase "spick and span" -- meaning immaculately clean or brand new -- can't be taken at face value. To begin with, the modern definition of spick seems that it has little to do with the word (especially since this idiom generally is not considered offensive), and the definition for span seems equally unrelated. As it turns out, "spick" is an archaic variation of "spike". "Span" is an abbreviation of "span-new", which means "entirely new". The connection? "Spick and span" originally meant something to the effect of "as new as a newly made nail". So there you go.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, spick and span

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Poll: From whence the words came

(Whence, incidentally, has nothing to do with "when", but instead means "from where" or "from what origin".)

Thought I'd conduct a little poll, more out of curiosity than anything else.

In the "Words to Your Mother" feature that has essentially taken over "Everyone Is Jumping Off the Brooklyn Bridge", I generally have not stuck to English words, or even for that matter words that are remotely likely to be introduced into English. So, just out of curiosity, what do you like to see in your word of the day feature? Do you prefer English-only, or primarily non-English words, or some mixture thereof?

Just to be clear, this isn't an offer to change the content of this blog. I keep this up more because I enjoy the research than anything, and I'll probably continue to stick with what I find interesting at the moment. If I ever change that, I don't expect the blog to continue for long. Besides, I personally think that the mixture sets this apart from other word-of-the-day sites. However, I would like to know what people think, if only for curiosity's sake. I suppose that if I'm wavering as to what word to pick, public opinion might sway me slightly one way or t'other.

Perhaps more importantly, I'm curious to see how many regular readers there are in general, so feel free to post a response on this post that says "I have no opinion" or even "Why should I bother posting if you don't plan on changing anything?". General feedback is welcome as well.

Well, that's all for tonight.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, Words to Your Mother, word of the day, non-English, poll

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Churlish

Resisting the urge to say that churlish is befitting a churl, even if it is. Can't do that gag twice in a week.

Churlish means having a bad disposition or being difficult to work with. It can also mean rude and boorish. Generally not a good thing, although it could theoretically stop people from bothering you about things. Probably not the best route to go.

I may be getting stuck in a rut: This is my third English-language word in a row. I have some intriguing non-English stuff lined up for later, though, so stay tuned.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, churlish

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Somnambulist

A somnambulist is someone who engages in somnambulism.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, somnambulist, somnambulism, sleepwalking

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Avast

Yep. It's my belated "Talk Like a Pirate Day" entry. (The actual day was September 19th.)

"Avast" means to "stop and give attention". Wiktionary defines this meaning (or, more specifically, "listen, pay attention") as "a parody of pirate slang", giving the main definition as "hold fast".

Interestingly enough, it would appear that "avast" may also be Italian for stop or "enough". Unfortunately, I'm having trouble confirming this outside of Wiktionary. Perhaps it's imported from the English word, and thus not listed in most cross-language dictionaries.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, avast, pirates, Talk Like a Pirate Day, Italian

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Jiffy

It may cook fast, but it doesn't cook that fast.

In an attempt to live up to my title, I'm using a word that—in addition to being mom-friendly—is a word you may have actually used to your mother in the past. For example, "I'll be there in a jiffy", which, as it turns out, was probably not true at any time that you said it.

A jiffy is, in its loosest definition, a moment of time. However, there's no fun in that.

For computing, a jiffy is a fairly short period of time, typically amounting to 0.0100 seconds, or the duration of the system timer interrupt.

In electronics, a jiffy is 0.0167-0.0200 seconds, or the time that it takes to alternate power cycles in AC current. (Yes, AC current is redundant. So sue me. Or injure me and send me to the ER room¹. Or take away my NIC card² so I can't post any more: I'll just buy another once I have a chance to stop by the ATM machine³. But I digress.)

Not content to have a lengthy jiffy, computers fought back: A jiffy in the Linux 2.6.13+ kernel is 0.0040 seconds. In Linux 2.6.0–2.6.12 it is even shorter: 0.0010 seconds.

Unfortunately, the physicists had to show off again: Although the definition can vary, one of the more common definitions is the amount of time it takes light to travel one centimeter in a vacuum. That's 0.000000000333564 seconds.

Of course, the quantum physicists had to top that, and go for the amount of time it takes for light to travel across a fermi. We're down to 0.00000000000000000000001 seconds here.

So, again, it was unlikely that you were actually there in a jiffy. In fact, depending on your definition, you probably took a few billion of them.

Footnotes:

¹ Okay, I actually really hate this one.

² This gets on my nerves too.

³ I don't really care about this too much for some reason.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, jiffy

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Bwana

My name's not racist.
No, seriously.

Wow. Third post about Swahili in a month. (#1 - #2) You'd almost think that it was one of the languages that I've actually spent time studying. Maybe I should at some point, but I haven't yet. But enough about me.

Bwana is Swahili for "Mr." or "sir" (or, if you want to get Biblical, Lord). The female equivalent is Bibi. Despite occasional rumors otherwise, it is not a word for "master", and in native Swahili doesn't have any of the racist connotations sometimes attributed to it.

Incidentally, B'wana Beast is also the name of a hero from DC Comics who never exactly achieved Superman status. Unfortunately for B'wana, changing his name didn't help much. Of course, such things rarely do.

technorati tags:words, vocabulary, bwana, b'wana, Swahili

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