Search found 14 matches
- Sun Oct 08, 2023 4:21 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: "O" as in O Great King
- Replies: 1
- Views: 1915
"O" as in O Great King
I'm kindof interested in "O". It seems to function as a form of direct address, like the vocative case in Latin. (Lewis Carroll makes fun of it in Alice : "but she remembered having seen in her brother's Latin Grammar, 'A mouse—of a mouse—to a mouse—a mouse—O mouse!')" But I can'...
- Mon Sep 18, 2023 12:15 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: obtundation
- Replies: 1
- Views: 1381
obtundation
Obtundation is a state similar to lethargy in which the patient has a lessened interest in the environment, slowed responses to stimulation, and tends to sleep more than normal with drowsiness in between sleep states. My legal residence is in this state. Latin obtundere "to blunt, make dull, we...
- Wed Oct 31, 2018 6:16 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: pareidolia
- Replies: 1
- Views: 4019
pareidolia
Seeing faces or shapes in a random mess. e.g. faces in clouds, carrots with the profile of Nixon.
- Fri Jul 13, 2012 8:56 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Nyctinasty
- Replies: 3
- Views: 5975
nyctinasty
Hi, Slava. I was looking at some botany posts on facebook. It turns out that there are a whole family of nasties: chemonasty, thigmonasty, photonasty. But nyctinasty struck me because it has that wonderful alliteration. The adjectival -nastic forms exist, too. The nasty suffix seems to be from Greek...
- Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:00 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Nyctinasty
- Replies: 3
- Views: 5975
Nyctinasty
The night time movements of leaves or other parts of a plant. For example, the closing of flowers at night. (although it sounds more like it should mean the monsters that hide under your bed.)
- Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:15 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: apolaustic
- Replies: 5
- Views: 12172
... vs. epicurean vs. sybaritic
Apolaustic: Pertaining to taste or enjoyment; agreeable. n. The philosophy of taste. Sir W. Hamilton. (Century dictionary and cyclopedia, via WordNik) Except for one sentence in one novel, I've never seen this word in use. But given that one of its definitions seems to make it a quality of connoisse...
- Mon Mar 26, 2012 12:33 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: HAREBRAINED
- Replies: 5
- Views: 7740
- Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:25 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: apolaustic
- Replies: 5
- Views: 12172
apolaustic
I saw this one in a Mary Wesley novel.
Apolaustic -- devoted to enjoyment.
Pretty straight from Greek: apolaustikos - to enjoy. First citation in the OED is from 1837.
Apolaustic -- devoted to enjoyment.
Pretty straight from Greek: apolaustikos - to enjoy. First citation in the OED is from 1837.
- Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:37 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: HAREBRAINED
- Replies: 5
- Views: 7740
Hare brained
So, for what it's worth, taxonomy dictators (the same folks who tell us that a tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable) would say hares and rabbits are different animals. I think the distinction was important to medieval hunters, too. I wonder if harebrainedness isn't related to the March hare phenomenon...
- Sun Sep 19, 2010 3:18 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Rupicoline
- Replies: 72
- Views: 100316
cryptozoic
"Cryptozoic" is a good word for the under-rocks organisms.And critters that live "under" rocks, the many-legged kind
and others, or would one have to put the prefix "sub-"
on the word?
-Ted (Cryptobiologist)
- Sat Sep 18, 2010 5:26 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: qua
- Replies: 2
- Views: 5015
- Fri Sep 17, 2010 7:24 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Correption, n.
- Replies: 2
- Views: 5892
- Thu Sep 16, 2010 12:28 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Correption, n.
- Replies: 2
- Views: 5892
Correption, n.
1) Reproof, chiding, esp. with the intent to cause trouble. 2) An effect in Greek prosody - a long vowel turning short when followed by a short vowel (in order to keep the meter, esp. with dactyls) (He's guiltih of correption.) 3) A rapture. Interesting semantics in the etymology: corripere L, to se...
- Thu May 27, 2010 5:56 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: something new from the depths of time
- Replies: 1
- Views: 3706
something new from the depths of time
I just ran into "nixtamalize": the process by which corn (maize) is turned masa or hominy. It really looked like it had a romance etymology but it turn out to get here from Aztec via Spanish. The Nahuatl word is allegedlty a compound of nextli "ashes" and tamalli "unformed c...