Search found 577 matches
- Wed May 15, 2024 8:21 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Tabernacle
- Replies: 1
- Views: 48
Re: Tabernacle
From Louise Penny's mystery novels featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache ot the Surêté du Québec, I have learned that "tabernacle" is a swear word in Québec. So, if you're traveling in Canada, be careful what you talk about. And from the first verse of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, the ta...
- Mon May 13, 2024 10:07 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: ordnance
- Replies: 5
- Views: 7013
Re: ordnance
Past time for the good Dr. to enlighten us. This appeared in an NPR transcript this morning: As some Palestinians venture back into parts of Gaza that have been obliterated by months of combat, a new hidden threat emerges: unexploded ordinance. Well, there are some laws I would like to see exploded,...
- Fri May 10, 2024 11:09 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Logy
- Replies: 2
- Views: 4880
Re: Logy
In the part of the country where I grew up (Baltimore, Maryland), this word was in fairly common use, and always with a hard "g".
- Thu May 09, 2024 9:12 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Bolus
- Replies: 2
- Views: 2470
Re: Bolus
From my husband's volunteer service as a zoo docent, I learned that the most frequent use of this word was as a spherical mass that was rather more thoroughly processed than simply well chewed -- elephant dung. This doesn't seem to show up in dictionaries, but is certainly common in the speech and w...
- Sun May 05, 2024 8:33 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Jack
- Replies: 2
- Views: 2688
Re: Jack
And there's the cheese -- Monterey Jack. Good for grilled cheese sandwiches, and named after the person who commercialized it -- David Jacks.
- Thu May 02, 2024 7:24 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Bamboozle
- Replies: 2
- Views: 3385
Re: Bamboozle
Just remember -- this has got nothing to do with bamboo.
- Sun Apr 28, 2024 5:58 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: smoot
- Replies: 0
- Views: 879
smoot
A "smoot" is a nonstandard unit of measure. A recognizable equivalent is 5 feet, 7 inches, the height of Oliver R. Smoot at the time the measurement in question took place. The (perhaps unique) use of the unit is in specifying the length of the Harvard Bridge, which spans the Charles River...
- Wed Apr 24, 2024 3:23 pm
- Forum: WELCOME HOME!
- Topic: Just a query about punctuation.
- Replies: 10
- Views: 52786
Re: Just a query about punctuation.
Here's a sterling example of a sentence that badly needs a comma, although only two items are listed, joined by "and". It came as part of an announcement from a local library concerning the attractions that will be included in the celebration of their 100th anniversary: ... There will also...
- Wed Apr 24, 2024 3:08 pm
- Forum: Etymology
- Topic: Epsilontist
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1210
Re: Epsilontist
Thank you, Slava! I'm pretty familiar with the terminology of mathematics (having worked for a mathematical publisher my entire working life), but the meanings of most terms are beyond my understanding. To come across a mathematical term that I'd never seen before was rather unsettling. At least now...
- Wed Apr 24, 2024 1:26 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Cartoon
- Replies: 2
- Views: 783
Re: Cartoon
The other association I have for cartoons is the designs for tapestries. These certainly existed before prints or posters, and maybe paintings as well.
- Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:11 pm
- Forum: Etymology
- Topic: Epsilontist
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1210
Epsilontist
"Epsilontist" is a word used by Paul Halmos in his essay "How to write mathematics". It appears in this sentence: Symbolic presentation, in the sense of either the modem logician or the classical epsilontist, is something that machines can write and few but machines can read. The...
- Fri Apr 19, 2024 8:40 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Cadge
- Replies: 3
- Views: 886
Re: Cadge
"Scrounge" is conspicuous by its absence from your list of synonyms.
"Wheedle" might also be listed, although that's a bit of a stretch.
"Wheedle" might also be listed, although that's a bit of a stretch.
- Wed Apr 17, 2024 12:32 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Spanner
- Replies: 3
- Views: 984
Re: Spanner
When I was in college and rode an English bicycle, I carried a set of spanners in case minor adjustments were necessary. But a monkey wrench is what one uses for pipefitting. They're different, or at least that's what I learned as a child.
- Fri Apr 12, 2024 10:20 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: galosh
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1479
galosh
An overshoe, worn to protect one's shoes and keep one's feet dry from rain, snow and slush; usually used in the plural. When I was in high school, the current term for something later considered "cool" or "neat" was "shoe". And something especially cool was over "s...
- Wed Apr 10, 2024 11:09 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: VELUTINOUS
- Replies: 12
- Views: 14030
Re: VELUTINOUS
This word appeared in my emailbox this morning, but hasn't yet been reiterated among current postings. My immediate reaction was that "velouté" must be related. And certainly that fits in with the various gastronomical observations. Regarding the latter, I was born (just barely) below the ...