Search found 566 matches
- Thu Mar 21, 2024 1:03 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Eccentric
- Replies: 5
- Views: 3100
Re: Eccentric
Well, David, my "splurges" have consisted mostly of books (some really gorgeous productions from private presses), travel (to the annual meeting of the user group I'm involved in, to an undeveloped island on the Georgia coast, and "educational" jaunts to places or on subjects I w...
- Wed Mar 20, 2024 9:18 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Eccentric
- Replies: 5
- Views: 3100
Re: Eccentric
Ah, I've always wanted to have just enough money to be considered eccentric rather than crazy.
- Wed Mar 20, 2024 9:09 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Omnibus
- Replies: 2
- Views: 2601
Re: Omnibus
Oh no! Flanders and Swann have a different idea, as realized in theirThe whole word is used as a noun only in reference to a collection of previously published works
song "A Transport of Delight". Listen to it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7wnUIRpqGg
- Tue Mar 19, 2024 12:36 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Inosculate
- Replies: 3
- Views: 8884
Re: Inosculate
My immediate reaction to this was that the "in-" meant "not", as in infrequent or inconvenient, but those are adjectives and inosculate is a verb. Are there any exceptions to this dichotomy?
- Sun Mar 17, 2024 10:42 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Congratulate
- Replies: 2
- Views: 3204
Re: Congratulate
At the end of my college years, a good friend had a succinct reaction: "You're congraduated!"
- Fri Feb 09, 2024 10:34 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Saltate
- Replies: 2
- Views: 209
Re: Saltate
So the little "leaf devils" that one sees spinning on city streets on breezy fall days are saltating. Is a waterspout an extra-large example of this phenomenon? The most memorable instance I've ever witnessed occurred when driving past a mint field near the Oregon coast. In the middle of t...
- Thu Feb 08, 2024 6:50 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Pabulum
- Replies: 4
- Views: 3371
Re: Pabulum
Debby, Beware of the TLA (three-letter acronym) or FLA (four-letter acronym, although "five" has been suggested). It's simple -- there are just too many acronyms; one of the horrors of modern connected life.
- Mon Feb 05, 2024 9:44 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: baste
- Replies: 1
- Views: 682
baste
This term surfaced in the discussion about "tack". Baste (verb), in sewing, is to apply long loose stitches to hold the fabric in place until the final seam has been stitched. The noun is "basting". In cooking, it's applying a liquid or sauce to a food item, usually meat, while c...
- Mon Feb 05, 2024 8:49 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Malleable
- Replies: 7
- Views: 3903
Re: Malleable
It's becoming harder and harder to determine the "true facts". That's what a good education helps with -- teaching one to think. Maybe this was easier in the last century, even with its bias against female scientists, but I haven't given up my belief that education is still valuable, even ...
- Mon Feb 05, 2024 8:40 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Snollygoster
- Replies: 5
- Views: 10671
Re: Snollygoster
As I grew up in Baltimore, my older sister teased me with tales of the Snallygaster that allegedly inhabited Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland. The Snallygaster is indeed a creature of Maryland folklore (see "The Unsettling Legend of Maryland’s Native Cryptid, the Snallygaster" at https:...
- Sat Feb 03, 2024 10:38 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: tack
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1437
Re: tack
Nope. "Multi-tacking" would presume that each stitch is solidly tied off. Basting implies that the thread is free to be pulled out completely from any point along the seam. Basting is often used as a temporary measure to fix a difficult join into place before putting in the final seam; tha...
- Fri Feb 02, 2024 9:46 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: tack
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1437
Re: tack
"Tack", in sewing, is one stitch tied off at a single point. Baste is continuous. Tacks might be used to stabilize trouser cuffs, for example.
- Thu Feb 01, 2024 11:32 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: tack
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1437
tack
A nice short word that probably has too many meanings for the Doctor to want to tackle it. 1. As a verb, to attach or fasten; as a noun, the object used to make the fastening; generally associated with woodworking. A tack in sewing is also a quick attachment. 2. In sailing, the direction of the vess...
Re: Mastodon
The link to the article, "Peale's Mastodon: The Skeleton in Our Closet", is broken. But the article can be found at https://commonplace.online/article/peales-mastodon-the-skeleton-in-our-closet/ . I "grew up" with Peale's painting, "Exhumation of the Mastodon", being ta...
- Fri Jan 26, 2024 5:18 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Eclipse
- Replies: 1
- Views: 1417
Re: Eclipse
Enjoy it! Total eclipses are well worth chasing. I recommend a good pair of welder's goggles. For a stupendous story of an eclipse chaser, with photos, see https://www.wendycarlos.com/eclipse.html (My two experiences were in Nova Scotia, camping, with a sound truck circling the campground playing &q...