Alible

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Dr. Goodword
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Alible

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Mar 11, 2016 11:25 pm

• alible •


Pronunciation: æl-ê-bêl • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Nourishing, nutritious.

Notes: Today's Good Word hasn't been used very much since the US Revolution but it remains in good standing. It may be used as an adverb or noun with the proper accessories: alibly for the adverb, alibility for the noun.

In Play: We think that the discussion of nutritious versus innutritious foods swirling around us today makes this the perfect time to raise today's Good Word to a state of prominence: "If we can land a man on the moon, why can't someone make alible potato chips?" This brings out the difference between edible and alible. If we stretch the meaning figuratively just a little, we could say, "Jess Beeman brings a lot of enthusiasm to our meetings but few alible ideas to feed our robust conversations."

Word History: Today's Good Word comes from Latin alibilis "nourishing", an adjective derived from alere "to nourish". The root in alere, al-, developed into German alt "old", which is what constant nourishment makes you. English old shares the same source. You have probably guessed already that it also appears in alimentary "providing nourishment" of 'alimentary canal' fame and another kind of nourishment, alimony. But I'll bet you would never spot it in alma mater "school graduated from", which originally meant "nourishing mother". This word is unrelated to alibi, a Latin adverb meaning "elsewhere, somewhere or other". (Today we thank the mysterious Grogie of the Alpha Agora for suggesting today's mentally alible word.)
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Slava
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Re: Alible

Postby Slava » Tue Apr 27, 2021 6:57 pm

Then again, the proper alibi can prove quite nourishing to one's freedom.
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David Myer
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Re: Alible

Postby David Myer » Wed May 05, 2021 10:06 pm

There was a fad in the late 80's for use of the Pritikin Diet. It was always recommended for heart disease patients, amongst whom was my father. After a few weeks on the diet, Dad observed that the diet was easily interpreted as "You can eat anything you like as long as it is not nourishing." He might have said 'alible' if he had known the word.

Philip Hudson
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Re: Alible

Postby Philip Hudson » Sun May 09, 2021 9:57 pm

Aren't potato chips alible? I thought they were among the basic food groups. I guess I will just have to revert to Fritos Corn Chips, the food of my childhood. If you aren't aware of the origin of Fritos, you may want to know they were made public when Gustavo Olguin of San Antonio sold his recipe to Charles Doolin who started making them in his family kitchen on Roosevelt Avenue in San Antonio. For those not "in the know" USA 281 used Roosevelt Avenue as its first road through San Antonio. Every time the family went to San Antonio when I was as child, and that was quite often, we drove by and enjoyed the fragrance of Fritos being fried.
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