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ruck ruhk noun a scrum; a body of people; a throng 1901Rudyard KiplingKimThe ruck of passengers, busy, with their babies and their bundles, had not noticed the affair.1936George OrwellKeep the Aspidistra FlyingIt mightn't be a bad thing, if you could manage it, to feel yourself one of them, one of the ruck of men.1999Wilbur SmithMonsoonNone of their foes was able to lift his long musket in the close ruck of bodies…2003Wilbur SmithBlue HorizonHe could not see him in the ruck of fighting men…Labels: George Orwell, Rudyard Kipling, Wilbur Smith
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fulsome FOOHL-suhm adjective cloying; excessive or insincere flattering speech intending to ingratiate the speaker; abundant 1889Horatio Alger Jr.Driven From HomeHis manner was exceedingly deferential, and he was praising England and everything English in a fulsome manner.1919Constance SkinnerPioneers of the Old SouthwestJames Hunter, whose signature leads on all Regulation manifestoes just prior to the Battle of Alamance, was a sycophant of Husband, to whom he addressed fulsome letters; and in the real battle for democracy—the War of Independence—he was a Tory.2003Ann CoulterTreasonPeriodically, congressional hearings would have to be convened to allow progressives to denounce Reagan's rhetoric more fulsomely.Labels: Ann Coulter, Constance Skinner, Horatio Alger Jr.
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Zeitgeist ZAIT-gaist noun the spirit of the times or of a generation; the thoughts, feelings or actions of a given period in time 1972TrevianThe Eiger SanctionThe young men, suffused with the Zeitgeist of Hitler's early days, made such melodramatic statements to the press as: 'We must have the Wall, or it must have us!'1987Robert F. YoungWhat Bleak Land (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Jan. 1987)People remain married to each other because they want to. But suppose this Zeitgeist should change?2002Naomi KlienNo Logo: No Space, No Choice, No JobsIt was about pushing the envelope in sponsorship deals, dreaming up new areas in which to 'extend' the brand, as well as perpetually probing the Zeitgeist to ensure that the 'essence' selected for one's brand would resonate karmically with its target market.2004Cory DoctorowEastern Standard TribePeople all over the world who are really secret agents for some other time zone, some other way of looking at the world, some other zeitgeist.Labels: Cory Doctorow, Naomi Klien, Robert F. Young, Trevian
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avuncular a-VUNG-kyuh-lur adjective related to an uncle; characteristic of an uncle, especially kindness and tolerance 1858Various Atlantic Monthly (4 February 1858)Could from the dream of romance, from the fever of flushed adolescence, Look to escape and subside into peaceful avuncular functions. Nephews and nieces! alas, for as yet I have none! 1974Peter Benchley JawsBrody decided to be low-keyed—avuncular and nonetheless annoyed, but low-keyed, so as not to upset Ellen.Labels: Peter Benchley, Various
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filiopietistic FI-lee-o-pai-uh-tis-tik adjective excessive reverence towards tradition; overly conservative or traditional; excessive veneration of forbearers or ancestors 1918Bliss PerryThe American Spirit in LiteratureWe must beware, of course, of what the late Charles Francis Adams once called the 'filiopietistic' fallacy. The 'American' qualities of our literature must be judged in connection with its conformity to universal standards of excellence.Labels: Bliss Perry
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amor vincit omnia AW-mor win-kit OM-nee-aw phrase love conquers all; love conquers all things 1400Geoffrey ChaucerThe Canterbury TalesOn which ther was first write a crowned 'A,' | And after, 'Amor vincit omnia.' | Another Nonne with hir hadde she, | That was hire Chapeleyne, and preestes thre.1911Ethel M. DellThe Way of an EagleIt flashed upon her finally, as though a voice had spoken into her ear. The words were: Omnia Vincit Amor. And the ring in her hand was no longer the outward visible sign of her compact. It was a love-token, given to her by a man who had spoken no word of love.1930G. K. ChestertonFour Faultless Felons It’s a pretty thing—sort of imitation fourteenth century, with Amor Vincit Omnia on it.Labels: Ethel M. Dell, G. K. Chesterton, Geoffrey Chaucer
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tontine TAWN-teen noun a financial agreement where a prize or amount of money is given to the last living party to the agreement 1792Thomas PaineThe Rights of ManEvery person in England, male and female, pays on an average in taxes two pounds eight shillings and sixpence per annum from the day of his (or her) birth; and, if the expense of collection be added, he pays two pounds eleven shillings and sixpence; consequently, at the end of fifty years he has paid one hundred and twenty-eight pounds fifteen shillings; and at sixty one hundred and fifty-four pounds ten shillings. Converting, therefore, his (or her) individual tax in a tontine, the money he shall receive after fifty years is but little more than the legal interest of the net money he has paid; the rest is made up from those whose circumstances do not require them to draw such support, and the capital in both cases defrays the expenses of government. It is on this ground that I have extended the probable claims to one-third of the number of aged persons in the nation. Is it, then, better that the lives of one hundred and forty thousand aged persons be rendered comfortable, or that a million a year of public money be expended on any one individual, and him often of the most worthless or insignificant character? Let reason and justice, let honour and humanity, let even hypocrisy, sycophancy and Mr. Burke, let George, let Louis, Leopold, Frederic, Catherine, Cornwallis, or Tippoo Saib, answer the question.1889Lloyd OsbourneThe Wrong BoxTonti is dead, and I never saw anyone who even pretended to regret him; and, as for the tontine system, a word will suffice for all the purposes of this unvarnished narrative.1986Le SageLa TontinePEACOCK: We do everything that a doctor and a pharmacist can do for each other. We work in perfect harmony. And, to further our friendship, I am going to tell you about a little investment I have made. I've taken out a ten thousand pound Tontine on him. | FLEM: You? (puzzled) Why? | PEACOCK: (supercilously) You know what a Tontine is, of course? | FLEM: Certainly, a Tontine is—a Tontine is—(helplessly) What the devil is a Tontine? | PEACOCK: (smugly triumphant) It's a last man out club. The survivor gets all the money from all the policies.1995Lois McMaster BujoldCetagandaGeneral Yenaro had the misfortune to be the last of five successive ghem-generals who lost the Barrayaran War, and thus the sole inheritor of a, as it were, tontine of blame.Labels: Le Sage, Lloyd Osbourne, Lois McMaster Bujold, Thomas Paine
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prig prig noun, adjective an over conformist; smug or obnoxious adherence to standards of propriety 1891Oscar WildeThe Picture of Dorian GrayAs for the lives of one's neighbours, if one wishes to be a prig or a Puritan, one can flaunt one's moral views about them, but they are not one's concern.1982Jack B. SowardsStar Trek: The Wrath of KhanBONES: I only use it for medicinal purposes. I got aboard a ship that brings them in a case, every now and then, across the Neutral Zone. Now, don't be a prig...1992David GemmellIn the Realm of the Wolf'You don't change, do you? Still the same priggish, pompous priest.'Labels: David Gemmell, Jack B. Sowards, Oscar Wilde
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fardel FAR-duhl noun a burden; a bundle with something in it; something cumbersome 1875Jean IngelowFated to Be FreeYour baby-days flowed in a much-troubled channel; | I see you as then in your impotent strife, | A tight little bundle of wailing and flannel, | Perplexed with that newly-found fardel call'd life.'1889Ernest GilesAustralia Twice TraversedTherefore, carrying a dozen of such eggs is no easy matter. I took upon myself the responsibility of bringing our prize safe into camp, and I accomplished the task by packing them in grass, tied up in a handkerchief, and slung round my neck; a fine fardel hanging on my chest, immediately under my chin.1921William Butler YeatsFour YearsI am very religious, and deprived by Huxley and Tyndall, whom I detested, of the simple-minded religion of my childhood, I had made a new religion, almost an infallible church, out of poetic tradition: a fardel of stories, and of personages, and of emotions, a bundle of images and of masks passed on from generation to generation by poets & painters with some help from philosophers and theologians.Labels: Ernest Giles, Jean Ingelow, William Butler Yeats
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sesquipedalian ses-kweh-puh-DAYL-yehn adjective the habit or propensity to use really big words 1897Richard MarshThe BeetlePeter is an excellent servant; but the fashion of his speech, even when conveying the most trivial information, is slightly sesquipedalian. He would have made a capital cabinet minister at question time—he wraps up the smallest petitions of meaning in the largest possible words.1906Thomas WrightThe Life of Sir Richard BurtonBurton, notes in hand, stood on the platform, facing the great audience, his brain heavy with arguments and bursting with sesquipedalian and sledge-hammer words to pulverize his exasperating opponent.Labels: Richard Marsh, Thomas Wright
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