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Faustian bargain FOW-stee-uhn BAR-gin noun a bargain made with the devil; a bargain made which yields short term gain but at the cost of significantly negative long term consequences; a deal with the devil made by mythic German who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for secret knowledge 2000Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen BaxterThe Light of Other DaysWe've made a Faustian bargain, Bobby.2000Stephen BaxterManifold TimeMy God, what a Faustian bargain.2002William GibsonPattern RecognitionThere's no reason, he says, to regard it as a Faustian bargain with Bigend.Labels: Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, Stephen Baxter, William Gibson
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xenophilia ZE-no-fil-ee-uh noun love of foreign persons 1970Larry NivenRingworld'So it is,' said Louis. In point of fact, he was hooked. Xenophilia and restlessness and curiosity combined: wherever the puppeteer was going, Louis Wu was going too.1978Poul AndersonThe Avatar...it is a kind of xenophilia, and when a conifict of which they approve (and they approve of most) does erupt, they take the lead in cheering on the warheads and calling for more soldiers to feed the furnace.1979David BrinSundiverDuring breakfast she had sat between Bubbacub and LaRoque, trying to mediate the Earthman's embarrassing Xenophilia with the Library Representative's aloof suspicion.Labels: David Brin, Larry Niven, Poul Anderson
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froward FRO-wurd adjective willful; headstrong; inclined towards disobedience 1600Torquato TassoJerusalem Delivered'Where none attends, what boots it to complain? | Men's froward hearts are moved with women's tears | As marble stones are pierced with drops of rain, | No plaints find passage through unwilling ears…1949Lloyd C. Douglas The Big FishermanAs a Prince, you have been vain and froward of heart.1989Ellis PetersThe Heretic's ApprenticeGerbert would deplore a froward woman…1998Robert JordanThe Path of DaggersAt her asking, we did not speak to you of them before, but now I will tell you they are froward, undisciplined, contentious and full of themselves beyond reason.Labels: Ellis Peters, Lloyd C. Douglas, Robert Jordan, Torquato Tasso
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sardonic sawr-DAW-nik adjective sarcastic humor; cynical; scornful; mocking 1934George OrwellBurmese DaysHe deliberately exaggerated his Cockney accent, because of the sardonic tone it gave to his words.1984Mario PuzoThe SicilianHector Adonis prepared, with sardonic pleasure, to play the familiar comedy to come.1992Cormac McCarthyAll the Pretty HorsesHe managed a sardonic smile…Labels: Cormac McCarthy, George Orwell, Mario Puzo
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gabelle guh-BEL noun a tax on salt 1892Edward J. LowellThe Eve of the French RevolutionThe first and most dreaded of the indirect taxes was the Salt Tax (gabelle). As salt is necessary for all, it has from early days been considered by some governments a good article for a tax, no one being able to escape payment by going entirely without it. To make the revenue more secure, every householder in certain parts of France was obliged to buy seven pounds of salt a year at the warehouses of the Farm, for every member of his family more than seven years old.1895Gustave le BonThe Crowd: Study of Popular MindThe 'taille' or tallage has become the land tax; the 'gabelle,' the tax on salt; the 'aids,' the indirect contributions and the consolidated duties; the tax on trade companies and guilds, the license, &c.1897William KirbyThe Golden Dog'Come, Varin! your turn now!' cried Bigot, turning to the Commissary; 'a toast for Ville Marie! Merry Montreal! where they eat like rats of Poitou, and drink till they ring the fire-bells, as the Bordelais did to welcome the collectors of the gabelle.Labels: Edward J. Lowell, Gustave le Bon, William Kirby
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fête fayt noun, verb to honor someone or something, often with celebration and awards; festival 1900Marian M. GeorgeA Little Journey to Puerto RicoThe people seem to be little interested in religion or in their churches, and Sunday with them is only a fête day or a holiday.1999Leo FrankowskiA Boy and His TankMy colonels and I were fêted at a dozen banquets…2000Gordon R. Dickson and Poul AndersonHokas PokasThe Hoka France had never had a Revolution, merely an annual Bastille Day fête.Labels: Gordon R. Dickson and Poul Anderson, Leo Frankowski, Marian M. George
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zwieback zwee-BAK noun a German sweet bread which is baked twice 1915Booth Tarkington The Turmoil Beginning at the beginning and learning from the ground up was a long course for Bibbs at the sanitarium, with milk and 'zwieback' as the basis of instruction; and the months were many and tiresome before he was considered near enough graduation to go for a walk leaning on a nurse and a cane. 1917Mary Roberts Rinehart Long Live the King Ferdinand William Otto was hungry. He ate eagerly - chicken, fruit compote, potato salad—again shades of the Court physicians, who fed him at night a balanced ration of milk, egg, and zwieback! 2001Dean Koontz One Door Away from Heaven...Bobby said, 'The congressman is zwieback.' | He's what?' | 'Toast done twice.'Labels: Booth Tarkington, Dean Koontz, Mary Roberts Rinehart
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benison BE-nuh-suhn noun a blessing 1645John MiltonL'AllegroELD. BRO. Unmuffle, ye faint stars; and thou, fair moon, | That wont'st to love the traveller's benison,1900Chestnutt, Charles WaddellThe House Behind The CedarsWhen Rena came back unexpectedly at the behest of her dream, Frank heard again the music of her voice, felt the joy of her presence and the benison of her smile.1901Lew WallaceBen Hur'The other love is but a memory; of which I will say further that, like a benison of the Lord, it hath a compass to contain a whole family, if only'—his voice lowered and trembled—'if only I knew where they were.'1916Rupert HughesWe Can't Have EverythingHe caught her bruised hand and began to kiss it and pour tears on it. And she looked down at his beautiful bent head and laid her other hand on it in benison.1994Gene Wolfe Calde of the Long SunQuetzal raised the baculus to bestow a benison…Labels: Charles Waddell, Chestnutt, Gene Wolfe, John Milton, Lew Wallace, Rupert Hughes
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circumlocution sur-kuhm-lo-KYOO-shuhn noun unnecessary wordiness to express something; beating around the bush; evasive communication 1726Jonathan SwiftGulliver's TravelsIt put me to the pains of many circumlocutions, to give my master a right idea of what I spoke; for their language does not abound in variety of words, because their wants and passions are fewer than among us.1817Sir Walter ScottRob RoyI was stupified. The direct bluntness of the demand was much in the style one gentleman uses to another, when requesting explanation of any part of his conduct in a good-humoured yet determined manner, and was totally devoid of the circumlocutions, shadings, softenings, and periphrasis, which usually accompany explanations betwixt persons of different sexes in the higher orders of society.1870Marion HarlandAt LastHe always disdained circumlocution, prided himself upon the directness and simplicity of his address.Labels: Jonathan Swift, Marion Harland, Sir Walter Scott
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force majeur FOR-smuh-zhur noun an act of god or of nature; something beyond control 1987David BrinThe Uplift WarI am ready to transmit to the Galactic Institute for Civilized Warfare our declaration that the Gubru interdiction of this system has been lifted by force majeur.Labels: David Brin
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casuistry KAZH-oo-uh-stree noun a rationalization; obscure or misleading logic 1926Hope MirrleesLud in the MistThey had expected that their hero, whether guilty or not, would in his defence quite bamboozle the Judges by his juggling with the evidence and brilliant casuistry.1958Boris PasternakDoctor ZhivagoNext day, the casuistry of politics has turned them inside out.Labels: Boris Pasternak, Hope Mirrlees
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aesthete ES-theet noun a person who has, or pretends to have, a great sensitivity to things of beauty such as art, music, etc; a person devoted to art and beauty 1907E. M. ForsterThe Longest JourneyHe chatted gaily about it, and about the pleasant thoughts with which it inspired him; he took his friends there; he even took people whom he did not like. 'Procul este, profani!' exclaimed a delighted aesthete on being introduced to it.1956Kakuzo OkakuraThe Book of TeaAgain we stigmatise the untamed aesthete who, regardless of the mundane tragedy, runs riot in the springtide of emancipated emotions, as one 'with too much tea' in him.2000Dean Koontz From the Corner of His EyeCaution discarded, Junior went inside, for the same reason that a dedicated opera aesthete might once a decade attend a country-music concert: to confirm the superiority of his taste and to be amused by what passed for music among the great unwashed.Labels: Dean Koontz, E. M. Forster, Kakuzo Okakura
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fiat lux FEE-awt luks phrase let there be light; let light be 1901Orison Swett MardenAn Iron WillIt is a part of the divine nature, all of a piece with the power of creation. We speak of God's fiat Fiat Lux, Let light be.' Man has his fiat. The achievements of history have been the choices, the determinations, the creations, of the human will.1959Walter M. MillerA Canticle For LeibowitzDixitque Deus: FIAT LUX, said the inventor in a tone of command.1984Neal StephensonThe Big UHe activated the terminal, and the computer asked him for the number of his account, Instead of typing in an account number, though, Virgil typed: FIAT LUX.Labels: Neal Stephenson, Orison Swett Marden, Walter M. Miller
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sorrel SOR-uhl noun shades of color between light brown and orange or between red and yellow 1888Charles Dudley WarnerOn HorsebackAt the top he encountered a stranger, on a sorrel horse…1995Larry McMurtryDead Man's WalkCall and Gus left the Major to finish cinching his saddle on his big sorrel…Labels: Charles Dudley Warner, Larry McMurtry
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nascent NAY-sent adjective something very new; something having just come into existence 1906Mary CholmondeleyPrisonersMichael had for a moment seemed to take more interest in life after Fay's visit, and although he had quickly relapsed into apathy, Wentworth told himself that he was anxious to foster this nascent interest by another meeting between him and Fay.2004Cory DoctorowMicrosoft Research DRM Talk: DRM Doesn't WorkIs that strangling the nascent 'alarm tone' market?Labels: Cory Doctorow, Mary Cholmondeley
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basilisk BA-suh-lisk noun, adjective a mythic dragon or reptile that can kill with a glance; a killing glance 1962Len DeightonThe Ipcress FileAlice entered my office with a rose-decorated cracked cup of Nescafe, a basilisk look and a new green-laced file.1969George MacDonald FraserFlashmanGul leered at me, nodding, while the woman's basilisk eyes stared at me.1980Michael CrichtonJurassic ParkI am sure this lizard was a Basiliscus amoratus, a striped basilisk lizard, found here in Costa Rica and also in Honduras.2001John RingoGust FrontHe fixed them with a blue, basilisk stare until all of them had nodded in compliance.Labels: George MacDonald Fraser, John Ringo, Len Deighton, Michael Crichton
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xenogamy zi-NOG-uh-mee noun cross fertilization 1902Charles DarwinMore Letters of Charles DarwinIn xenogamy the pollen comes from another plant; in geitonogamy from another flower on the same plant; in autogamy from the androecium of the fertilised flower. Allogamy embraces xenogamy and geitonogamy.Labels: Charles Darwin
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anabasis e-NA-be-seez noun a military advance; literally: to go up 1853Thomas de QuinceyNarrative and Miscellaneous PapersThat of a great military expedition offering the same romantic features of vast distances to be traversed, vast reverses to be sustained, untried routes, enemies obscurely ascertained, and hardships too vaguely prefigured, which mark the Egyptian expedition of Cambyses—the anabasis of the younger Cyrus, and the subsequent retreat of the ten thousand to the Black Sea—the Parthian expeditions of the Romans, especially those of Crassus and Julian—or (as more disastrous than any of them, and in point of space as well as in amount of forces, more extensive,) the Russian anabasis and katabasis of Napoleon.1885VariousFive Years of Theosophy...the 'Anabasis of Alexander,' is 'the chief authority on the subject of the Indian invasion—a book unfortunately with a gap in its twelfth chapter'… 1982Daniel Da CruzThe Ayes of TexasBy midafternoon, their anabasis had carried the ten thousand from Chula Vista to Encinitas, from Coronado to El Cajon.2002Colleen McCulloughThe October HorseThe dioiketes of Arsinoë, one Socrates, was a great help, a treasure house of good advice. Scholarly and fair-minded, his imagination had soared the moment Cato told him what he intended to do. 'Oh, Marcus Cato, a new anabasis!' he squawked.Labels: Colleen McCullough, Daniel Da Cruz, Thomas de Quincey, Various
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scullion SKUHL-yuhn noun a lowly kitchen worker; a dish washer 1926Ruth Plumly ThompsonThe Hungry Tiger of OzOut of my sight, scullion!1967Michael MoorcockJewel in the Skull...and whose perverse appetites were the horror of every whispering scullion from North Cape to Tunis.Labels: Michael Moorcock, Ruth Plumly Thompson
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kreng kreng noun the corpse of a whale after the blubber has been removed 1993Patrick O'BrianThe Wine-Dark Sea'Kreng, ha, ha ha!' cried a dozen voices on the gangway; and the helmsman, in a low, kindly murmur said to Reade, 'That's what we call a corpus, sir: a carcass with his head emptied of spermaceti and the blubber all stripped off.'Labels: Patrick O'Brian
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incunabulum in-kyuh-NA-byuh-luhm noun a book published before 1500; an artifact from an early age 1935Clark Ashton SmithThe Treader of the Dust...he found this copy on the shelves of a dealer in old manuscripts and incunabula.1968Harlan EllisonLove Ain't Nothing But Sex MisspelledI wandered back to the 'obscure stuff and incunabula' section, pretending to look for a book…1995Gregory MaguireWicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the WestYou can protect me when I go out of here with my Grimmerie, my book of magicks, my Malleus Maleficarum, my mesmerizing incunabulum, my codex of scarabee, fylfot and gammadion, my text thaumaturgical.'Labels: Clark Ashton Smith, Gregory Maguire, Harlan Ellison
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chthonic THAW-nik adjective to dwell beneath the earth; to dwell in the underworld 1983Terry PratchettThe Colour of MagicWhat was in fact happening, as the wizard knew, was that as the abused spirit of Bel-Shamharoth sank through the deeper chthonic planes his brooding spirit was being sucked out of the very stones into the region which, according to the discworld's most reliable priests, was both under the ground and Somewhere Else.1992Terence McKennaFood of the Gods...that chthonic realm reserved for forgotten religions.2001William H. Keith and Keith LaumerBolo StrikeI feel sure that entering the Caernan underworld and confronting the Enemy in his yet untouched chthonic strongholds will be necessary…Labels: Terence McKenna, Terry Pratchett, William H. Keith and Keith Laumer
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tallage TAL-ij noun, verb a ad-hoc tax imposed upon cities, especially by early English kings; to impose a tax 1891Arthur Conan DoyleThe White Company...common folk are so crushed down with gabelle, and poll-tax, and every manner of cursed tallage, that the spirit has passed right out of them. It is a fool's plan to teach a man to be a cur in peace, and think that he will be a lion in war.1910D. J. MedleyThe Church and the EmpireThe Crown did not hesitate to use the episcopal patronage and to fill up vacant canonries and benefices with its own followers, and it often took the opportunity to levy upon the inhabitants of the diocese a special tax—tallagium, tallage, or taille—which a landlord had a right of exacting from his unfree tenants.Labels: Arthur Conan Doyle, D. J. Medley
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torpid TOR-puhd adjective sluggish and inactive; lethargic 1844Edgar Allan PoeThe Premature BurialSlowly—with a tortoise gradation—approached the faint gray dawn of the psychal day. A torpid uneasiness. An apathetic endurance of dull pain. No care—no hope—no effort.1926H. Rider HaggardThe Treasure of the LakeAfter that I really cannot recall what followed, for between weariness, bewilderment, and exhaustion I grew confused, so that my mind became torpid. 1929Thomas WolfeLook Homeward, AngelIn Spring like torpid snakes my enemies awaken.1993Robert J. SawyerJust Like Old TimesThe rex was torpid, flopped on its belly, gorged on ceratopsian meat.Labels: Edgar Allan Poe, H. Rider Haggard, Robert J. Sawyer, Thomas Wolfe
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abdominous ab-DOM-in-uhs adjective potbellied; having a big belly; having a paunch 1958Clark Ashton SmithThe Theft of the Thirty-Nine GirdlesGoing to a cobwebbed corner, he took down from a high shelf an abdominous jar of uncolored glass filled with a fine grey powder and brought it to the light.Labels: Clark Ashton Smith
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saeva indignatio see-waw in-dig-NAW-tee-o phrase savage indignation; fierce indignation 1859George EliotThe Lifted VeilThe heart will by and by be still—'ubi saeva indignatio ulterius cor lacerare nequit'; the eye will cease to entreat; the ear will be deaf; the brain will have ceased from all wants as well as from all work.1905G. K. ChestertonHereticsThere is a second type of mind which produces satire with the quality of greatness. That is embodied in the satirist whose passions are released and let go by some intolerable sense of wrong. He is maddened by the sense of men being maddened; his tongue becomes an unruly member, and testifies against all mankind. Such a man was Swift, in whom the saeva indignatio was a bitterness to others, because it was a bitterness to himself.1913Henry W. NevinsonEssays in RebellionThey would gladly be rid of it, for, indeed, it stifles their existence, depriving them alike of pleasure, friends, and the objects of ambition—isolating them in the end as Swift was isolated. If only the causes of their indignation might cease, how gladly they would welcome the interludes of quiet! But hardly is one surmounted than another overtops them like a wave, nor have the stern victims of indignation the smallest hope of deliverance from their suffering, until they lie, as Swift has now lain for so many years, where cruel rage can tear the heart no more—'Ubi saeva indignatio ulterius cor lacerare nequit.'1924Henry Seidel CanbyDefinitionsLike most of the great satirists of the world, Butler's saeva indignatio was aroused by the daily conflicts between reason and stupidity, between candor and disingenuousness, with all their mutations of hypocrisy, guile, deceit, and sham.Labels: G. K. Chesterton, George Eliot, Henry Seidel Canby, Henry W. Nevinson
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clapperclaw KLA-pur-klaw verb to swipe at or claw with nails 1778Fanny BurneyEvelina'Ay, do,' said the Captain; 'and I'll be second to my friend, Monseer Clapperclaw here. Come to it at once!-tooth and nail!'1848William Makepeace ThackerayThe Book of SnobsI have the following story from my noble friend Lady Clapperclaw herself.1939James JoyceFinnegans WakeTugbag is Baggut's, when a crispin sokolist besoops juts kamps or clapperclaws an irvingite offthedocks.Labels: Fanny Burney, James Joyce, William Makepeace Thackeray
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dollarable DAWL-ur-ah-buhl noun, adjective something that can be exploited for profit; capable of being converted into money 1910John Muir
"The Hetch-Hetchy Valley: A National Question", American Forestry, 16, no. 5. pp 236-69. Nothing dollarable is safe, however guarded. Thus the Yosemite Park, the beauty, glory of California and the nation. Nature's own mountain wonderland has been attacked by spoilers ever since it was established, and this strife, I suppose, must go on a part of the eternal battle between right and wrong.1908John MuirThe Hetch Hetchy Valley. Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol. VI, No. 4 ...in our magnificent National parks--the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia, etc.--Nature's own wonderlands, the admiration and joy of the world . . .like everything else worth while, however sacred and precious and well-guarded, they have always been subject to attack, mostly by despoiling gainseekers,--mischief-makers of every degree from Satan to supervisors, lumbermen, cattlemen, farmers, etc., eagerly trying to make everything dollarable, often thinly disguised in smiling philanthropy, calling pocket-filling plunder 'Utilization of beneficent natural resources, that man and beast may be fed and the dear Nation grow great.' Thus long ago a lot of enterprising merchants made part of the Jerusalem temple into a place of business instead of a place of prayer, changing money, buying and selling cattle and sheep and doves. And earlier still, the Lord's garden in Eden, and the first forest reservation, including only one tree, was spoiled. And so to some extent have all our reservations and parks. Ever since the establishment of the Yosemite National Park by act of Congress, October 8, 1890, constant strife has been going on around its borders and I suppose this will go on as part of the universal battle between right and wrong, however its boundaries may be shorn or its wild beauty destroyed.Labels: John Muir
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bedizen bi-DAI-zuhn verb to dress-up or decorate in a garish or gaudy manner 1850Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter Prithee, young one, who art thou, and what has ailed thy mother to bedizen thee in this strange fashion?1864Charles Kingsley The Roman and the Teuton But still the Trolls can tempt and bribe the greedier or the more vain; and still the wonders inside haunt their minds; till it becomes a fixed idea among them all, to conquer the garden for themselves and bedizen themselves in the fine clothes, and drink their fill of the wine. 1895Grant Allen The British Barbarians Sometimes people cover their heads with filth or ashes; and sometimes they bedizen them with crape and white streamers. 1997Jack VanceThe Demon PrincesBedizened and fashionable, Gersen now failed to recognize himself in the mirror. Labels: Charles Kingsley, Grant Allen, Jack Vance, Nathaniel Hawthorne
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abjure ab-JUR verb to avoid; to abstain from; to renounce; to reject 1846Charles DickensPictures From ItalyWhen I hint a dislike of nunneries for young girls who abjure the world before they have ever proved or known it; or doubt the ex officio sanctity of all Priests and Friars; I do no more than many conscientious Catholics both abroad and at home.1918M. InostranzevIranian Influence on Moslem LiteratureNot only all Central Asia but the territories marching with the Indian and Persian frontiers, where persecution of the elder faith could not have been relatively mild, the population professing Islam have been unable to abjure in their entirety rites and practices akin to those of Zoroastrianism.1977Brian DaleyThe Doomfarers of CoramonderEven Springbuck's last-ditch offer to abjure his royal heritage without trial was rebuffed with a cold reminder that it was his duty to put the affair squarely in the laps of the gods.Labels: Brian Daley, Charles Dickens, M. Inostranzev
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gonoph GAW-nof noun a thief; a petty criminal; a pickpocket 1901Richard Henry SavageThe Midnight PassengerOh! Any gonoph can see that the man was murdered for the stuff!1950Robert A. HeinleinThe Man Who Sold the MoonOkeh, brother gonoph, I’ll rig your trap.Labels: Richard Henry Savage, Robert A. Heinlein
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