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 ARCHIVESdeipnosophist gnomology truckle bagarre zyxt succubitus felix nolition controversion trucidation pièges-à-loups senatus consultum ullagone rufescent biocide isocracy scripturient warison disembosom sensu stricto kerygma galgenhumor nubble steganography xenomorphic gralloche nimiety gammadion bywoner kickie wickie bourasque delenda est Carthago
deipnosophist deep-NOS-o-fist noun a person who chatters while eating; meal time conversationalist 1898The Letters and Journals of Lord ByronHe was famous for his 'mob dinners,' to which Moore probably refers when he writes to Byron, in an undated letter, of the 'Deipnosophist Kinnaird.'Labels: Lord George Gordon Byron
gnomology no-MAW-law-gee noun a collection of sayings, aphorism, proverbs, short poems, maxims, or reflections 1871PhaedrusSOCRATES: And there is also Polus, who has treasuries of diplasiology, and gnomology, and eikonology, and who teaches in them the names of which Licymnius made him a present; they were to give a polish.Labels: Plato
truckle TRUH-kuhl verb subservient behavior; to act in fawning or obsequious manner; to kowtow 1911A Lute of JadeWhere is the man that would not wealth acclaim? | Who would not truckle for his sovereign's grace? | Yet years of high renown their furrows trace, | And greatness overwhelms the weary frame.
L. Cranmer-Byng,Labels: L. Cranmer-Byng
bagarre BA-guh-ray noun a small fight; a small battle 1983The Nonborn KingAnd I'm drained for the next day or so after putting on one of my better performances; so three weeks of a progress—not to mention the Geroniah dustup and a small bagarre we had with a Firvulag raiding party around Bardelaskwell…Labels: Julian May
zyxt zaikst verb to see 1998The Professor and the Madman ...with the inclusion of the Old Kentish word zyxt—the second indicative present tense, in local argot, of the verb to see—the work was done, the alphabet was exhausted, and the full text was now wholly in the printers' hands.Labels: Simon Winchester
succubitus felix suhk-yuh-BIT-uhs FA-liks noun assisting in happiness; aiding in good fortune 1922UlyssesThis would be tantamount to a cooperation…between the nisus formativus of the nemasperm on the one hand and on the other a happily chosen position, succubitus felix of the passive element.Labels: James Joyce
nolition no-LI-shuhn noun unwillingness; the opposite of volition 1558Epistle to Henry III weep for Nice, Monaco, Pisa, Genoa, Savona, Siena, Capua, Modena, Malta: For the above blood and sword for a New Year's gift, Fire, the earth to tremble, water, unfortunate nolition.Labels: Michel Nostradamus
controversion kawn-tro-VER-zhuhn noun to be in opposition to something; opposition; controversy 1904A History of Science One important demonstration was his controversion of the theory of abiogenesis, or 'spontaneous generation,' as propounded by Needham and Buffon. Labels: Henry Smith Williams
trucidation troo-si-DAY-shuhn noun slaughter; the act of slaughter 1883Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Stevenson (8 May 1883)I loathe the snails, but from loathing to actual butchery, trucidation of multitudes, there is still a step that I hesitate to take.Labels: Robert Louis Stevenson
pièges-à-loups pyehzh-eh-uh-loop noun a wolf trap, usually a pit into which sharpened sticks have been placed such that anything falling into the trap will be impaled 1914My Days of Adventure...stakes were being pointed for the many pièges-à-loups…Labels: Ernest Alfred Vizetelly
senatus consultum suh-nay-tuhss kuhn-SUHL-tuhm noun decree of the senate 1866The American RepublicMoreover, nothing in Roman history indicates that to the validity of a senatus consultum it was necessary to count the vacant domains of the sacred territory.Labels: O. A. Brownson
ullagone UHL-a-gon noun a woeful lament 1834Rookwood'Kilt!' echoed Titus. 'Is it kilt that Mr. Coates is? Ah! ullagone, and is it over with him entirely? Is he gone to rejoin his father, the thief-taker? Bring me to his remains.'Labels: W. Harrison Ainsworth
rufescent ru-FUH-suhnt adjective of a reddish color 1889The Nests and Eggs of Indian BirdsThe eggs are usually three in number, of a rosy or purplish white, sprinkled over rather numerously with deep claret or rufescent purple specks and spots.Labels: Allan O. Hume
biocide BAI-o-said noun a pesticide to kill living organisms 1989Clear and Present DangerIt was a fancy name for poison, and poison was exactly what it was, a biocide that was supposed to kill the cancer a little faster than it killed the patient.Labels: Tom Clancy
isocracy ai-SAW-kra-see noun rule whereby all persons hold equal political power 1838The Literary Remains of Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSancho's eagerness for his government, the nascent lust of actual democracy, or isocracy!Labels: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
scripturient SKRIP-shur-ee-uhnt adjective an overpowering need or desire to write 1880The Life of John Milton 1643-1649That grand scripturient paper-spiller, | That endless, needless, margin-filler, | So strangely tossed from post to pillar.Labels: David Masson
warison WAR-uh-suhn noun reward; preparation 1380Confessio Amantis'Mi liege lord, god mot you quite! | Mi fader hier hath bot a lite | Of warison, and that he wende | Hadde al be lost; bot now amende | He mai wel thurgh your noble grace.'Labels: John Gower
disembosom di-sem-BOO-zuhm verb to unburden; to divulge 1801The Parent's AssistantLandlady (aside). Simpleton! (Aloud.) But, my dear Miss Bursal, if I may be so bold—if you'd only disembosom your mind of what's on it— Labels: Maria Edgeworth
sensu stricto SEN-soo STRIK-to adverb in the strictest sense 1978Desolation IslandTwo I find to be idiots, sensu stricto; three, including the big fellow that is thought to have killed his keeper, are hard men.Labels: Patrick O'Brian
kerygma kuh-RIG-muh noun a proclamation of religious truth 1913The Catholic EncyclopediaClement of Alexandria repeatedly quotes from a kerygma Petrou, concerning whose credibility he obviously has no doubt.Labels: George R. Reid
galgenhumor GAWL-guhn-hyoo-mor noun gallows humor 1940Into The DarknessFlinging back his head, he burst into truly blood-curdling laughter, best described by the German phrase galgenhumor—gallows-humor.Labels: Lothrop Stoddard
nubble NUH-buhl noun a bump on something; a small knob on a tree or in wood 1984East of EalingAlmost at once he spied out the villain, a nubble of polished metal protruding from the dusty path.Labels: Robert Rankin
steganography steg-a-NAWG-ra-fee noun writing that is in code; cryptology 2002Pattern RecognitionSteganography is about concealing information by spreading it throughout other information.Labels: William Gibson
xenomorphic ze-no-MOR-fik adjective something having a shape or form that is not usual to it's natural shape or form 1989Forests of the NightThe Frank's much too xenomorphic.Labels: S. Andrew Swann
gralloche gra-LAWSH verb to gut and clean an animal; to remove offal from an animal 2003Blue HorizonThey skinned the ewe and gralloched her, feasting on raw liver as they worked.Labels: Wilbur Smith
nimiety ni-MAI-uh-tee noun too much; excess; more than necessary 1994Calde of the Long SunHad Chenille, who had stabbed Orpine in a nimiety of terror, loved something beyond herself?Labels: Gene Wolfe
gammadion gam-MA-dee-uhn noun a swastika-shaped cross; fylfot 1972Time's Last GiftOne of these was a swastika with its arms to the right, the good-luck gammadion.Labels: Philip Jose Farmer
bywoner BAI-wuhn-er noun laborer; a lowly farm worker 1986The Power of the SwordOne of the poor white Afrikaners, Shasa recognized his type. A bywoner, a squatter's kid.Labels: Wilbur Smith
kickie wickie kik-ee-WIK-ee noun wife 1602All's Well That Ends WellHe weares his honor in a boxe unseene, | That hugges his kickie wickie heare at home…Labels: William Shakespeare
bourasque BOOR-ask noun a tempest; a storm; a gale 1856The Poetical Works of PopeA sudden bourasque freed him from the rover, and he got to land…Labels: Alexander Pope
delenda est Carthago day-LEN-daw est kawr-TAW-go phrase Carthage must be destroyed. - (Marcus Porcius) Cato the Elder, Roman Senator during the period of the Third Punic War (149 - 146 B.C.) 1775London 1757 to 1775I sit down, Sir, after much patience, merely to take some notice of the invective and abuse, that have, on this occasion, been so liberally bestowed on my country, by your writers who sign themselves Old England, a Londoner, a Liveryman of London, &c. &c. [By the way, Mr. Printer, should I have said liberally or illiberally? Not being now it seems allowed to be an Englishman, I ought modestly to doubt my English, and submit it as I do to your correction.] The public, however, has been assured by these gentlemen, that 'the Bostonians have an evil disposition towards Old England, a rooted malice against this country, an implacable enmity to it;' they talk of our having 'hostile intentions,' and making 'barbarous resolutions against it;' they say that 'neither French nor Spaniards have as yet outdone the Bostonians in malicious combinations against its existence;' that we are 'as inveterate enemies to Old England, as ever the Carthagenians appeared to be to Rome.'—If all this is true, the inference intended is a plain one; it is as proper now to make war on Boston, as ever it was to make war against France or Spain; and it will be as right a thing in Old-England, totally to destroy New-England, as it was in Old Rome to destroy Carthage—You should not be contented with cutting the throats of one half of us in the West, to make the other half buy your goods whether they will or no, (as some Londoners say other Londoners do in the East) but the word should be, with old Cato, delenda est: Don't leave one stone upon another, nor a Carthagenian or Bostonian alive upon the face of the earth. Is this what these valiant writers would be at?1884Celtic EmpireIn 195 BC the Consul Marcus Porcius Cato was sent to deal with the rebellious tribes. He was an austere military man and his severity was proverbial. He is famous for uttering the cry: 'Carthago delenda est!' (Carthage must be destroyed!).1912Mrs Budlong's Chrismas PresentsShe grew frantic to be quit of Carthage—to rub it off her visiting list. Unconsciously her motto became Cato's ruthless Carthago delenda est.1999Serpent'It's something you learn in first-year Latin. 'Delenda est Carthago.' Carthage must be destroyed!Labels: Benjamin Franklin, Clive Cussler, P. Ellis, Rupert Hughes
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