referenceer

ultima ratio regum

2010-08-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

ultima ratio regum

ool-tuh-muh RAW-tee-o RAY-goom

phrase

the last argument of kings; war

1792Thomas PaineThe Rights of ManWithout consuming, like the Ultima Ratio Regum, it winds its progress from nation to nation, and conquers by a silent operation.1884Grant AllenPhilistiaYou know the motto Louis Quatorze used to cast on his bronze cannon—'Ultima ratio regum.' Well, we Socialists ought to be able to find better logic for our opponents than that, oughtn't we?'1981Patrick O'BrianThe Ionian MissionIf Captain Aubrey were to turn his cannon - the ultima ratio regum, and of other bullies - on Professor Graham, the truth would remain unaltered.1992Neal StephensonSnow Crash'What does ultima ratio regum mean?' | 'The Last Argument of Kings,'' the Librarian says.

redoubt

2010-07-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

redoubt

ri-DOWT

noun

a stronghold; a defensive line or position

1882Theodore RooseveltThe Naval War of 1812The Louisiana herself took no part in this action. Patterson had previously landed some of her guns on the opposite bank of the river, placing them in a small redoubt. To match these the British also threw up some works and placed in them heavy guns, and all through New Year's day a brisk cannonade was kept up across the river between the two water-batteries, but with very little damage to either side.1902Helen KellerStory of My LifeThe harbour was our joy, our paradise. What glorious sails we had to Bedford Basin, to McNabb's Island, to York Redoubt, and to the Northwest Arm! And at night what soothing, wondrous hours we spent in the shadow of the great, silent men-of-war. Oh, it was all so interesting, so beautiful! The memory of it is a joy forever.1987Dean KoontzShadowfiresThe stillness of the mountain redoubt seemed less ominous than it had… 1988Jack L. ChalkerThe Maze in the MirrorPandross's security redoubt wasn't all that far…1997James AxlerSkydarkBut even with the wags travel was a high risk enterprise, and increasingly the mattrans units in the redoubts offered the best option for a change of scene or quick exit from a hotspot.

auto-da-fé

2010-07-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

auto-da-fé

aw-to-duh-FAY

noun

execution of a heretic; burning at the stake; death sentence levied by the Spanish Inquisition

1932John SteinbeckThe Pastures of HeavenFor a moment I thought this auto-da-fé was serious.1989Gore VidalHollywood...I shall ask the governor, most respectfully, to refrain from his auto-da-fé until there is a new trial…1991James P. HoganEntoverse They're rounding up all the heretics for the great auto-da-fé.

frisson

2010-07-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

frisson

free-ZAWN

noun

a thrill; a brief episode of excitement

1905G. K. Chesterton Heretics When a French journalist desires a frisson there is a frisson; he discovers, let us say, that the President of the Republic has murdered three wives. 1991Roger ZelaznyPrince of ChaosAs I grew older, however, I, too, came to enjoy it, partly for the occasional frisson it provided my adolescence.1995Greg EganTap...a frisson of awe at the sheer Power of the Chip.2001Jeffery DeaverThe Blue NowhereHe would rather have had her close, Gillette decided, remembering during her visits how he'd loved to brush fingertips with her or press his shoe against the side of her foot, the contact producing an electric frisson that was akin to making love.

flibbertigibbet

2010-07-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

flibbertigibbet

FLI-bur-tee-jib-uht

noun

a silly person; a person who changes their mind at the drop of a hat

1907O. HenryHeart of the WestHe shut himself in his room like some venomous kobold or flibbertigibbet, whining, complaining, cursing, accusing.1969Kurt VonnegutSlaughterhouse FiveAll this responsibility at such an early age made her a bitchy flibbertigibbet.1986Winston GroomForrest Gump'This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet,' Tom o'Bedlam say.

metteur en scène

2010-07-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

metteur en scène

me-toor awn sen

noun

the director of a movie or of a stage play

1957Ian FlemingFrom Russia with LoveHe had been directly behind the mass executions of the 1930s when a million died, he had been metteur en scène of most of the great Moscow show trials, he had organized the bloody genocide in the Central Caucasus in February 1944…

gaumless

2010-07-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

gaumless

GAWM-luhs

adjective

dull and stupid; vacuous

1847Emily BronteWuthering Heights'I've tied his tongue,' observed Heathcliff. 'He'll not venture a single syllable all the time! Nelly, you recollect meat his age—nay, some years younger. Did I ever look so stupid: so 'gaumless,' as Joseph calls it?' 1918F. W. MoormanSongs of the RidingsHe minds His business, does the Lord, An' wastes no gaumless words.

equipollent

2010-07-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

equipollent

ee-kwuh-PAW-luhnt

adjective

equivalent; equal in significance or power

1597Francis BaconThe Essays: Of Custom and EducationOnly superstition is now so well advanced, that men of the first blood, are as firm as butchers by occupation; and votary resolution, is made equipollent to custom, even in matter of blood.1822Sir Walter ScottThe Fortunes of Nigel'Doubtless, my lord, the having, as you say, deserved it, must be an excruciation to your own mind,' replied his tormentor; 'a kind of mental and metaphysical hanging, drawing, and quartering, which may be in some measure equipollent with the external application of hemp, iron, fire, and the like, to the outer man.'1869Albert G. MackeyThe Symbolism of FreemasonryThe ladder of Masonry, like the equipollent ladders of its kindred institutions, always had seven steps, although in modern times the three principal or upper ones are alone alluded to.

kermess

2010-07-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

kermess

KUR-muhs

noun

a fair or carnival that raises funds for charity

1865Mary Mapes DodgeHans Brinker or The Silver SkatesMen, women, and children go clattering about in wooden shoes with loose heels; peasant girls who cannot get beaux for love, hire them for money to escort them to the kermis, and husbands and wives lovingly harness themselves side by side on the bank of the canal and drag their pakschuyts to market.1894Anatole France The Red LilyIn the movement and the noise of the kermess she said…1911Gaston LerouxThe Phantom of the OperaBut the curtain rose on the kermess scene and Richard made a sign to the stage-manager to go away.

targe

2010-07-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

targe

tawrj

noun

a defensive shield

1903Ambrose BierceShapes of ClayAgainst abstractions evermore you charge | You hack no helmet and you need no targe.1913Quintus SmyrnaeusThe Fall of TroyAugeias' monstrous stable there was wrought | With cunning craft on that invincible targe; | And Hercules was turning through the same | The deep flow of Alpheius' stream divine,1987Paul Edwin ZimmerA Gathering of Heroes...a frail, leather-covered wood targe met the wide blade's lashing hammer-blow.

nonplus

2010-07-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

nonplus

nawn-PLUHS

noun, verb

to be baffled or confused; to be rendered speechless or puzzled

1922I. A. R. WylieThe Dark HouseHe wanted to nonplus and disconcert her, if such a thing were possible.1969George MacDonald FraserFlashman'With poor Sir William gone, we are at a nonplus here,' he kept repeating, looking around dolefully for someone to agree with him.1972Dick FrancisSmokescreenEvan only knew how to deal with girls that young if he could bully them in front of a camera: and the idea that animals could be sweet instead of symbolic seemed to nonplus him.

nubiferous

2010-07-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

nubiferous

noo-BIF-er-uhs

adjective

producing clouds

1930S. S. Van DineThe Scarab Murder CaseMy mind is...shot with mist and mizzle, with vapor and haze and steam; it is cirrous and nubiferous, cumulous and vaporous…1951A. E. Van VogtVoyage of the Space BeagleAnd its world was a narrow swamp, a gray, nubiferous environment, where it lived its contented, active, idyllic, almost mindless existence.

prurient

2010-07-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

prurient

PRYOOR-ee-uhnt

adjective

an inordinate concern with the subject of sex; appealing to persons with a sex obsession

1876Anthony TrollopeThe Prime MinisterTo h—-with their prurient laws,' said Lopez, rising suddenly from his chair. 'I will neither appeal to them nor will I obey them.1922Margaret SangerPivot of CivilizationI have yet to hear any criticism of this term that is not based upon some false and hypocritical sense of modesty, or that does not arise out of a semi-prurient misunderstanding of its aim.1994Sue GraftonK is for KillerTo me, Lorna's prurient behavior left her short of 'near perfect' and put her closer to 'wanton.'

blandishment

2010-07-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

blandishment

BLAN-dish-ment

verb

praise calculated to cajole; allurement; flattery

1978James A. MichenerChesapeakeIn the dark night the two men glared at each other, with Steed determined to resist the blandishments of his captain.1985Carl SaganContactBut he resisted many invitations and some proffered blandishments to found an electronic church.1989Ken FollettThe Pillars of the EarthTom's family pushed through the disconsolate crowd, ignoring the halfhearted blandishments of the sausage seller and the knife sharpener.

quod erat demonstrandum

2010-07-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

quod erat demonstrandum

kwawd AER-awt de-muhn-STRAN-duhm

phrase

that which was to be demonstrated; used in mathematics at the end of proof and is often symbolized with a small square; abbreviation: QED

1829Honore De BalzacThe Girl With The Golden EyesIf this hurried glance at the population of Paris has enabled us to conceive the rarity of a Raphaelesque face, and the passionate admiration which such an one must inspire at the first sight, the prime interest of our history will have been justified. Quod erat demonstrandum—if one may be permitted to apply scholastic formulae to the science of manners.1897Henry Seton MerrimanThe Grey LadyAnd it is thus that the little habits are acquired, and the little habits make the woman, therefore the little habits make the match. Quod erat demonstrandum.1905Donald MacKenzie WallaceRussiaNow vot is evidently the same root as the German vat in Vater, and the English fath in father. Quod erat demonstrandum.1971Poul AndersonOperation Chaos'Remember, this is a gut issue. Nornwell manufactures a lot of police and defense equipment, like witchmark fluorescers and basilisk goggles. We're under contract to develop more kinds. The police and the armed forces serve the Establishment. The Establishment is evil. Therefore Nornwell must be shut down.' | 'Quod erat demonstrandum about,' she sighed.'

outre-mer

2010-07-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

outre-mer

oo-truh-maer

noun

unknown lands; distant territory; overseas

1842Caroline Matilda KirklandA New HomeHis outre-mer adventures are of no importance to my story—how, as he stood with two or three messmates, staring, like a true Yankee, at the Tower of London, a press-gang seized them all, and rowed them to a vessel which lay off the Traitor’s Gate, the Americans protesting themselves such, and the John Bulls laughing at them…1891Percival LowellNoto: An Unexplored Corner of JapanThe day had grown older and I wiser by the time my letters were read, with their strange perfume from outre-mer, the horses harnessed afresh, and we under way once more, clattering down the main street of the village.2002Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint and David FreerThe Shadow of the LionOr maybe hire on as a hand on an Outremer-bound ship?

quand même

2010-07-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

quand même

kawn mem

adverb

nevertheless; in spite of; even so

1907Sarah BernhardtMy Double LifeI then stepped into the carriage which had caused such a sensation at the theatre, and drove away. On reaching home I took the contract to my mother. She signed it without reading it. I made my mind resolutely to be some one quand-même.1909Frank HarrisThe Man ShakespeareThe critics who have ignorantly praised his Hotspur and Bastard as if he had been a man of deeds as well as a man of words have only obscured the truth that Shakespeare the poet-philosopher, the lover quand même, only reached a sane balance of nature through his overflowing humour.1922E. E. CummingsThe Enormous Room'You're god damn right it's Malheureux,' I said, forgetting my French. 'Quand même, he has resisted authority.'1980Robert LudlumThe Bourne Identity'Merci bien. Je vais essayer quand même.'

tocsin

2010-07-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

tocsin

TAWK-sin

noun

an alarm; a warning

1881James Macpherson Le Moine Picturesque Quebec Champlain, in his deposition, sworn to, on the 9th Nov. 1629, in London, before the Right Worshipful Sir Henry Martin, Knight, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, describes minutely, the armament and belongings of Fort St. Louis, on the 9th August 1629, when he surrendered it to the Kirkes: cannon such as they were, and ammunition he seems to have had in abundance, without forgetting what he styles 'the murderers with their double boxes or charges,' a not excessively deadly kind of mitrailleuse or Gatling gun, we should imagine; the Fort also contained a smith's forge, carpenter's tools, machinery for a windmill, and a handmill to grind corn, a brass bell—probably to sound the tocsin, or alarm, at the approach of the marauding savages of Stadacona, the array of muskets—(thirteen complete)—is not formidable.1919Frank L. PackardThe Further Adventures of Jimmie DaleThe Tocsin! Marie LaSalle to the world, she was always, and always would be, the Tocsin to him. Gone ! A hand unclenched and passed heavily across his eyes and flirted the hair back from his forehead.2004Sam VakninThe Suffering of Being KafkaMy grandmother fixated Dinah with a tocsin look.

orthogonal

2010-07-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

orthogonal

or-THAWG-uh-nuhl

adjective

at right angles; intersecting at right angles; irrelevant or extraneous, usually in reference to an issue or subject

1985Carl SaganContactThey're made of a niobium alloy, they have peculiar patterns cut into them, and they're obviously designed to rotate in three orthogonal directions very fast in a vacuum.1989Charles SheffieldProteus UnboundIf I wanted to talk fancy like Leo, I'd say it's like their science is orthogonal to ours. They move along a completely different axis of understanding.1998Michael CrichtonTimelineWhat we have developed is a form of space travel. To be precise, we use quantum technology to manipulate an orthogonal multiverse coordinate change.'2001Robert LudlumThe Sigma Protocol...she went into standard E&S, evasion and search, tactics. That meant flattening yourself against a wall with a pistol drawn, then shifting to an orthogonal wall, and repeating the process.

faute de mieux

2010-07-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

faute de mieux

FOT duh MYOOR

adverb

for lack of something better

1938C. S. LewisOut of the Silent PlanetNo hross, however, ate the weed (honodraskrud) for choice, though it might be used faute de mieux on a journey.1973Gore VidalBurr'Then Leggett is for Van Buren?' | 'Faute de mieux.'1988Umberto EcoFoucault's PendulumBut Belbo by now was an adept, and, like other adepts, not through enlightenment, but faute de mieux.

koppie

2010-07-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

koppie

KAW-pee

noun

a small hill

1888H. Rider HaggardMaiwa's RevengeThese are separated one from another by glades of grass land, broken here and there with clumps of timber trees; and in some instances by curious isolated koppies, and even by single crags of granite that start up into the air as though they were monuments carved by man, and not tombstones set by nature over the grave of ages gone.

fossick

2010-07-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

fossick

FAW-sik

verb

to rummage; to prospect in worked over or abandoned areas

1896G. A. HentyIn the Heart of the Rockies'Oh, I see. The Utes had come upon them, and they knew that if they stopped there they would lose their scalps sooner or later, so they came up here and made north for a bit to hunt and fossick about in the hills, and then go back when the Utes had quieted down.'1995Wilbur SmithSeventh ScrollStill, it gives us a wonderful excuse to fossick about in the bushes.1999Stephen OliverUnmanned...we found a hand-hold to jemmy open an illegal window, fossick the disused office…

picayune

2010-07-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

picayune

pi-kee-YOON

adjective, noun

something of little or no value; small or petty minded; a nit-picker

1903William Cowper BrannBrann The IconoclastAt a time when the industrial problem is pressing upon us with ever increasing power, it is discouraging to hear grown Americans prattling of 'unhorsing' economic adversaries—priding themselves on polemical fence, like shyster lawyers, and seeking victory through sophistry rather than truth by honest inquiry. That is not patriotism, but a picayune partisanship which I profoundly pity.1995Larry McMurtryDead Man's WalkMany Rangers thought Bigfoot's point somewhat picayune, since the Mexican could not have screamed louder if he had been being tortured by fifty men…2001David DrakeForeign LegionsWe in the Trade Commission do not feel that our concerns are either picayune or asinine!

blague

2010-07-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

blague

blawzh

noun

a lie; nonsense

1870Leo TolstoyAnna KareninaNo,' said Serpukhovskoy, frowning with vexation at being suspected of such an absurdity. 'Tout ca est une blague. That has always been, and always will be. There are no communists. But intriguing people have to invent a noxious, dangerous party. It's an old trick. No, what's wanted is a powerful party of independent men, like you and me.'1915Philip GibbsThe Soul of the WarThere was a good deal of blague in these annual ceremonies, laughed at by Frenchmen of common sense.

ineluctable

2010-07-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

ineluctable

i-ni-LUHK-tuh-buhl

adjective

something inevitable; that which cannot be avoided; irresistible

1920Dewitt H. ParkerThe Principles of AestheticsFor even if we always do go on to something better in the future, the past had its unique value, and that is lost ineluctably.1946Paramhansa YoganandaAutobiography of a YogiNature herself is Maya; natural science must perforce deal with her ineluctable quiddity.1954Robertson DaviesLeaven of MaliceCan you conceive of any practical joke more tiresomely bourgeois, more quintessentially and ineluctably lower middle class, than shoving a fake engagement notice in the paper?1958Boris PasternakDoctor ZhivagoThese new things were not familiar, not led up to by the old, they were unchosen, determined by an ineluctable reality, and as sudden as an earthquake.1970James BlishCities in FlightThere were many corners of the galaxy which knew Earth only as a legend, a green myth floating unknown thousands of parsecs away in space, known and ineluctable thousands of years away in history.1982Janet MorrisEarth DreamsThere was never a moment so empty as to allow leisure to regret past occurrences—or failures; the future pressed ineluctably upon his consular 'now.'1994Stephen R. DonaldsonThe Gap Into Madness: Chaos and OrderThe roaring in her ears had become absolute night, carrying her ineluctably into its depths.2005Simon HouptThe Globe & Mail (Monday, 21 February 2005)[Peter] Carey is most at home with the ineluctable impossibility of connection.

kinnikinnick

2010-07-07T01:00:00.000-07:00

kinnikinnick

ki-ni-kuh-NIK

noun

an American berry; an American Indian mix of bark and leaves used for smoking

1919Henry Blake FullerBertram Cope's Year'Why, it's a sassafras. And this?'—she thrust her toe into a thick, lustrous bed of tiny leaves that hugged the ground. 'No, again? That's kinnikinnick. Oh, my poor boy, you have everything to learn. Brought up in the country, too!'1974James A. MichenerCentennialNow Broken Thumb prepared a calumet, keeping it on his knees while he mixed tobacco and kinnikinnick in prescribed amounts.

bienséance

2010-07-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

bienséance

byan-say-awns

noun

a sense of the appropriateness of things; a sense of propriety

1830James Fenimore CooperThe Water-WitchFrancois proceeded to take such measures to arouse his mistress, as he believed to comport with his duty to her uncle, and his own ideas of bienséance.1888J. H. ShorthouseA Teacher of the Violin and Other StoriesI know, of course, that there are many who...view these flowery but dangerous paths with approbation; but I cannot think that Mademoiselle would tread them without violating the bienséance which alone makes life tolerable…1898Lord George Gordon ByronThe Letters and Journals of Lord ByronThough, after all, I doubt my temper, and fear I should not be so patient as becomes the bienséance of a married man in my station.

gasconade

2010-07-05T01:00:00.000-07:00

gasconade

gas-kuh-NAYD

noun

boasting; blustering

1724Daniel DefoeThe Fortunate MistressAmy, an ambitious jade, who knew my weakest part, namely, that I loved great things and that I loved to be flattered and courted, said abundance of kind things upon this occasion which she knew were suitable to me and would prompt my vanity, and talked big of the Prince's gentleman having orders to come over to me with a procuration to marry me by proxy (as princes usually do in like cases), and to furnish me with an equipage and I know not how many fine things, but told me withal, that she had not yet let him know that she belonged to me still, or that she knew where to find me or to write to me, because she was willing to see the bottom of it, and whether it was a reality or a gasconade.1814Matthew FlindersA Voyage to Terra AustralisThis sullying of the French territory produced a fulminating proclamation from general De Caen, nearly similar in terms to that of the emperor Napoleon after the descent at Walcheren; its effect on the inhabitants, however, was not much, for on asking some of them what they thought of this second-hand gasconade, the reply was, 'Oh it is not to us, it is to Bonaparte that the proclamation is addressed;' meaning that it was a bait to catch his approbation.

xanthous

2010-07-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

xanthous

ZAN-thos

adjective

yellowish; yellow-brown; yellow-red

1856Sir Richard Francis BurtonPersonal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & MeccahThe xanthous complexion is rare, though not unknown in cities, but the leucous does not exist.1890Ignatius DonnellyCaesar's ColumnShe evidently belonged to the great race of Nilsson and Lind. Her hair, a mass of rebellious, short curls, was of the peculiar shade of light yellow common among that people; it looked as if the xanthous locks of the old Gauls, as described by Cæsar, had been faded out, in the long nights and the ice and snow of the Northland, to this paler hue.1927S. S. Van DineThe Canary Murder CaseTherefore, when I saw this photograph of the xanthous Alys half hidden under the litter of papers on the escritoire…1995Greg CostikyanOne Quest, Hold the DragonsI suppose you're all pining for that xanthous beauty yourselves…

anchorite

2010-07-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

anchorite

an-KE-rait

noun

a hermit; a hermit like person

1812Lord George Gordon ByronChilde Harold's PilgrimageThe laughing dames in whom he did delight, | Whose large blue eyes, fair locks, and snowy hands, | Might shake the saintship of an anchorite1855Maturin MurrayThe Sea WitchThere is true poetry in such a scene as this, beauty fit to move the heart of an anchorite.1919W. Somerset MaughamThe Moon and SixpenceYour appearance doesn't suggest the anchorite.

calumny

2010-07-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

calumny

KA-luhm-nee

noun

slander; defamatory statements

1757Benjamin FranklinPoor Richard 1757Act uprightly, and despise Calumny; Dirt may stick to a Mud Wall, but not to polish'd Marble1854Harriet Beecher StoweSunny Memories of Foreign LandsIn the conclusion of one of his speeches he says, 'Sir, it may not be given me to pass over this Jordan; other and better men have preceded me, and I entered into their labors; other and better men will follow me, and enter into mine; but this consolation I shall ever continue to enjoy—that, amidst much injustice and somewhat of calumny, we have at last lighted such a candle in England as, by God's blessing, shall never be put out.'1905Maxim GorkyThe March of ManIn the warmish heart of Friendship, Thought feels the calculating prudence, the cruel, empty curiosity, the foul ulcers of envy, with the germs of calumny in them.

brutum fulmen

2010-07-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

brutum fulmen

broo-tuhm FUHL-men

noun

a toothless threat; a futile display

1908H. E. KrehbielChapters of OperaIn the picture of a storm which opens the opera the manipulator of the artificial lightning is not left to his discretion as to the proper moment for discharging his brutum fulmen;1909William JamesThe Meaning of TruthThe 'ought' would be a brutum fulmen unless there were a felt grain inside of our experience that conspired.1912Samuel ButlerThe Note-Books of Samuel ButlerWhile he is shaking his wings, there is brutum fulmen but the man goes on living, frightened, perhaps, but unhurt; pain and sickness may hurt him but the moment Death strikes him both he and Death are beyond feeling.1922Rafael SabatiniCaptain BloodIt was a brutum fulmen that inspired no terrors in Captain Blood.

soporific

2010-06-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

soporific

sawp-uh-RI-fik

adjective, noun

sleep inducing; a drug that causes sleep or dulls the senses

1850Alexandre DumasThe Man in the Iron MaskOutside, the guards of honor and the patrols of the musketeers paced up and down; and the sound of their feet could be heard on the gravel walks. It was an additional soporific for the sleepers; while the murmuring of the wind through the trees and the unceasing music of the fountains still went on uninterruptedly, without being disturbed at the slight noises and trifling affairs of which the life and death of man consist.1914Marjorie Benton CookeBambi'It's mutual, I may say,' and he fell into step. 'Bless this old town, it's like——' | 'A soporific,' she supplied, and joined his laugh.1961Ian Fleming Thunderball...he knew that in minutes the strong soporific would put Bond out for hours.1970Gabriel Garcia MarquezOne Hundred Years of SolitudeRemedios in the soporific air of two in the afternoon, Remedios in the soft breath of the roses, Remedios in the water-clock secrets of the moths, Remedios in the steaming morning bread, Remedios everywhere and Remedios forever.

summum bonum

2010-06-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

summum bonum

SOOM-uhm BO-nuhm

noun

the greatest good; the supreme good

1651Thomas HobbesLeviathanFor there is no such finis ultimus (utmost aim) nor summum bonum (greatest good) as is spoken of in the books of the old moral philosophers.1861John Stuart MillUtilitarianismFrom the dawn of philosophy, the question concerning the summum bonum, or, what is the same thing, concerning the foundation of morality, has been accounted the main problem in speculative thought, has occupied the most gifted intellects, and divided them into sects and schools, carrying on a vigorous warfare against one another.1964Ian FlemingYou Only Live Twice...the 'quick buck', often dishonestly earned, or earned in exchange for minimal labour or skills, are the summum bonum, if you will allow the sentimental echo from my Oxford education.'1978James A. MichenerChesapeakeTo him, England was a respected family memory; he had been educated there, but it was not the summum bonum.

obstreperous

2010-06-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

obstreperous

AWB-STRE-puh-ruhs

adjective

to be unruly; to be aggressively rude

1917Nicholas NekrassovWho Can Be Happy and Free In Russia?God's curse, the Tsar's anger, | He hurls at the heads | Of obstreperous peasants.1961Ian FlemingThunderballHe was a ruthless, vengeful man and he had eliminated many obstreperous and perhaps dangerous people in his life.1988Neal StephensonZodiacBoone is standing six feet away, a rock, talking calmly and quietly like a nursery school teacher handling an obstreperous child.

trencherman

2010-06-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

trencherman

TREN-chur-muhn

noun

a person who eats heavily; a person who eats to the point of excess

1891VariousPunch (Vol. 100, May 23, 1891)Lower down sat John Tooker, 'Girt Jan Doubleface' he was ever called, not without a sly hint of increasing obesity, for John, though a mighty man of thews and sinews, was no small trencherman, and, as the phrase is, did himself right royally whenever porridge was in question.1930John Buchan Castle GayDougal, though very hungry and usually a stout trencherman, had not enjoyed his luncheon. 1997Nelson DemillePlum IslandDr. Zollner was arranging his large lunch in front of him with the expertise of a real trencherman.

miasma

2010-06-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

miasma

mai-AZ-muh

noun

poisonous air; noxious air; unpleasant atmosphere

1897Bram StokerDraculaThere was an earthy smell, as of some dry miasma, which came through the fouler air. But as to the odour itself, how shall I describe it? It was not alone that it was composed of all the ills of mortality and with the pungent, acrid smell of blood, but it seemed as though corruption had become itself corrupt. Faugh! It sickens me to think of it.1995Clive BarkerSacramentThe shutters, which were to her left, remained open a little way, but the daylight fluttered at the sill, stopped from entering by the miasma she was giving off.1998Guy Gavriel KaySailing to Sarantium...the miasma of an excruciating headache…1999J. D. RobbConspiracy In DeathEve knew the layer all too well. Sweet, sickly. And here, sneaking under the miasma of urine and sour flesh was the smell of death, and she noted with a faint frown, the bright metallic hint of blood.

rusticate

2010-06-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

rusticate

RUHS-ti-kayt

verb

to live in the country; to send to live in the country; to live in a bucolic setting

1887Arthur Conan DoyleA Study in ScarletSo alarming did the state of my finances become, that I soon realized that I must either leave the metropolis and rusticate somewhere in the country, or that I must make a complete alteration in my style of living.1903Kate Douglas WigginRebecca of Sunnybrook FarmI always go South for the spring vacation, traveling by sea to Old Point Comfort, and rusticating in some quiet spot near by.1906Thomas WrightThe Life of Sir Richard BurtonNext morning the culprits were brought before the college dignitaries; but the dons having lectured Burton, he began lecturing them—concluding with the observation that young men ought not to be treated like children. As a consequence, while the other offenders were merely rusticated, Burton was expelled.

caitiff

2010-06-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

caitiff

KAY-tuhf

noun, adjective

a despicable coward; a loathsome wretch

1915Jeffery FarnolMy Lady CapriceBase caitiff, hold!1921Giovanni BoccaccioThe Decameron...you stretch forth your delicate hands and cull the roses, leaving the thorns alone: which, being interpreted, means that you will leave the caitiff husband to abide in sorry plight with his dishonour…1949Henry KuttnerSee You LaterDidn't you realize what this caitiff schmo was planning, the stinkard?

captious

2010-06-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

captious

KAP-shuhs

adjective

a propensity to judge things or persons severely; hard to please

1928Virginia WoolfOrlandoThus did the spirit work upon her, for all her past pride, and as she came sloping down the scale of emotion to this lowly and unaccustomed lodging-place, those twangings and tinglings which had been so captious and so interrogative modulated into the sweetest melodies…1969Hermann HesseMagister Ludi, The Glass Bead GameThis instruction followed immediately after his own lessons in epigraphy and source work, the pupil becoming the teacher and the honored teacher an attentive listener and often a captious critic and questioner.1977Robin CookComaThe anesthesiology resident had had to weather one of the worst bombardments of foul words and captious epithets that had ever been hurled over an anesthesia screen.

succedaneum

2010-06-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

succedaneum

suhk-suh-DAY-nee-uhm

adjective

a substitute for something

1831Sir John Barrow The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of HMS BountyIf, instead of fish, he has flesh, he must have some succedaneum for a knife to divide it; and for this purpose a piece of bamboo is tossed to him, of which he makes the necessary implement by splitting it transversely with his nail. 1876Sir Richard Francis BurtonTwo Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the CongoThe comb is unknown, its succedaneum being a huge bodkin, like that which the Trasteverina has so often used as a stiletto.

jocose

2010-06-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

jocose

jo-KOS

adjective

humorous; joking; merry; jovial

1823John GaltThe ProvostI therefore assumed a coothy and obliging demeanour towards my customers and the community in general; and sometimes even with the very beggars I found a jocose saying as well received as a bawbee, although naturally I dinna think I was ever what could be called a funny man, but only just as ye would say a thought ajee in that way.1898Henry Francis KeenanThe Iron GameIt seemed to him a sort of treason to talk of his regiment before the man who was so soon to be in the ranks against them. 'Oh, I can't tell our secrets before the enemy,' he ended, jocosely.1904Jack LondonThe Sea WolfThomas Mugridge, on the other hand, considered it a laughable affair, and was continually bobbing his head out the galley door to make jocose remarks.

Polyphemus

2010-06-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

Polyphemus

pawl-uh-FEE-muhs

a cyclops from Greek mythology, the son of Poseidon, appearing as a character in Homer's Odyssey

1865Thomas Carlyle The History of Friedrich II of PrussiaFriedrich Wilhelm's conduct, looked at from without, appears that of a hideous royal ogre, or blind anthropophagous Polyphemus fallen mad. Looked at from within, where the Polyphemus has his reasons, and a kind of inner rushlight to enlighten his path; and is not bent on man-eating, but on discipline in spite of difficulties—it is a wild enough piece of humanity, not so much ludicrous as tragical. 1910Ernest Scott Terre NapoleonSome of the French sailors who had been ashore returned in a wild state of alarm on account of giants whom they professed to have seen—men of extraordinary strength and stature, they reported, with long black beards, armed with enormous spears and shields, who ran at a furious pace, brandishing their weapons and giving utterance to fearful yells. 'However extravagant these assertions might appear,' said the incredulous naturalist, 'it was necessary to collect precise information on the subject.' The scientific Ulysses regarded the reputed Cyclops with a calculating scepticism. Had Polyphemus been at hand, Peron would have politely requested him to permit himself to be weighed and measured, and would have written an admirable monograph on his solitary optic.

objurgate

2010-06-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

objurgate

awb-jur-GAYT

verb

to scold; to chastise; to denounce

1871George MeredithThe Adventures of Harry Richmond'Prayers!' He was about to objurgate, but affirmatived her motion to ring the bell for the servants, and addressed Peterborough: 'You read 'em abroad every morning?'1907O. HenryHeart of the WestFour of his fellow-passengers followed, inspired by his example, ready to explore, to objurgate, to resist, to submit, to proceed, according as their prime factor might be inclined to sway them.1914Arnold BennettThe Price of LoveRachel remained alone, to objurgate Rachel. It was indeed only too obvious from Mrs. Tams's constrained and fussy demeanour that the old woman had divined the existence of serious trouble in the Fores household.1926H. Rider HaggardThe Treasure of the Lake...at this point a kind of rage possessed me which caused me to berate and objurgate Hans…

immure

2010-06-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

immure

i-MYOOR

verb

to imprison; to enshrine; to entomb

1845Alexandre DumasThe Count of Monte Cristo'One minute,' cried Albert, without giving Monte Cristo the time to reply. 'Take care, you are going to immure a traveller, Sinbad the Sailor, a man who comes to see Paris; you are going to make a patriarch of him.'1895B. M. BowerThe Love Affairs of a BibliomaniacTo him the incredible feat of walking seventy miles within the compass of a day was mere child's play; then, when the printer became clamorous, he would immure himself in his wonderful den and reel off copy until that printer cried 'Hold; enough!''1921Robert LyndThe Pleasures of IgnoranceThe blue hills in the distance when rain is about, the grey arras of wet that advances over the plain, the whitethroat that sings or rather scolds above the hedge as he dances on the wing, the tree-pipit—or is it another bird?—that sinks down to the juniper-tip through a honey of music, a rough sea seen in the distance, half shine, half scowl—any of these things may easily cut us off from history and from hope and immure us in the present hour.1983Tim PowersThe Anubis GatesCertain lines made Ashbless curious: 'No such sweet sights doth Limbo den immure, Wali'd round, and made a spirit-jail secure.

portmanteau

2010-06-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

portmanteau

port-MAN-to

noun

a leather suitcase; a new word derived from two or more words

1862A. K. H. BoydThe Recreations of A Country ParsonAnd this is labour, and hard labour; though very different from that physical exertion which the uncivilized man would understand by the word. Every one can understand that to carry a heavy portmanteau a mile is work. Not every one remembers that the owner of the portmanteau, as he walks on carrying nothing weightier than an umbrella, may be going through exertion much harder than that of the porter. Probably St. Paul never spent days of harder work in all his life, than the days he spent lying blind at Damascus, struggling to get free from the prejudices and convictions of all his past years, and resolving—on the course he would pursue in the years to come.1876Lewis CarrollThe Hunting of the SnarkThis also seems a fitting occasion to notice the other hard words in that poem. Humpty-Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all. For instance, take the two words 'fuming' and 'furious.' Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first. Now open your mouth and speak. If your thoughts incline ever so little towards 'fuming,' you will say 'fuming-furious;' if they turn, by even a hair's breadth, towards 'furious,' you will say 'furious-fuming;' but if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say 'frumious.'1897H. G. WellsThe Invisible ManThe stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand.

putative

2010-06-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

putative

PYOO-tuh-tiv

adjective

assumed or suggested to exist; generally believed or imagined

1919Max BeerbohmSeven MenIt was then that I espied yonder the back of the putative Maltby.1964Ross MacDonaldThe Far Side of the DollarThen I called Arnie Walters in Reno and gave him a rundown on the old man's son, Mike Harley, ex-sailor, ex-fighter, ex-bartender, gambler, kidnapper, wife-beater, putative murderer and driver of a 1958 Plymouth two-door, California license number IKT 449.1982Stephen R. DonaldsonThe One TreeBut at his back, his putative son slept.

quadrumanous

2010-06-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

quadrumanous

kwa-DROO-ma-nuhs

adjective

relating to primates with hand-shaped feet

1860James Emerson TennentCeylonThe only other quadrumanous animal found in Ceylon is the little loris, which, from its sluggish movements, nocturnal habits, and consequent inaction during the day, has acquired the name of the 'Ceylon Sloth.1869Alfred Russel WallaceThe Malay ArchipelagoHe made a spring at me, and if the keeper had not pulled me back would have treated me unhandsomely, like a quadrumanous rough, as he was.1886John C. HutchesonTom Finch's Monkey and How He Dined with the AdmiralBut, alas, he never became sufficiently developed or 'evolved' from his quadrumanous condition to answer the question in person, as the engines which were his hobby in the end compassed his untimely death!1925G. K. ChestertonThe Everlasting ManWe could imagine a Supermonkey more marvellous than any Superman, a quadrumanous creature carving and painting with his hands and cooking and carpentering with his feet.

vedi Napoli e poi mori

2010-06-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

vedi Napoli e poi mori

vay-dee NAW-po-lee aa po-ee MO-ree

phrase

see Naples and then die

1908Joseph ConradIl CondeThere is a saying of Neapolitan patriotism, intended for the information of foreigners, I presume: 'See Naples and then die.' Vedi Napoli e poi mori. It is a saying of excessive vanity, and everything excessive was abhorrent to the nice moderation of the poor Count.1908Robert HichensA Spirit in PrisonHer imagination was almost furiously alive, and as the Padrone talked, waving his hands and striking postures like those of a military dictator, she saw the dead Empress, with her fan before her face, nodding her head to the jig of 'Funiculi, funicula,' while she watched the red cloud from Vesuvius rising into the starry sky; she saw Sarah Bernhardt taking the Greek cat upon her knee; the newly made Czar reading the telegram with his glass of punch beside him; Tosti tracing lines of music; Gladstone watching the sea; and finally the gaunt figure and the long beard of Tolstoy bending over the book in which he wrote clearly so many years ago, 'Vedi Napoli e poi mori.'

Edisonade

2010-06-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

Edisonade

e-di-suhn-AYD

noun

a young man or boy who creates a machine or tool and takes it out to a frontier region where adventure ensues as his fortune is made; a story featuring an Edisonade

1996Gregory BenfordThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (April 1996)The edisonade is not only about saving the country or planet through personal spunk and native wit, it is also about lighting out for the Territory.2002Jess NevinsVictorian Archetypal Heroes and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (ultrazine.org, January 2002)An Edisonade was a boy inventor who used a machine, usually some kind of ship, to transport himself to the Western frontier and make his fortune by 'civilizing' it, usually by slaughtering great numbers of natives.

lotophagous

2010-06-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

lotophagous

lo-to-FAY-juhs

adjective

lazy; indolent

1883Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo EmersonThe Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson (1834-1872)I have even fancied you did me a harm by the valued gift of Antony Wood;—which, and the like of which, I take a lotophagous pleasure in eating.

bower

2010-06-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

bower

BOW-ur

noun

a nice dwelling; a medieval apartment in a castle

1904Frank L. BaumA Kidnapped Santa ClausSo Wisk the Fairy transported himself to the bower of the Fairy Queen, which was located deep in the heart of the Forest of Burzee; and once there, it did not take him long to find out all about the naughty Daemons and how they had kidnapped the good Santa Claus to prevent his making children happy.1909William Dean HowellsSeven English CitiesOne must not judge it too severely, though: bowers and prisons of that day looked much alike, and Mary Stuart may have felt this a bower, and only hated it because she could not get out of it, or anyhow break the relentless hold of that Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury whose captive guest she was, though she never ceased trying.1920Sir Rabindranath TagoreGlimpses of BengalWhen she arrived in her bower with the dust on her body soaked by the rain into a coating of mud, she must have been a sight!

jolie laide

2010-06-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

jolie laide

zhaw-lee led

noun

a woman who is attractive in an unconventional way

1921Juanita Helm FloydWomen in the Life of BalzacShe was a fine equestrienne, a most beautiful dancer, apparently naturally graceful, and bore the sobriquet of la jolie laide.1981Peter O'DonnellThe Xanadu TalismanShe smiled, and again for a moment was transformed from a jolie-laide to a beautiful woman.

pari passu

2010-06-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

pari passu

PAR-ee PAW-soo

adjective, adverb

at equal rates; at equal speed; in lock step with

1827James Fenimore CooperThe PrairieUnless, indeed, a man may be so called, whose fortune is made, whose fame may be said to be established for ever, whose name will go down to posterity with that of Buffon—Buffon! a mere compiler: one who flourishes on the foundation of other men's labours. No; pari passu with Solander, who bought his knowledge with pain and privations!'1899Charles Dudley WarnerThat FortunePhilip's estimation of himself rose 'pari passu' with his recognition of the discernment and intellectual quality of the frank and fascinating girl who seemed to believe in him.

foofaraw

2010-06-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

foofaraw

FOO-fa-raw

adjective

something gaudy and/or frilly; a commotion over something inconsequential

1973Louis L'AmourThe Ferguson RifleIt ain't only the way it shoots, but all that silver foofaraw you got on the stock.1992John VarleySteel BeachAll in all, it was the goldarndest, Barnum-and-Baileyest, rib-stickinest, rough-and-tumblest infernal foofaraw of a media circus anybody had seen since grandpaw chased the possum down the road and lost his store teeth, and I was heartily sorry to have been a part of it.2000Harry TurtledoveSentry Peak...there's some kind of foofaraw back at the camp.

littera scripta manet

2010-06-07T01:00:00.000-07:00

littera scripta manet

lit-ur-aw skript-aw MAW-net

phrase

the written word remains; the written word abides

1825Samuel PepysDiary of Samuel Pepys16th. Up, and by coach to White Hall, and there to the Duke of York as usual. Here Sir W. Coventry come to me aside in the Duke's chamber, to tell that he had not answered part of a late letter of mine, because 'littera scripta manet'. About his leaving the office, he tells me, it is because he finds that his business at Court will not permit him to attend it; and then he confesses that he seldom of late could come from it with satisfaction, and therefore would not take the King's money for nothing.1900Handley C. G. MoulePhilippian StudiesAnd what a thought of strength and joy this is to the believer of our latter day! Littera scripta manet. How impressive is the permanence of every written reflexion of the mind, and of the life! Who has not felt it, even in the reading of a private letter to himself, written years and years ago? We have St Paul speaking to us in this indelible page as really as if we were seated with him in "his own hired house," and were listening as he dictates to the friend beside him.

gamin

2010-06-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

gamin

GA-muhn

noun

a street urchin

1922F. Scott FitzgeraldTales of the Jazz AgeSoft Shoes touched his thumb to his nose and wiggled the fingers derisively at Wessel. 'Street gamin!' muttered Wessel.1924Upton SinclairThe Pot BoilerBut Bill's not like a street-gamin..1973Edward AaronsAssignment Silver ScorpionHer small face changed from a gamin's grin to the strong and stubborn grimace of a dockside girl.

impignorate

2010-06-05T01:00:00.000-07:00

impignorate

im-PIG-no-rayt

verb

to pawn something; to take out a mortgage on something

1835Captain Frederick Marryat The Pacha of Many Tales Mine is a military conscience, and I agree with Bates and Williams, who flourished in the time of Henry V., that it is 'all upon the King:' that is to say, it was all upon the king; and now our constitution has become so incomparably perfect, that 'the king can do no wrong;' and he has no difficulty in finding ministers, who voluntarily impignorating themselves for all his actions in this world, will, in all probability, not escape from the clutches of the great Pawnbroker in the next—from which facts I draw the following conclusions:—1st. That his Majesty (God bless him!) will go to heaven. 2ndly. That his Majesty's ministers will all go to the devil. 3rdly. That I shall go———on with my story. 1889Robert Louis Stevenson In the South SeasHowever, I have got the yacht paid off in triumph, I think; and though we stay here impignorate, it should not be for long, even if you bring us no extra help from home. 1889Robert Louis StevensonLetter to Charles Baxter (9 February 1889)He has no lands, only the use of such as are impignorate for fines; he cannot enrich himself in the old way by marriages; thrift is the chief pillar of his future, and he knows and uses it.1903Richard Garnett The Twilight of the Gods and Other Tales'I rejoice to state,' rejoined Porphyry, 'that it is not these volumes that have involved us in our present difficulties with the superintendent of the Imperial treasury, nor can they indeed, seeing that they are now impignorated with him.'

widdershins

2010-06-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

widdershins

WI-dur-shinz

noun

counter-clockwise

1918Ian HayThe First Hundred ThousandWhen the washers are issued, however, the port-wine rule is abandoned; and the washers are despatched to you, in defiance of all the laws of superstition and tradition, 'widdershins,' or counter-clockwise. No wonder articles thus jeopardised often fail to reach their destination!1973Harlan EllisonThe DeathbirdHe walked widdershins around the room.1983R. A. MacAvoyTea With The Black DragonThe direction of his progress was against the clock, or widdershins. To cross a churchyard widdershins is not auspicious…

otium cum dignitate

2010-06-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

otium cum dignitate

o-TEE-uhm kuhm dig-nih-TAW-the

phrase

dignified retirement; dignified leisure

1830 Sir Walter Scott The Monastery For the purpose of commencing my new way of life, I selected for my residence the village of Kennaquhair, in the south of Scotland, celebrated for the ruins of its magnificent Monastery, intending there to lead my future life in the otium cum dignitate of half-pay and annuity. I was not long, however, in making the grand discovery, that in order to enjoy leisure, it is absolutely necessary it should be preceded by occupation. 1863 William Henry Knight Diary of a Pedestrian in Cashmere and Thibet SEPTEMBER 30.--For the last fifteen days we have been living once more the life of OTIUM CUM DIGNITATE common to the travelling Englishman in Cashmere. Basking in the sun, taking the daily row upon the river, eating fruit, and buying trash in the city, have been our principal occupations and amusements. 1909 Staff Writer "Celebrates His Jubilee in Victoria", Victoria Daily Colonist. May 11. p 7.The Hon. Edgar Dewdney is 74 years old. Over six feet high, of military appearance, a gentleman of the 'old school,' he still retains much of the extraordinary vigor which has characterized his career in this province. Even now he is unsatisfied to take his otium cum dignitate, but is still evolving schemes, and thinking out plans in connection with his profession

gemütlich

2010-06-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

gemütlich

guh-MYOOT-lik

adjective

pleasant; easy going

1929Sinclair LewisDodsworthOur European women are very gemutlich, they are easy to be with, they wait on us…1934S. S. Van DineThe Casino Murder Case'Quayle, d' ye see, was a classmate of Bloodgood's. Two aspirin' young chemists. Very good friends. Everything gemütlich.'1988Ed McBainThe House That Jack BuiltNever beautiful, but perhaps pretty in a gemutlich sort of way.1994Caleb CarrThe AlienistPapa Brübacher, a truly gemütlich restaurateur who was always glad to see a regular customer…

ignotum per ignotius

2010-06-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

ignotum per ignotius

ig-NO-tuhm pur ig-NO-tee-uhs

phrase

explaining something difficult to comprehend by reference to something even harder to comprehend

1400Geoffrey ChaucerThe Canterbury Tales'Yea, Sir, and is it thus? This is ignotum per ignotius. What is Magnesia, good Sir, I pray?'1909A. C. SewardDarwin and Modern ScienceHe refused to supplement them by hypothetical geographical changes for which there was no independent evidence: this was simply to attempt to explain ignotum per ignotius.1989Clive BarkerThe Great and Secret ShowObscurum per obscurius, ignotum per ignotius, they advised. Let the obscure be explained by the more obscure, the unknown by the more unknown.

animadvert

2010-05-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

animadvert

an-uh-mad-VURT

verb

to express one's self fearlessly; to harshly criticize

1862Anthony TrollopeNorth AmericaIt is true that in that letter the Secretary declared that in case of any future seizure the vessel seized must be taken into port, and so declared in animadverting on the fact that Captain Wilkes had not brought the 'Trent' into port.1889Andrew LangThe Blue Fairy BookIt is not our business to animadvert upon these lines; we are not critics, but historians.

bon vivant

2010-05-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

bon vivant

bawn vee-VAWNT

noun

an elegant and refined person, especially when it comes to fine dining and social events; bon viveur

1865Fyodor DostoevskyThe CrocodileA certain well-known bonvivant of the highest society, probably weary of the cuisine at Borel's and at the X. Club, went into the Arcade, into the place where an immense crocodile recently brought to the metropolis is being exhibited, and insisted on its being prepared for his dinner.1994Quentin TarantinoPulp FictionINT. LANCE'S HOUSE - NIGHT At this late hour, Lance has transformed from a bon vivant drug dealer to a bathrobe creature.1997Nelson DemillePlum IslandI thought about Mr. Fredric Tobin, proprietor, bon vivant, connoisseur of all things beautiful, local big wheel, acquaintance of the deceased.

sciolist

2010-05-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

sciolist

SAI-uh-list

noun

a pretender to knowledge; a dabbler

1861John Stuart MillConsiderations on Representative GovernmentClauses omitted which are essential to the working of the rest; incongruous ones inserted to conciliate some private interest, or some crotchety member who threatens to delay the bill; articles foisted in on the motion of some sciolist with a mere smattering of the subject, leading to consequences which the member who introduced or those who supported the bill did not at the moment foresee, and which need an amending act in the next session to correct their mischiefs.1910Arthur Christopher BensonThe Silent IsleNo doubt, if the writer in question made any claim to be discussing the latest theological position on the subject of the Atonement, in a technical way, he would be a mere sciolist; but he is only claiming to discuss the Current conception of the Atonement; and, as far as I can judge, he states it fairly enough.1935Kenneth RobesonDoc Savage: Spook Hole'Exacerbative sciolist in cognoscence,' said Johnny.

adscititious

2010-05-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

adscititious

ad-se-TI-shes

adjective

incidental; supplemental; non-essential component of something

1791James BoswellThe Life of JohnsonWe have notices of the Rambler in the Carter Corres:—'May 28, 1750. The author ought to be cautioned not to use over many hard words. In yesterday's paper (a very pretty one indeed) we had equiponderant, and another so hard I cannot remember it [adscititious], both in one sentence.'1825Samuel JohnsonThe Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 4It seems therefore to be determined by the general suffrage of mankind, that he who decks himself in adscititious qualities rather purposes to command applause than impart pleasure: and he is therefore treated as a man who, by an unreasonable ambition, usurps the place in society to which he has no right.1922Clive Bell Since Cezanne Cezanne was direct because he set himself a task which admitted of no adscititious flourishes—the creation of form which should be entirely self-supporting and intrinsically significant, la possession de la forme as his descendants call it now.

Siddhartha Gautama

2010-05-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

Siddhartha Gautama

si-DAWR-tuh GAW-te-muh

noun

name of the founder of Buddhism who lived circa 500 B.C.

1979Barry SadlerThe Eternal MercenaryIt came to us from across the great mountains along with the teachings of another great sage, Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha.1998James Beau SeigneurActs of GodSiddhartha Gautama, the father of Buddhism, based his authority on having achieved nirvana and bodhi.

copacetic

2010-05-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

copacetic

ko-PUH-set-ik

adjective

all's well; satisfactory; acceptable; OK; fine

1986David DrakeThe Tank LordsIt's all copacetic.1987Jim ThompsonThe Rip OffThen everything's copacetic, right, Britt?1989James Lee BurkeBlack Cherry BluesEverything's copacetic.1990James EllroyL.A. ConfidentialAssuming that Whalen and Mickey don't collide upon the Mick's release, things look hunky-dory and copacetic, don't they?

ventripotent

2010-05-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

ventripotent

ven-tri-PO-tent

adjective

a huge paunch; a large belly; a powerful appetite

1915James Branch CabellThe Rivet in Grandfather's NeckAfter a little, shaggy, big-thewed ventripotent Pan will grow jealous, and ravish you away from me, as he stole Syrinx from her lover.1918Christopher MorleyShandygaffThis was a copper well lavished; for the publican, a ventripotent person with a liquid and glamorous brown eye, told us excellent gossip about Dr. Johnson and George Eliot, both heroes in that neighbourhood.1919Christopher Morley and Bart HaleyIn the Sweet Dry and DryI sat by the doors that were slatted | And the stuff had a surf like the sea—| No vintage was anywhere vatted | Too strong for ventripotent me! 1920Frederick HamiltonThe Days Before YesterdayI do not speak from personal experience, for I detest the sweet, cloying stuff; but it occasionally fell to my lot to guide downstairs the uncertain footsteps of some ventripotent Kommerzien-Rath, or even of Mr. Over-Inspector of Railways himself, both temporarily incapacitated by injudicious indulgence in Swedish Punch.

moiety

2010-05-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

moiety

MOI-uh-tee

noun

half of something; a part of something; one portion of something divided

1697William DampierA New Voyage Round the WorldIt is fortified and garrisoned by a large Portuguese Colony, but yet under the Chinese Government, whose People inhabit one Moiety of the Town, and lay on the Portuguese what Tax they please; for they dare not disoblige the Chinese, for fear of losing their Trade.1719Daniel DefoeRobinson CrusoeThe old man told me he had not been in the Brazils for about nine years; but that he could assure me that when he came away my partner was living...but he assured me that the steward of the king's revenue from lands, and the providore, or steward of the monastery, had taken great care all along that the incumbent, that is to say my partner, gave every year a faithful account of the produce, of which they had duly received my moiety.1819Sir Walter ScottIvanhoe'It is sufficient,' said the Disinherited Knight. 'Half the sum my present necessities compel me to accept; of the remaining half, distribute one moiety among yourselves, sir squires, and divide the other half betwixt the heralds and the pursuivants, and minstrels, and attendants.'

heterodox

2010-05-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

heterodox

HET-ur-uh-dawks

adjective

unorthodox opinions; opinions divergent from the norm; not orthodox

1766Jonathan SwiftThe Journal to StellaProbably William Whiston, who was deprived of the Lucasian professorship at Cambridge in 1710 for his heterodox views.1871John Stuart MillAutobiographyAll of these who had anything in them, myself among others, quickly outgrew this boyish vanity; and those who had not, became tired of differing from other people, and gave up both the good and the bad part of the heterodox opinions they had for some time professed.1887Bret HarteThe Crusade of the ExcelsiorThe march of science, which had been stopped by the local fogs of Todos Santos some fifty years, had not disturbed the simple Aesculapius of the province with heterodox theories: he still purged and bled like Sangrado, and met the priest at the deathbed of his victims with a pious satisfaction that had no trace of skeptical contention.1924Lewis HodusBuddhism and Buddhists in China...his daughter was associating with a young monk discussing heterodox doctrines…

hoi polloi

2010-05-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

hoi polloi

hoi puh-LOI

noun

average people; the middle class; the great unwashed masses

1973Gore VidalBurrI am told that Mrs. Monroe was so stuck-up that she had a platform built in the East Room where she used to sit on a throne and receive the hoi polloi like she was a queen.1989Tom SchulmanDead Poets SocietyKEATING This is battle, boys. War! You are souls at a critical juncture. Either you will succumb to the will of hoi polloi and the fruit will die on the vine—or you will triumph as individuals.1998Diana GabaldonHellfireFor the assailant to vanish so quickly, he must have looked like hoi-polloi; a prosperous merchant or a noble would have stood out by his bearing and the manner of his dress.2002Ann CoulterSlanderIn early 2002, David Geffen, Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg, and about one hundred other Malibu Marie Antoinettes erected chain-link fences to keep hoi polloi off the public beaches adjacent to their beachfront estates.

quondam

2010-05-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

quondam

KWAWN-duhm

adjective

having been one time; former; of a former time

1852Elizabeth WetherellQueechyThorn's answer was merely a bow, and Mr. Carleton withdrew, his quondam antagonist lighting him ceremoniously to the door.1877T. S. ArthurGrappling with the MonsterAttacks of sickness.—A quondam inebriate should never employ a physician who drinks, and should always tell his medical attendant that he cannot take any medicine containing alcohol.1914Wu TingfangAmericaI have noticed curiously enough that English Colonials, especially in such particulars as speech and manners, follow their quondam sister colony, rather than the mother country. And this, not only in Canada, where the phenomenon might be explained by climatic, geographic, and historic reasons, but also in such antipodean places as Australia and South Africa, which are so far away as to apparently have very little in common either with America or with each other.

acolyte

2010-05-20T01:00:00.000-07:00

acolyte

A-ko-lait

noun

a follower; a devote; minor assistant to clergy in liturgical services

1884Alfred John ChurchRoman Life in the Days of CiceroIf it was the duty of the father to act as priest in some temple of the State (for the priests were not a class apart from their fellow-citizens), or to conduct the worship in some chapel of the family, the lad would act as camillus or acolyte.1960Frank HerbertThe GodmakersThe Abbod felt the force flowing between these two walls and experienced the anticipatory flash of guilt-fear which he knew was shared by the acolyte class.1986Guy Gavriel KayThe Darkest Road...Jaelle was quick to enlist Leila as an acolyte in the Temple.

codswallop

2010-05-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

codswallop

KAWDZ-wal-luhp

noun

nonsense; something totally stupid

1987Neil GaimanDon't Panic: The Official Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy CompanionThe only voice raised against the series came from Mr Arthur Butterworth, who wrote to the Radio Times, saying, 'In just about 50 years of radio and latterly TV listening and watching, this strikes me as the most fatuous, inane, childish, pointless, codswallopping drivel... It is not even remotely funny.1997J. K. RowlingHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's StoneSome say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion.1997Stephen KingThe Dark Tower: Wizard and GlassPish-tush, spare me the codswallop and pretty words.

pellucid

2010-05-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

pellucid

puh-LOO-suhd

adjective

crystal clear; transparent

1841Marguerite GardinerThe Idler in FranceThe fountain, too, in its natural bed, which is not less than seventy-two French feet in diameter, and twenty feet in depth, was pellucid as crystal, and through it the long leaves that nearly cover the gravel appeared green as emerald.1881Jules VerneEight Hundred Leagues on the AmazonLook well at it, then!' said Lina. 'All these beautiful things pass so quickly! Ah! dear mistress! do you see the troops of monkeys disporting in the higher branches, and the birds admiring themselves in the pellucid water!'1900E. P. RoeFrom Jest to EarnestIf Lottie had been born pellucid as a drop of dew, as some claim, she would not have remained so long, even in the nursery, and as she stepped out farther and faster in the widening sphere of her life, surrounding influences did not improve.

solecism

2010-05-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

solecism

SAW-luh-si-zehm

noun

ungrammatical speech; ungrammatical writing; something out of the norm

1926Arthur MachenDreads and DrollsThen you must change one of them or wait till another time to pay, for, in England, to pay in gold is a solecism only pardonable in a stranger.1932Aldous HuxleyBrave New WorldA man so conventional, so scrupulously correct as the Director—and to commit so gross a solecism!1998Anne McCaffreyNimisha's ShipCertainly no hostess would commit the solecism of inviting both Vescuya and Rezalla to the same function.

extirpate

2010-05-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

extirpate

EK-stur-payt

verb

to exterminate; utter destruction; to pull up by the roots

1911Joseph ConradUnder Western Eyes'We, of course, talked to him. And do you know what he said to me? 'What have we to do with Balkan intrigues? We must simply extirpate the scoundrels.' Extirpate is all very well—but what then? The imbecile! I screamed at him, 'But you must spiritualize—don't you understand?—spiritualize the discontent.'1917Woodrow WilsonWhy We are at WarEven in checking these things and trying to extirpate them we have sought to put the most generous interpretation possible upon them because we knew that their source lay, not in any hostile feeling or purpose of the German people toward us (who were, no doubt, as ignorant of them as we ourselves were), but only in the selfish designs of a Government that did what it pleased and told its people nothing.1987Bernard Cornwell Sharpe's SiegeThe Thuella existed, her crew had made themselves a fortress on land, and it would take two days to extirpate that nest of pirates.

myrmidon

2010-05-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

myrmidon

MUR-muh-dawn

noun

a henchman; an unscrupulous follower

1742Henry FieldingThe History of Tom JonesAt which last words the door flew open, and in came Squire Western, with his parson and a set of myrmidons at his heels.1816Thomas Love PeacockHeadlong HallHis myrmidon on this occasion was a little, red-nosed butler, who waddled about the house after his master, while the latter bounced from room to room like a cracker.1914Percival Christopher WrenSnake and SwordAnyhow, he could imagine that Bully Harberth was the Snake or Its emissary and, since he was indirectly brought upon him by the Snake, regard him as a myrmidon—and deal with him accordingly.

éminence grise

2010-05-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

éminence grise

ay-mee-nawns greez

noun

a behind the scenes decision-maker or power-broker; a puppet-master; literally: gray eminence

1988Robertson DaviesThe Lyre of OrpheusThere was no secret about the compelling portrait of Judas, holding firmly to his moneybag; there were enough sketches in the books Francis had filled at Düsterstein to mark him clearly as Tancred Saraceni, father in art to Francis, and an ambiguous éminence grise in the art world of forty years ago…1989Gore VidalHollywoodThe subject of the assistant president, the éminence grise, the Texas Machiavelli, was too enormous for either to embark on.1990Robert LudlumThe Bourne UltimatumHis bald head, fringed by perfectly groomed gray hair above his temples, was like the skull of an anointed éminence grise of some royal court where kings, princes and pretenders deferred to his wisdom…1994Caleb CarrThe Alienist...Ward McAllister had been Mrs. Astor's social éminence grise…

inveigh

2010-05-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

inveigh

in-VAY

verb

to rail against; to bitterly complain; venting of disapproval

1861John Stuart MillUtilitarianismWe not uncommonly hear the doctrine of utility inveighed against as a godless doctrine.1869Matthew ArnoldCulture and AnarchyFor instance, when the Reform League orators inveigh against our cruel and bloated aristocracy, these invectives so evidently show the passions and point of view of the Populace, that they do not sink into the minds of those at whom they are addressed, or awaken any thought or self-examination in them.1884John Sherburne SleeperJack in the ForecastleBut Captain Thompson, the next day, when I received my half month's pay in advance, and informed him of my arrangements, called me a fool, and inveighed in bitter terms against the whole race of sailor landlords.2001David Drake Foreign Legions A few had chosen not to, and Father Timothy had agreed, under the circumstances, not to inveigh against them.

ceteris paribus

2010-05-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

ceteris paribus

SET-uh-ris PAER-i-buhs

phrase

all things being equal

1834James HolmanA Voyage Round the WorldIn my opinion, no man under thirty years of age, should think of travelling in an unhealthy country; before that age, the constitution is more liable to the infection of the endemic diseases of a hot climate than afterwards. Perhaps, between forty and fifty would be the best age—'ceteris paribus.' 1874Carl von ClausewitzOn WarAgainst the far superior worth which the destruction of the enemy's armed force has over all other means stands the expense and risk of this means, and it is only to avoid these that any other means are taken. That these must be costly stands to reason, for the waste of our own military forces must, ceteris paribus, always be greater the more our aim is directed upon the destruction of the enemy's power. 1903Samuel ButlerThe Way of All FleshYou will agree with me that though the efficacy of the sacrament does not depend upon the source of the baptismal waters, yet, ceteris paribus, there is a sentiment attaching to the waters of the Jordan which should not be despised.

vade mecum

2010-05-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

vade mecum

VAY-dee MEE-kuhm

noun

a handy reference book; a manual; something carried around for convenience of reference

1829Various The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction (7 February 1829)To these are superadded the usual contents of a pocket book, so as to render the present volume a desirable vade-mecum for the operative, the manufacturer, and engineer.1910O. HenryStrictly BusinessSo, driven to the wall, we go for our subject-matter to the reliable, old, moral, unassailable vade mecum—the unabridged dictionary. 1978James A. MichenerChesapeakeAnd she handed him a small, poorly printed volume called The Industrious Boy's Vade Mecum.1990Robertson DaviesA Voice From the AtticThey share with a great part of literate mankind the dream of the Wondrous Book, the invaluable Vade Mecum, in which the answer to their special question is to be found.

conduce

2010-05-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

conduce

KAWN-doos

verb

to influence, contribute to or lead toward a specific outcome

1734Alexander PopeAn Essay on ManIn the physical universe all things work together for good, although certain aspects of nature seem evil to man, and likewise in the moral universe all things, even man's passions and crimes conduce to the general good of the whole.1857Charlotte BronteThe ProfessorA lace-mender may make a good wife as well as a lady; but of course you have taken care to ascertain thoroughly that since she has not education, fortune or station, she is well furnished with such natural qualities as you think most likely to conduce to your happiness.1871PlatoGorgiasSOCRATES: And when we kill a man we kill him or exile him or despoil him of his goods, because, as we think, it will conduce to our good?1914John R. HutchinsonThe Press-Gang Afloat and AshoreThe exemption he otherwise enjoyed appears to have conduced not a little to the waterman's proverbial joviality.

leaven

2010-05-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

leaven

LEEV-uhn

noun, verb

something which causes fermentation; something which enlivens

1901Maxim GorkyThe Man Who Was AfraidWhat is it?' said Mayakin, excitedly, trembling. 'That either comes to him from excessive drinking, or else—Heaven forbid—from his mother, the orthodox spirit. And if this heathenish leaven is going to rise in him I'll have to struggle hard with him! There will be a great conflict between us.1917William John LockeThe Red PlanetI was among farmers from Skye and butchers from Inverness and drunken scallywags from the slums of Aberdeen, and a leaven of old soldiers from all over Scotland. I had no idea that such people existed.1935T. E. LawrenceThe Seven Pillars of WisdomThis was the unleavened dough cake of yesterday, but crumbled between the fingers while still warm, and moistened with liquid butter till its particles would fall apart only reluctantly.

ochlocracy

2010-05-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

ochlocracy

aw-KLAW-kruh-see

noun

control of a government by criminal elements; the rule of the mob

1849Charles KingsleyAlton Locke: Tailor and PoetRemember always that Democracy means a government not merely by numbers of isolated individuals, but by a Demos—by men accustomed to live in Demoi, or corporate bodies, and accustomed, therefore, to the self-control, obedience to law, and self-sacrificing public spirit, without which a corporate body cannot exist: but that a 'democracy' of mere numbers is no democracy, but a mere brute 'arithmocracy,' which is certain to degenerate into an 'ochlocracy,' or government by the mob, in which the numbers have no real share: an oligarchy of the fiercest, the noisiest, the rashest, and the most shameless, which is surely swallowed up either by a despotism, as in France, or as in Athens, by utter national ruin, and helpless slavery to a foreign invader.1867John Lothrop MotleyThe Rise of the Dutch Republic 1574-84The Prince had not power enough, however, nor the nascent commonwealth sufficient consistency, to repress the disorganizing tendency of a fanatical Romanism on the one side, and a retaliatory and cruel ochlocracy on the other.1905S. J. Joseph RickabyMoral PhilosophyBy such perversion monarchy passes into tyranny, aristocracy into oligarchy, and democracy into ochlocracy or mob-rule.

iwis

2010-05-07T01:00:00.000-07:00

iwis

ee-WIS

adverb

certainly; with certitude

1904UnknownThe NibelungendliedHad he so gladly lingered: | iwis it was that he, Now whensoe'er he wished it, | Kriemhild the maiden fair could see.1921Giovanni BoccaccioThe DecameronLazy and uncleanly and a liar he is, Negligent, disobedient and foulmouthed, iwis, And reckless and witless and mannerless: and therewithal he has some other petty vices, which 'twere best to pass over.

colporteur

2010-05-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

colporteur

KAWL-por-tur

noun

a street hawker or door-to-door peddler of religious literature

1890General William BoothIn Darkest England and the Way OutWe shall establish an immense second-hand book shop. All the best books that come into our hands will be exposed for sale, not merely at our central depots, but on the barrows of our peripatetic colporteurs who will go from street to street with literature which, I trust, will be somewhat superior to the ordinary pabulum supplied to the poor.1915G. Whitfield RayThrough Five Republics on Horseback'Last year,' writes Mr. Milne, of the American Bible Society, 'one of our colporteurs in Ayacucho had to make his escape by the roof of a house where he was staying, from a mob of half-castes, led on by a friar.

apothegm

2010-05-05T01:00:00.000-07:00

apothegm

A-puh-them

noun

a maxim; a pithy saying; a succinct remark

1846Nathaniel HawthorneThe Old ManseIt has been an apothegm these five thousand years, that toil sweetens the bread it earns.1877Michel de MontaigneThe Essays of MontaigneHad any one formerly brought me to Erasmus, I should hardly have believed but that all was adage and apothegm he spoke to his man or his hostess.1905Edith Wharton The House of MirthIf you would forgive your enemy, says the Malay proverb, first inflict a hurt on him; and Lily was experiencing the truth of the apothegm.1922James Branch CabellJurgen Besides, a kiss, wherever deposited, as Jurgen pointed out, is, when you think of it, but a ceremonial, of no intrinsic wrongfulness. The girl demurring against this apothegm—as custom again exacted—was, still in common fairness, convinced of her error. So now, says Jurgen presently, you see for yourself.

uxorial

2010-05-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

uxorial

uhk-SOR-ee-uhl

adjective

something suitable for a wife; something characteristic of a wife

1989Lois McMaster BujoldBrothers in ArmsIt’s hard to imagine that Great Admiral yielding to, ah, uxorial blandishments.1996David Irving Goebbels In fact Magda probably entertained little real ambition to harness her uxorial ambitions to such an uncertain chariot.

minauderie

2010-05-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

minauderie

mee-nod-YAER

noun

a contrived and unnatural show or display; affectation

1823Sir Walter ScottPeveril of the PeakJulian was under the necessity of enduring all her tiresome and fantastic airs, and awaiting with patience till she had 'prinked herself and pinned herself'—flung her hoods back, and drawn them forward—snuffed at a little bottle of essences—closed her eyes like a dying fowl—turned them up like duck in a thunderstorm; when at length, having exhausted her round of minauderies, she condescended to open the conversation.1850William Makepeace ThackerayThe History of Pendennis, his Fortunes and Misfortunes, his Friends and his greatest Enemy...what a pretty natural manner she has; how much pleasanter than the minauderies of the young ladies in the ballrooms.1853Charlotte BronteVillette'There is no time to be lost,' he went on, now speaking in French; 'and let us thrust to the wall all reluctance, all excuses, all minauderies. You must take a part.'1884Charles ReadeA Perilous Secret'Connu ,' said Hope, 'voyons ca;' and in a minute repaired the article, and the girl spread it, and went off wriggling and mincing with it, so that there was a pronounced horse-laugh at her minauderies.1885Robert Louis StevensonLetter to William Archer (18 October 1885)Again, your first remark upon the affectation of the italic names; a practice only followed in my two affected little books of travel, where a typographical minauderies of the sort appeared to me in character; and what you say of it, then, is quite just.

naïf

2010-05-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

naïf

naw-EEF

adjective, noun

a naïve person; a credulous person

1860Various Atlantic Monthly (22 June 1860)There is something charmingly naïf in thus throwing in the company as a succedaneum to the dinner, and carefully segregating the widow from the rest of mankind as a distinct species. 1889Leo TolstoyFruits of CultureLEONÍD FYÓDORITCH: It is quite evident he also is a medium. Especially as he is very like Home in appearance. You remember Home—a fair-haired naïf sort of fellow?1935Hugh WalpoleThe Inquisitor...because of his physical size, his voice, his laugh and something attractively naïf in his personality people laughed at him indulgently.1992Martin Cruz SmithRed SquareA naïf might ask why Minin hadn't gone to the Lenin's Path Collective. Arkady knew from experience that there were two types of investigations: one that uncovered information, and the more traditional type that covered it up.2003Neal Stephenson QuicksilverHmm, you are well-informed, for a political naif.

cachinnate

2010-05-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

cachinnate

KA-kuh-nayt

verb

to laugh overly loud

1846Nathaniel HawthorneThe Christmas BanquetIt turned out, however, that, with the best possible flow of spirits, our poor friend was afflicted with a physical disease of the heart, which threatened instant death on the slightest cachinnatory indulgence, or even that titillation of the bodily frame produced by merry thoughts.1902Booth TarkingtonThe Two VanrevelsNelson waited upon them at table, radiant, his smile like the keyboard of an ebony piano, and his disappearances into the kitchen were accomplished by means of a surreptitious double-shuffle, and followed by the cachinnating echoes of the vain Mamie's reception of the visitor's sallies…1919James Branch CabellJurgenThen the brown man stamped his foot, and the striking of his foot upon the moss made a new noise such as Jurgen had never heard: for the noise seemed to come multitudinously from every side, at first as though each leaf in the forest were tinily cachinnating; and then this noise was swelled by the mirth of larger creatures, and echoes played with this noise, until there was a reverberation everywhere like that of thunder.1928H. P. LovecraftThe Call of CthulhuThen came the storm of 2 April, and a gathering of the clouds about his consciousness. There is a sense of spectral whirling through liquid gulfs of infinity, of dizzying rides through reeling universes on a comet's tail, and of hysterical plunges from the pit to the moon and from the moon back again to the pit, all livened by a cachinnating chorus of the distorted, hilarious elder gods and the green, bat-winged mucking imps of Tartarus.1972Philip Jose FarmerTime's Last GiftThen the lion was bowled over and he and about six hyenas became a rolling, roaring, cachinnating, yelping mess.

koiné

2010-04-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

koiné

koi-NAY

noun

the common dialect of ancient Greece; a common dialect that is adopted by a larger region

1921Edward SapirLanguage: An Introduction to the Study of SpeechAs the cultural supremacy of Athens grew, its dialect, the Attic, spread at the expense of the rest, until, in the so-called Hellenistic period following the Macedonian conquest, the Attic dialect, in the vulgarized form known as the 'Koine,' became the standard speech of all Greece.1965James A. MichenerThe Source...for the next seven hundred years everyone from Sparta to India experienced Greek culture and most spoke the Koine, a Greek dialect common to all countries…2003Sam VakninThe First Book of FactoidsThe Bible contains words in Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine Greek.

gloaming

2010-04-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

gloaming

GLO-ming

noun

dusk; twilight

1901Lew WallaceBen HurAt the very moment he was most inclined to yield to the allurement, a hand very fair even in the moonless gloaming was laid softly upon his shoulder.1962James ClavellKing RatMoments later the native appeared from the gloaming and walked the path unconcerned.1986Keith LaumerDinosaur BeachThe stars were glittering through the gloaming…

Rabelaisian

2010-04-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Rabelaisian

ra-buh-LAY-zee-uhn

adjective

racy or outrageous humor; relating to French satirist François Rabelais (1490–1553) or his works

1897Charles WhibleyA Book of ScoundrelsHe told his monstrous story with a cynical contempt, which has scarce its equal in the history of crime; and priest, as he was, he proved that he did not yield to the Marquis himself in the Rabelaisian amplitude of his vocabulary1897Ernest RenanRecollections of My YouthThe racy humour which prevailed during the reign of Henri IV. was anything but favourable to mysticism. There was a good side to the outspoken Rabelaisian gaiety which was not deemed, in that day, incompatible with the priestly calling.

zakuska

2010-04-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

zakuska

za-KOOS-ka

noun

snack food; hors d'oeuvre

1902Henry Seton MerrimanThe Vultures'Only one,' replied Deulin—'the waiter who serves the Zakuska counter down-stairs.1915H. G. WellsThe Research Magnificent In January, in an outbreak of enquiry, he had gone with Lionel Maxim to St. Petersburg and had eaten zakuska, brightened his eyes with vodka, talked with a number of charming people of the war that was then imminent, listened to gipsy singers until dawn, careered in sledges about the most silent and stately of capitals, and returned with Lionel, discoursing upon autocracy and assassination, Japan, the Russian destiny, and the government of Peter the Great. 1919Hugh WalpoleThe Secret CityThen with a sigh he drew a chair up to the table and began eating zakuska, putting salt-fish and radishes and sausage on to his place and eating them with a fork.

prestidigitation

2010-04-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

prestidigitation

pres-ti-dij-i-TAY-shuhn

noun

sleight of hand; the cleverness or skills of a conman or deceiver; magic tricks

1878Jules Verne Dick Sand: A Captain at Fifteen'That was the whole secret,' replied Mrs. Weldon. 'It is very simple, like all that is done in the matter of prestidigitation.2000John Ringo A Hymn Before Battle I will shock and amaze you with my powers of prestidigitation and psychic abilities!

Jesuitic

2010-04-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

Jesuitic

JE-zoo-uht-ik

adjective

related to the Catholic Jesuit order; a person characterized by their cunning

1884Joris-Karl HuysmansAgainst The Grain'There is no doubt about it,' Des Esseintes mused, as he reasoned the matter and followed the progress of this introduction of the Jesuitic spirit into Fontenay.1903W. E. B. Du BoisThe Souls of Black FolkOn the other hand, another type of mind, shrewder and keener and more tortuous too, sees in the very strength of the anti-Negro movement its patent weaknesses, and with Jesuitic casuistry is deterred by no ethical considerations in the endeavor to turn this weakness to the black man's strength.1962Philip K. DickThe Man in the High CastleIdeological orientation suggesting medieval Jesuitic viewpoint exacerbated by post-Romantic Germanic nihilism.

sententious

2010-04-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

sententious

sen-TEN-shuhs

adjective

given to smug and arrogant moralizing; given to uttering aphorism

1849James Fenimore CooperThe Sea Lions'Ay, ay,' answered Roswell Gardiner, in the sententious manner of a seaman.1888Bronson HowardShenandoahThen came Tom Robertson with his so-called 'tea-cup and saucer' school, which consisted of sententious dialogue, simple situations, conventional characterizations, and threads of plots, until Pinero and Jones put a stop to the Robertson fad.1926Hope MirrleesLud in the Mist...some personal touch of the old scribe's, such as a sententious or facetious insertion of his own…