The Death of Fissiparous and Other Words: A Dictionary of Words & Phrases on the Verge of Extinction

laconic

luh-KAWN-ik

adjective

terse; quiet; of few words

1914Algernon BlackwoodThe DamnedAnd then, while that dreadful house stood listening about us in the early hours of this chill morning upon the edge of winter, she told me, with laconic brevity, things about Mabel that I heard as from a distance.1922Zane GreyTo The Last ManThe tone was impersonal, dry, easy, cool, laconic, and yet it could not have been more pregnant with meaning.1985Carl SaganContactShe was troubled that in their haste to do a full sky survey in less than a human lifetime, to listen to all of the sky at a billion frequencies, they had abandoned both the frantic talkers and the laconic plodders.

Labels: Algernon Blackwood, Carl Sagan, Zane Grey

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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à volonté

a VO-lawn-tay

adjective

at will; as you wish

1918Algernon BlackwoodThe Garden of SurvivalBaudelaire, of course, meant God and Heaven, instead of 'genius' when he said, 'Le genie n'est que l'enfance retrouvee a volonte. . . .'

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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cataleptic

KA-tu-lep-tik

adjective

a medical state where the affected body cannot move its limbs

1844Edgar Allan PoeThe Premature BurialMethought I was immersed in a cataleptic trance of more than usual duration and profundity.1908Algernon BlackwoodThe Camp of the DogHis sleep is very deep,' he whispered, seating himself by the door again. 'He's in a cataleptic condition, and the Double may be released any minute now.1970Joanna RussThe Second Inquisition'I've told you, baby,' she said, 'and you'll never know more, God willing,' and pulling into our driveway with a screech that would have wakened the dead, she vaulted out of the car and through the back door into the kitchen, just as if my mother and father had both been asleep or in a cataleptic trance, like those in the works of E. A. Poe.

Labels: Algernon Blackwood, Edgar Allan Poe, Joanna Russ

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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