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I'm CJ Cooney, a writer on communication, ideas, culture and history. This blog is a chronicle of my adventures in lexicography.

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If reading were a sin, the average person today would be a saint.  And this dictionary in progress would be blasphemy. More...

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polemic
comestible
je ne sais quoi

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REFERENCEER
REF-ren-sear. Noun. 1. Anyone who enjoys reading or browsing dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, and other sundry reference materials. 2. A publisher of reference material. 3. CJ's book blog adventure.

polemic
puh-LE-mik
noun
a rant or screed, written or verbal, characterized by an aggressive denunciation of opposing viewpoints
1886Gustave FlaubertMadame BovaryPolemics would ensue; he would have to answer in the papers.1887Karl MarxEighteenth Brumaire of Louis BonaparteThe polemic against the budget, which in France, was closely connected with the opposition to the aristocracy of finance, furnished too cheap a popularity and too rich a material for Puritanical leading articles, not to be exploited.1991Orson Scott Card XenocideAll she knew of rhetoric, polemic—yes, of demagoguery—she had learned from him…

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comestible
kuh-MES-tuh-buhl
noun, adjective
edible food and drink
1915Jean WebsterDear EnemyWe are henceforth to buy a part of our shoes and drygoods and drug store comestibles from local shops…1995Orson Scott CardEarthfallIf they can eat your enemies, Elya, how long before they decide that you are also a comestible?2001Diana GabaldonThe Fiery CrossNormally, he paid attention only to such vegetation as was immediately comestible by horse or man…

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je ne sais quoi
zhuh nuh say KWAW
noun
an unexplainable certain something; the 'it' factor
1838Honore De BalzacScenes from a Courtesans LifeNotwithstanding these defects, notwithstanding her board-like carriage, she had by birth and education a grand air, a proud demeanor, in short, everything that has been well named le je ne sais quoi, due partly, perhaps, to her uncompromising simplicity of dress, which stamped her as a woman of noble blood.1929Agatha ChristiePartners In Crime'On the contrary,' said Tuppence, 'there is a feminine subtlety about my conversation, a je ne sais quoi, that no gross male could ever attain to.…'1998Orson Scott CardHomebody...you bring a special je ne sais quoi to the discussion of plumbing fixtures.

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