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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
prosaic pro-SAY-ik adjective dull; ordinary; pedestrian; everyday; to describe something as prose, in contrast to poetry 1850David Copperfield 'Why, the plain state of the case, Mrs. Micawber,' said Traddles, mildly breaking the truth to her. 'I mean the real prosaic fact, you know -' | 'Just so,' said Mrs. Micawber, 'my dear Mr. Traddles, I wish to be as prosaic and literal as possible on a subject of so much importance.'1910The Rules of the Game The whole landscape became ghostly, full of depths and shadows, mysteries and allurements, heights and spaces unknown to the more prosaic day. 1918A Book of Remarkable Criminals Crime in the nineteenth century becomes more scientific in its methods and in its detection also. The revolver places a more hasty, less decorous weapon than the old-fashioned pistol in the hands of the determined burglar. The literature of crime, such as it is, becomes vulgar and prosaic.2003The Meaning of EverythingThe prosaic concerns of the people suggest the placid temper of the time.Labels: Charles Dickens, H. B. Irving, Simon Winchester, Stewart Edward White
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