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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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picayune
tintinnabulation

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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.

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!

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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tintinnabulation
tin-tuh-na-byuh-LAY-shuhn
noun
the sound of bells
1894Robert BarrIn the Midst of AlarmsThe whole scene brought back to Yates the days of his youth, especially when Macdonald, putting the finishing strokes to his shoe, let his hammer periodically tinkle with musical clangor on the anvil, ringing forth a tintinnabulation that chimed melodiously on the ear—a sort of anvil-chorus accompaniment to his mechanical skill. He was a real sleight-of-hand man, and the anvil was his orchestra.1903William Cowper BrannBrann the IconoclastBurton reverts from time to time to this terrifying tintinnabulation, but he blends it with the suggested glamour of evening, until the terror merges into tenderness. 1947A. E. Van VogtThe BarbarianCzinczar. The name had a sinister rhythm to it, a ring of leashed violence, a harsh, metallic tintinnabulation.

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