July 30, 2012 Word of the Day spoonerism \SPOO-nuh-riz-um\ DEFINITION noun : a transposition of usually initial sounds of two or more words EXAMPLES Children will be delighted by Jon Scieszka's use of wordplay in Baloney (Henry P.), including the spoonerism "sighing flossers" for "flying…
July 29, 2012 Word of the Day deep-six \DEEP-SIKS\ DEFINITION verb 1 : to get rid of : discard, eliminate 2 : to throw overboard EXAMPLES Citing budget concerns, the city council announced that it has deep-sixed plans to repave the city's bike trails. "The…
Good morning, Netizens... I sat up long past my bedtime the other night to pay homage to “The Aisles of Wonder”, the World Olympic Ceremonies. In retrospect, perhaps I need not to have bothered, as I could have easily gotten by on the pictures and…
July 28, 2012 Word of the Day vilipend \VIL-uh-pend\ DEFINITION verb 1 : to hold or treat as of little worth or account 2 : to express a low opinion of : disparage EXAMPLES As a women's movement pioneer, Susan B. Anthony fought against the…
Good morning, Netizens... If it were up to me, this man, Karl F. Thompson, Jr. would already be serving a sentence in prison, eating prison chow and sleeping at nights carefully guarding his backside, not living in his plush house with his ex-wife who conveniently…
July 27, 2012 Word of the Day intestine \in-TESS-tin\ DEFINITION adjective : internal; specifically : of or relating to the internal affairs of a state or country EXAMPLES News reports of intestine disagreements between the country's two most powerful political factions led to murmurings that…
Good morning, Netizens... Cartoonist David Horsey asks some of the hard questions about Mitt Romney's Presidential candidacy. The national news media is full of constant infighting between Obama and Mitt Romney, perhaps no more so than the endless bickering over Romney's tax returns. However if…
July 26, 2012 Word of the Day plage audio pronunciation \PLAHZH\ DEFINITION noun 1 : the beach of a seaside resort 2 : a bright region on the sun caused by the light emitted by clouds of calcium or hydrogen and often associated with a…
July 25, 2012 Word of the Day florid \FLOR-id\ DEFINITION adjective 1 : very flowery in style : ornate; also : having a florid style 2 a : tinged with red : ruddy b : marked by emotional or sexual fervor 3 : fully developed…
July 24, 2012 Word of the Day yawp \YAWP\ DEFINITION verb 1 : to make a raucous noise : squawk 2 : clamor, complain EXAMPLES I'm not one to yawp, but I was quite upset that we had to wait a week for a reply…
July 23, 2012 Word of the Day welkin \WEL-kin\ DEFINITION noun 1 a : the vault of the sky : firmament b : heaven 2 : the upper atmosphere EXAMPLES The pink sky at sunset brought to mind a quote from Shakespeare's King John: "The…
July 22, 2012 Word of the Day vanward \VAN-werd\ DEFINITION adjective : located in the vanguard : advanced EXAMPLES The company is looking to hire a marketing director who is savvy in social media and other vanward marketing tactics. "The New Jersey Festival of Electronic…
July 21, 2012 Word of the Day fructify \FRUK-tuh-fye\ DEFINITION verb 1 : to bear fruit 2 : to make fruitful or productive EXAMPLES The company hopes that its new business partnerships will fructify in the coming months. "The severe water crisis in Delhi is…
July 20, 2012 Word of the Day slew \SLOO\ DEFINITION noun : a large number EXAMPLES The school's football team hosts a slew of talented players this year. "A slew of retirements and a changing presidential election landscape have made for some ups and downs…
July 19, 2012 Word of the Day luciferin \loo-SIF-uh-rin\ DEFINITION noun : any of various organic substances in luminescent organisms (as fireflies) that upon oxidation produce a virtually heatless light EXAMPLES "Luciferins vary in chemical structure; the luciferin of luminescent bacteria, for example, is completely…
Good afternoon Netizens... Clatter, bang, sizzle. Clatter, bang, sizzle, rumble. I have forborne the talking idiots on television weather the last day or so, because they do not know of that which they speak when they describe the events of yesterday morning as “severe thunderstorms”,…
Word of the Day for Wednesday, July 18, 2012 beguile \bih-GAHYL\, verb: 1. To influence by trickery, flattery, etc.; mislead; delude. 2. To take away from by cheating or deceiving (usually followed by of): to be beguiled of money. 3. To charm or divert: a…
Word of the Day for Tuesday, July 17, 2012 deflagrate \DEF-luh-greyt\, verb: To burn, especially suddenly and violently. Then the split second realization that something was very, very wrong, as the electricity rushed down the thin wires, sending a spark across a gap in the…
Word of the Day for Monday, July 16, 2012 requisition \rek-wuh-ZISH-uhn\, noun: 1. A demand made. 2. The act of requiring or demanding. 3. An authoritative or formal demand for something to be done, given, supplied, etc.: The general issued a requisition to the townspeople…
Good morning, Netizens... I was cruising through Northtown Mall last week when I chanced upon a young mother breast-feeding her infant while sitting in the mall, and this morning, I came across a David Horsey cartoon that reminded me of that moment in time. Every…
Word of the Day for Friday, July 13, 2012 tawpie \TAW-pee\, noun: A foolish or thoughtless young person. Do ye no hear me, tawpie? Do ye no hear what I'm tellin' ye? -- Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde…
Word of the Day for Thursday, July 12, 2012 paronymous \puh-RON-uh-muhs\, adjective: Containing the same root or stem, as the words wise and wisdom. The sentence seems to reverberate with echoes of assonance—another distinctive trait of Haweke's writing often enriched with alliterative patterns or even…
Good afternoon, Netizens... My God, it was only 5:05 this morning when the residential air conditioning kicked on saving our collective asses from another scorching hot day. As much as we feel the crunch of paying Avista Utilities for this somewhat questionable asset, yet when…
Word of the Day for Wednesday, July 11, 2012 hypethral \hi-PEE-thruhl\, adjective: (Of a classical building) wholly or partly open to the sky. Follow the gallery around for about a thousand paces until you come to the hypethral. With it dark out you might miss…
Dictionary.com Word of the Day Tuesday, July 10, 2012 ectopic \ ek-TOP-ik \ , adjective; 1. Occurring in an abnormal position or place; displaced. Quotes: It does not appear that any modern author, or any of our large numbers of "systems" of surgery, has…