Word of the Day!

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I started receiving this from www.dictionary.com

This one was interesting, and I was kinda bored, so I thought I'd post this. Enjoy!

Word of the Day for Friday October 18, 2002:
bellwether \BEL-wether\, noun:
1. A wether, or sheep, which leads the flock, with a bell on
his neck.
2. Hence: A leader of a movement or activity.

"Men are for the most part like sheep, who always follow
the bell-wether." --Lewes

"Because Yahoo is first out of the gate and since it is the
largest Internet search service, investors and analysts see
it as a bellwether for the fledgling Internet industry." --
Reuters, July 6, 1999

"This event [[1]sc. the Women's World Cup] was seen by some
as a bellwether of women's sports in America. Could women's
teams fill stadiums, draw advertisers and attract
television viewers in a non-Olympic event?" --
[2]Washington Post, July 11, 1999
__________________________________________________

Bellwether is a compound of bell and wether, a male sheep,
usually castrated. Wether is related to Latin vetus,
[3]veteran.

 

You really have too much time to be bored in Sir Bel.

I must be pretty sad too since I read it all though.

Word of the day could fo course be more fun:
The word is "legs" Spread the word.

 

Bel ... I used to get that at my old work e-mail but I haven't signed up for it yet here.

There is actually an old Christian song sung to the Great Shepherd, asking to be the Lord's bellweather. Sometimes we christains go go ALL THE WAY off the deep-end

My favorite words of the day ... bruhaha and vapid.

 

Someone just turned me onto it. It's pretty cool. I have no desire to be anyone's bellwhether!!! Castration doesn't sound like much fun!!!

 

The song left the castration detail out. I guess that is the BIG SURPISE ...

I could imagine the verse though ...

Let me be your bellweather
Remove my manhood Lord
Shelter me in the Shepherds grace
'cause I have balls no more.

Aaaaaaaa-meeeen

 

I've subscribed to that thing for a long time.. it's great, would be even better if I actually spent time trying to memorize the word too, instead of just reading once, nodding, and deleting.

 

Viking, that was the most excellent post I've read on this board in a while.

Other than that, I'm going to have to go with the word "salacious". As in the sentence, "Jennifer Hale is one outstandingly salacious babe."

 

I seem to like learning little-known short words rather than the long multisyllabic ones.

For example: eft. A newt or small lizard.

(I wonder if BTA will keep this topic open for long, because a word per day means free and easy posts! Just hope we don't exhaust all the words in the dictionary. )

 

ord of the Day for Monday October 21, 2002

mordant \MOR-d'nt\, adjective:
Biting; caustic; sarcastic.

Mr. Justice Moorcroft's forte, a part which he had played
for so many years that it had become instinctive, was a
courteous reasonableness occasionally enlivened with shafts
of mordant wit.
--P. D. James, [1]A Certain Justice

I moved from one knot of people to another, surrounded by a
kind of envious respect because of Sophie's interest in me,
although subjected to a certain mordant raillery from some
of this witty company.
--Peter Brooks, [2]World Elsewhere

He had a mordant wit as well..., a bit wicked and
waspish even.
--Janice A. Radway, [3]A Feeling for Books
__________________________________________________

Mordant comes from the present participle of Old French
mordre, "to bite," from Latin mordere. It is related to
morsel, "a little bite"; and remorse, from Latin remordere,
"to bite back or again; to torment."

 

mordant ... see Shralp



[ October 21, 2002, 15:19: Message edited by: Mathetais ]

 

Word of the Day for Tuesday October 22, 2002

woebegone \WOE-bee-gon\, adjective:
1. Beset or overwhelmed with woe; immersed in grief or sorrow;
woeful.
2. Being in a sorry condition; dismal-looking; dilapidated;
run-down.

Socrates, condemned to death by the people of Athens,
prepares to drink a cup of hemlock, surrounded by woebegone
friends.
--Alain De Botton, [1]The Consolations of Philosophy

This woebegone lot includes Henry, a real-estate developer
whose dream project has, like his marriage, slipped into
bankruptcy; Henry's sister, Wiloma, who has hurled herself
headlong into the arms of a New Age church to survive her
own divorce; and Henry and Wiloma's decrepit Uncle Brendan,
a former monk whose faith has eroded along with his health,
stranding him in a nursing home.
--Jennifer Howard, review of [2]The Forms of Water, by
Andrea Barrett, [3]New York Times, June 13, 1993

After 40 years as a producer he thinks of himself as a
battered, scarred but well-armoured animal, "like an old
turtle"; and if such creatures could speak they would
probably sound like [him], a bit woebegone but drolly
unsurprised by life's vicissitudes.
--"Time for another Hugo hit," [4]Times (London), May 22,
2000
__________________________________________________

Woebegone is from Middle English wo begon, from wo (from Old
English wa, used to express grief) + begon, past participle of
begon, "to go about, to beset," from Old English began, bigan,
from bi-, "around, about" + gan, "to go."

 

So that's where Gerrison Keller came up for the idea of Lake Woebegone ?

I can across a new word today ... "samizdat".

sa·miz·dat Pronunciation Key (sämz-dät, s-myz-dät)
n.

The secret publication and distribution of government-banned literature in the former Soviet Union.
The literature produced by this system.
An underground press.

----
Have you noticed that this is becoming the Bel & Mat thread????

 

Mat - It's not surprising...you and I tend to be the spiritual and intellectual bellwethers of the forum; despite our somewhat mordant sense of humor and perspectives. Hopefully, some of our more woebegone posters will take up the banner of knowledge for their own personal edification.

How's that for a triple word score!!!!!

 

LOL...300 points Bel. I hadn't noticed this thread before! You guys are being the main posters because you visit dictionary.com regularly I guess

 

I wonder why woebegone doesn't mean relieved of woe instead, because that's the impression I'm getting from the word.

 

I just started getting the word of the day from dictionary.com...I like it! A few of the people in my office get it. We have a daily bet going...The first person to use the word correctly in a sentence during a meeting gets a soda....CHeesy, but fun. We all make terrible attempts to use the word during meetings, and everyone else gives us funny looks!

Tiamat - I was waiting for you to chime in on this thread...You're one of the most brilliantest people I "know."

 

"the most brilliantest"

Talk about a super-superlative

 

BTA! I am shocked!!! I meant no such thing! That was more of a cyber "know"...As in: I've never actually met anyone here IRL. You are turning into a dirty old man, my friend. Welcome to the Club!

Word of the Day for Wednesday October 23, 2002

scintilla \sin-TIL-uh\, noun:
A tiny or scarcely detectable amount; the slightest particle;
a trace; a spark.

In victory, they must hold on to at least a scintilla of
humility, lest they get too cocky -- and ripe for a
takedown.
--Bill Breen, "'We are literally trying to stop time,'"
[1]Fast Company, May 2000

"I bear her not one scintilla of ill will," he said.
--Sarah Lyall, "That Harriman Book," [2]New York Times, May
4, 1994

There was never a scintilla of doubt, or a hint of
equivocation, in Michael about his commitment to the party.
--"Ferris's decency and sense of fun recalled," [3]Irish
Times, March 23, 2000
__________________________________________________

Scintilla is from Latin scintilla, "a spark, a glimmer, a
faint trace." Also from scintilla is the verb scintillate, "to
sparkle."

 

Amazingly, I don't have a witty anecdote or an illustration for this word. This is the one word I've never run into before. I guess my grasp of the English language is just a scintilla from perfect.

(Is it just me, or does scintilla make you think of chinchilla's!?!)