Saturday, February 28, 2009

Plait

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Plait: Fold.

Plate: Flat thing; superficial surface or skin; denture; dish.

Played: Performed or used, had fun.

Plaid: In Scotland, a blanket; in America, a tartan.

Pled: Argued a case, begged.

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Friday, February 27, 2009

Pike

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Pike: Fish; long stick for soldiers, amusement park

Picture this: A fish carrying a long stick through an amusement park.

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Sop

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Sop: Something to dip into something wet; the wet stuff.

See the poem: No Possum, No Sop, No Taters. By Wallace Stevens

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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Watchdog

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Watchdog: One who oversees; dog for scaring off the unwelcome. Congressional committee.

A watchdog is a dog that fits on your wrist or in your watchpocket. It is powered by a spring or a battery. The spring must be wound up daily; the battery must be replaced once in awhile. The most reliable watchdogs are regulated by a quartz crystal. Straps and fobs vary according to taste. Once a year a best-in-show meet is held to determine which watchdog has the most erect tail. The Spanish word for tail is cola. Coca-Cola is one of those terms that defies translation.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Lull

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Lull: Quiet time between brouhahas.

Rhymes with all sorts of unrelated words:

Bull, cull, dull, full, gull, hull, mull, null, pull.

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Monday, February 23, 2009

Meandros

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Paltry

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Paltry: Small amount or worthless item.

A modest, unassuming bird.
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My income is so paltry I can only afford to eat poultry.


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Friday, February 20, 2009

Perish

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Perish: Die

Homonyms:

Parish: Zone

Pear-ish: Like a pear

Parrish: Mitchell, famous songwriter, often with Hoagy Carmichael

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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Hyacinth

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Hyacinth: A flower; A mythical Greek hero killed by a Frisbee thrown by Apollo.


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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Squadron

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Squadron: A bunch of people or things with a purpose in mind.

I had the notion that a squadron was a passle of airplanes organized for combat. It appears to be much more general a word.

Squad: A small military unit of squares, similar to Graham crackers.

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Hack

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Hack: A kind of cough. To mess with a computer program. Chop up.

A hacker is thought of these days as someone who maliciously attacks computers by infiltrating the programs that are used by the processing devices. Earlier (first seen in 1984) it meant an expert at things computer. Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak were early-on hackers.

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Monday, February 16, 2009

SED

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SED: There are dozens, maybe hundreds of definitions for this acronym. In Spanish it means thirst. If you say tengo sed to a Spanish-speaking doctor, you may get a glass of water or a prescription for a SubErythemalDose of medicine. Watch what you say.

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Sunday, February 15, 2009

Fell

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Fell: Terrible.

Fell Swoop: The swoop or stoop of a falcon or similar bird of prey, resulting in terror and death for the target. My family thought it hilarious to transmogrify or Spoonerize the words into "swell foop".

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

Sine

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Friday, February 13, 2009

Sushi

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Sushi: It’s sour.

Sushi is not raw fish, it is vinegared rice topped with something, usually raw fish.

Sashimi is raw fish.

Sashimi: Pierced body.

Whatever you may think about vinegared rice and raw fish, sushi is a funny word

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Thursday, February 12, 2009

Ruck

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Ruck: Efforts to possess a football.

Rucksack: Sack to keep ruck in.

knapsack: Sack for keeping snapping noises in.

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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Millisecond

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Millisecond:one thousandth of a second.

The amount of time between buying a new item to replace the one that has been absolutely, for certain, beyond dispute never to be found again, and the time you find it.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Pill

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Pill: Pellet

My sister and I went on a boat trip around the harbor. She was sitting in front of me. I reached over her shoulder and handed her a tic-tac mint as we were starting out. After the trip, as we walked to the car, she remarked at how effective the seasickness pill had been.

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Monday, February 9, 2009

Tapdance

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Tapdance: Dance noisily to patterns. Skirt the issue.

Skirt: Dodge the truth. Garment hung from the waist.

Skort: Shorts with a skirt in one garment.

Politicians and other people often skirt the issue, tapdancing around the truth in their mini-skorts.


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Sunday, February 8, 2009

Woody

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Woody Allen
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Saturday, February 7, 2009

Pass

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Pass: A narrow path through a mountainous area. Hit on. An apparently resented show of interest by a man toward a woman. Click on title for many more definitions.

A woman may complain about a man hitting on her or making a pass. I guess that means he made unwanted advances. What if the advances are welcome? What is he doing then? What does he need to know in order to show interest without being offensive. Sometimes women seem to be upset if a man does not make a pass at her. Can a woman hit on a man? If the answer is yes, how should he feel about it? The term "womanizer" is often heard. Is there a term "manizer"?

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Friday, February 6, 2009

Arm

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Arm: Something that sticks out; a weapon.

Soldier: One who serves for pay.

I learned recently that an army's foot soldiers are called infantry because they are little more than children in age and experience. Really.

Arm is one of those words with many uses; firearm, human arm with elbow and fingers, to prepare for a fight, to prepare for anything, an offshoot of a river, a branch of a tree. I could go on.

Let's see; if you give arms to a soldier who serves for pay and he shoots someone he is told to shoot, he is a hero, if he is in the army of his country. If he is in another country's army he is a mercenary. If he joins the enemy's army for pay, he is a traitor. If he joins the enemy's army because he believes the enemy is right, he is an idealist and a traitor and a mercenary.

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Thursday, February 5, 2009

Serge

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Serge: noun: a twilled woolen fabric

As I understand it, we improved our situation in Iraq by sending in a twilled woolen fabric consisting of a whole bunch more troops. Let's hear it for the serge!

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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Klepsydra

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Klepsydra: Water Thief*, A slope in Greece, a water clock for timing speeches.

*"Klepsydra really does mean water thief. It's from the Greek words kleptes and hydro, kleptes meaning steal (Kleptomania, Kleptocracy?) and hydra meaning water (Hydrophobia, Hydraulics?)".

As far as I know, a wristwatch version of a klepsydra has never been attempted.


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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Redux

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Redux: Return

verb: Revive, bring back
noun: Revival

I can't think of any reason to ever use this word in a conversation or in writing. On page 76, Strunk and White's Elements of style (Fourth Edition) suggests that you avoid fancy words. How magniloquatious!


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Monday, February 2, 2009

Kerfuffel

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Kerfuffle: Dust-up, Commotion, fuss.

Kerfuffle seems to me such a delightful word that it is worth creating a
commotion just to be able to use the word.

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Sunday, February 1, 2009

Complex

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Complex: Not simple; a grouping; a collection of neuroses.

As a noun, pronounced CAHM-pleks; as an adjective pronounced cum-PLEKS.

I think I have a complex about the adjectival pronunciation. It always sounds ignorant to me. It is all so complicated.

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