1. spathe — large bract enclosing the flower bundle or spadix of some plants The beautiful white flower of the peace lily is actually the spathe of the plant, which encloses the yellow spadix of the true flowers. 2. purdah — curtain screening women from sight of men or strangers; system of secluding women …
Author Archives: mysterious6030
700 Books (not really)
As I have said many times before, when counting the number of books I have read since I started tracking in a foolish though somewhat satisfying project I’ve maintained since 2015, I do not include in my ‘official’ count items classified (by me) as comics or graphic novels. This includes, by the way, books about …
Friday Vocabulary
1. geas — magically inflicted obligation I must leave you now, for my bowels have cast a geas upon me, and I must away to the bathroom to fulfill its terrible duty. 2. precentor — one who leads choir or congregation in singing Everyone has noticed the much-diminished vigor of the choir since Simon …
Friday Vocabulary
1. recruit — to refresh, to reinvigorate, to restore the health of Perry has gone with Aunt Emily to the island estate, where the beautiful grounds and pleasant clime will, D.V., recruit his mind and spirit, so addled by the frights he saw in the late unpleasantness. 2. biotope — region of ecological uniformity …
Book List: 600 Books
As I mentioned just over a month ago, I recently finished book #600—the 600th book, that is, since I began tracking my reading back in June of 2015. When I announced this milestone at the very cusp of the new year, I had only barely finished my analysis of the 5th hundred books read. I …
Friday Vocabulary
1. tittuppy — unsteady, with an exaggeratedly prancing manner I’m not about to be intimidated by some tittuppy old biddy who thinks to threaten me with lawyers and letters; I know my rights. 2. quiz — [British] odd person; odd thing In his burgundy stovepipe hat he looks such a quiz, doesn’t he? …
One Hundred and Seventeen Songs (117,000)
More than two hundred days after my last thousand songs were heard, I have just listened to my 117,000th unique iTunes track, a somewhat mediocre though I suppose historically interesting rendition of the Wilson Pickett classic “In The Midnight Hour” by a group of rock legends jamming at a Taj Mahal concert in Hollywood in …
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Friday Vocabulary
1. targe — [archaic] buckler, small shield Any doubts I had about the value of Kenwyth’s targe were erased when I saw the bowman knock two skirmishers to the ground with the small shield, with hardly a pause in his shooting. 2. heriot — feudal tribute of equipment or chattel The young knight, to …
The Year 2020 by the Numbers
I’ve been posting this on Facebook for the past couple of years, so I may as well put it here, too. (Yeah, I know. I forgot the comma in the ‘Tracks Heard’ figure. Oops.) For comparison, here are the past years’ figures:
Friday Vocabulary
1. perfuse — to besprinkle, to overspread (as with moisture or color); to pour through or over, to diffuse through; [medicine] to circulate through blood vessels or lymphatic system Cunegonde’s cheeks were perfused with a rosy glow, though whether from joy or from our strenuous exertions I could not tell. 2. volplane — to …