Over 93 days after my last thousand songs were heard, I have just listened to my 116,000th unique iTunes track, a likable enough country number from Rosanne Cash, “Green, Yellow, and Red”, from her 1987 album King’s Record Shop. I am reliably informed (well, yes, I read it on the Interwebs) that Ms. Cash was …
Continue reading “One Hundred and Sixteen Thousand Songs (116,000)”
1. nastic — (biology) (of plant movement) caused by external stimulus which does not determine direction of response A strong flick of the finger against the leaf of a mimosa plant creates a strong nastic response, with the leaf quickly and visibly folding up in a striking example of thigmonasty. 2. snug — (nautical) …
1. Desterham — Turkish minister of finance (variant of defterdar, apparently only used by Voltaire in his story Zadig) The case was brought before the Grand Desterham, who had both parties beaten soundly with knouts so that both would know the majesty of Babylonian justice. 2. bizzie — (British slang) policeman or policewoman; (pl.) …
1. bolus — overlarge pill; round soft mass, esp. of chewed food What it cost him to swallow this enormous bolus of shame and degradation I hope never to learn. 2. chyme — quasi-fluid mass of food acted upon by gastric processes and passed into the small intestine The presence of chyme in the …
1. saveloy — highly seasoned dried sausage, usually bright red Though the white tablecloth and perfectly unctuous staff were more suited to coq au vin, my dining companion demanded two orders of saveloys and chips which were brought almost immediately to our table, perhaps procured from the fish and chips shop in the row behind …
1. vinegarroon — large whipscorpion found in Mexico and the southern United States, with a nasty, though nonvenomous, sting At first I thought the vinegarroon was another myth created by my dad to embellish his tales, like the two-by-two cactus, and then I saw one, though my mind still disbelieved, saying, “Oh, hell no!” …
1. bore — large tidal wave caused either by meeting of two tides or by tidal water rushing into a narrow estuary Surfing the Pororoca—as the tidal bore formed at the mouth of the Amazon River is known—can be treacherous, not only because of the river’s sometimes dangerous wildlife, but also due to the flotsam …
1. sudarium — cloth for wiping the face, handkerchief; (specifically) the cloth used by Saint Veronica to wipe the face of Jesus The true gentleman, of course, sweeps the sweat from his brow using a sudarium and not the sleeve of his tunic. 2. Patagonian — of or relating to Patagonia, the southernmost lands …
1. horripilate — to have the hairs of one’s skin stand on end, from cold or fear, etc. I knew, I guess, when I felt her neck hairs horripilate at the mere mention of the doctor’s name. 2. chert — flinty quartz rock You can’t touch the front driveway, but we’re putting in a …
