1. jade — vicious, worn-out, or worthless horse; disreputable woman Though she be but a jade your contemptuous attitude towards her does you no credit. 2. circumvallation — state of being surrounded by rampart or entrenchment Vercingetorix was unable to lift the siege of Alesia after the circumvallation of that settlement, leading to the …
Author Archives: mysterious6030
Friday Vocabulary
1. dark lantern — lantern with a shutter to hide the light “Watson, be sure to bring the dark lantern so that we can conceal our presence in the chamber after traversing the underground paths to the tomb.” 2. arrant — notorious, unmitigated We have rarely heard such arrant falsehoods since Satan was imprisoned …
Friday Vocabulary
1. kakistocracy — government by the worst citizens If all good people abdicate their responsibilities as citizens, eventually we shall all live under a kakistocracy. 2. exuberate — to be exuberant; to abound I would fain exuberate your news has moved me so! 3. stillicide — a falling (as of water) in drops …
One Hundred and Nine Thousand Songs (109,000)
Closing in on the next 10k, I’ve just listened to my 109,000th unique iTunes track, a slightly better than usual offering from the CBS Radio Mystery Theatre, “The Solid Gold Zarf”, which aired in the fall of 1981. 109,000 unique tracks makes up 812.42 GB of data, with a total duration of 413 days, 22 …
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Friday Vocabulary
1. fleer — to grin or laugh in a rude or coarse manner How my old low companions did fleer when I confessed to them that my great plans for a tremendous heist had been foiled by two meek nuns and a truculent novitiate. 2. empennage — the stern of an airplane or airship, …
Friday Vocabulary [UPDATED]
NOTE: Due to recently (12 July 2019) discovered repetition of a previously used vocabulary word, the offending entry has been replaced with a new word, definition, and example sentence. The original entry is preserved with strikethrough formatting. 1. dodder — to shake, to tremble The old man doddered so at the top of the stairs …
Friday Vocabulary
1. gobsmacked — flabbergasted, utterly astounded We were gobsmacked to learn that the mole was Mrs. Abernathy’s two year-old toddler, who was actually an Australian midget wearing a very clever disguise. 2. footling — blithering, foolish, silly I managed to make some footling comments, but could barely conceal my very great surprise. 3. …
Friday Vocabulary
1. murmuration — flock of starlings (sometimes applied to other birds) The gyring movement of the murmuration resembled a gentle whirlpool in the air as the birds suddenly decided to quit their perches in the elm overhanging the river. 2. dynamics — variation in volume of musical sounds The quiet portion of the song …
Friday Vocabulary [UPDATED]
NOTE: Due to recently (11 July 2019) discovered repetition of a previously used vocabulary word, the offending entry has been replaced with a new word, definition, and example sentence. The original entry is preserved with strikethrough formatting. 1. ha-ha — sunken fence or wall bounding garden or park, set into ditch so as to not …
Top Books of 2018
The Best Books (read by me) of 2018 A friend on Facebook posted a request for top books of this passing year, so I made this little list. I gave each of the books below 5 stars in my entirely subjective ranking. There are 29 books in total, twenty-six of which are fiction of one …