Yet another fictional milestone has been achieved, as I’ve just listened to my 108,000th unique iTunes track, a live performance of what purports to be a traditional song of Burma. Those who can read the album cover (reproduced here) may be able to provide more information; all I know is that the song I heard …
Continue reading “One Hundred and Eight Thousand Songs (108,000)”
1. sapropelic — pertaining to or living in mud or ooze made up of decomposed living material His moral sense weighed quite lightly upon his shoulders, making him especially able to thrive in the sapropelic environs of the District of Columbia. 2. fardel — (archaic) burden (esp. of sin or sorrow) Baudelaire speaks in …
1. scurf — scales of epidermis that are continually peeling off the skin; any scaly incrustation upon a body The telephone pole on the street corner was pierced with hundreds of large staples at eye level, each metal clinch holding down a geologic scurf formed from the shreds of old announcements of lost dogs, roommates …
1. rennet — membrane from the fourth stomach of an unweaned calf, used for curdling milk in the making of cheese Cream cheese can be made easily at home, since, like many soft cheeses, an acid such as lemon juice is used for curdling the milk rather than rennet. 2. invultuation — creation of …
“That there is no solution to the decisive problems of human existence outside proletarian revolution is, for surrealism, a first principle that is beyond argument. Nothing would be more difficult than reconciling surrealism to bourgeois culture. I know that everything continues normally today, as yesterday, as if life were an IOU punctuated now and then …
1. clinker-built — (naut.) of a ship’s hull built with the edges of its planks overlapping, as opposed to “carvel-built” ships where the planks are fitted side-by-side and flush with one another The front end view of Viking longships shows the edge-over-edge construction characteristic of clinker-built boats. 2. felloe — outer part of wheel …
“I believe in aristocracy, though — if that is the right word, and if a democrat may use it. Not an aristocracy of power, based upon rank and influence, but an aristocracy of the sensitive, the considerate and the plucky. Its members are to be found in all nations and classes, and all through the …
1. stertorous — characterized by heavy snoring Until three of the four sexagenarians started using CPAP machines, their Bohemian Grove cabin was famous for the stertorous rumblings emanating from within. 2. epergne — table centerpiece designed to hold fruit or flowers Though Roscoe appreciated the thought behind his aunt’s generous gift, in truth he …
NOTE: Due to recently (27 June 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. prolepsis — (1) marshaling counterarguments to a position so they may be refuted in advance “Just because …
1. eyot — small island, particularly in a river The raft ran aground upon the small, treeless eyot which lay in the center of the large bend in the river. 2. calcareous — of or like chalk The lizard’s calcareous medication may have added to the constipation of the gecko. 3. halitus — …
