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 …
Author Archives: mysterious6030
Aristocracy
“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 …
Friday Vocabulary
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 …
Friday Vocabulary* [UPDATED]
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 …
Friday Vocabulary
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 — …
One Hundred and Seven Thousand Songs (107,000)
I was so excited to schedule last Friday’s vocabulary for auto-publication that I neglected to note that I crossed another fictional milestone on Saturday, when I listened to my 107,000th unique iTunes track, a sad little number called “Atomic Watch” from a sad album given away to those who donated blood at this year’s Comic-Con, …
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Friday Vocabulary
1. coffle — train of beasts, slaves, etc., chained together The coffle of indicted legislators attempted to hold their bound hands before their faces as they were cajoled down the steep marble stairs. 2. toxophilite — a lover or devotee of archery Every tree looks like a bow to the toxophilite. 3. myrmecology …
400 Days
Yet another glorious achievement, as I have now listened to just over 400 solid days of tracks in my iTunes collection. The song I heard which put me over the 400-day top was “Peace Train” by the quondam Cat Stevens. 400 days of tracks make up 106,902 items totaling 791.47 GB of files. There remain …
200 Books: The List
As promised, here’s the list of the most recently read hundred books, this time broken down into ten book bite-sized pieces. For each tenner of books, I’ve provided brief notes on one representative volume. To repeat, I’ve only counted non-comic books towards my number of books read, so the ‘#’ field in the below table …
Haiku
God I miss smoking At least it’s something to do Instead of thinking.