1. uffish — “a state of mind when the voice is gruffish, the manner roughish, and the temper huffish” [Lewis Carroll] Our path into the bar was blocked by an uffish oaf who, claiming some sort of rôle as a bouncer, sought to gainsay our entry. 2. tympany — swelling of the bowels caused …
Author Archives: mysterious6030
Friday Vocabulary
1. ceteris paribus — with all other things remaining the same A fifty percent decrease in income for those earning over five million dollars per annum, ceteris paribus, would have little to no effect on the world as a whole. 2. notaphily — the study or collecting of paper money The introduction of the …
Friday Vocabulary
Note: Today’s vocabulary comes from my high school days, an actual English assignment I turned in one week, lo, oh-so-many years ago. My apologies 1. intrepid — dauntless The intrepid explorer carefully circuited around the yellow patch of snow as he neared the pole’s barber shop on his maggot-driven sled. 2. labyrinth — maze …
Friday Vocabulary
1. stramineous — straw-like It is hardly worth responding to the stramineous arguments of my opponents, who apparently have never read the story of the the Three Little Pigs. 2. maudlin — foolishly tearful or sentimental Among the travellers of the Mormon Trail were several women poets, who composed fierce though maudlin elegies to …
Friday Vocabulary
1. nascent — beginning to exist or develop Though some pundits have pointed to a nascent sense of interdependence among the world’s people, more likely we’ll just see more of the same. 2. nescience — the state of not knowing Conspiracy theories may derive as well from a human tendency to insist upon “yes/no” …
Friday Vocabulary
1. myrmidon — blindly loyal follower and carryer-out of a leader’s orders If Hunstman refuses to sign the No Tax Increase pledge, the Tea Party myrmidons may exact their revenge by ensuring that he cannot gain the Republican nomination. 2. metempsychosis — transmigration of the soul The disavowal of spirit or soul (call it …
Why Do You Clap?
Why do you clap? I spent yesterday in a mild traveler’s disturbia that seems to be our legacy for the future. First the flight was delayed, then after boarding we sat while warning light inconsistencies were investigated, then we were made to get off the plane, then back on, out to the runway, where the …
Confession
The most introverted girl in the world, Anorexic, not socialized enough to even aspire to shyness, A thin, frightened teen with a thin, frightened voice, Timidly knocked at our door. In fear she confessed to my roommate That she was trying to study next door, And that the music was just a bit too loud, …
The Approach
The approach to the mystery Is not made by paths of ritual. Though four hundred thousand Have trod this trail before, Their footsteps leave no trace To guide the wary traveler. Instead, Consider the sensation of that small eyelash Or mite of dust, beneath the eyelids As you rub them wearily, even doubting That any …
Friday Vocabulary
1. velleity — the merest wish, without any attempt to gain it For some, reading self-help books becomes an end in itself, substituting a velleity for a program. 2. hamartia — tragic flaw Bill Clinton’s sexual misadventures seem matched by the hubris of many politicians today, but they pale beside Nixon’s hamartia — a …