1. madding — frenzied, acting like a madman; tending to drive (one) insane You seem to still have the illusion that this madding bureaucracy is a mistake, a misapplication of higher ideals and the tenets of a purer political science—when of course the very arbitrariness and nonsensical practice you bemoan is the very core, the …
Author Archives: mysterious6030
Friday Vocabulary
1. orthopnea (also orthopnoea) — difficulty breathing except in standing or sitting upright position Among the consequences of massive heart failure are dyspnea or orthopnea as the weakened ventricular muscles can no longer sustain the effort required. 2. splificate — [British slang] to annihilate, to obliterate, to destroy That last week of less than …
Friday Vocabulary
1. enfeoff — to give a fiefdom Due to the political realities, King Jane had enfeoffed the duke with his old holdings under the previous dynasty, but the new king did not—of course—entirely trust his vassal. 2. chuffed — [British informal] delighted “And on top of that, I finally found my reading glasses, so …
Friday Vocabulary
1. assiduous — persistently diligent, constant I should have been more specific in my request, for Hervey’s assiduous nature interpreted my vague instructions as an order to read the entirety of the New York Herald-Tribune‘s sports pages from 1923 through 1950. 2. aroint — [archaic] begone, get hence Aroint thee, ye vile knave, or …
Friday Vocabulary
1. oolite — spherical sedimentary rock formed in concentric layers The walls of the keep have fallen almost in ruins, and are made from oolite from the Northland deposits some twenty miles away. 2. stumer — [British slang] fraud; bad check; failure After Wally’s remarks before, I expected that Russell’s check would turn out …
1000 Books (not really)
In the beginning was the word …. Well, in fact those words come well over halfway through this, The Book. I started reading a little bit each day just over a year ago, as sort of a 2022 project, and have just finished the last chapter of The Revelation of Saint John the Divine this …
Friday Vocabulary
1. forsooth — [archaic] indeed, in fact I am sore weary, forsooth, but what failing strength I yet have I pledge to thee and thy cause. 2. peduncle — [botany] flower stalk A straight peduncle which goes along the entire inflorescence from base to tip is called the axis of inflorescence. 3. taffrail …
Friday Vocabulary
1. purse-seine — fishing net (usu. deployed by two boats) in shape of an enormous bag closed at the bottom by a line (the purse-line) The first recorded purse-seine was used in 1826 to catch a staggering school of menhaden which was almost too huge for the fishermen to handle. 2. dunch — [golf] …
Friday Vocabulary
1. welting (also simply welt) — ridge, wale; strengthening seam with one edge of leather folded over the other After hours of searching and the almost total destruction of Mr. Savoyed’s luggage, we found the microfilm on an impossibly narrow strip of rigid plastic concealed in the welting of the supposed banker’s briefcase. 2. …
Friday Vocabulary
1. haggard — appearing worn, exhausted, gaunt, esp. as result of privation or anxiety; wild-looking Even in the better light of the foyer, I could hardly believe that the haggard and desperate wretch before me was my former lab partner from school, the ruddy-cheeked fair-haired boy who scoffed at peril and laughed at adversity. …