1. Comstockery — “censorship because of perceived obscenity or immorality” (George Bernard Shaw) Though named after an anti-smut crusader of the 1870s, Comstockery has a long reach through American culture, as the example of Tipper Gore can attest. 2. poetaster — writer of inferior, insignificant verse The popular anthologies circulating in the United States …
Tag Archives: vocabulary
Friday Vocabulary
1. a fortiori — all the more, for an even stronger reason Since she hired a private detective to shadow her husband, then a fortiori she would have no compunction in reading his personal email. 2. dido — bauble, trifle She wore a necklace she had made from a little dido she had found …
Friday Vocabulary
1. prosopopeia — personification (Rhetoric) The walls spoke silently of years of decaying neglect, the persistent prosopopeia of drywall and dust sounding its forlorn dirge for love’s opportunities lost. 2. apodictic — incontestable because demonstrable In spite of her constant allusions to the spiritual basis of life, she seemed always to search for apodictic rules …
Friday Vocabulary
1. sotadic — of erotic or pornographic material (after Sotades, the first known Greek erotic poet) The Victorian Age saw an avid interest in sotadic literature, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the supposedly repressed nature of the period. 2. tribadism — lesbianism The tropes of pornography have little changed since the erotic …
Friday Vocabulary
1. bailiwick — area of expertise or skill “I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you with your cuticular problem,” said the podiatrist. “Not my bailiwick, I’m afraid.” 2. cadge — to obtain through imposition upon one’s generosity or friendship He tried to cadge another drink from his hostess in spite of his …
Friday Vocabulary
1. impervious — not capable of being affected or influenced Like all comic book heroes of the Golden Age, Jack Hardaway was impervious to doubt. 2. impermeable — not allowing fluids to pass through His impermeable cape also protected him from prying eyes and suspicious minds. 3. gangly — awkwardly tall or thin The gangly …
Friday Vocabulary
1. apotropaic — intended to ward off evil Before retiring in our quaint hotel room deep within vampire country, we placed crosses and apotropaic garlic before each window and upon the door. 2. gob — mouth As the wrench slammed into his left elbow his right fist was lashing out, catching the attacker smack …
Friday Vocabulary
1. interest — a cause or business in which a person has a share The conflicting interests between the king and the nobles initiated the events which culminated in the French Revolution. 2. purview — area of expertise Standard & Poor’s insistence that the United States must immediately reduce its debt seems beyond its …
Friday Vocabulary
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 …
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 …