{"id":2567,"date":"2020-02-14T04:35:36","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T12:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/?p=2567"},"modified":"2020-02-16T07:06:55","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T15:06:55","slug":"friday-vocabulary-92","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/?p=2567","title":{"rendered":"Friday Vocabulary"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. desultory<\/strong> \u2014 halfheartedly jumping from one subject to another, fitful, disconnected; lacking consistency, unmethodical, random<\/p>\n

Was it truly only my own prejudice which made me fear another hour’s <\/em>desultory conversation with Howard, while I looked forward with eagerness to a delightfully discursive evening’s talk with his cousin?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. baluster<\/strong> \u2014 (architecture<\/em>) short pillar, usu. supporting a handrail or coping (which series is then called a balustrade<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Studying the railing once more I noted that one of the <\/em>balusters seemed slightly off the vertical, and gripping it tightly, found that it actually consisted of two separable pieces, one of which contained the missing diagram in a small hollow within the painted wooden shaft.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. translucid<\/strong> \u2014 transparent, translucent; permitting the passage of light without allowing perfect vision of objects behind<\/p>\n

Of course, most objets d’art called ‘milk glass’ will appear <\/em>translucid when held before the sun, but only the authentic antique displays an iridescent halo, caused by salts used in its manufacture.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. scurrilous<\/strong> \u2014 characterized by rough, buffoonish language; indecently or coarsely abusive<\/p>\n

To see this man whom we knew as a statesman and as a dignified orator descend into the most <\/em>scurrilous attacks upon his opponent almost broke my spirit, already buffeted by the scandalous campaign.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. gammon<\/strong> \u2014 lying nonsense, bosh<\/p>\n

Her pretended interest in my watercolor exercises was just so much <\/em>gammon, another feint to distract me from her designs upon my contented bachelor life.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. infra dig<\/strong> \u2014 (abbrev. of infra dignitatem<\/em>) beneath one’s dignity, unbecoming<\/p>\n

As social mores became more and more the subject of criminal legislation, the acts made crimes became more normalized to a great mass of the American people, as when frequenting low dives, once seen as <\/em>infra dig, became, under the influence of Prohibition, merely a fashionable and daring trip to the speakeasy.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. swot<\/strong> \u2014 hard work or study; diligent student<\/p>\n

You’ll have a real <\/em>swot to master these declensions before eight o’clock tomorrow morning.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8. despise<\/strong> \u2014 to view with contempt or disgust, to scorn, to disdain<\/p>\n

Though many of my former friends now <\/em>despise me, you seem to regard me with an especially vitriolic loathing.<\/em><\/p>\n

(previously used here<\/a>; the management apologizes for this error, and hopes you will accept the above word in place of the one erroneous proffered below)
\notiose<\/strong><\/del> \u2014 indolent; futile, nugatory<\/del><\/p>\n

But the autodidact’s staunch efforts are often entirely <\/em>otiose, leaving the learner with a headful of futile facts and useless understanding.<\/em><\/del><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9. nobble<\/strong> \u2014 to impede a horse from winning a race, as by drugging; to convince by underhand means; to seize<\/p>\n

Peter ran quickly through the parking structure and out the far side, eluding the police in their puffed-up riot gear who were <\/em>nobbling every protester they could lay hands upon.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10. gaberdine<\/strong> \u2014 loose cloak or gown of coarse fabric, worn in medieval ages by Jews and beggars<\/p>\n

The small cakes he quickly hid within the sleeves of his <\/em>gaberdine as he motioned me to follow him further down the alley behind the abbey’s wall.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bonus Vocabulary<\/h4>\n

(British theatrical slang)<\/p>\n

to corpse<\/strong> \u2014 to laugh unintentionally while performing a dramatic scene<\/p>\n

The late, great British thespian was noted for his staggeringly loud flatulence, which all too often led his fellow actors <\/em>to corpse during rehearsal.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. desultory \u2014 halfheartedly jumping from one subject to another, fitful, disconnected; lacking consistency, unmethodical, random Was it truly only my own prejudice which made me fear another hour’s desultory conversation with Howard, while I looked forward with eagerness to a delightfully discursive evening’s talk with his cousin?   2. baluster \u2014 (architecture) short pillar, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Friday Vocabulary”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[112,69],"class_list":["post-2567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vocabulary","tag-bonus-word","tag-vocabulary","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}