Word of the Day for Tuesday, May 31, 2011

leitmotif \LYT-moh-teef\, noun:

1. In music drama, a marked melodic phrase or short passage which always accompanies the reappearance of a certain person, situation, abstract idea, or allusion in the course of the play; a sort of musical label.

2. A dominant and recurring theme.

The leitmotif of the B.O.'s presidency is Spend Baby Spend!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

Each actor to appear on stage is accompanied by a musical phrase on the drum -- a sort of leitmotif to characterize an emotion, much like a Wagnerian drama.-- Eleanor Blau, "Connecticut's Shakespeare", New York Times, July 9, 1982

One theme had recurred so frequently in these conversations that it had become the leitmotif of the trip.-- Jack F. Matlock Jr., Autopsy on an Empire

As is so often the case in a crazy household . . . guilt becomes a leitmotif.-- Frederick Busch, "My Brother, Myself", New York Times, February 9, 1997

Leitmotif (also spelled leitmotiv) is from German Leitmotiv, "leading motif," from leiten, "to lead" (from Old High German leitan) + Motiv, "motif," from the French. It is especially associated with the operas of German composer Richard Wagner.

America:

Attention!

Present Arms!

Order Arms!

Parade Rest!

To the fallen men and women of all branches of the United States Military, we salute you!

You have served with unwavering honor, and have paid the ultimate price of the freedom that we in America all enjoy. Unfortunately, most Americans don't give it much thought, but you did.

We lift all of you, our fallen heroes, up in prayer to our Father in Heaven. We pray that your families that were left behind will stay strong and know that you all have served honorably in defense of our freedom.

You are all missed and loved. Your ultimate sacrifice has not gone unnoticed. Those that try to take away freedom must know that there are those like you that will defend our freedom at all costs, even to the point of sacrificing their own lives as you have done.

Thank you for your service to our country. You are our true heroes.

In Highest Regards,

David May, MI
LTC, USAR (Ret.)

Word of the Day for Friday, May 27, 2011

dudgeon \DUH-juhn\, noun:

A state or fit of intense indignation; resentment; ill humor -- often used in the phrase "in high dudgeon."

When the conservatives challenge the liberals about the B.O.'s (lack of) accomplishments, they always go into a state of high dudgeon!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

Higgins was so frustrated by such a basic error that he stormed out of the arena for the mid-session interval in high dudgeon.-- Phil Yates, "Stevens begins to feel pressure as Swail stages customary revival", Times (London), April 29, 2000

This woman is forever in a state of spiritual high dudgeon, and a list of her dislikes is as long as the Omaha phone book.-- Jim Harrison, The Road Home

What you see, they reckon, is all there is: a media star of fading allure--and shortening temper, if his dudgeon over a television soap-opera satire about him called "How was I, Doris?" (a reference to his fourth wife) is anything to go by.-- "Gerhard Schröder, embattled chancellor", The Economist, September 18, 1999

The origin of dudgeon is unknown.

Word of the Day for Thursday, May 26, 2011

clinquant \KLING-kunt\, adjective:

1. Glittering with gold or silver; tinseled.

noun:

1. Tinsel; imitation gold leaf.

Awww, see the clinquant glow of the B.O.'s halo rapidly fading as he muddles his way through through his presidency; maybe he could retire early and go take over the Palestinian presidential duties; I'm sure he would feel more comfortable running the State of Palestine than he does the United States of America; I'd even be willing to throw in a Piper Cub for him to fly around in!
--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

Leaves flicker celadon in the spring, viridian in summer, clinquant in fall, tallying the sovereign seasons, graying and greening to reiterate the message of snow and sun.-- Ann Zwinger, Beyond the Aspen Grove

The room had a twelve-foot high ceiling: hanging from it, four dimly lit antique brass chandeliers cast a clinquant glow on this sunless day.-- Sally Koslow, The Late, Lamented Molly Marx: A Novel

The water, turned clinquant by the sunset, lay rather than stood.-- William Least Heat-Moon, River-Horse: The Logbook of a Boat Across America

Clinquant is from French, glistening, tinkling, present participle of obsolete clinquer, to clink, perhaps from Middle Dutch klinken.

Word of the Day for Wednesday, May 25, 2011

sojourn \SOH-juhrn; so-JURN\, intransitive verb:

1. To stay as a temporary resident; to dwell for a time.

noun:

1. A temporary stay.

Though he has sojourned to Ireland, wandered in Kenya, dabbled in Detroit, ambled through Amsterdam and blundered through his presidency, the B.O. has not yet set foot in Joplin, MO!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog (with thanks to The Guardian)

Though he has sojourned in Southwold, wandered in Walberswick, dabbled in Dunwich, ambled through Aldeburgh and blundered through Blythburgh, Smallweed has never set foot in Orford.-- Smallweed, "The trouble with hope", The Guardian, April 14, 2001

Yet he is now an accomplished student and speaker of English, a literary editor and television producer, someone who has sojourned in Paris and attended the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.-- William H. Gass, "Family and Fable in Galilee", New York Times, April 17, 1988

As chance would have it, Degas's five-month sojourn in New Orleans coincided with an extraordinarily contentious period in the stormy political history of the city.-- Christopher Benfey, Degas in New Orleans

During that long sojourn in Sligo, from 1870 to 1874, he had lessons from a much loved nursemaid, Ellie Connolly; later he received coaching in spelling and dictation from Esther Merrick, a neighbour who lived in the Sexton's house by St John's, and who read him quantities of verse.-- R. F. Foster, W.B. Yeats: A Life, Vol. 1

Sojourn comes from Old French sojorner, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin subdiurnare, from Latin sub-, "under, a little over" + Late Latin diurnus, "lasting for a day," from Latin dies, "day."

Word of the Day for Tuesday, May 24, 2011

prink \PRINGK\, transitive verb:

1. To dress up; to deck for show.

intransitive verb:

1. To dress or arrange oneself for show; to primp.

The B.O. had prinked appropriately for his moment with the Queen of England, and as he raised his glass to make a toast, like the rest of his pathetic presidency, he muffed it!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

Tara has supermodel legs and is already getting used to being prinked and coiffed as she prepares for her first beauty contest in the autumn.-- Raffaella Barker, "Diary hatched, matched and almost despatched", Daily Telegraph, September 6, 1997

The point is reinforced by a clutch of contemporary art photos . . . showing plump nudes prinking and preening like pouter pigeons, and, in one case, a couple of dancers deliberately posed to recreate a Degas painting.-- Hilary Spurling, Daily Telegraph, January 23, 1999

Prink is probably an alteration of prank, from Middle English pranken, "to show off," perhaps from Middle Dutch pronken, "to adorn oneself," and from Middle Low German prunken (from prank, "display").

Word of the Day for Monday, May 23, 2011

longueur \long-GUR\, noun:

A dull and tedious passage in a book, play, musical composition, or the like.

The B.O.'s speeches have devolved into the never ending longueur!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

One of the commentators compared my speech to one of Gladstone's which had lasted five hours. "It was not so long, but some of the speech's . . . longueurs made Gladstone seem the soul of brevity," he wrote.-- Lord Lamont of Lerwick, "Been there, done that", Times (London), March 6, 2001

If this book of 400 pages had been devoted to her alone, it would have been filled with longueurs, but as the biography of a family it has the merit of originality.-- Peter Ackroyd, review of Gwen Raverat: Friends, Family and Affections, by Frances Spalding, Times (London), June 27, 2001

This book . . . has its defects. Sometimes it loses focus (as in a longueur on Chechens living in Jordan).-- Colin Thubron, "Birth of a Hundred Nations", New York Times, November 19, 2000

Longueur is from French (where it means "length"), ultimately deriving from Latin longus, "long," which is also the source of English long.

Word of the Day for Friday, May 20, 2011

foofaraw \FOO-fuh-raw\, noun:

1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation or decoration.

2. A fuss over a matter of little importance.

The B.O. would rather you focus on foofaraw such as having a disgusting rapper appear in the White House rather than the substantive issues like the out of control 14 trillion dollar debt, illegal immigration, and unsustainable entitlement programs!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

A somber, muted descending motif opens and closes the work, which is brief but effective. It provided much needed relief from the fanfares and foofaraw in which brass-going composers so often indulge.-- Philip Kennicott, "Brass Spectacular is a Spectacle of Special Sound", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 17, 1997

As usual, with all cooperation with Tom Lea, Art becomes a "taking away" process rather than the adding of ornaments, rules, and other foofaraw.-- David R. Farmer, Stanley Marcus: A Life With Books

Making the Times best-seller list, or a movie, or all that other foofaraw is not necessarily proof of [a novel's] lasting significance.-- Roger K. Miller, "Peyton Place' was remarkably good bad novel", Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 29, 1996

Foofaraw is perhaps from Spanish fanfarrón, "a braggart."

Word of the Day for Thursday, May 19, 2011

fungible \FUHN-juh-buhl\, adjective:

1. (Law) Freely exchangeable for or replaceable by another of like nature or kind in the satisfaction of an obligation.

2. Interchangeable.

noun:

1. Something that is exchangeable or substitutable. Usually used in the plural.

Someone said the other day that the B.O.'s presidency would be easily fungible with Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Newman; now, I don't think that is fair one bit - for Alfred!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

People think this tax is for Social Security. But tax monies are really fungible. They get raided all the time.-- Eugene Ludwig, "Motivated to Work," interview by Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes, March 20, 2000

The setting is Ireland in the 1950's, but, a cynical reader might reflect, this sort of fiction is so common that the characters will be completely fungible.-- Susan Isaacs, "Three Little Girls From School", New York Times, December 30, 1990

Genuine eros makes us desire a particular person; crude desire is satisfiable by fungible bodies.-- Edward Craig (general editor), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Fungible comes from Medieval Latin fungibilis, from Latin fungi (vice), "to perform (in place of)."

Word of the Day for Wednesday, May 18, 2011

iota \eye-OH-tuh\, noun:

1. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding to the English i.

2. A very small quantity or degree; a jot; a bit.

In case you haven't noticed, I don't like the B.O.'s politics one iota!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler taught us that the Earth moves and rotates while the heavens stand still, but this did not change by one iota our direct perception that the heavens do move and that the Earth does not budge.-- Julian Barbour, The End of Time

He has not moderated his demands one iota in seven years.-- Charles Krauthammer, "The Last Deal or No Deal", Time, July 17, 2000

I couldn't help feeling that in spite of every iota of evidence to the contrary, something was about to happen.-- Jane Smiley, The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton

Iota is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet. The word jot also derives from iota.

Word of the Day for Tuesday, May 17, 2011

connubial \kuh-NOO-bee-ul; -NYOO-\, adjective:

Of or pertaining to marriage, or the marriage state; conjugal; nuptial.

The connubial shenanigans of the B.O.'s parents produced our sad sack socialist-Marxist president!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

Wed as teenagers in Chicago, my parents' connubial collaboration had a second result: me and, seven years after my birth, a spectacularly beautiful sequel, my sister, Marcia.-- Larry Gelbart, Laughing Matters

Given Tina's dismissive attitude toward marriage and the tumult of her relationships with men, it would also be fascinating to know more than we do about the emotional texture and tone of her parents' thirty years of connubial life.-- Patricia Albers, Shadows, Fire, Snow

But no such happy marriage could now teach the admiring multitude what connubial felicity really was.-- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Connubial comes from Latin conubialis, from conubium, "marriage, intermarriage," from con-, "with, together" + nubere, "to veil, to marry." It is related to nubile, "of an age suitable for marriage; hence, sexually mature and attractive."

Word of the Day for Monday, May 16, 2011

nonplus \non-PLUHS\, transitive verb:

To cause to be at a loss as to what to think, say, or do; to confound; to perplex; to bewilder.

The B.O. seems to be nonplussed by this whole leadership thing!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

Mr Esswis had promptly negotiated an arrangement between himself, the owner of the sprayer and the owner of the sheep, nonplussing the other two farmers by accepting full blame of the straying animal, as long as unpleasantness and paperwork could be avoided. -- Michel Faber, Under the Skin: A Novel

I told him that to many people she is one of the best sculptors alive, but he seemed nonplussed by the thought.-- Jed Perl, Eyewitness: Reports from an Art World in Crisis

She had grown a good deal in the last six months, and an amount of thinking had gone on in that young head which would have astonished him greatly could he have known it all, for Rose was one of the children who observe and meditate much, and now and then nonplus their friends by a wise or curious remark.-- Louisa May Alcott, Eight Cousins

Nonplus is from the Latin non plus, "no more." To be nonplussed is to be at a point where "no more" can be said or done.

Word of the Day for Friday, May 13, 2011

autodidact \aw-toh-DY-dakt\, noun:

One who is self-taught.

The B.O. is an autodidact Marxist-socialist!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

He is our ultimate autodidact, a man who made himself from nothing into a lawyer, a legislator -- a president.-- Kevin Baker, "Log Cabin Values", New York Times, April 2, 2000

Consider the autodidact in Sartre's Nausea, who is somewhat unbelievably working his way alphabetically through an entire library.-- James Wood, "Human, All Too Inhuman", New Republic, July 24, 2000

Buck's prose is a lot better than you'd expect from a high-school dropout, but he turns out to be a reader and autodidact.-- Jonathan Yardley, review of North Star over My Shoulder: A Flying Life, by Bob Buck, Washington Post, April 7, 2002

Autodidact is from Greek autodidaktos, "self-taught," from auto-, "self" + didaktos, "taught," from didaskein, "to teach."

Word of the Day for Thursday, May 12, 2011

Zeitgeist \TSYT-guyst; ZYT-guyst\, noun:

[Often capitalized] The spirit of the time; the general intellectual and moral state or temper characteristic of any period of time.

The B.O. is counting on the zeitgeist of this country going to h*** in a handbasket, and he will be holding the handle!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

The best writers of that predawn era were originals who had the zeitgeist by the tail.-- Gary Giddins, Visions of Jazz: The First Century

As most critics and all professors of cultural theory note, Madonna is nothing if not a skilled reader of the zeitgeist.-- "Techno 'rave' just the same old Madonna", Chicago Sun-Times, March 3, 1998

Besides, the zeitgeist seems to be working against any hope of Hormel officials to limit...the usage of [the word] 'spam' on the Web.-- "Gracious Concession on Internet 'Spam'", New York Times, August 17, 1998

Like other figures who seem, in retrospect, to have been precociously representative of their times, Kerouac was not simply responding to the Zeitgeist, but to the peculiarly twisted facts of his own upbringing.-- "Jack Kerouac: The Beat Goes On", New York Times, December 30, 1979

Zeitgeist is from the German: Zeit, "time" + Geist, "spirit."

Word of the Day for Tuesday, May 10, 2011

animalcule \an-uh-MAL-kyool\, noun:

A minute or microscopic animal, nearly or quite invisible to the naked eye.

The B.O.'s sinister plan is to muster a legion of liberal animalcule and take over the world!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

The spirit was never anything but the parasite of man, the ringworm of his worthy body when the body was no more than an animalcule swimming around and having no desire about having to be worthy of existing.-- Antonin Artaud, Jack Hirschman, Artaud Anthology

His log states: " The sea was as ' white as milk ' - a uniform whiteness, not a reflection or sparkling emitted from animalcule or phosphorescent matter, and it was as light as day about the decks.-- Basil Lubbock, Deep sea warriors

Animalcule stems from the Latin animiculum, "little animal."

Word of the Day for Monday, May 9, 2011

splenetic \spli-NET-ik\, adjective:

1. Irritable; peevish; spiteful.

2. Of the spleen.

3. Archaic: Affected with, characterized by, or tending to produce melancholy.

The B.O. always seem to get a bit splenetic after he has to make a difficult decision - like taking down OBL!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

"I perceive, my dear sir, that I am at intervals for indulging this splenetic manner, and following my own tusto regardless of yours."-- Oliver Goldsmith, Miscellaneous Works

The true splenetic arts are not acquired in a day."-- James Ballantyne, Ballantyne's Novelist's Library

Splenetic comes from the Late Latin spleneticus, "of the spleen." In medieval physiology the spleen was considered the seat of morose feelings and bad temper.

Word of the Day for Thursday, May 5, 2011

epigamic \ep-i-GAM-ik\, adjective:

Attracting the opposite sex, as the colors of certain birds.

If the B.O. were a bird, his epigamic markings would be red, for attracting communist birds, and yellow, for attracting others of that ilk; or perhaps he would be a featherless fowl with no clue as to why he was the way he was, so he would send another clueless featherless fowl by the name of Carney out to speak for him!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

But now the epigamic urgings travel beyond their periphery, kneading painfully against my heart and lungs and brain.-- Jim Thompson , Now and on Earth

Instead, on the male's side special epigamic characters, ornaments and movements are necessary to inform the female that a potential meal is not at hand.-- Hansjochem Autrum, Comparative physiology and evolution of vision in invertebrates: Part 3

Epigamic comprises the Greek roots epi-, "close in space or time," and gamos, "of marriage."

Word of the Day for Wednesday, May 4, 2011

bushwhack \BOOSH-hwak\, verb:

1. To defeat, especially by surprise or in an underhanded way.

2. To make one's way through woods by cutting at undergrowth, branches, etc.

3. To travel through woods.

4. To pull a boat upstream from on board by grasping bushes, rocks, etc., on the shore.

5. To fight as a bushwhacker or guerrilla in the bush.

With the House of Representatives now being held by the Republicans, the B.O. and his politburo are no longer able to bushwhack the Republicans and get garbage legislation through like ObamaCare!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

"I don't think nobody would bushwhack a wagon full of orange trees."-- Patrick D. Smith, A Land Remembered: Volume 1

Back in the old days, said Blevins, this'd be just the place where Comanches'd lay for you and bushwhack you.-- Cormac McCarthy , All the pretty horses

Bushwhack is a backformation from the Dutch bosch-wachter, "forest-keeper," which, during the American Civil War was adopted as bushwhacker to describe patriot guerillas or freebooters.

Word of the Day for Tuesday, May 3, 2011

purlieu \PUR-loo\, noun:

1. A place where one may range at large; confines or bounds.

2. A person's haunt or resort.

3. An outlying district or region, as of a town or city.

4. A piece of land on the edge of a forest, originally land that, after having been included in a royal forest, was restored to private ownership, though still subject, in some respects, to the operation of the forest laws.

Of course the B.O. is taking credit for the elimination of OBL; I guess watching the kill at OBL's purlieu on live feed from the satellite now gives him battle creds, plus he got a paper cut from opening the operation's folder that the generals and admirals had drawn up, so now he will be awarded a Purple Heart as well!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

"A purlieu is an area at the edge of a royal forest that used to be under forest law but isn't any more."-- Edward Rutherfurd, The Forest

"She thought of the strange operation of a simple-minded man's ruling passion, that it should have led Jude, who loved her and the children so tenderly, to place them here in this depressing purlieu."-- Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure: Volume 1896, Part 1

Purlieu is an alteration (simulating French lieu, "place") of earlier parlewe, "of a forest."

Word of the Day for Monday, May 2, 2011

dandle \DAN-dl\, verb:

1. To move (a baby, child, etc.) lightly up and down, as on one's knee or in one's arms.

2. To pet; pamper.

There are those that even though the B.O. has produced his alleged birth certificate contend that the copy that he produced is, like the origin of the word dandle, of unknown origin!

--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

If you have a child, dandle him or her on your knee while singing a happy song.-- Dean R. Koontz, Cold Fire

It may be thought that my desire to be a mother-in-law has, perhaps, something to do with my wish to dandle a grandchild on my knee before I am too arthritic even to dandle.-- Caledonia Kearns , Motherland: Writings By Irish American Woman About Mothers and Daughters

Dandle is first recorded in the 1500s, but is of unknown origin.