Word of the Day: colubrine colubrine (adjective) KAHL-yuh-bryne Definition 1 : of, relating to, or resembling a snake 2 : of or relating to a large cosmopolitan family (Colubridae) of chiefly nonvenomous snakes Examples The trellis’s latticework was covered with colubrine ivy. “Most of the colubrine snakes are entirely harmless, and are the common snakes…
Word of the Day: jacquerie jacquerie (noun) zhah-kuh-REE Definition : (often capitalized Jacquerie) a peasants’ revolt Examples “There were no bloodthirsty sansculottes preparing to erect guillotines; nor were farmers, however angry about government excise taxes and other matters—as Shays’s Rebellion suggested—ready to burn down the manorial estates of their feudal overlords in some version of…
Word of the Day: ab initio ab initio (adverb) ab-ih-NISH-ee-oh Definition : from the beginning Examples “Like many of contemporary architecture’s most celebrated figures, [Zaha] Hadid is often presented as an artist who conceives her buildings entirely ab initio.” — Ellis Woodman, The Daily Telegraph (London), 3 Sept. 2012 “Two months ago, the Supreme Court…
Happy Hump Day Yep, it’s Wednesday, the middle of the week, and in my neck of the woods, commonly called Hump Day. And later, we will. Enjoy. By the way, if you share this post by clicking one of the Twitter buttons on this page, you’ll receive an even sexier image depicting Happy Hump Day. My…
Executed Today Earlier, in my poking around the net, I discovered this website blog, ‘executedtoday.com‘. It’s been in existence years. Fits the season, don’t you think? As I pressed the topic further, I found thousands of images appropriate to the theme. Though I knew that gruesome current-day images exist, I was surprised just how many…
Holy Missing Feed Batman! Before I lose it again, I want to send everyone an update. For more than two weeks, my posts have not been going out to my email subscribers. Holy missing feed batman. I do not know why, it is working at this moment, but it is. So while it is, I…
Word of the Day: Lavation Lavation (noun) lay-VAY-shun Definition : the act or an instance of washing or cleansing Examples “… we cannot keep the skin healthy without frequent lavations of the whole body in pure water. It is impossible to calculate the benefits of this simple practice.” — Walt Whitman, “Bathing, Cleanliness, Personal Beauty,”…
Word of the Day: Waggish Waggish (adjective) WAG-ish Definition 1 : resembling or characteristic of a wag : displaying good-humored mischief 2 : done or made for sport : humorous Examples “A warm person who enjoys banter with often-waggish reporters, [Elizabeth] Brenner joked that her next move would be to take a newspaper-carrier route in Pewaukee….
Word of the Day: Nemesis Nemesis (noun) NEM-uh-sis Definition 1 a : one that inflicts retribution or vengeance b : a formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent 2 a : an act or effect of retribution b : a source of harm or ruin : curse Examples “My nemesis was a young woman who,…
Word of the Day: Univocal Univocal (adjective) yoo-NIV-uh-kul Definition 1 : having one meaning only 2 : unambiguous Examples The president declared that it was important to send a univocal message of support to the beleaguered country. “Often cited as America’s greatest indigenous art form, jazz wriggles away from any univocal definition, resisting the confines…
