People will say anything, which is why one should not let oneself become upset over (almost) anything anyone says.
Do you know the word bushwa? We ought to raise it from its desuetude.
Category: Vocabulary
Does ‘Aunt’ Have a Latin-Based Adjectival Form?
The following weighty question flashed across my mind this morning: which word is to 'aunt' as 'avuncular' is to 'uncle'? A little Internet pokey-wokey brought me to materteral.
Maternal, paternal, fraternal, sororal, avuncular, materteral!
Hard to pronounce and useless for purposes of communication with hoi polloi, but interesting nonetheless.
I pity those who interests are exhausted by the utile.
Word of the Day: Dehiscence
1. Biology: the release of materials by the splitting open of an organ or tissue.2. Botany: the natural bursting open of capsules, fruits, anthers, etc., for the discharge of their contents.3. Surgery: the bursting open of a surgically closed wound.
Most people have pitifully limited vocabularies. It is due to laziness in most cases. Don't pass over words you don't know. Write them down. Look them up. Compile lists. Review the lists.
Word of the Day: Conscient
If you are tired of 'conscious' and desire a stylistic variant, you may use 'conscient,' though it is a term that has fallen into desuetude. "They will make way for the unrepentant barbaric hordes of those who were conditioned throughout their conscient lives to believe that their time would never come." (Conrad Black)
An enjoyable way to resist change-for-the-sake-of-change 'progressive' knuckleheads is to resurrect and use obsolete words.
Of ‘Broach’ and ‘Brook’
Word of the Day: Fainéant
n. irresponsible idler.
adj. idle and ineffective: indolent.
A Guide to Eighteenth Century English Vocabulary
Word of the Day: Thalassocracy
A thalassocracy (from Greek language θάλασσα (thalassa), meaning "sea", and κρατεῖν (kratein), meaning "to rule", giving θαλασσοκρατία(thalassokratia), "rule of the sea") is a state with primarily maritime realms—an empire at sea (such as the Phoenician network of merchant cities) or a sea-borne empire. (Wikipedia)
Putin is now massing troops near Ukraine. Iran is absorbing Iraq and Syria. China has carved out a thalassocracy in the South China Sea. Tensions will only rise in these areas in the next 90 days, to the point of either outright war or more insidious and humiliating withdrawals from U.S. interests and allies. Either scenario favors Trump’s Jacksonian bluster.
Word of the Day: Razzia
Definition: A hostile raid for purposes of conquest, plunder, and capture of slaves, especially one carried out by Moors in North Africa.
Origin: Mid 19th century: via French from Algerian Arabic ġāziya 'raid'.
Example: "So by way of repetition, and in the face of paralyzing ennui, we affirm that this act of despicable treachery, this razzia in Orlando, arises out of the Islamic religion."