Subject: Word of the Day: Eyeball Frazzle
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DUMMIES DAILY: Word of the Day
http://www.dummiesdaily.com
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TODAY'S eTIP(TM): Eyeball Frazzle
inquorate (in-KWA-rayt) adjective
A meeting attended by too few people to form a quorum (the
minimum number
of members required to be present for valid transaction
of business).
[From Latin quorum, literally `of whom,' from the wording of the commission
issued to designate members of a body.]
"Membership has slumped from 500 to just 350 since the
election and many
local meetings are inquorate."
Michael White, et al., Labour in Turmoil Over Candidate
Selection,
The Guardian (UK), May 30, 2000.
eyeball frazzle (IY bal FRA zuhl)
noun
The unofficial term for the condition of those who read too much
information on the Internet.
Ed had sat at his computer for nine hours straight
reading
trivia on the Web. When he finished, he had
(gasp!) eyeball
frazzle(loud scream)!
For more computer terms, see Illustrated Computer Dictionary For
Dummies [ http://catalog.dummies.com/product.asp?isbn=076450732X ],
by Dan Gookin.
The Word of the Day for July 3 is:
bon vivant \bahn-vee-VAHNT or bohn-vee-VAHN\
(noun)
: a person having cultivated,
refined, and sociable tastes
especially in respect to food and drink
Example sentence:
Mr. Murray is a congenial bon vivant
who seems to relish
the fine art of conversation almost as much as he does the fine
art of French cooking.
Did you know?
Fans of fine French wine and cuisine
won't be surprised to
hear that the French language gave us a number of words for
those who enjoy good living and good eating. "Gourmet,"
"gourmand," and "gastronome" come from French, as does "bon
vivant." In the late 17th century, English speakers borrowed
this French phrase, which literally means "good liver." No, we
don't mean "liver," as in that iron-rich food your mother made
you eat. We mean "liver," as in "one who lives" -- in this
case, "one who lives well."
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litany \LIH-tuh-nee\ (noun)
1 : a prayer consisting of a series
of invocations and
supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the
congregation
2 a : a resonant or repetitive chant
*b : a usually
lengthy recitation or enumeration
Example sentence:
"I don't want you to be late again,"
said Luke, "and I
certainly don't want to hear your usual litany of excuses."
Did you know?
"Litany" came to English through Old
French and Late
Latin, and ultimately from the Greek word "litaneia," meaning
"entreaty." A "litany" refers literally to a type of prayer in
which a series of lines are spoken alternately by a leader and
a congregation. Recent decades have seen the development of two
figurative senses. The chant-like quality of a literal litany
led to the "repetitive chant" sense. Also, the repetitious
nature of the original litany led to the "lengthy recitation"
sense.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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fugacious (fleeting as a fugue)
fugacious [fyoo GAY shus]
adjective
1. Passing quickly away; fleeting; ephemeral.
2. (Botanical) Falling soon after blooming, as some flowers.
Alas, the youthful effects of Roxanne's
mushroom-and-pastrami facial turned
out to be fugacious.
imbricate (gutter talk)
imbricate [IM bri kayt]
verb
(transitive) To place (tiles, shingles, etc.) in overlapping
order.
(intransitive) To overlap evenly, as fish scales do.
Luella imbricated sticky notes all over
one cubicle wall to
remind her of all the items she needed
to check for on eBay.
Imbricate comes from the Latin imbricare, meaning, "to cover with
gutter tiles," which in turn has its roots in imbrax, "gutter
tile," and ultimately, imber, "rain."
intransigent \in-TRAN-suh-juhnt; in-TRAN-zuh-juhnt\, adjective:
Uncompromising; irreconcilable; not capable of being swayed
or diverted from a course;
unsusceptible to persuasion.
"He was intransigent at times, and almost
playfully yielding at others."
--"The Decline and Fall of a Sure Thing,"
New York Times, September 10, 1989
"'It's not the so-called intransigent
and greedy owners that are blocking the deal',
Stern said. 'It's no one that's blocking
the deal. It's just two sides that cannot
agree.'"
--"Both Sides See NBA Season as Ever
More Remote," New York Times,
December 5, 1998
"The intransigent problems -- budget
deficits, bureaucracies, general human
failings -- bother Mr. Brinkley most
of all."
--Douglas A. Sylva, review of Everyone
is Entitled to My Opinion by David
Brinkley, New York Times, November 24,
1996
extol \ik-STOHL\, transitive verb:
To praise highly; to glorify; to [1]exalt.
The processes of nature,
which most writers extol as
symbols of renewal and
eternal life, were always seen
darkly by Kerouac.
--Ellis Amburn, [2]Subterranean Kerouac: The
Hidden Life of
Jack Kerouac
Let your deeds themselves praise you, for here
I leave them
in all their glory, lacking words to extol
them.
--Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Mancha
Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
--Arthur Christopher
Benson, Song from Pomp
and
Circumstance by Sir Edward Elgar
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Extol derives from Latin extollere, "to lift up, praise,"
from
ex-, "up from" + tollere, "to lift up, elevate."
frisson \free-SOHN\, noun:
A moment of intense excitement;
a shudder; an emotional
thrill.
When we think a story
hasn't been invented, there's an
extra frisson in reading it.
--"Too true," [1]Independent, April 12, 1998
As every parent
knows, children have a love-hate
relationship with stories
about monsters. They love the
frisson of hearing about such
terrifying creatures as the
Cyclops -- but hate to think
about what they might do if
they bumped into one.
--"Strange but true:
One in the eye for all those
Homer-phobes," [2]Daily Telegraph, June 21,
1998
When we stopped in traffic
at the Plaza de la Cibeles on
the Paseo del Prado, where a grandiose
18th-century statue
of the goddess of fertility poised
on a chariot seemed to
be waiting for the
light to change, a little frisson of
pleasure jolted through
me, because this part of Madrid
reminded me of Paris.
--"Counting Pesetas in Madrid,"
[3]New York Times, March
17, 1996
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Frisson comes from the French,
from Old French friçon, "a
trembling," ultimately from Latin frigere, "to be cold."
irrefragable \ih-REH-fruh-guh-bul or ear-ih-FRAG-uh-bul\
(adjective)
1 : impossible to refute
*2 : impossible to break or alter
Example sentence:
Louis requested an extension to complete
his essay for the
English competition, but contest officials informed him that
the
rules were irrefragable.
Did you know?
Since at least 1533, "irrefragable"
has been used as an
English adjective modifying things (such as arguments or data)
that are impossible to refute. It derives from the Late Latin
adjective "irrefragabilis" (of approximately the same meaning),
which is itself derived from the Latin verb "refragari," meaning
"to oppose, resist." "Irrefragable" rather quickly developed
a
second sense referring to things (such as rules, laws, and even
objects) that cannot be broken or changed. There was once also
a third sense that applied to inflexible or obstinate people.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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conventicle \kun-VEN-tih-kul\ (noun)
1 : assembly, meeting
2 : an assembly of an irregular or unlawful
character
*3 : an assembly for religious worship; especially
: a secret meeting for worship not sanctioned by law
Example sentence:
Religious dissidents in 17th-century
England could be
arrested for attending conventicles.
Did you know?
"Conventicle" comes to us from the Latin
"conventiculum,"
the diminutive of "conventus," meaning "assembly." "Conventus"
(which also gave English the word "convent") is itself derived
from the Latin word "convenire," meaning "to come together."
The Latin "conventiculum" meant "place of assembly" (it was
applied in particular to Roman Christian meetinghouses) or
simply "assembly." The English "conventicle" originally had the
simple "assembly" meaning. It then developed an application to
illegal meetings, which in turn led to the arrival of a sense
describing secret meetings for worship in a religion proscribed
by law. And finally, "conventicle" developed a fourth sense of
"meetinghouse," echoing the earlier use of "conventiculum."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
smarm·y Pronunciation Key (smärm)
adj. smarm·i·er, smarm·i·est
1.Hypocritically, complacently, or effusively
earnest; unctuous. See Synonyms at unctuous.
2.Sleek.
verbicide \VER-buh-syde\ (noun)
*1 : deliberate distortion of the sense of a word
(as in
punning)
2 : one who distorts the sense of a word
Example sentence:
"Homicide and verbicide -- that is, violent
treatment of a
word with fatal results to its legitimate meaning, which is its
life -- are alike forbidden." (Oliver Wendell Holmes, _The
Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table_, 1858)
Did you know?
If you think "verbicide" sounds like a silly
way of saying
"the killing of a verb," you're not entirely wrong. "Verbicide"
was formed by combining the Latin word for "word" itself, which
is "verbum," with the English suffix "-cide," meaning "killer"
or "killing." "Verbicide" describes the metaphorical "killing"
of a word by the distortion or destruction of its meaning (and
these murderous tendencies are not limited to verbs -- one can
commit verbicide upon any part of speech). It can be applied to
wordplay or punning, or to language distortions that are
intentionally deceptive or euphemistic. It has also developed a
second sense referring to the person who creates such
distortions.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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http://www.Merriam-Webster.combloviate (BLO-vee-ayt) verb intr.
To speak pompously.
[Pseudo-Latin alteration of blow, to boast; popularized by 29th US
President, Warren G. Harding (1865-1923).]
"The Legislature bloviates about protecting our youth and
being sure
that no one is left behind. But at the first sign of trouble,
it's
showing indications that it's more concerned with politics
than
education."
Backing Off in Albany, The Buffalo News, Nov 8, 1999.
contravene \kon-truh-VEEN\, transitive verb:
1. To act or be counter to; to violate.
2. To oppose in argument; to contradict.
In 1620 most people considered the likelihood
of reversing
the seasons inside a building
impossible, and many deemed
it sacrilege, an attempt to contravene
the natural order,
to twist the configuration of the world established
by God.
--Tom Shachtman, [1]Absolute Zero and the
Conquest of Cold
Anorexics, for example, clearly contravene
our evolutionary
dictate to eat.
--Jerry A. Coyne, "Of Vice and
Men," [2]The New Republic,
April 3, 2000
eximious (eg-ZIM-ee-uhs) adjective
Excellent, distinguished.
[From Latin eximius (select, choice), from eximere (to take out, remove).]
"Example" and "exempt" are examples of a few other words that are derived
from the same root.
"The dead greatness of the past is something Argentina
is unable to
forget. In the last few years, two eximious episodes have
been added
to this endless funeral minuet."
Tomas Eloy Martinez, Tombs of Unrest, Transition (Durham,
North Carolina),
1998.
from http://www.wordsmith.org
o·nus
n.
A difficult or disagreeable responsibility or necessity; a burden or
obligation.
A stigma.
Blame.
The burden of proof: The onus was on the defense attorney.
[Latin.]
from http://www.dictionary.com
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incontrovertible \in-kon-truh-VUR-tuh-buhl\, adjective:
Too clear or certain to
admit of dispute; indisputable;
unquestionable.
It is in the nature of philosophical questions
that they do
not have final, incontrovertible answers,
or, more exactly,
that every answer raises new questions.
--George Soros, [1]Open
Society: Reforming Global
Capitalism
And although the evidence
was substantial, it was not
incontrovertible.
--Al Strachan, "Phantom Goal, part 2,"
[2]Toronto Sun, May
23, 1999
Despite speculation based on ancient tales
and ancient art,
no incontrovertible evidence has been discovered
of polio's
existence before the nineteenth
century, at least not in
its epidemic form.
--Sherwin B. Nuland, "A
Summer Plague: Polio and Its
Survivors," [3]New Republic, October 16, 1995
ground zero
n.
The target of a projectile, such as a missile or bomb.
The site directly below, directly above, or at the point of detonation
of a nuclear weapon.
The center of rapid or intense development or change: “The neighborhood
scarcely existed five years ago, but today it is the ground zero from which
designer shops and restaurants radiate” (Robert Clark).
The starting point or most basic level: My client didn't like my preliminary
designs, so I returned to ground zero.
tenebrous \TEH-nuh-bruss\ (adjective)
1 : shut off from the light : dark, murky
*2 : hard to understand : obscure
3 : causing gloom
Example sentence:
The reasons for Aaron's sudden decision to
quit a job he
had seemed to enjoy were tenebrous.
Did you know?
"Tenebrous" means "obscure" or "murky," but
there's
nothing unclear about its history. Etymologists know that the
word derives from the Latin noun "tenebrae," which means
"darkness." "Tenebrous" has been used in English since the 15th
century, and in the 20th century it was joined by some
interesting relations. "Tenebrionid" is the name of a nocturnal
beetle that is usually dark-colored and is also called a
"darkling beetle." "Tenebrism" refers to a style of painting --
associated with the Italian painter Caravaggio -- in which most
of the figures are engulfed in shadow but some are dramatically
illuminated by concentrated light.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.