"My dear as a matter of fact I have been a collector of gewgaws for all my life. I believe gew gaws is a northern word and gimcracks southern. Added to this I take umbrage with the connotation that they are gaudy. They are indeed beeuuteeful. Love, Mom"
"Ilan Ros's jowls are scarlet, and he's wearing a loose apron over his Pantagruelian belly. He begins by gobbling up three slices of cold meat in quick succession and then wipes his mouth on a paper napkin." Yasmina Khadra (pen name of Mohammed Moulessehoul); The Attack (translated by John Cullen); Doubleday; 2006.
Wow. What a great passage. It takes me back to nights spent on the Appalachian trail, watching a summer storm from a shelter warm and dry in my down bag.
I have been known to have(?), suffer from(?), imagine(?)quixotry at times. How the heck do you use this word?
Nice word, though! : ) ................. "That form of delusion which leads to extravagant and absurd undertakings or sacrifices in obedience to a morbidly romantic ideal of duty or honor, as illustrated by the exploits of Don Quixote in knight-errantry."
sera commented on the word gewgaws
Gewgaws Vs. Gimcracks on Postcards from Yo Mamma:
"My dear as a matter of fact I have been a collector of gewgaws for all my life. I believe gew gaws is a northern word and gimcracks southern. Added to this I take umbrage with the connotation that they are gaudy. They are indeed beeuuteeful.
Love, Mom"
May 11, 2008
sera commented on the list words-from-word-a-day-email-lists
"Ilan Ros's jowls are scarlet, and he's wearing a loose apron over his Pantagruelian belly. He begins by gobbling up three slices of cold meat in quick succession and then wipes his mouth on a paper napkin." Yasmina Khadra (pen name of Mohammed Moulessehoul); The Attack (translated by John Cullen); Doubleday; 2006.
May 6, 2008
sera commented on the list words-from-word-a-day-email-lists
Word a Day - Pantagruelian
May 6, 2008
sera commented on the list compare-words
ephemeral / ethereal
Aug 29, 2007
sera commented on the word sagacious
sagacious : perspicacious
Aug 29, 2007
sera commented on the word raconteur
Making up analogies...
raconteur:stories
?:?
Aug 29, 2007
sera commented on the word runic
1. consisting of or set down in runes: "runic inscriptions"
2. having some secret or mysterious meaning: "runic rhyme"
Aug 28, 2007
sera commented on the word inimitably
"he has an inimitably verbose style"
Aug 16, 2007
sera commented on the word inimical
Note to self:
compare inimitable
inimitable- peerless. Antonym: common
inimical- hostile. Antonym: amicable
Aug 16, 2007
sera commented on the word inimitable
Note to self:
compare inimical
inimitable- peerless. Antonym: common
inimical- hostile. Antonym: amicable
Aug 16, 2007
sera commented on the list huck-s-perspective
Wow. What a great passage. It takes me back to nights spent on the Appalachian trail, watching a summer storm from a shelter warm and dry in my down bag.
Thanks for posting the quote.
Aug 16, 2007
sera commented on the word outsider
same here
Aug 16, 2007
sera commented on the word moodle
Wow, you mean this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodle
Looks like a great thing. I'll have to check it out.
Aug 16, 2007
sera commented on the word bloodcurdingly
I think you left out an "l"...bloodcurdling - well, bloodcurdlingly
Aug 16, 2007
sera commented on the word spendthrift
"Someone who spends money prodigally"
Aug 16, 2007
sera commented on the word urbanity
"there is an important difference between rusticity and urbanity"
Aug 16, 2007
sera commented on the word pertinacious
I bet this is related to tenacious. Maybe that will help me separate it from all of those other per-par-pen words:
pernicious
parsimonious
penurious
perspicacious
persnickety (well, that one's easy) - hey, I'm just finding that pernickety is a word! What the heck? Oh, it means the same as persnickety, just not the "colloquial" meaning. Hmm.
impecunious
Aug 15, 2007
sera commented on the word piquancy
The piquancy of the evening was refreshing. ~Sera
Good usage?
Aug 15, 2007
sera commented on the word pethetic
No, it's not pathetic. Everybody does it. Don't be so hard on yourself!
(Just kidding ; )
Aug 15, 2007
sera commented on the word quixotry
I have been known to have(?), suffer from(?), imagine(?)quixotry at times. How the heck do you use this word?
Nice word, though! : )
.................
"That form of delusion which leads to extravagant and absurd undertakings or sacrifices in obedience to a morbidly romantic ideal of duty or honor, as illustrated by the exploits of Don Quixote in knight-errantry."
Aug 15, 2007
sera commented on the word pethetic
spelling?
Aug 15, 2007
sera commented on the word inspissate
"Letting citizens sue polluters ... would only inspissate the logjam of litigation." (The New York Times, August 5, 1985)
Aug 14, 2007
sera commented on the word ennui
Gotta have ennui.
Aug 14, 2007
sera commented on the list the-no-no-list
I like titular.
:)
Aug 14, 2007
sera commented on the list the-no-no-list
Consider self deprecating. One slip of tongue and...
Aug 14, 2007
sera commented on the word grandiose
to be grandiose is to display an exaggerated manner
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word scurrilous
antonym: decent
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word panagyrize
antonym: disparage
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word pedantic
"annoyingly proud of learning"
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word respite
respite is a time of temporary rest
truce is a time of temporary peace
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word innoxiousness
antonyms: pure, innocent
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word cleave
How is it that cleave means "split" and "cling to" at the same time?
Hmm.
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word premonish
"to admonish beforehand"
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word hegira
"A journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment"
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word jeremiad
A long and mournful complaint
"a jeremiad against any form of government"
"the function of a jeremiad is to premonish"
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word burnoose
"A long hooded cloak woven of wool in one piece; worn by Arabs and Moors"
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word alchemist
A mountebank practice unsubstantiated medicine as an alchemist practices unsubstantiated science
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word mountebank
charlatan
"A flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes"
A mountebank practices unsubstantiated medicine as an alchemist practices unsubstantiated science
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word stygian
"Dark and dismal as of the rivers Acheron and Styx in Hades. Hellish"
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word latency
"The state of being not yet evident or active"
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word tenebrous
"dark and gloomy"
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word tenebrous
darkness is tenebrous
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word refulgent
incandescence is refulgent
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word incandescence
incandescence is refulgent
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word solecism
solecism is a breach of etiquette
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word pittance
"An inadequate payment"
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word canard
"A deliberately misleading fabrication"
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word encomium
encomium is a speech about someone redoubtable
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word redoubtable
encomium is a speech about someone redoubtable
Aug 13, 2007
sera commented on the word panegyric
encomium
Aug 13, 2007