silas

Comments by silas

• silas commented on the word spiel

  
  German
  
  das Spiel (n.) - a game; backlash
  
  spielen (v.) - to play
  
  I had never seen this word in writing before, except in German class. Then, one day, trying to write about someone who had given a spiel, I looked it up and could not believe they were spelled exactly the same way. I will always feel odd using this word now.

  Sep 19, 2009

• silas commented on the list insults-to-confuse-enemies

  Ah, so it is - and a much-enjoyed word, indeed! Thank you for pointing this out! I don't know why I didn't think to search for it. I suppose I was caught-up.
  Hmmm... Perhaps I should simply change it to "bescumber"? Do you think anyone will mind if I leave it in adjective form for the purposes of this list?

  Sep 19, 2009

• silas commented on the list insults-to-confuse-enemies

  
  Sorry, I decided to add words first and go through them to add definitions and what have you later on. I'm working on it.
  To bescumber someone is to spray them with poo. I decided to list it in the past tense on the grounds that no one reading it is very likely to bescumber anyone else, but that some might enjoy using it as an insult (including myself, should I ever find an opponent worthy of such an exchange). I think calling someone a "bescumbered bufflehead" would be an awesome thing.
  
  Glad you guys like the list so far.
  
  Interesting about the Japanese...
  

  Sep 19, 2009

• silas commented on the word gamp

  An umbrella. (From a large umbrella belonging to a character by the name of Gamp in Dickins' novel, Martin Chuzzlewit.)
  
  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gamp
  
  http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gamp
  
  http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html

  Sep 18, 2009

• silas commented on the word gangrel

  
  "A child who is just starting to walk." (Obs.)
  
  http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html
  
  
  (1) A wandering beggar; a drifter.
  (2) A lanky, loose-jointed person.
  
  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gangrels
  

  Sep 18, 2009

• silas commented on the word glaistig

  
  Of all the definitions I have read for various words... this one is, by far, my favourite:
  
  "Glaistig - Gaelic for beautiful fairy or, just the opposite, a hag in the shape of a goat."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~
  
  I laugh every time.
  Some other sources describe the glaistig as being more like some demented faun, having the head and torso of a fairy, the lower body of a goat, and a certain bloodlust.
  
  http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/scotland/folklore/the-glaistig.html
  
  http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-glaistig.html
  
  The most complete definition I've managed to find, however, is on reference.com, which explains that the glaistig comes from Scottish mythology and that its shape and intentions vary from story to story.
  
  http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Glaistig

  Sep 18, 2009

• silas commented on the word gleed

  
  (Archaic)
  
  "A glowing coal; an ember."
  
  ~ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gleed ~
  
  
  "A live coal. Can also mean a beam of light."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 18, 2009

• silas commented on the word gradgrind

  
  "One who is interested only in the cold, hard facts."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 18, 2009

• silas commented on the word graminivorous

  
  "Feeding or subsisting on grass."
  
  ~ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/graminivorous ~

  Sep 18, 2009

• silas commented on the word hodmandod

  
  "A strange person; a scarecrow."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~
  
  
  Syn. - Dodman
  
  
  A snail; a snail shell; any shellfish which casts its shell (e.g. the lobster).
  
  ~ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Dodman ~
  

  Sep 18, 2009

• silas commented on the word lopeholt

  
  "A place that's safe; a refuge"
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~
  
  

  Sep 18, 2009

• silas commented on the word malist

  
  "Someone who feels that this world is just bad, not the worst or most terrible place but, nevertheless, still pretty bad."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~
  
  
  A pessimist.
  
  Also: malism (n.) - the belief that the world is evil.

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word musophobist

  
  "A person who doesn't like poetry and is suspicious of it."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word nychthemeron

  
  "A full period of day and night; 24 hours."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word pandiculation

  
  "The stretching of one's body that often accompanies yawning."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word rawky

  
  "Foggy, damp, and cold."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word rhinarium

  
  "The hairless and moist nose of some mammals."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word satisdiction

  
  "Saying enough."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word scofflaw

  
  "Someone who contemptuously breaks the law, especially a law that is difficult to enforce."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word slangrel

  
  "A long, lean thing or person."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word slidikins!

  
  "By God's eyelids!"
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word youf

  
  "A bark that is muffled."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word surfle

  
  "A face wash or cosmetic." (obs.)
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word thwarterous

  
  Twisted or gnarled.
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~
  
  

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word troke

  
  "To fail; to be unable to do something; to deceive."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~
  
  
  
  A castle checkers game copyrighted 1956 by Production Marketing Co.

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word trypall

  
  "A tall, lanky, slovenly person."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word vagarious

  
  "Erratic or unpredictable in behavior or direction."
  
  ~ http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word yesternight

  
  HORATIO: I saw him once; he was a goodly king.
  
  HAMLET: He was a man, take him for all in all: I shall not look upon his like again.
  
  HORATIO: My lord, I think I saw him yesternight.
  
  HAMLET: Saw who?
  
  HORATIO: My lord, the king your father.
  
  ~ Hamlet/Shakespeare ~

  Sep 17, 2009

• silas commented on the word hoary

  
  "The drunkest of Hrothgar's thanes come reeling and clanking down from their wall-hung beds, all shouting their meady, outrageous boasts, their heavy swords aswirl like eagles' wings. 'Woe, woe, woe!" cries Hrothgar, hoary with winters, peeking in, wide-eyed from his bedroom in back."
  
  ~ Grendel/John Gardner/1971 ~

  Sep 17, 2009

Comments for silas