#65

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year 2007
Thousands of you took part in the search for Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2007, and the vast majority of you chose a small word that packs a pretty big punch. The word you've selected hasn't found its way into a regular Merriam-Webster dictionary yet—but its inclusion in our online Open Dictionary, along with the top honors it's now been awarded—might just improve its chances. This year's winning word first became popular in competitive online gaming forums as part of what is known as l33t ("leet," or "elite") speak—an esoteric computer hacker language in which numbers and symbols are put together to look like letters. Although the double "o" in the word is usually represented by double zeroes, the exclamation is also known to be an acronym for "we owned the other team"—again stemming from the gaming community.
Merriam-Webster's #1 Word of the Year for 2007 based on votes from visitors to our Web site:

1. w00t (interjection)
expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word "yay"
w00t! I won the contest!
Submitted by: Kat from Massachusetts on Nov. 30, 2005 23:18


Click on each of the other words in the Top Ten List for their definitions in either Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary or Merriam-Webster's Open Dictionary:
facebook
conundrum
quixotic
blamestorm
sardoodledom
apathetic
Pecksniffian
hypocrite
charlatan



from

#64

holidaze
term that defines the feelings of confusion and excitement people have between thanksgiving and christmas; the blur one feels after/during shopping for gifts in crowded retail stores with heavy holiday traffic

Finley sat on the couch in a holidaze, after a day of hectic Christmas shopping on Black Friday.

#63

nap·py /ˈnæpi/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[nap-ee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -pies. Chiefly British.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
a diaper.
[Origin: 1925–30; nap(kin) + -y2]



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gizmodo.com

#62

dishabille \dis-uh-BEEL\, noun:
1. The state of being carelessly or partially dressed.
2. Casual or lounging attire.
3. An intentionally careless or casual manner.

People meant to be fully clothed lounge around in dishabille.
-- John Simon, "Tangled Up in Blue", New York Magazine, March 26, 2001

But, unlike the Black Knights, Princeton . . . was in varying states of dishabille -- some players in warmups, some in uniform, some halfway between.
-- Daily Princetonian, December 13, 2000

She was dressed, that is to say, in dishabille, wrapped in a long, warm dressing-gown.
-- Alexandre Dumas, Twenty Years After

She imagines the shocked faces of Josiah or her father or her mother were any of them to come around the corner and catch her in her dishabille.
-- Anita Shreve, Fortune's Rocks


Dishabille comes from French déshabiller, "to undress," from dés-, "dis-" + habiller, "to clothe, to dress."

#61

tarradiddle \tair-uh-DID-uhl\, noun:
1. A petty falsehood; a fib.
2. Pretentious nonsense.

Oh please! Even in the parallel universe, tarradiddles of this magnitude cannot go unchallenged.
-- "Taxation in the parallel universe", Sunday Business, June 11, 2000

Mr B did not tell a whopper. This was no fib, plumper, porker or tarradiddle. There was definitely no deceit, mendacity or fabrication.
-- "Looking back", Western Mail, May 11, 2002

Other amendments, such as a chef at the birthday party, a dancing bear in the hunting scene, and a brief solo for the usually pedestrian Catalabutte, seemed more capricious, and the synopsis suggested further changes had been planned but perhaps found impractical. Some tarradiddle with roses for death and rebirth also necessitated different flowers for the traditional Rose Adagio.
-- John Percival, "The other St Petersburg company", Independent, November 22, 2001


Tarradiddle is of unknown origin.




snorg

#60

hirsute \HUR-soot; HIR-soot; hur-SOOT; hir-SOOT\, adjective:
Covered with hair; set with bristles; shaggy; hairy.

The Bear . . . makes the rounds of the clubs "disguised" in trench coat and broad-brimmed hat, hoping (successfully, it seems) to be mistaken for a rather hirsute human.
-- Richard M. Sudhalter, "The Bear Comes Home': Composing the Words That Might Capture Jazz", New York Times, August 29, 1999

First of all, your nose is nearly covered with your bloody moustache and your beard, Mr Gogarty replied. Mr Allen apologised for his "hirsute" appearance.
-- Paul Cullen, "No ambush sprung on returning Gogarty", Irish Times, March 23, 1999

He was incredibly hirsute: there was even a thick pelt of hair on the back of his hands.
-- Tama Janowitz, By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee


Hirsute comes from Latin hirsutus, "covered with hair, rough, shaggy, prickly."



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#59

cap-a-pie \cap-uh-PEE\, adverb:
From head to foot; at all points.

Yet it is increasingly hard to ignore other scientific predictions sashaying into the press dressed cap-a-pie in silver lining.
-- Andrew Marr, "Skegness: not so much bracing as basking?", Daily Telegraph, January 14, 2004

The dress code was smart but informal and Cherie Blair cut an appropriately dark but bohemian figure dressed cap-a-pie in floor-length black leather.
-- Cassandra Jardine, "Court of King Tony takes centre stage", Daily Telegraph, September 8, 2001

They are of one shade cap-a-pie, black as midnight and fleet of wing.
-- M.D. Harmon, "Sorry, but it's true: Birds of a feather do flock together", Portland Press Herald, January 5, 2004

In another age, there would have been beheadings, clanging prison doors in the dark Tower; there would have been a second royal court with an army preparing to do battle, prancing steeds and knights armored cap-a-pie.
-- Arnold Beichman, "Spellbinding farewell . . . and fantasy", Washington Times, September 10, 1997


cap-a-pie is from Middle French (de) cap a pé, "from head to foot," from Latin ped, "foot" + caput, "head."



w.woods

#58

dust [duhst] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.
earth or other matter in fine, dry particles.
2.
a cloud of finely powdered earth or other matter in the air.
3.
any finely powdered substance, as sawdust.
4.
the ground; the earth's surface.
5.
the substance to which something, as the dead human body, is ultimately reduced by disintegration or decay; earthly remains.
6.
British.
a.
ashes, refuse, etc.
b.
junk1 (def. 1).
7.
a low or humble condition.
8.
anything worthless.
9.
disturbance; turmoil.
10.
gold dust.
11.
the mortal body of a human being.
12.
a single particle or grain.
13.
Archaic. money; cash.
–verb (used with object)
14.
to wipe the dust from: to dust a table.
15.
to sprinkle with a powder or dust: to dust rosebushes with an insecticide.
16.
to strew or sprinkle (a powder, dust, or other fine particles): to dust insecticide on a rosebush.
17.
to soil with dust; make dusty.
–verb (used without object)
18.
to wipe dust from furniture, woodwork, etc.
19.
to become dusty.
20.
to apply dust or powder to a plant, one's body, etc.: to dust with an insecticide in late spring.
—Idioms
21.
bite the dust,
a.
to be killed, esp. in battle; die.
b.
to suffer defeat; be unsuccessful; fail: Another manufacturer has bitten the dust.
22.
dust off,
a.
Baseball. (of a pitcher) to throw the ball purposely at or dangerously close to (the batter).
b.
to take out or prepare for use again, as after a period of inactivity or storage: I'm going to dust off my accounting skills and try to get a job in the finance department.
c.
to beat up badly: The gang of hoodlums dusted off a cop.
23.
leave one in the dust, to overtake and surpass a competitor or one who is less ambitious, qualified, etc.: Don't be so meek, they'll leave you in the dust.
24.
lick the dust,
a.
to be killed; die.
b.
to humble oneself abjectly; grovel: He will resign rather than lick the dust.
25.
make the dust fly, to execute with vigor or speed: We turned them loose on the work, and they made the dust fly.
26.
shake the dust from one's feet, to depart in anger or disdain; leave decisively or in haste, esp. from an unpleasant situation: As the country moved toward totalitarianism, many of the intelligentsia shook the dust from their feet.
27.
throw dust in someone's eyes, to mislead; deceive: He threw dust in our eyes by pretending to be a jeweler and then disappeared with the diamonds.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE dūst; c. G Dunst vapor

#57

fettle \FET-l\, noun:
A state or condition of fitness or order; state of mind; spirits -- often used in the phrase "in fine fettle."

Aside from the problems with her voice . . . Miss Garland was in fine fettle last night.
-- Vincent Canby, "Judy Garland Sets the Palace Alight", New York Times, August 1, 1967

Back in 1987, the Conservatives won a thumping majority in a June general election, primarily because the economy was seen by grateful voters to be in fine fettle.
-- Larry Elliott, "Danger of a recurring nightmare", The Guardian, June 18, 2001

Many of the nuns were in fine fettle, even into their 80s and 90s.
-- John McCrone, "Sisters of mercy", The Guardian, August 18, 2001

He seems in fine fettle when we meet, and happy to discuss the film that gave him his break.
-- Charlotte O'Sullivan, "Naked ambition", The Guardian, February 7, 1999


Fettle is from Middle English fetlen, "to set in order," originally "to gird up," from Old English fetel, "a girdle."

from Dictonary.com



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#56

brain grenade
a bottle of beer, due to its effects on brains.
the game's about to start, toss me a brain grenade Jack.

Heineken or Guinness?





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#55

large [lahrj] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation adjective, larg·er, larg·est, noun, adverb
–adjective
1.
of more than average size, quantity, degree, etc.; exceeding that which is common to a kind or class; big; great: a large house; a large number; in large measure; to a large extent.
2.
on a great scale: a large producer of kitchen equipment.
3.
of great scope or range; extensive; broad.
4.
grand or pompous: a man given to large, bombastic talk.
5.
(of a map, model, etc.) representing the features of the original with features of its own that are relatively large so that great detail may be shown.
6.
famous; successful; important: He's very large in financial circles.
7.
Obsolete. generous; bountiful; lavish.
8.
Obsolete.
a.
unrestrained in the use of language; gross; improper.
b.
unrestrained in behavior or manner; uninhibited.
9.
Nautical. free (def. 33).
–noun
10.
Music. the longest note in mensural notation.
11.
Obsolete. generosity; bounty.
–adverb
12.
Nautical. with the wind free or abaft the beam so that all sails draw fully.
—Idioms
13.
at large,
a.
free from restraint or confinement; at liberty: The murderer is still at large.
b.
to a considerable extent; at length: to treat a subject at large.
c.
as a whole; in general: the country at large.
d.
Also, at-large. representing the whole of a state, district, or body rather than one division or part of it: a delegate at large.
14.
in large, on a large scale; from a broad point of view: a problem seen in large. Also, in the large.

[Origin: 1125–75; ME < OF < L larga, fem. of largus ample, generous]

—Related forms
largeness, noun

—Synonyms 1. huge, enormous, immense, gigantic, colossal; massive; vast. See great.
—Antonyms 1. small.

#54

cheer·i·o [cheer-ee-oh, cheer-ee-oh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation interjection, noun, plural cheer·i·os. Chiefly British
–interjection
1.
good-bye; good-bye and good luck.
2.
(used as a toast to one's drinking companions.)
–noun
3.
a good-bye or farewell.
4.
a toast of “cheerio!”

[Origin: 1905–10; see cheero; source of -i- is unclear]

#53

sphere [sfeer] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, sphered, spher·ing.
–noun
1.
Geometry.
a.
a solid geometric figure generated by the revolution of a semicircle about its diameter; a round body whose surface is at all points equidistant from the center. Equation: x 2 + y2 + z2 = r2.
b.
the surface of such a figure; a spherical surface.
2.
any rounded body approximately of this form; a globular mass, shell, etc.
3.
Astronomy.
a.
a planet or star; heavenly body.
b.
celestial sphere.
c.
any of the transparent, concentric, spherical shells, or layers, in which, according to ancient belief, the planets, stars, and other heavenly bodies were set.
4.
the place or environment within which a person or thing exists; a field of activity or operation: to be out of one's professional sphere.
5.
a particular social world, stratum of society, or walk of life: His social sphere is small.
6.
a field of something specified: a sphere of knowledge.
–verb (used with object)
7.
to enclose in or as if in a sphere.
8.
to form into a sphere.
9.
to place among the heavenly spheres.

[Origin: 1250–1300; < LL sphéra, L sphaera globe < Gk sphaǐra ball; r. ME spere < OF spere < LL spéra, var. of sphéra]

—Related forms
sphereless, adjective
spherelike, adjective

—Synonyms 4. orbit, area, province, compass, realm, domain. 5. class, rank.

#52

"Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane."

......................

Qutodiationing Word suggestion

col·late [kuh-leyt, koh-, ko-, koh-leyt, kol-eyt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–verb (used with object), -lat·ed, -lat·ing.
1.
to gather or arrange in their proper sequence (the pages of a report, the sheets of a book, the pages of several sets of copies, etc.).
2.
Bookbinding. to verify the arrangement of (the gathered sheets of a book), usually by inspecting the signature at the foot of the first page of each sheet or the mark printed on the back of each sheet or on the spine of each signature.
3.
to compare (texts, statements, etc.) in order to note points of agreement or disagreement.
4.
Bibliography. to verify the number and order of the sheets of (a volume) as a means of determining its completeness.
5.
Computers. to merge (sequenced data from two or more data sets or files) to produce a new sequenced data set or file.
6.
Ecclesiastical. to present by collation, as to a benefice.

[Origin: 1550–60; < L collātus (ptp. of conferre to bring together), equiv. to col- col-1 + lā- (suppletive s. of ferre) + -tus ptp. ending]

—Related forms
col·lat·a·ble, adjective
col·la·tor, noun

#51

bete noire \bet-NWAHR\, noun:
Something or someone particularly detested or avoided; a bugbear.

Even more regrettable, as far as Dame Edna is concerned, is the presence of her old bete noire, the extravagantly disgusting Sir Les Patterson.
-- "The Dame's New Man", Daily Telegraph, April 18, 1998

Never an exceptional student, Andrews somehow managed to navigate the academy's rigorous courses with satisfactory grades, though all forms of mathematics were agonizing to him, remaining what he called his "bete noire" throughout life.
-- Charles Gallenkamp, Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions


Bête noire is French for "black beast."

#50

woolgathering \WOOL-gath-(uh)-ring\, noun:
Indulgence in idle daydreaming.

Similarly, in the meadow, if you laze too late into the fall, woolgathering, snow could fill your mouth.
-- Edward Hoagland, "Earth's eye", Sierra, May 1999

It would be easy to slip off into woolgathering and miss a deadline.
-- Jeraldine Saunders, Washington Post, March 4, 2004

Plagued by guilt, they took refuge in wine, women, and woolgathering.
-- Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust

The soprano roused Fergus from his woolgathering.
-- Sandra Brown, Where There's Smoke


Woolgathering derives from the literal sense, "gathering fragments of wool."

#49

soi-disant \swah-dee-ZAHN\, adjective:
Self-styled; so-called.

The study exposes most varieties of 'human resource management' as a complete waste ofttimes promoted by soi-disant gurus and self-serving consultants with an eye for a quick buck.
-- "Support for an old-fashioned view", Independent, May 12, 1994

The troupe, soi-disant egalitarians, mostly turn out to be royal phonies.
-- Craig Offman, "Whiz Kid", Time, February 1, 1999


Soi-disant comes from the French, from soi, "oneself" + disant, "saying," present participle of dire, "to say."

#48

flummery \FLUHM-uh-ree\, noun:
1. A name given to various sweet dishes made with milk, eggs, flour, etc.
2. Empty compliment; unsubstantial talk or writing; mumbo jumbo; nonsense.

He had become disturbed by the number of listeners phoning in with such flummery as tales of self-styled clairvoyants' uncannily correct forecasts.
-- Suzanne Seixas, "One Man's Finances", Money, September 1, 1986

One reason there is so much flummery in the global warming debate is that the weather in the Northeast United States, where the opinion-makers live, has a disproportionate effect on whether greenhouse concerns are taken seriously.
-- Gregg Easterbrook, "Warming Up", New Republic, November 8, 1999

It is Dr. August's claim that he receives inspiration from spirits, that through his music the departed can speak to those they left behind. Although this is sometimes unabashed flummery, there are moments when Fitz seems to make a real connection with those who have crossed over.
-- Paul Quarrington, "Psychic Hotline", New York Times, September 3, 2000


Flummery comes from Welsh llymru, a soft, sour oatmeal food.

#47

idiotarod
The daily commute to school, work, home, etc.
After five, time to commence the idiotarod sled race to home.

#46

abscond \ab-SKOND\, intransitive verb:
To depart secretly; to steal away and hide oneself -- used especially of persons who withdraw to avoid arrest or prosecution.

The criminal is not concerned with influencing or affecting public opinion: he simply wants to abscond with his money or accomplish his mercenary task in the quickest and easiest way possible so that he may reap his reward and enjoy the fruits of his labours.
-- Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism

Pearl, now an orphan (her father having absconded shortly after her conception), has been taken to live with her great-aunt Margaret in the north of England.
-- Zoe Heller, Everything You Know


Abscond comes from Latin abscondere, "to conceal," from ab-, abs-, "away" + condere, "to put, to place."

#45

purblind \PUR-blynd\, adjective:
1. Having greatly reduced vision.
2. Lacking in insight or discernment.

Add to this that the work seems unsure of its audience, providing no footnotes or exact references, but concluding with a bizarre parade of bibliographical essays running to 59 pages; that it gives the date only about once every 100 pages (and then not always the right date...) and leaves us feeling as if we were wandering purblind in some deep cave.
-- James R. Kincaid, "The Sum Of His Oddities", New York Times, January 13, 1991

Those changes, whose pressing necessity by the end of the 1980s was surely evident to all but the most purblind, would have taken place in any case.
-- Bryan Gould, "Mandy", New Statesman, January 29, 1999

But something is fundamentally wrong at Leeds, something that even the most ardent supporters -- and other purblind apologists -- must surely come to recognise.
-- Kevin Mitchell, "How Leeds lost it", The Observer, March 10, 2002

On and on the weary litany of purblind negativity proceeds.
-- Eric Evans, "The Theory Man.", History Today, June 1997


Purblind derives from Middle English pur blind, wholly blind, from pur, pure + blind. In time it came to mean something less than wholly blind.

#44

quotidian \kwoh-TID-ee-uhn\, adjective:
1. Occurring or returning daily; as, a quotidian fever.
2. Of an everyday character; ordinary; commonplace.

Erasmus thought More's career as a lawyer was a waste of a fine mind, but it was precisely the human insights More derived from his life in the quotidian world that gave him a moral depth Erasmus lacked.
-- "More man than saint", Irish Times, April 4, 1998

She also had a sense of fun that was often drummed out under the dull, quotidian beats of suburban life.
-- Meg Wolitzer, Surrender, Dorothy


Quotidian is from Latin quotidianus, from quotidie, "daily," from quotus, "how many, as many, so many" + dies, "day."

#43

agglomeration \uh-glom-uh-RAY-shuhn\, noun:
1. The act or process of collecting in a mass; a heaping together.
2. A jumbled cluster or mass of usually varied elements.

Female biologists such as Lynn Margulis have suggested that symbiosis is the origin of complex life and that, if artificial intelligence comes about, it will do so by an agglomeration and binding up of functions, rather than through some Frankensteinian hauling down of a single power switch.
-- Roz Kaveney, "The Eight Technologies of Otherness", New Statesman, January 9, 1998

Upon closer inspection, it revealed itself to be an agglomeration of differently shaped and colored prescription eyeglasses, inserted into a thin wall built in front of a window.
-- Susan Harris, "Jean Shin at Frederieke Taylor", Art in America, October, 2004

On flat farmland outside the town of Paulding, Ohio, sits an agglomeration of storage tanks, conveyors and long, rotating kilns that burn 60,000 tons of hazardous waste a year.
-- David Bowermaster, "The cement makers' long sweet ride", U.S. News & World Report, July 19, 1993


Agglomeration is the noun form of agglomerate, "to gather into a ball or mass," which derives from the past participle of Latin agglomerare, "to mass together; to heap up," from ad- + glomerare, "to form into a ball," from glomus, glomer-, "ball."

#42

bricked

To render your computer useless, as useless as a brick.

Usually the result of tampering with the insides and doing irreversible damage. Bricking your hardware leaves you with a new paperweight. Can be the end effect of a faulty flash or firmware update, a modification (mod) gone bad or being struck by lighting, to name a few.

He managed to get his new iMac bricked while trying to boot WinXP on it.

I tried to change graphics cards while my computer was running but I only managed to get my machine bricked.

#41

idee fixe \ee-day-FEEKS\, noun:
An idea that dominates the mind; a fixed idea; an obsession.

The reality of obsession -- its incessant return to the same few themes, scenarios and questions; its meticulous examination and re-examination of banal minutiae for hidden meanings that simply aren't there; the cancerous way an idee fixe usurps other, more interesting thoughts -- is that it is confining, not rebellious, and not fascinating but maddeningly dull.
-- Laura Miller, "The Streetwalkers of San Francisco", New York Times, August 20, 2000

It became an idee fixe that he stubbornly adhered to in spite of the plain evidence . . . that obviously contradicts it.
-- Edwin G. Pulleyblank, "Prosody or pharyngealization in old Chinese?", The Journal of the American Oriental Society, January 12, 1996

Getting back to the idee fixe, let me say that it's what produces strong men and madmen.
-- Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (translated by Gregory Rabassa)


Idee fixe is from the French idée, "idea" + fixe, "fixed."

#40

glabrous \GLAY-bruhs\, adjective:
Smooth; having a surface without hairs, projections, or any unevenness.

How much more powerful then will be the effect -- next week? next month? soon enough -- when Gore, resplendent, clean-shaven, glabrous in his glory, returns from the dead! Radiant! Reborn!
-- Lance Morrow, "Al Gore, and Other Famous Bearded Men", Time, August 16, 2001

We offered to the rebarbative Senator Patrick Leahy's demands on us amused resistance and the promise to buy the glabrous old boy a proper hairpiece.
-- R Emmett Tyrrell Jr., "Jumpin' Jim Jehoshaphat!", The American Spectator, July 1, 2001


Glabrous is from Latin glaber, "smooth, bald."



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#39

Fo Surious

A phrase that means For Sure, or in other words, for serious.
Created by Matt Armijo and Alex Zinda of victorville, ca.

"Yo man that shit was crunk."
"Fo surious! I'm high as a motha!"

#38

badinage \bad-n-AHZH\, noun:
Light, playful talk; banter.

Ken was determined to put the cares of the world behind him and do what he loved best -- having a few celebrity friends round and enjoying an evening of anecdote and badinage over a bottle or two of vintage bubbly and some tasty cheese straws.
-- Bel Littlejohn, "My moustache man", The Guardian, March 24, 2000

The badinage was inconsequential, reduced to who knew whom and wasn't the weather glorious in St. Tropez, or the Bahamas, Hawaii, or Hong Kong?
-- Robert Ludlum, The Matarese Countdown


Badinage comes from French, from badiner, "to trifle, to joke," badin, "playful, jocular."



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P.S. go see Stardust.

#37

ichthyophobia (′ik·thē·ə′fo·bē·ə)
(psychology) An abnormal fear of fish.

#36

bailiwick \BAY-luh-wik\, noun:
1. A person's specific area of knowledge, authority, interest, skill, or work.
2. The office or district of a bailiff.

I'll give it a try, but this is not my bailiwick.
-- Sue Grafton, 'L' Is for Lawless

He "professed ignorance, as of something outside my bailiwick."
-- Marc Aronson, "Wharton and the House of Scribner: The Novelist as a Pain in the Neck", New York Times, January 2, 1994

Fund-raising was Cliff's bailiwick, anyway, and he seemed to have it in hand.
-- Curt Sampson, The Masters

Bailiwick comes from Middle English baillifwik, from baillif, "bailiff" (ultimately from Latin bajulus, "porter, carrier") + wik, "town," from Old English wic, from Latin vicus, "village."



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt8Q7Fsa_Vs

#34

A souvenir (from French, for memory) or memento is an object a traveler brings home for the memories associated with it. Souvenirs include clothing such as T-shirts or hats, and household items such as mugs and bowls, ashtrays, egg timers, spoons and notepads. They may be marked to indicate their origin: "A Souvenir from Clacton-on-Sea".

In Japan, souvenirs are known as meibutsu (products associated with a particular region); and omiyage, candies or other edibles to be shared with co-workers. Omiyage sales are big business at Japanese tourist sites.

Travelers may buy souvenirs as gifts for those who did not make the trip. In Cameroon, the principle is that someone who can afford to travel can afford to bring something back (cadeau) for those who cannot. French bread is a popular cadeau.

#33

roue \roo-AY\, noun:
A man devoted to a life of sensual pleasure; a debauchee; a rake.

I spent some time with Desmond, an old roue who was recovering from a lifetime of excesses in a village near Fontainebleau.
-- Roger Scruton, "Purely medicinal", New Statesman, October 15, 2001

She caught the eye of New York aristocrat Gouverneur Morris, ex-U.S. Minister to France, a one-legged cosmopolitan roue. (Rumor had it that a jealous husband had shot Morris's leg off.)
-- Bill Kauffman, "Unwise Passions", American Enterprise, January 2001

Yet he acted the roue to the end, carrying on an intimate liaison with a girl who worked at the asylum -- he was 74, she was 17.
-- Rex Roberts, "Write Stuff", Insight on the News, December 11, 2000


Roue comes from French, from the past participle of rouer, "to break upon the wheel" (from the feeling that a roue deserves such a punishment), ultimately from Latin rota, "wheel."

--------

roux [roo] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation,
–noun
a cooked mixture of butter or other fat and flour used to thicken sauces, soups, etc.

[Origin: 1805–15; < F (beurre) roux brown (butter) < L russus red-brown, red-haired, akin to ruber red]

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Roux (r) Pronunciation Key
French bacteriologist who assisted Louis Pasteur on most of his major discoveries. Later, working with Alexandre Yersin, he showed that the symptoms of diphtheria are caused by a lethal toxin produced by the diphtheria bacillus. Roux carried out early work on the rabies vaccine and directed the first tests of the diphtheria antitoxin.

#32

multifarious \muhl-tuh-FAIR-ee-uhs\, adjective:
Having great diversity or variety; of various kinds; diversified.

She is good at constructing a long, multifarious narrative, weaving many minor stories into one, so that you are left with a sense of the fluidity and ambiguity of historical interpretation.
-- Jason Cowley, "It's bright clever... but the result is academic", The Observer, May 27, 2001

Men's opinions, accordingly, on what is laudable or blamable, are affected by all the multifarious causes which influence their wishes in regard to the conduct of others, and which are as numerous as those which determine their wishes on any other subject.
-- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

But as he reached the verge of the lawn and vaulted the retaining wall there, crossed the flagstone walkway and started up the steps of the ad building, the multifarious marvel of his congested brain surprised him--the apes flew right out of his head and he was thinking about California.
-- T. Coraghessan Boyle, Riven Rock


Multifarious derives from Latin multifariam, "on many sides; in many places."




http://www.megamu.com/processing/cyclops/

#31

tintinnabulation \tin-tih-nab-yuh-LAY-shuhn\, noun:
A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.

One found oneself immersed in the infinitely nuanced tintinnabulations of clapping cymbal rhythms passed from one player to the next, in the barely audible, rain-like patter of drums that suddenly grew into an overwhelming mechanical onslaught.
-- Tim Page, "From Japan, The Thundering Drums of Kodo", Newsday, February 24, 1995


Tintinnabulation derives from Latin tintinnabulum "a bell," from tintinnare from tinnire, "to jingle."

#30

trencherman \TREN-chuhr-muhn\, noun:
A hearty eater.

Quietly, almost stealthily, Livingstone has transformed himself . . . into a knowing gourmand-about-town, whose commitment to lunch is only rivalled by that other fabulous trencherman, Fatty Soames.
-- Catherine Bennett, "Vote Ken, vote polenta", The Guardian, March 9, 2000

Expecting that the experience would be too exciting for him to find time to eat, we were amazed to watch him consume a trencherman's breakfast, scarfing down French toast like it was going out of style.
-- Sheila Rothenberg, "Disney Bridges the Generation Gap", USA Today, March, 2001

In the space of the last five years, he fearlessly gained 40 pounds, displaying a trencherman's appetite for life and an admirable disdain for cardiologists and Surgeon Generals whining about moderation.
-- Martin Lewis, "Comb Back, Big Hair - All Is Forgiven", Time, December 23, 2000


Trencherman is from trencher, "a wooden board or platter on which food is served or carved" (from Medieval French trencheoir, from Old French trenchier, "to cut," from Latin truncare, "to lop off, to shorten by cutting") + man. It is related to trench, "a hole cut into the ground."

#29

A balut (Trứng vịt lộn or Hột vịt lộn in Vietnamese, Pong tea khon in Cambodian) is a fertilized duck egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. They are considered delicacies of Asia and especially the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, baluts are mostly sold by street vendors at night in the regions where they are available. They are often served with beer. The Filipino and Malay word balut(balot) roughly translates to mean "wrapped".

wiki/Balut

#28

quash \KWOSH\, transitive verb:
1. (Law) To abate, annul, overthrow, or make void; as, "to quash an indictment."
2. To crush; to subdue; to suppress or extinguish summarily and completely; as, "to quash a rebellion."

The Shelby Globe attributed her death to acute heart failure and yellow jaundice and did its best to quash a curious town rumor that had her being poisoned by eating oyster sandwiches.
-- Tim Page, Dawn Powell: A Biography

The German-French entente made NATO intervention to quash the Balkan civil wars possible, and the collapse of the Soviet Union made NATO's intervention deep into the former Soviet sphere of influence permissible.
-- Thomas L. Friedman, "Was Kosovo World War III?", New York Times, July 2, 1999

[The law] . . . also installed newspaper censorship, enabling the government to quash anything "calculated to jeopardise the success of the operations of any of His Majesty's forces or to assist the enemy."
-- Philip Hoare, Oscar Wilde's Last Stand


Quash comes from Medieval French quasser, from Latin quassare, "to shake violently, to shatter," frequentative form of quatere, "to shake." Quash, "to annul," has been sense-influenced by Late Latin cassare, "to annul," from Latin cassus, "empty," whereas quash, "to crush," has been sense-influenced by squash.



lomography.com

#27

eleemosynary \el-uh-MOS-uh-ner-ee\, adjective:
1. Of or for charity; charitable; as, "an eleemosynary institution."
2. Given in charity; having the nature of alms; as, "eleemosynary assistance."
3. Supported by or dependent on charity; as, "the eleemosynary poor."

We also need to revive the great eleemosynary institutions through which compassionate people serve those in need with both greater flexibility and discipline than government agencies are capable.
-- Clifford F. Thies, "Bring back the bridewell", The World & I, September 1, 1995

An author ought to consider himself, not as a gentleman who keeps a private or eleemosynary treat, but rather as one who keeps a public ordinary, at which all persons are welcome for their money.
-- Henry Fielding, Tom Jones

Like Hilda's "eleemosynary doves," these birds depend upon the Author's charity, require mothering, just as Hilda finds solace in the Virgin--"a child, lifting its tear-stained face to seek comfort from a Mother."
-- John Dolis, "Domesticating Hawthorne: Home Is for the Birds", Criticism, Winter 2001


The source of eleemosynary is Medieval Latin eleemosynarius, from Late Latin eleemosyna, "alms," from Greek eleemosyne, from eleemon, "pitiful," from eleos, "pity."

#26

denizen \DEN-uh-zuhn\, noun:
1. A dweller; an inhabitant.
2. One that frequents a particular place.
3. [Chiefly British] An alien granted certain rights of citizenship.
4. An animal, plant, etc. that has become naturalized.

Goethe, who visited Berlin only once, found the "wit and irony" of its denizens quite remarkable.
-- Peter Gay, My German Question

But he will know one thing about what it means to be an American, because he has known the raw continent, and not as tourist but as denizen.
-- "Noted With Pleasure", New York Times, February 2, 1992

So Charlie McCreevy is a regular denizen of the "Dáil bar."
-- Kathy Sheridan, "Feeling a little Bullish", Irish Times, April 22, 2000


Denizen comes from Anglo-French denzein, "(one) living within (a city or state)," from Old French denz, "within," from Late Latin deintus, "from within," from Latin de-, "from" + intus, "within."

#25

limn \LIM\, transitive verb:
1. To depict by drawing or painting.
2. To portray in words; to describe.

Oh, yes, I write, as I limn the familiar perfections of his profile, "you look very well."
-- Kimberly Elkins, "What Is Visible", The Atlantic, March 2003

In telling these people's stories Mr. Butler draws upon the same gifts of empathy and insight, the same ability to limn an entire life in a couple of pages.
-- Michiko Kakutani, "Earthlings May Endanger Your Peaceful Rationality", New York Times, March 10, 2000

But used faithfully and correctly, language can "limn the actual, imagined and possible lives of its speakers, readers, writers."
-- John Darnton, "In Sweden, Proof of The Power Of Words", New York Times, December 8, 1993


Limn is from Middle English limnen, alteration of luminen, from enluminen, from Medieval French enluminer, from Late Latin illuminare, "to illuminate," ultimately from Latin lumen, "light."




http://www.serrao.eu/

#24

pukka \PUHK-uh\, adjective:
1. Authentic; genuine.
2. Good of its kind; first-class.

He talks like the quintessential pukka Englishman and quotes Chesterton and Kipling by the yard and yet he has chosen to live most of his adult life abroad.
-- Lynn Barber, "Bell book . . . and then what?", The Observer, August 27, 2000

If he does not have a house, the government gives him a pukka residence, not a . . . shack on the pavement but a solid construction.
-- Salman Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet


Pukka comes from Hindi pakka, "cooked, ripe," from Sanskrit pakva-, from pacati, "he cooks."



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pu·ca [poo-kuh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
(in folklore) an Irish spirit, mischievous but not malevolent, corresponding to the English Puck.
Also, pooka.


[Origin: < Ir púca; see Puck]



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042546/

#23

caterwaul \KAT-uhr-wawl\, intransitive verb:
1. To make a harsh cry.
2. To have a noisy argument.

noun:
1. A shrill, discordant sound.

John met Angela head-to-head and there was a lot of bellowing and caterwauling.
-- Matthew Parris, "Prescott grapples with his feminine side", Times (London), December 14, 2000

In the early days, when people were still shocked by the novelty of cursing, screaming, caterwauling emotional incontinents attacking each other on stage, he [Jerry Springer] used to produce high-falutin' justifications for the show.
-- Paul Hoggart, "Paul Hoggart's television choice", Times (London), December 9, 2000

The forest silence is impermeable, entirely undisturbed by the soft bell notes of hidden birds, the tick of descending leaves and twigs or soft thump of falling fruit, or even the far caterwaul of monkeys.
-- Peter Matthiessen, African Silences


Caterwaul is from Middle English caterwawen, "to cry as a cat," either from Medieval Dutch kater, "tomcat" + Dutch wauwelen, "to tattle," or for catawail, from cat-wail, "to wail like a cat."



by Charley Harper

#22

rhyme [rahym] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, rhymed, rhym·ing.
–noun
1.
identity in sound of some part, esp. the end, of words or lines of verse.
2.
a word agreeing with another in terminal sound: Find is a rhyme for mind and womankind.
3.
verse or poetry having correspondence in the terminal sounds of the lines.
4.
a poem or piece of verse having such correspondence.
5.
verse (def. 4).
–verb (used with object)
6.
to treat in rhyme, as a subject; turn into rhyme, as something in prose.
7.
to compose (verse or the like) in metrical form with rhymes.
8.
to use (a word) as a rhyme to another word; use (words) as rhymes.
–verb (used without object)
9.
to make rhyme or verse; versify.
10.
to use rhyme in writing verse.
11.
to form a rhyme, as one word or line with another: a word that rhymes with orange.
12.
to be composed in metrical form with rhymes, as verse: poetry that rhymes.
—Idiom
13.
rhyme or reason, logic, sense, or plan: There was no rhyme or reason for what they did.
Also, rime.


[Origin: 1250–1300; ME rime < OF, deriv. of rimer to rhyme < Gallo-Romance *rimāre to put in a row ≪ OHG rīm series, row; prob. not connected with L rhythmus rhythm, although current sp. (from c1600) appar. by assoc. with this word]



Assonant rhyme
Rhyming of similar vowels but different consonants.
example: dip/limp

Consonant rhyme
Similar consonants but different vowels.
example: limp/lump

Eye rhyme
Based on spelling and not on sound.
example: love/move

Feminine rhyme (double, triple, extra-syllable, multi-syllable, extended)
Differing beginnings followed by multiple rhyming syllables.
example: drinking/shrinking

Identical rhyme
Uses the same word to rhyme with itself however may hold a different meaning.

Light line
Rhyming of a stressed syllable with a secondary stress.
example: mat/combat

Macaronic rhyme
Rhyming of two words with different languages.

Masculine rhyme
Differing consonant sounds ending with identically stressed syllables.
example: report/support

Near rhyme (half, slant, approximate, off, oblique)
Final consonant sounds the same but initial consonants and vowel sounds are different.
example: tought/sat

Perfect rhyme (exact, true, full)
Begins with different sounds and end with the same.
example: pie/die

Rich rhyme (French for rime riche)
Word that rhymes with its homonym.
example: blue/blew

Scarce rhyme
Rhyming of words with limited rhyming alternatives.
example: whisp/lisp

Wrenched rhyme
A stressed syllable with an unstressed one (occurs most often in ballads and folk poetry).
example: lady/a bee



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