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Author Topic: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner  (Read 116715 times)

Offline MrMxyzptlk

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Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« on: July 22, 2007, 12:24:36 PM »
Okay.  You all know that I like words, and I "spread the word" ( sry!  :-[ ) whenever I can, with dictionary links to possible "new vocabulary" for many to enjoy. (  ::) ? )

However, I occasionally come upon AMAZING words - words with such succinct and strange definitions - that I'm truly impressed with "language!"

Upon learning a new one today, and having a plethora of them on hand ("on brain," as it were!), I decided that it's time to SHARE! (Oh goody goody!  :'( )

Whenever I learn one of these new beauties I endeavour to use it as often as possible for the next TWO WEEKS in order to hammer it into my feeble mind as much as possible.

I encourage you all to do likewise, because, as you'll see: these are truly excellent words, and well worth keeping "on hand" for whenever the proper occasion should arise.

So here, for all to enjoy & use as often as possible over the next TWO WEEKS, is the first of many Mr. Mxy's Word Corner words!:

frass

Uses:

- The FDA has rules as to how much frass is allowed into your food....  :-X

- Honey, there's frass in my soup!

- Junior, it's time to clean the cricket cage.  It's full of  frass.

- Please post your experiences making use of this great new word: frass!




Other words (from previous forum thread):


May 14, 2007:
OK!


'Time for the next unique & oddball english-language word!  (Actually, I'm LATE with it!  :-[ )

Your NEXT word to somehow use in your everyday life IS....


detritus

de·tri·tus      /dɪˈtraɪtəs/ –noun
1.   rock in small particles or other material worn or broken away from a mass, as by the action of water or glacial ice.
2.   any disintegrated material; debris.


Here's how I used it (after a shower! :) )at lunch out with friends today:

"Man I've broken up so much of that concrete slab all morning that my hair was filled with  detritus from it!" (Yes, I got a funny look....  ;D )

Now YOU use detritus in a sentence today, and amaze your friends, or even YOUR PARENTS!   :o  ;D




May 23, 2007:

OK!

Time for another kewl word!

Now, this word is may FAVORITE WORD!  I deign to use it at every even slightly-related opportunity, cuz I think it's so uniquely defined!

YOU SHOULD TOO!

The next Mxy's Word Corner word is!...

>drum roll....<



defenestrate!

de·fen·es·trate       (d&#275;-f&#283;n'&#301;-str&#257;t')
tr.v.   de·fen·es·trat·ed, de·fen·es·trat·ing, de·fen·es·trates
To throw out of a window.


There's a word that means that AND ONLY THAT! How cool is THAT?!?!

Unfortunately I've had NO opportunity recently to make use of this great word, so over the next two weeks I - like yourselves! - will endeavour to put it to use! (And I will, of course, post my experience once I have!)

[Note that in the movie "There's Something About Mary" her dog is NOT defenestrated!  The dog (accidentally!) jumps out the window on his own, so this is POOR EXAMPLE example of defenestration!  :D ]

GL, and happy defenestration!




June 4, 2007:

New word should be tomorrow, but in celebration of the restoration of this thread (? ! ? . .. w/e! ) here's the NEXT NEW WORD!:

perspicacious

per·spi·ca·cious      [pur-spi-key-shuhs] –adjective
1.   having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning: to exhibit perspicacious judgment.


And here's my immediate use of this word!:

Diagoro was perspicacious and ebullient wrt his use of all the Word Corner words thusfar!





June 20, 2007:

Well! . . .

Perspicacious was A Big Flop, wasn't it?!?  :-*

('Guess all the perspicacious folks here are off for Summer break, eh??  ;) )

You ScrabbleTM (and BoggleTM) players out there should LOOOVE this one!  It ALWAYS gets challenged, but it's in MOST (not ALL!) dictionaries, although I can't say it will be for long, because I've NEVER heard it used in speach by anyone other than myself - while playing ScrabbleTM!  (Perhaps you Brit's still use it??)


crwth


crwth      [krooth] –noun Music.
 crowd2.
[Origin: 1830–40; < Welsh; c. Ir cruit harp, lyre]


crowd 2       (kroud, kr&#333;&#333;d) 
n. 
   1. An ancient Celtic stringed instrument that was bowed or plucked. Also called crwth.
   2. Chiefly British: A fiddle.



THIS IS ONE OF ONLY TWO WORDS (that remain) IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WHERE "W" IS CONSIDERED A VOWEL!

Now, ... THIS ONE is REALLY hard to use in common language, but hey!!! Go for it!  Play ScrabbleTM over the next two weeks and get that free turn and 50 points offa them!  ;D

They'll never play ScrabbleTM with you again!

P.S. You MIGHT wanna check your dictionary FIRST, tho, to make sure yours has it!  (The smaller, "pocket-sized" cheap ones usually do NOT!)



July 12, 2007:


Not a lotta "crwth" players/users out there, eh?  ;D

Ok then!  'Next word for y'all!:

nib

nib      /n&#618;b/ –noun
1.   the point of a pen, or either of its divisions.
2.   a penpoint for insertion into a penholder.
3.   a point of anything: a cutting tool with a diamond nib.
4.   a bill or beak, as of a bird; neb.
5.   any pointed extremity.


So sharpen those nibs on top of your head and get with using this next new word!  :P



Mr. Mxy's current Word Corner word is catachresis    

Offline BFM_Hydra

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2007, 04:35:18 PM »
I used that accidentally the other day

I went to call a guy a 'nub' and called him a nib instead o.0 (It was Kozmo...shhh)


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Offline BFM_JANE

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2007, 02:41:39 AM »
MrMxy instructed:
Quote
So sharpen those nibs on top of your head and get with using this next new word!

One would have to have a particularly coarse head to sharpen a nib on it...

Gotcha!  d_b

Offline MrMxyzptlk

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2007, 12:49:09 AM »
OKAY! Enough rest for y'all!

'Next word!:

aflicker

adjective

shining unsteadily [syn: flickering]


Once again: You have two weeks (and only the next two weeks!) to put this new word to good - somewhat appropriate - use, so don't dally!

(I can see all those brains aflicker out there already!  ;D )

Mr. Mxy's current Word Corner word is catachresis    

Offline Neeox

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2007, 01:17:33 AM »
Haha, i threatened to defenestrate my dad's laptop because it has Vista on it  ::)

Offline The Rebel™

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2007, 02:23:03 AM »
Ya know Mxy I thought you might have snuck in a link to this Endeavour. I kinda like that link more myself.
Currently traveling through the unknown times in my life. I will be back when i find myself.

Thanks for the sig BFM_H@ngm@n


Offline BFM_JANE

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2007, 03:29:20 AM »
I love words that begin with a-! One of my fave things to say in game is "Hogs aplenty, no need to nade."  :awesome:



My Word Corner contribution:

I saw the word and my eyes alit
upon my favorite bit of grammar.
"Give these guys a shot of wit,
resplendent with verbose glamour!"

But my Word Nerd well had gone dry--
ain't that a real kicker?
No matter how hard I might try
I just couldn't use "aflicker"

in a poem.



 :doh:


 d_b


 :winkgrin:



Although I should get half a point for "alit".

Offline BFM_Hydra

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #7 on: September 04, 2007, 11:50:13 PM »
What sort of English is that Jane?

"Alight" is a word, BUT, the word ALIGHT is NOT a verb! You cannot say "alit" "alighted" "alighting"  "alights". It is an adjective though, so you can have "alight" "alighter" "alightest".

Hydra ;)


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Offline BFM_JANE

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #8 on: September 05, 2007, 07:24:28 AM »
Doh! You caught me. I hate admitting fault so, while I AM wrong in awarding "alit" with half a point (it's not the same use of a- as in "aflicker" :embarassed:), you're a little wrong, too. Much less wrong than me as I misled you with the half-point, but wrong all the same. See how I refuse to be wrong alone?  :winkgrin:


I believe you are using "alight" like this, "alight" being the highlight of this sentence ( I know "asleep" is not the same as "alight" and "abed", I won't make the same mistake again!):

I was abed but the lamp was alight and I could not fall asleep.


Merriam-Webster lists two forms of the word "alight", the intransitive verb and the adjective. I'm fairly certain I attempted to use the verb, however, now that I'm second-guessing myself, I may have used "alit" wrong, verb or not. Poo!

I'm glad I can comfortably discuss this here, in the Word Corner thread. :)

 :giggle:


PS- Not only am I casting the squinty eyes at "alit", now I'm questioning all my commas (I pause, a lot) and I used "me" when I think I should have used "I"...  See if you can find it! I can't stop staring at it myself. And curse my passive speaking!  :arghfist:

 :giggle: :giggle:
« Last Edit: September 05, 2007, 08:10:30 AM by BFM_JANE »

Offline MrMxyzptlk

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #9 on: September 05, 2007, 08:28:05 AM »
1) What's all the fuss about?  How did "alight" come up?  "alit" is fine, and IS a verb, in TWO tenses! (See second entry for the actual word "alit." It is pp. AND pt. of "alight" - which is itself and verb that requires NO OBJECT.)

2) In MODERN grammar it is now considered fine to pepper text with commas... so long as they clarify the meaning or intent. (This also includes "moderating informal language" soas to "speak in prose," sort-of.)

3) IT WAS A POEM!  Poetic License prevails!

4) Nice discussion, tho!

...'Guess we can "aflame" each other here safely, eh?!?

 :winkgrin:

Mr. Mxy's current Word Corner word is catachresis    

Offline MrMxyzptlk

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2007, 09:35:50 PM »
Time for a new word!:

bookkeeper

noun

one who attends to account books or systematic records of money transactions


Besides having a singulary meaning - THE main aspect of all the words that make my wordlist - this particular word IS THE ONLY WORD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WITH THREE SETS OF DOUBLE LETTERS IN A ROW!


Once again: You have two weeks (and only the next two weeks!) to put this new word to good - somewhat appropriate - use, so don't dally!

« Last Edit: September 27, 2007, 10:51:50 AM by MrMxyzptlk »
Mr. Mxy's current Word Corner word is catachresis    

Offline Volley

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #11 on: September 26, 2007, 09:39:12 PM »
Awww Mr mxy, your word corner is so cool, I think it deserves a place on the news fader on the home page.  :hug:  d_b

~Former 1st Lieutenant - 2008

Offline BFM_Hydra

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2007, 11:14:49 PM »
What about "bookkeeping"

HAH!

:P

Also, "committee" has 3 doubles, but not in a row, as does "assessee" and "Mississippi".

But the least notorious one (that I love) has FOUR sets of doubles in a row - SUBBOOKKEEPER".

You can tell I like words, eh? =D
« Last Edit: September 26, 2007, 11:16:43 PM by BFM_Hydra »


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Offline Wízzßång

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #13 on: September 26, 2007, 11:46:20 PM »
But the least notorious one (that I love) has FOUR sets of doubles in a row - SUBBOOKKEEPER".

Now you're just talking jibberish!

Mxy, ever read any Encyclopedia Brown stories?

Offline BFM_JANE

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Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
« Reply #14 on: September 27, 2007, 02:25:00 AM »
Oh! So THAT'S where "bookie" comes from. I always wondered.

I would make a terrible bookeeper as I am financially irresponsible.

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