Comments on: Chock Full of Words

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 04:05:00 +0000

You should try the Google word of the day instead of yahoo – whs2

By: Dad

Dad — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 14:27:00 +0000

Yes, a dictionary is dangerous if you expect to get in and out quickly! It always catches me and I find I am fascinated by some obscure word nearby the one I am checking.Speaking of dictionaries, when I was up counry in Liberia some time ago, I went into an unused lab in a ruined water treatment station. There on the table, I saw a rather new M-W dictionary. Opening it up, I found the name of one of the editors: Emily Brewster!!!!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 04:26:00 +0000

Tisk! Tisk! Such a scrutator of our Mother Tongue as yourself should not calumniate your own sizable knowledge of abstruse terminology! Of course one also must be well aware of the perfidious nature of persons who attempt to exert hegemony over others by coruscating (?) their superior vocabulary knowledge, like a mamoreal caryatid on display. Instead, we should cling to the truth—knowledge of word meanings is evanescent—so to obviate the need for feelings of inferiority.(P.S. I memorized “turgid” and “turbid” for the GRE but I still can’t remember them either. They must not be worth remembering. But if you look up “turgid” you will see the synonym “tumid” listed. That helps.)

By: tworivers

tworivers — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 04:03:00 +0000

And ‘turgid’ means swollen. ‘Turgid prose’ is a common (well, OK, nothing is really ‘common’ about ‘turgid’) usage.Now, even more fun than the actual meanings of actual words, are possible meanings of words. For example, ‘torpid’ should have something to do with torpedoes, shouldn’t it? “It took forever to repair the ship after it was torpid.” And ‘obviate’ should mena ‘to make something obvious,’ as in “Even though I was a total dunce at algebra, the professor’s explanations obviated the topic for me as nothing else ever had.” (Dare I go on to say: “For the first time ever I understood how the denominator could be reduced to the hegemony of the numerator and the carburator.”)

By: Lynne

Lynne — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 03:56:00 +0000

I am happy to report that I came across the word caryatid today when doing Seth’s Greenhouse art reading with him. It is a type of pillar that used in Greek and Roman architecture that is in the form of a woman. I believe that I also know amphora from our study of ancient Greece… it is some type of Greek pottery… I can’t recall which shape it is. So I guess I can’t really say I know that definition, but I have an inkling. I think inklings count for something.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 03:45:00 +0000

You’re encouraging me as I sit here making flashcards for the upcoming GRE. Your vast vocabulary puts me to shame (thank you for forcing me to look up ablutions two days ago). Currently on my growing list: desiccate, attenuate, aver. When you do get around to looking up gimlet, please invite me over for a sampling! 🙂