Megillah

As I read the definition, I thought, yeah, this definition is lengthy and tediously complicated . . .

megillah

\muh-GIL-uh\ noun 1. Slang. a) a lengthy and tediously complicated situation or matter. b) a lengthy, detailed explanation or account: Just give me the facts, not the whole megillah. 2. (italics) Hebrew. a scroll, especially one containing the Book of Esther. Others are the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, the Book of Ruth, and the Book of Lamentations.

Zoosemiotics

I think this would be better if it was related to Dr. Suess. Then I saw the pronunciation key. But then, animal communication. Could still be a Dr. Suess word.

zoosemiotics

\zoh-uh-see-mee-OT-iks, -see-mahy-, -sem-ee-, -sem-ahy-\ noun 1. the study of the sounds and signals used in animal communication, as song in birds or tail-wagging in dogs.

Today's Good Mood

Voices

!!Warning!!

imdb.com Eva Green bio

This really is posted under the imdb.com Eva Green bio:

She has a sororal twin sister.

Redundant a little? Someone's proud to know the word of the day! Sorry for the sarcasm, but that literally says She has a female fraternal twin sister. The author either knows enough to use the effeminate of fraternl or thinks the reader isn't intelligent enough to know it. *face-palm* It's amazing I can stand to be on inet at all.

Vacuum Cleaner

Ah, double meanings . . .

I'm Not to be Trusted!

Taking a Break

OK, we've had a week of words. Time for an image of Emun Elliott:

Orthography

A good word for any lover of words.

orthography

\awr-THOG-ruh-fee\

noun 1. the art of writing words with the proper letters, according to accepted usage; correct spelling. 2. the part of language study concerned with letters and spelling.

Skerrick

skerrick

\SKER-ik\
noun 1. Australian. a small piece or quantity; a bit: Not even a skerrick of cake was left.	That's right. With me & cake, there won't be a skerrick left. And I won't share either.

Sockdolager

Wow, this is a fun word that I'll have to start using, though I'd like it better if it meant lollygagging:

sockdolager

\sok-DOL-uh-jer\

noun 1. Older Slang. something unusually large, heavy, etc. 2. Older Slang. a decisive reply, argument, etc.

Nixie

Completely unexpected definition. As an editor and lover and occasionally writer of sci-fi and fantasy, I am familiar with water nixies. Definition from Mostropedia: The Neck, Nixie (English) or 'Nix, Nixe or Nyx (German) are types of river merman and mermaid who may lure men to drown, akin to the Celtic Melusine and similar to the Greek Siren.

Read more: http://monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Nixie#ixzz4EO2tBBrz

I was gob-smacked to discover there was a second (or singular according to dictionary.com) definition:

nixie

\NIK-see\

noun 1. a letter or parcel that is undeliverable by the post office because of a faulty or illegible address.

Tweedle

This one is all kinds of wrong. Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum are the only positives. Because every other use of this word reminds me of my mother saying, "Your cousin is around back tweedling himself." Or Grandma saying, "Do you have to take a tweedle?"

Oh, yeah. There is another positive one, Two Ladies, from Cabaret, "Tweedle-dee-tweedle-dee-dee."

tweedle

\TWEED-l\ verb 1. to lure by or as by music: The Pied Piper tweedled the children into following him. 2. to produce high-pitched, modulated sounds, as a singer, bird, or musical instrument.

Campestral

Now you know camping is going to be involved with this one:

campestral

\kam-PES-truh l\

adjective 1. of or relating to fields or open country.

Vox Populi

Haven't seen any good writing memes for a while, so to the dictionary.com word of the day:

vox populi

\voks POP-yuh-lahy\
noun 1. the voice of the people; popular opinion.				As opposed to the voice in my head . . .

Velleity

A good word for the majority of people who tell me they'd like to be a writer:

velleity

\vuh-LEE-i-tee\

noun 1. a mere wish, unaccompanied by an effort to obtain it. 2. volition in its weakest form.

Selenotropism

Another word that makes me think, there has to be an easier word:

selenotropism

\si-lee-nuh-TROH-piz-uh m, sel-uh-noh-\ noun 1. Biology. growth in response to moonlight.

Outdoor Activity

New Writer Mistakes

I've posted similar lists, but this one gives some OMG things that seasoned pros just shake their heads over . . .

Falling For . . .

Yes, definitely the reason I fell in love with Mr. Darcy, the vampire Armand, the vampire Lestat . . . pretty much any fictional character . . .

Tourbillion

Now how exactly you get that out of tourbillion . . . it's like someone picked the wrong option on a multiple choice test.

tourbillion

\too r-BIL-yuh n\ noun 1. a whirlwind or something resembling a whirlwind. 2. a firework that rises spirally.

How I feel about Fictional Characters

I Seen

Supererogatory

I can just hear Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke singing this . . . it's supererogatory-expialidocious.

supererogatory

\soo-per-uh-ROG-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee\ adjective 1. going beyond the requirements of duty. 2. greater than that required or needed; superfluous.

Reasons for Admission

This is a real historical list of reasons women were admitted to insane asylums in the mid- to late- 1800s.

If you don't want to click on the picture to see that tiny print, it says, "Novel Reading."

Writer/Photographer

Automagical

I wanted to post a special Fourth of July grammar thing, but no such post presented itself. So here's a word.

I'm slightly irked that magical in any form is being used to describe a computer. Now auto-irritating, that I get.

automagical

\aw-toh-MAJ-i-kuh l\ adjective 1. (of a usually complicated technical or computer process) done, operating, or happening in a way that is hidden from or not understood by the user, and in that sense, apparently “magical”: I just downloaded an automagical update to my word processing software that somehow fixed the problems.

Sniglet

In England, a singlet is a wife-beater/tank top. I had to look twice at this one.

sniglet

\SNIG-lit\ noun 1. any word coined for something that has no specific name. Quotes Author (and actor-comedian) Rich Hall defines a sniglet as "any word that doesn't appear in a dictionary but should," which makes sniglet itself a sniglet. -- Richard Lederer, The Miracle of Language, 1991

Tohubohu

I read Les Miserables. I don't remember this word. But then again, It was 2000 pages long . . . And this is also a French book. So a translator probably translated it to "chaos" as is right and sensible.

tohubohu

\TOH-hoo-BOH-hoo\ noun 1. chaos; disorder; confusion. Quotes Learn this: joy is not merely joyful; it is great. So be lovers gaily then, the devil! and marry, when you do marry, with the fever and the dizziness and the uproar and the tohubohu of happiness. -- Victor Hugo, translated by Charles E. Wilbour, Les Misérables, 1862

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