Bumbershoots and Ladders

We were playing wikipedia games again. (I always lose because I get distracted by something cool as opposed to finding what I'm supposed to be linking to... Oh well!)

Guess what I found? A truly awesome metaphor!

""""The hedgehog's dilemma states that the closer two beings come to each other, the more likely they are to hurt one another; however if they remain apart, they will each feel the pain of loneliness. This comes from the idea that hedgehogs, with sharp spines on their backs, will hurt each other if they get too close.""""


(Thanks, copy-paste keys! Thanks, Wikipedia!)

Bilk: to cheat or frustrate

Occam’s razor?

Dear A.Word.A.Day. I love you. I can't even express just how much I love you. Seriously. Fabulous.
This is the intro blurb for November 13, 2006.


Battery not included." Buy a $150 gadget and chances are it doesn't come
with batteries that cost, maybe, $2. I'm sure manufacturers have their
reasons, perhaps something to do with the shelf life of the batteries.

If this week's words came packaged, their box would say "Definite articles
included." No need to shop around for a definite article in the right size
and sex.

When English borrows a word from another language, it sometimes takes its
definite article too. We imported the word alligator from the Spanish el
lagarto (the lizard). Alcohol came from the Arabic al-kul (the powdered
antimony, and by association, substances obtained by sublimation or
distillation). Many, such as alkali, algebra, lacrosse (from French: the
crook: the staff carried by an abbot or bishop), and others, are among the
words bringing their own definite article, but it's not always so obvious,
as we'll see later this week.

An extreme example of this inadvertent duplication of definite articles
is in the name of the Los Angeles site of prehistoric fossils of animals
that had been stuck in tar pits. It's called The La Brea Tar Pits which
would literally translate as The The Tar Tar Pits.

virtu \vuhr-TOO; vir-\, noun:
1. love of or taste for fine objects of art.
2. Productions of art (especially fine antiques).
3. Artistic quality.

The Italian humanist Giovanni Pontano described these objects as "statues, pictures, tapestries, divans, chairs of ivory, cloth interwoven with gems, many-coloured boxes and coffers in the Arabian style, crystal vases and other things of this kind . . . [whose] sight . . . is pleasing and brings prestige to the owner of the house." They all spoke to the wealth, taste and virtu of their owner.
-- John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination

Divans, Persian rugs, easy chairs, books, statuary, articles of virtu and bric-a-brac are on every side, and the whole has the appearance of a place where one could dream his life away.
-- "Mark Twain's Summer Home", The New York Times, September 10, 1882

Virtu comes from Italian virtù "virtue, excellence," from Latin virtus, "excellence, worth, goodness, virtue."

(Thanks, Dictionary.com!)

Elan: ["EEE-lahn", I believe.]
1) Enthusiastic vigor and liveliness.
2) Distinctive style or flair.

Vim:
1) Exuberant vitality and energy; vigor
n 1: a healthy capacity for vigorous activity; "jogging works off my excess energy"; "he seemed full of vim and vigor"
2) An imaginative, lively style (especially style of writing); "his writing conveys great energy"

Words from Vocab Vitamins, definitions from elsewhere, as they insist on membership if you want to be allowed the definitions. Which I think is silly, as they're words.

But some of them are good words, like these, so I'm no one to knock them.

Polemic
n.
A controversial argument, especially one refuting or attacking a specific opinion or doctrine.
A person engaged in or inclined to controversy, argument, or refutation.

adj. also po·lem·i·cal (--kl)
Of or relating to a controversy, argument, or refutation.

Word of the Day for Monday June 20, 2005
exigent \EK-suh-juhnt\, adjective:
1. Requiring immediate aid or action; pressing; critical.
2. Requiring much effort or expense; demanding; exacting.

Legislative sessions are long, constituents' demands are exigent, policy problems are increasingly complicated.
--Anthony King, "Running Scared," The Atlantic, January 1997

http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/


mopery (MO-puh-ree) noun
1. Violation of a trivial or imaginary law, for example, loitering, used to arrest someone when no other crime can be charged.
2. Mopish behavior: to have pouted face, be gloomy or disappointed.
[From mope, from mop, of uncertain origin.]

"The bleakest moment came when Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon indulged in fatuous mopery, and compounded their crime by causing four Chopin studies to be played at the same time." Clement Crisp; Sadler's Wells; Financial Times (London, UK); Feb 25, 2004.

Awesome semi-extinct English words for people who feel inclined to use things like "Spatherdab!" in everyday speech!

(Bum bum ( BUM! ))

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwordorigins/loo?view=uk
Direct Quote :

What is the origin of the word 'loo'?

There are several theories about the origin of this common term for a familiar article of sanitary furniture. The first, and most popular, is that is derived from the cry of 'gardyloo' (from the French regardez l'eau 'watch out for the water') which was shouted by medieval servants as they emptied the chamber-pots out of the upstair windows into the street. This is historically problematic, since by the time the term 'loo' is recorded, the expression 'gardyloo' was long obsolete. A second theory is that the word derives from a polite use of the French term le lieu ('the place') as a euphemism. Unfortunately, documentary evidence to support this idea is lacking. A third theory, favoured by many, refers to the trade name 'Waterloo', which appeared prominently displayed on the iron cisterns in many British outhouses during the early 20th century. This is more credible in terms of dates, but corroborating evidence is still frustratingly hard to find. Various other picturesque theories also circulate, involving references to doors numbered '00' or people called 'Looe'.