BillF Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Bricolage: Construction or creation from a diverse range of available things. Reading a biography and the sentence goes: "But Whitefield was not averse to a kind of spiritual bricolage in his reading habits." I think it's French for what we call DIY. Do you say DIY in the States, too? We do use that acronym, not really in an education sense (at least, that's how it seems to me). I think we would use the word eclectic to describe DIY referring to education. People use DIY here to refer to doing household jobs - such as painting, decorating or repairs - yourself, rather than call out - and pay - a specialist. That's how we colonists use it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 In P.G. Wodehouse's Right Ho, Jeeves: chandler - a retail dealer in specified goods or equipment. It might be a word that's used more regularly in the U.K., but not here in the U.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Also see "DIY" used a lot to refer to musicians who make their own records, have their own labels, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 In P.G. Wodehouse's Right Ho, Jeeves: chandler - a retail dealer in specified goods or equipment. It might be a word that's used more regularly in the U.K., but not here in the U.S. Yes, "ship's chandler" is known here - at least among people of my age! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 tergiversation Came across it in the context of the diplomacy of the late 1930s. Assumed it was a typo. The act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion; betrayal. [quotations ▼] The act of evading any clear course of action or speech, of being deliberately ambiguous; equivocation; fickleness. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tergiversation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 tergiversation Came across it in the context of the diplomacy of the late 1930s. Assumed it was a typo. The act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion; betrayal. [quotations ▼] The act of evading any clear course of action or speech, of being deliberately ambiguous; equivocation; fickleness. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tergiversation That's one weird looking word... Never seen it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Context was: "For all the tergiversations of the last days of August 1939, his determination to invade Poland, even at the risk of a general European war, could not be shaken." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 tergiversation Came across it in the context of the diplomacy of the late 1930s. Assumed it was a typo. The act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion; betrayal. [quotations ▼] The act of evading any clear course of action or speech, of being deliberately ambiguous; equivocation; fickleness. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tergiversation Back to the school Latin! Tergum verso: I turn the back. Latin of some use then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 echt "an adjective in the German and Dutch languages meaning genuine or authentic". (As quoted by Leeway). All that time spent on Latin and Greek wasn't going to help me with this one :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Garrett Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 floccinaucinihilipilification The act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant, of having no value or being worthless. Often cited as the longest non-technical word in the English language, being one letter longer than the commonly cited antidisestablishmentarianism. In the debate on the remuneration of EU staff, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg used the word on 21st February 2012 making it the longest word ever used in the British House of Commons. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/floccinaucinihilipilification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 tergiversation Came across it in the context of the diplomacy of the late 1930s. It's also the title of the fifth track from this album: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 tergiversation Came across it in the context of the diplomacy of the late 1930s. It's also the title of the fifth track from this album: More evidence that I ought to pay more attention to records I own rather than constantly buying new ones. I have that on the Mosaic box. I've clearly been tergiversating about playing it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
page Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 echt "an adjective in the German and Dutch languages meaning genuine or authentic". (As quoted by Leeway). All that time spent on Latin and Greek wasn't going to help me with this one :-) Wait till you'll have to pronounce it. You could translate it also as "real" or "definitely" and also to say "Really?". And it has another meaning in the expression "in de echt verbonden" (bonded in the ...) which means 'married". This is all from the Dutch language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jackson Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 internuncial - serving to announce or connect. word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinuta Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) Aran suwat, Thai for good morning. Edited January 17, 2015 by kinuta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 Tatterdemalion A person wearing ragged or tattered clothing; a ragamuffin. Title of a record I downloaded yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alankin Posted January 25, 2015 Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) Asemic writing. A wordless open semantic form of writing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asemic_writing One more: Tumbrel "A two-wheeled cart or wagon typically designed to be hauled by a single horse or ox. Their original use was for agricultural work; in particular they were associated with carrying manure. Their most notable use was taking prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution." Edited January 25, 2015 by alankin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) More of a spelling thing than an actual definition.The UK/Canadian spelling of glamor is glamour, but glamourous is not the correct spelling, but rather glamorous is considered correct. How odd (and inconsistent). Edited February 17, 2015 by ejp626 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aparxa Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 In your hat and On the make, colourful language from the Pre-code era! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted May 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 unobtainium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aparxa Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 skidoo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 caduceus and latten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
page Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Not today, but a few days ago; bobby pin. I like that word. There was another one, but I can't come up with it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 on the qui vive = on the lookout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) I just learned yesterday that the last comma used in a list is called an Oxford Comma (eg. Matthew, Mark, and Thomas. The comma after Mark is the Oxford comma). Also, it's more common in the USA than in other english speaking countries. I was always taught that that last comma was essential to good writing. I'm geeky enough to find that fascinating.The Oxford Comma Edited August 19, 2015 by Matthew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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