Posted 5 Feb 2014 eupeptic Yes indeed - great word! As for "praxis", in german it's most common ... a doctor's office (what do you actually call that?) is called "Praxis", meanings 1b and 2 are common usage (not 1a, I think). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 6 Feb 2014 You know, I'm not sure I was using "eupeptic" correctly when I said that Szell's Prokofiev 5th was eupeptic. What I meant was "fizzily energetic" and/or bright-eyed and bushy tailed -- more so that way than the piece should be IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 6 Feb 2014 "Blowed". As in, "I done blowed the snow off of the sidewalk over yonder". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 6 Feb 2014 (edited) Iris Murdoch novels tend to be vocabulary builders. The latest word I had to look up was: exiguous. Not something you would expect to find in a novel. ex·ig·u·ous igˈzigyo͞oəs,ikˈsig-/ adjective formal 1. very small in size or amount. "my exiguous musical resources" synonyms: meager, inadequate, insufficient, small, scanty, paltry, negligible,modest, deficient, miserly, niggardly, beggarly; More Edited 6 Feb 2014 by Leeway Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 6 Feb 2014 You know, I'm not sure I was using "eupeptic" correctly when I said that Szell's Prokofiev 5th was eupeptic. What I meant was "fizzily energetic" and/or bright-eyed and bushy tailed -- more so that way than the piece should be IMO. I guess you didn't then ... but it fits (some) Karajan like a glove Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 6 Feb 2014 (edited) ad·um·brate transitive verb \ˈa-dəm-ˌbrāt, a-ˈdəm-\ ad·um·brat·ed ad·um·brat·ing Definition of ADUMBRATE 1 : to foreshadow vaguely : intimate 2 : to suggest, disclose, or outline partially <adumbrate a plan> 3 : overshadow, obscure — ad·um·bra·tion noun — ad·um·bra·tive adjective — ad·um·bra·tive·ly adverb Edited 6 Feb 2014 by Jerry_L Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 18 Feb 2014 Stertorous is a medical term used to express a respiratory sound characterized by heavy snoring or gasping. It is caused by partial obstruction of airway above the level of the larynxand by vibrations of tissue of the naso-pharynx, pharynx or soft palate. (This distinguishes it from stridor which is caused by turbulent air flow below or in the larynx). It is low pitched, nonmusical and occurs during the inspiratory phase only. In general terms it is a snoring or snuffly sound. The patient is said to suffer from stertor. Stertorous breathing will be audible in the epileptic patient during the post-ictal phase following a tonic-clonic seizure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 18 Feb 2014 How about "stercoraceous"? "The stable yields a stercoraceous heap" (William Cowper, The Task 1785) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 20 Feb 2014 I'm a back-to-monocoraceous guy myself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 20 Feb 2014 'hagiolatry' Seems to conflate hagiography and idolatry. Never heard it before but John Eliot Gardener uses it in his Bach book to describe responses to the composer over the years. I've always used hagiography but I suspect that might be specific to written accounts that promote people to sainthood. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 20 Feb 2014 I'm a back-to-monocoraceous guy myself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 27 Feb 2014 Normcore http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/fashion-blog/2014/feb/27/normcore-the-next-big-fashion-movement Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 21 Mar 2014 My wife was reading a book and came to a phrase which mentioned "a herd of elephant". Sounded odd to her and to me. I checked the dictionary and elephant can be both singular and plural. News to me, perhaps not to others. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 23 Mar 2014 sub rosa Had seen it before, but didn't know the meaning (= in confidence.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 23 Mar 2014 (edited) While reading Penelope Lively's Dancing Fish and Ammonites, I came across "palimpsest" - "Something having usu. diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface" - in the context in which she places it. For that matter, I didn't know what Ammonites were - "A member of a Semitic people who in Old Testament times lived east of the Jordan between the Jabbok and the Arnon". edit - I'm just finishing reading the Penelope Lively book and Find that she uses ammonite with it's alternative meaning - a type of fossil. I had assumed she would be using the first meaning I posted, since she lived in the mid-east as a child. Edited 25 Mar 2014 by paul secor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 24 Mar 2014 Manichaean keeps coming up - perhaps because I can never grasp what it means. :-( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites