Conflagration Tonight

Tonight, New Year's Eve, there will be a "burning bowl" celebration at the Unity Church of Palm Harbor.

See you at the conflagration!

treasure

I just found out the word Thesaurus is derived from the Greek word meaning treasure. I love thesauri! Almost as much as I love dictionaries.

The plural form is thesauri or thesauruses, because it did come to English through Latin.

Psychedelic

Psychedelic is a word you don't hear much anymore...

It's obviously from Greek.

It means:
1. causing or having to do with abnormal stimulation of the consciousness or perception.
2. resembling the effects of taking psycheldelic drugs: psychedelic art.

Hope you are psyched for the holidays!

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to YOU!

Powerful Mistake

A client sent me a thank you letter (email, actually), recently. But she misspelled one word. It said
"I am greatful for all you do. Thank you."

Of course, I immediately see the error, but then I look at it and wonder if it is a mistake...

Cornucopia

For some reason, I have been thinking about this word for more than a week now:

Cornucopia.

There's a word you see around Thanksgiving, and not much any time else.

My pocket dictionary says it is a symbol for abundance, and synonymous with "horn of plenty." It's from Latin. I know what one looks like, but what is it actually made from? Is it a wicker basket, in an unusual shape, or a hollowed-out gourd...?

–noun
1. Classical Mythology. a horn containing food, drink, etc., in endless supply, said to have been a horn of the goat Amalthaea, who provided milk for Zeus as a baby.
2. a representation of this horn, used as a symbol of abundance.
3. an abundant, overflowing supply.
4. a horn-shaped or conical receptacle or ornament.

I have seeen pictures of cornucopia, and sometimes it doesn't look like a basket. But I never knew that it was supposed to be a horn from a GOAT! But it must have been an enormous goat!

Toy

Put that down! It's not a toy!

I think toy is a weird word. Where in the world did it come from?

My pocket dictionary says from Middle English and Dutch.

It means a child's plaything, something inconsequential, or a small ornament.

I still sounds weird to me if you think about it for awhile.

How to Avoid Jejune Speeches

I just came across an interesting word while cruising thru the J section of the dictionary, as I am wont to do when I am writing speeches to present at ToastMasters.

jejune - I suspect this comes from French, but my pronunciation key says to use the hard "j" sound, so it sounds like stuttering. It means lacking in substance or interest, dry, barren, dull. It also means callow, juvenile.

opposites: vivid, interesting, remarkable, sophisticated.

Plethora of Efficacious Words

There are a plethora of impressive words in the book I'm now listening to, Leading with Kindness by Bill Baker and Michael O'Malley. Of course, they both have PhDs, as well as years of business experience. They seem to have extensive knowledge about US Businesses, and they interviewed hundreds of managers and CEOs in order to write this book.

It has been very enlightening for me.

Just some of the words so far:
procrustian, benevolent, mileau, vanquish, kitsch, panoply, aggregate, vindicated, honorable, and other words I've heard, but haven't used in a long time.

Procrustian--ruthlessly or violently bringing about conformity, from the Greek giant, Procrustes. I have heard the myth, but didn't remember this guy's name. I think Hercules defeated him. He was a giant who had an iron bed and he would take people and fit them in, stretching them if too short, cutting off legs if too tall. Yuk!

Sorry, it was not Hercules, but another Greek hero, Theseus, who defeated Procrustes. My mistake.

Benevolent words

The word of the month is Benevolent.

Benevolent means, good, kind, generous. It is from Latin.

Now I will check my dictionary to see if I have covered all the nuances...

Verified.

Soothing Smoothness

I always want to put an "e" on the end of smooth.

I guess that is because of the word "soothe." They are both soft-sounding words and good to use when helping a client to relax or reduce pain.

Smooth --adj. meaning: not rough, easy, calm or suave. Verb meaning: to mollify, soften or make free from obstructions. It comes from Old English.

Sooth -- they say it's an archaic word, but I've heard "sooth sayer" many times....it means truth. From OE. But curiously, the dictionary also lists "soothsayer" as one who foretells the future.

Soothe -- v. meaning to comfort or alleviate; from Old English.

Soothe and smooth are synonyms.

Scrumptious words

Scrumptious?

That is a weird word. It looks weird and sounds weird, too. I had to look it up to make sure it was spelled correctly.

My dictionary explains that this word is probably a variant of sumptuous.

Scrumptious means delightful or delectable.

Sumptuous means luxurious, lavish, costly and magnificent, and comes from the Latin word for expensive.

Both are uncommon words. You don't hear them every day. So get out there and spread the word!

Lucrative

Lucrative. It is spelled weird, but I believe it comes from Italian, so probably from Latin. Lucre is Money in Italian.

Lucrative means producing or yielding gain, profit or wealth.

Lucre means money or riches.

My dictionary does not list any synonyms, but I will do my best to provide some:

Beneficial, profitable, productive, and rewarding.

That's why I love working here. They just provided everyone on the floor with a tiny Fun Size 100 Grand candy bar. Don't worry, it has 30% less fat than the leading chocolate snacks, so they are definitely concerned with our health and well-being. The chocolate is a reward for processing over 100,000 phone calls during the month of August.

More About Diddley

More about diddley. Much ado about nothing.



Didley means nothing.



And yet there is a web page dedicated to the expression Diddley Squat. Imagine that! Very information and amusing.

It includes a few stories.

Voracious Veracity

Today I'm turned on to words that start with V.

Veracious- adj. honest, truthful.

Voracious- adj. famished, insatiable, greedy.


Just one letter makes a big difference in meaning.

And there is a noun related to voracious, voracity, analogous to veracious, veracity. One letter difference again.

Exquisite

more e words. today they just seem so euphonious. I was thinking of elegant and exquisite...

exquisite has a foreign exotic sound to it, yet such a lush, extravagant connotation. words conjure up visuals for me...

I do love words.

I guess I am a philologue.

Wait a minute!

I am THE philolog!

Lighten Up

I do enjoy the song "Lighten Up" or is it "Soak up the Sun?" by Sheryl Crow.



In it she sings that she doesn't have "diddley squat." What a wonderful expression!



I don't know how far back it goes, but the phrase was immortalized in a 50's song, I believe,
"My girl is red hot!
Your girl ain't diddley squat!"


Diddley represents a very small amount.

Squat is a verb which means to bend knees in order to almost sit on the floor.....the dictionary says to crouch down or "sit on heels or hams."

It doesn't really add to the meaning of this expression, but I think it's added for emphasis as a short, harsh sounding word.

I tweet, do you?

Why do they call it twitter?



Isn't that a saying, I'm all a-twitter?!


Twit is not good. It is a negative term for someone annoying or not-so-bright, like twerp or nit-wit.


Twit is also a verb which means to annoy.


Twitter means agitated, quivering or chirping....


I recently joined the ranks of thousands of twitterers.


Tweeting is fun. Try it!



Come follow me on Twitter... twitter.com/GloriaConstant

Dastardly Deeds

I remember old cartoons referring to nasty villains perpetrating "dastardly deeds," but I have never heard the word, dastard. Actually, it has just come back to me that the villain that Dudley Dooright was always battling was Dick Dastardly!

Memory is a funny thing.

So I was thinking about the word, dastardly, and thought, it sounds like there must be a word, dastard. So I looked it up in my handy pocket dictionary. Dastard was there, and dastardly, the adjective form was listed within that entry.

Dastard - n. craven coward or deceitful sneak.

It seems to come from Middle English. I wonder if it is related to another very similar word which starts with "B?"

Ecstasy

I've been thinking about e-words. No that's not right, that looks like "electronic" words, like e-mail and e-surance. I mean words that start with the letter "e," like elation, euphoria and ecstasy.

I heard the word, elation, on my audiobook this morning.

elation--the quality or state of being filled withjoy or pride. Latin.

euphoria--a feeling of well-being or elation. Greek.

ecstasy--a state of being beyond reason and self-control; state of overwhelming emotion, especially rapturous delight. It came from Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin, from Greek ultimately.

Exultation is listed as a synonym for elation and ecstacy.

I am euphoric about these words!

The Lilt of Language

I like the word, lilt. It is one of those monosyllabic words.

And the only time I hear it is around St. Patty's day when they sing, When Irish Eyes are Smiling...
and the lilt of Irish laughter....
(sure to steal your heart away!)

Such a light airy word.

Lilt is a verb which means to sing or speak in a rhythmic manner; also a noun which means a spirited song; and lilting is the adjective. It just sounds cheerful to me.

I think we should use it more.

Wishing you a lilting holiday weekend and a

Happy, delectable Independence Day, filled with the lilt of your favorite friends!!!

Mentalist Denotation

Interesting quotation and definition:

"The two most beautiful words in the English language are:
check enclosed."
Dorothy Parker

"Mentalist, noun. Someone who uses mental acuity, hypnosis and/or suggestion. A master manipulator of thoughts and behavior."
This is from the TV show, The Mentalist, not from any dictionary. The denotation is slightly different, but less dramatic.

The denotation is the official meaning of a word, the written meaning.

GAD ZOOKS!! Mentalist is not in my pocket dictionary!

Aphorism

In my profile it says, I like aphorisms. So what is an aphorism? It is a brief statement of truth, a maxim. It comes from Greek.



I do like them brief. You may notice that any quotations I put in my blogs are aphoristic; I do not like quotations that ramble on for several sentences.



I prefer something brief, like: "Belief creates Biology." Wayne Dyer.

Where's your moxie?

Curses! We've been jimmy-jacked!



I just saw the movie, The Battle of the Smithsonian. It was funny. There was a lifesized manequin of Amelia Earhardt and she came to life, with very colorful language. Somehow, even though the other figures, from ancient Egypt or Russia, spoke modern English, with a thorough understanding of the current idioms and slang expressions, she was allowed to use some uncommon language, possibly from her own era.



The word I was thinking about was moxie. Amelia said it many times and my son asked me what it meant after the movie. Moxie is a great word! I think it means Boldness, daring, fearlessness.



It means boldness or courage and I think it may come from Yiddish. It is not in my pocket dictionary and not in my thesaurus for Word.

Delectable email

I got an interesting email a few days ago (see http://musinglog.blogspot.com), which wished me a Cooperation Delectation. It was written in broken English, so I didn't even suspect that Delectation would be in the dictionary. It is!

Delectation means enjoyment, delight, and is from a Latin root. It is related to the word, delectable!

Brisk or Brusque

The words, brisk and brusque sound very much alike, but I am intrigued by the spelling.

Brisk means quick or sudden, and comes from the same French root as brusque!

Brusque, however, means rude or blunt.

I hope I have answered all your questions briskly, but not brusquely.

Optimism

Optimism is defined by Martin Selligman, the author of Learned Optimism, as a habit of thinking positively, feeling proud of one's achievements, and seeing failures as challenges instead of giving up. It is an attitude that one has control over one's destiny.
Antonym: helplessness.

The dictionary says it means an inclination to put things in a favorable perspective and to anticipate the best possible outcome. It is from Latin and is related to the word opulence.

Opulence- - wealth, affluence; abundance; luxury.

Superfluity

Speaking of superfluity, I am intrigued by the pronunciation of this word. Especially how the emphasis differs from the word, superfluous.

It's like outrage and outrageous.

Outrage means extreme anger. Outrageous means extremely good. Or is that the connotation? It could also mean egregious.

Therefore, outrageous is one of those rare words which means something and its opposite!


Flummoxed. Did I discuss this word already, or am I confused with flamboozled?

A few other intriguing words: Flummery and Frippery.

NO Ma'am

I wanted to say that I didn't get ma'ammed this morning.

I am now living a No Ma'am zone. Picture a big circle with the work Ma'am in it and a slash through it.

Regarding the word, "ma'am," my policy is just don't say it. (unless you are in the military.)

I am rambling.

Bodacious Bodhisattva

Bodhissatva -- someone who exhibits peacefulness and encourages peace in and between others...

Very Bodie!

maybe we can use the word, "bodacious" to describe someone who exhibits those qualities above.

Bodacious Bodhissatvas. A great name for a band, or a movement which promotes nonviolence in the high schools!

Do you remember The Beverly Hillbillies, an old TV show? Jed's nephew, Jethro, was often referred to as "bodacious." I remember looking this up many years ago and NOT finding it in the dictionary, so I thought it was a mispronunciation of Audacious, or just something the hillbillies made up. I just found it in my dictionary! I'm surprised to see it there.

Bodacious -- outright, unmistakeable, remarkable, and it does indicate that it is more common in the South and Midland, presumably of the U.S, and probably originated there.

Well, don't that just beat all?! It was audacious of me to try to use an already lexiconated word and adapt it to my own purpose. Bodacious!

Y'all come back now, y'hear?!

(maybe I'm just experiencing a flashback)

Mirthful Wishes

Today is Earth Day. And the philolog can not be so mundane as to say Happy Earth Day, so I wish you a Mirthful Earth Day!

Officially, Earth Day was Wednesday, April 22.

Mirth. It's just a silly little word that tickles when you say it. My dictionary says it means spirited gaiety; social merriment. Synonyms: amusement, fun, delight, hilarity, jollity, joyfulness, and my all time favorite, Glee!

Wait a minute... jollity? I don't believe I've ever heard that word spoken or even seen it before in print. Nice to meet you, Jollity. Fortunately, the meaning is apparent as it looks so much like jolly. I guess Jolly is the adjective for the noun, Jollity.

I guess Merry is the adjective for Mirth. In addition to Mirthful, of course.

Mirth is from Old English.
Jollity is from Old French.

Hilarious! Well, maybe not, just slightly amusing, or maybe mildly interesting.

Small glitch

Glitch. I just like the sound of it. "Glitch" is just a very harsh monosyllabic word. I think it was probably rare before personal computers came into vogue. But now "computer glitch" is a very common expression. Especially around here. I blame everything on the computer glitch!


It's derived from German! I should have known!

It means mishap, malfunction.

Nincompoop (Unknown Origin)

Nincompoop.

Where in the world did that word come from?

My dictionary says "origin unknown." I hate that. If anyone knows where this word came from, please let me know!

Nincompoop. I have to say it sounds French. Or Faux French. I would venture a guess that it is a mispronunciation of another more arrogant word, maybe noncompliant, or nonconformist? My best guess would be that it comes from incompetant or non-competant.

It means fool or idiot. I think it is related to ninny, and possibly to nitwit and dimwit, other synonyms.

Tempest in a teapot

There's something you don't hear every day, "Tempest in a Teapot. "

I don't know why, I kinda like it. It means a big controversy about a trivial matter.

Aren't most of our fears really trivial when analyzed or disected?

Tempestuous. It means violent or turbulent. Tempest is a violent wind. Both are derived from a Latin word meaning "weather."

Just War?

Just is an interesting word. It has 2 meanings. As an adverb, it is synonomous with merely. As an adjective it is related to justice and justified (all from Latin), and means legitimate, or fair and impartial.

For example is there such a thing as a Just War? Is it possible to think that war is justified by the circumstances? Many people think so. But Thick Nhat Hanh in Creating True Peace would disagree. He embraces a philosophy of Peace and Nonviolence. He points out that violence always begets more violence and the only antidote to violence is peace. History has definitely shown that if you hurt or kill someone, someone else will kill or hurt someone in retribution. And so on and so on. Where does it end? Violence will not end violence it only generates more violence and hate. If we kill a terrorist, another will rise up to avenge the first.

It makes sense. Too much sense. Is the world ready for it?

Svelte

Svelte. It means thin, willowy. It sounds much better than "skinny."

It is the only word in my pocket dictionary which starts with s, v, an interesting combination.

It says it comes from Italian!

Pristine Beach

Pristine is a lovely adjective, so crisp and pure and sparkling, somehow there is the glint of cleanliness, freshness....

This is not a common word these days. It means: primitive, pure, untouched, unspoiled. Some synonyms for pristine are: immaculate, perfect, faultless, flawless, innocent, natural, spotless, pure, unblemished, unspoiled, wholesome.

Pristine comes to us from the Latin word for primitive.

Respected quote

Be beautiful if you can, wise if you want to...
But be respected -- that is essential.
Anna Gould

Peaceful Mileau

How are things in your Milieu?



That's an interesting word, obviously from French. It means environment, surroundings.



But I'm supposed to define words relating to Peace, Love and Harmony this month, February.


Compassion – capacity for feeling the emotions of others; empathy; pity.

complacent--adj. smug or self-satisfied.

placate--v. make peace; mollify; appease.

placid--adj. peaceful, smoothe, unruffled, calm; complacent is listed as a synonym for this.

All from Latin.

Deepak Chopra Recites Poetry

Deepak Chopra was in Palm Harbor Florida last week. He was doing a class called Journey into Healing. I saw him on Friday evening, when he was part of a program called "Be the Change."

In his presentation, he started by speaking about the current economic crisis, then about evolution. Then he explained how we are going through a time of transition, not just transition, but transformation! The metaphor he use was a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. This is no simple change, the caterpillar is not just a worm with wings, it is a completely new being.

It ended with singing, dancing and people taking a vow of non-violence. Dr. Deepak Chopra recited poetry last weekend, accompanied by a violinist and a drummer!

It was quite interesting. There were 1000 people there! And Dr. Chopra was kind enough to pose for a photo with me!

natural high?

I want some of that darshan stuff! I have heard about all these yogis and gurus and have even experienced someone throwing energy to me. He was a Tai Chi or Chi Gung master. But yesterday I heard John Maxwell Taylor tell a story about how his awareness was expanded way beyond normal because he went to see a Hindu woman who was supposed to share her awareness with others at this meeting more than 20 years ago.



What does Darshan mean? And how do I get some?

Lucid speaking

I heard a word today that I haven't used in a long time, so I came to work and immediately used it.

Lucid--means clear in thought, and comes from Latin, luc which means light.

That being said, I will now look it up. I also like to put it in my MSN thesaurus to get synonyms and hopefully an antonym, too!

I love words!

small words

I haven't written about small words recently. But 2 monosyllabic words I've come across this weekend are:

Hoist and Throb.

Hoist is a verb, not heard very often, except if you sail...? Hoist the sails!

Throb is not a very popular word, but I have read it in Deepak Chopra and in Christiane Northrups books recently. They both use it a verb, not the more familiar adjective form, as in "throbbing pain."

Definitions and etymology will be added later.

Handsome Thoughts

Why do we say "Handsome?"

Does it have anything to do with hands?

just pondering...