lollapalooza ( Read more... )

hooptedoodle  (hoop-tuh-doodle)

Noun:  Simply put, hooptedoodle is a literary term that refers to the type of overly wordy prose that gets in the way of propelling a story forward. It's filler, and could be edited out without taking anything important or relevant from the writing ( Read more... )

eu·chre [ˈyü-kər]:
origin: [1835-1845] American

noun
A card game: played only with a "short pack" of cards numbered 9 or higher, each hand is referred to as a "trick", and you can get a chance to "trump" someone -- that is a suit deemed higher than other suits, with Jack becoming the highest (as opposed to Aces), such as Jack of Diamonds being ( Read more... )

bo•thy [ˈbɒθɪ/]:
origin: [1560] Scottish; possibly bothan= hut

nounAsk most people what their "dream home" is and they usually say something like a mansion, castle, or perhaps a nice double-decker with a white picked fence. Nothing wrong with those, but my preference has always been for something a might humbler....something like a "bothy" or a ( Read more... )

frowst (FROWST) - (Brit., informal) n., stuffiness, musty air, a warm stale atmosphere. v., to lounge about in a warm, stuffy atmosphere ( Read more... )

I'm sorry I missed last week due to technical difficulties with my web browser. Therefore, I shall double your pleasure for today's vocabulary!

vol·un·told [vŏl'ən-tōld]:
origin: American (slang, possibly military); portmanteau of volunteer + told.

verb
A combination of "volunteer" + "told".

When one feels they must do something despite being ( Read more... )

piffle: [pif-uh l]

Noun: Nonsense, trivial or senseless talk.

Verb: (used without an object) To talk nonsense

Origin: verb form: 1840-1850, noun form, 1870s. Unknown etymology. Possibly a blend of piddle and trifle, so it's likely the word is an English invention.

Short and sweet, but I really like the word! ^_^

bur·goo [BUR-goo] or [bur-GOO]:
origin: [possibly 1700's, definitely after the Civil War] unknown entomology, much speculation & attributed to French chef Gustave Jaubert (1860) from Confederate army.

nounsThe ultimate in "mystery stew ( Read more... )

kun·lan·ge·ta [ko͞oˈlänˌɡlät]:
origin: [1976; recorded] Jane M. Murphy, Harvard University study; Yupik language of northwest Alaskan Inuit.

nounsThe Inuit/Eskimo word for "psychopath ( Read more... )

ron·go·ron·go [SHo͞oˈberē-nəs]:
origin: [1300's ?] from Rapa Nui language = "to recite, to declaim, to chant out.”

nounsYou may have thought the giant heads (moai) were the weirdest thing about Easter Island (Isla de Pascua), but there's more! The Rapa Nui natives appear to have had a language, now lost, and probably known by few when in use -- no ( Read more... )