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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:25 am
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mignon min-YON , adjective; 1. Small and pretty; delicately pretty.
Quotes: And here Jasmin caressed his own arm, and made as if it were a baby's, smiling and speaking in a mignon voice, wagging his head roguishly. -- William Chambers and Robert Chambers, Chambers's Edinburgh Journal As the village princeling and household cosset, the toast of the family, the mignon of the minions, the darling of the staff, my feelings about the proposed adoption would not be hard to divine. -- Martin Amis, Success Origin: Mignon stems from the French word of the same spelling which means "delicate" or "charming". It is also related to the word "minion" through the sense of "small".
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:52 pm
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:07 am
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cunctation kuhngk-TEY-shuhn , noun; 1. Delay; tardiness.
Quotes: Lord Eldon however was personally answerable for unnecessary and culpable cunctation , as he called it in protracting the arguments of counsel, and in deferring judgment from day to day, from term to term, and from year to year after the arguments had closed and he had irrevocably decided in his own mind what the judgment should be. -- Baron John Campbell, Lives of Lord Lyndhurst and Lord Brougham "What it's about," Goldman said, with tantalizing cunctation , "is a whole lot of things, as a matter of fact." -- Philip Kerr, The Shot Origin: Cunctation stems from the Latin word cunctātiōn- meaning "delay" or "hesitation".
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 6:34 pm
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Sardanapalian sahr-dn-uh-PEYL-yuhn , adjective; 1. Excessively luxurious.
Quotes: Rich papers with gold borders, bronze chandeliers, mahogany engravings in the dining-room, and blue cashmere furniture in the salon, … all details of a chilling and perfectly unmeaning character, but which to the eyes of Ville-aux- Fayes seemed the last efforts of Sardanapalian luxury. -- Honoré de Balzac, Sons of Soil Here, in this half-destroyed Tartar town, surrounded by steppes, he indulged himself in a Sardanapalian effulgence that beggared even his jassy Court. -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, Potemkin Origin: First used in English in the 1860s, Sardanapalian is an eponym that comes from the legendary Assyrian king Sardanapal who was famous for his decadence.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 10:34 am
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:52 am
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enchiridion en-kahy-RID-ee-uhn , noun; 1. A handbook; manual.
Quotes: For you offer us the postulation that we can, in the shadow, or rather the radiance, of your own enchiridion , go and do likewise. -- Marcel Proust, Swann's Way Sarah and Isaac were romping noisily about and under the beds; Rachel was at the table, knitting a scarf for Solomon; grandmother pored over a bulky enchiridion for pious women, written in jargon. -- Israel Zangwill, Children of the Ghetto Origin: Enchiridion stems from the Greek root cheir meaning "hand". The prefix en- means "within", so the noun means "in the hand". The suffix -idion denotes a diminutive form of another word.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:37 pm
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:11 am
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Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:52 am
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abstergent ab-STUR-juhnt , adjective; 1. Cleansing. 2. Purgative. noun: 1. A cleansing agent, as a detergent or soap.
Quotes: We prize them for their rough-plastic, abstergent force; to get people out of the quadruped state; to get them washed, clothed, and set up on end; to slough their animal husks and habits; compel them to be clean; overawe their spite and meanness, teach them to stifle the base, and choose the generous expression, and make them know how much happier the generous behaviors are. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life Those of them which are of an abstergent nature, and purge the whole surface of the tongue, if they do it in excess, and so encroach as to consume some part of the flesh itself, like potash and soda, are all termed bitter. -- Plato, Timaeus Origin: Abstergent comes from the Latin word abstergēre which meant "to wipe off".
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Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 4:26 am
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syndic SIN-dik , noun; 1. A person chosen to represent and transact business for a corporation. 2. A civil magistrate having different powers in different countries.
Quotes: Procuring the keys, which had been left at the office of the Syndic of the town, Mr. Bellingham and Isabel sallied forth to inspect their new abode, leaving Dulcie in charge of the English nurse who had accompanied them. -- Robert Reginald and Douglas Menville, Ancient Hauntings For instance, Sillem, the most junior, the "fourth," syndic , the one normally responsible for criminal investigations, had supposedly been "promoted" to the position of third, the one most directly responsible for foreign affairs. -- Mary Lindemann, Liaisons Dangereuses Origin: Known more commonly through its related word syndicate , syndic stems from the Greek word sýndikos which referred to a defense lawyer, from the prefix syn- (meaning "co") and the root dikos (meaning "justice").
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 5:46 am
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Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:29 am
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:08 am
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mumpsimus MUHMP-suh-muhs , noun; 1. Adherence to or persistence in an erroneous use of language, memorization, practice, belief, etc., out of habit or obstinacy. 2. A person who persists in a mistaken expression or practice.
Quotes: "I profess, my good lady," replied I, "that had any one but you made such a declaration, I should have thought it as capricious as that of the clergyman, who, without vindicating his false reading, preferred, from habit's sake, his old Mumpsimus... -- Sir Walter Scott, The Talisman Mr. Burgess, who sticks (I fancy) to his old mumpsimus , thought that the other gentleman might have given the canoe a shove to get it clear of the lock… -- Ronald A. Knox, The Footsteps at the Lock Origin: Mumpsimus comes from a story (perhaps first told by Erasmus) about an illiterate priest who mispronounced a word while reciting the liturgy. The priest refused to change the word, even when he was corrected.
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:57 am
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sumpsimus SUHMP-suh-muhs , noun; 1. Adherence to or persistence in using a strictly correct term, holding to a precise practice, etc., as a rejection of an erroneous but more common form (opposed to mumpsimus). 2. A person who is obstinate or zealous about such strict correctness (opposed to mumpsimus).
Quotes: And now let all defenders of present institutions, however bad they may be — let all violent supporters of their old mumpsimus against any new sumpsimus whatever, listen to a conversation among some undergraduates. -- Frederic William Farrar, Julian Home She is a master of sumpsimus , more a**l in language usage than Doc in his rigid professionalism. She insists on saying It is I, or He gave the book to John and me. -- Ann Burrus, Astride the Pineapple Couch Origin: Like its counterpart mumpsimus , sumpsimus comes from to a story about an illiterate priest. In this case, sumpsimus refers to the opposite practice as mumpsimus .
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:07 am
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