May. 14th, 2008 @ 11:25 am Word Of The Week #109
walter, eeeevil, profile, sadjax, football, mothra, predicate, rex, wrong, kitty, hero, in the flesh?, obey the kitty, anger, WOTD, kissy, logo, warrior, skulls, obey the kitty 2, metalfan, smile
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Hey, that sounds like: Goatsnake -- Prayer For a Dying
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Word Of The Week -- hobbledehoy

Definition: hob·ble·de·hoy (hŏb'&l-dē-hoi')
n.
An awkward, ungainly and/or bad-mannered adolescent boy.
Etymology: [Various; see below.]

Obscurity: 95% (Come again?)

Usefulness: 5% (Anybody using this word is trying to confuse you, impress you, or both.)

Examples:
(def. 1) "My daughter is sweet on this hobbledehoy she met in school; the poor kid spills something on himself every time she speaks to him, but she doesn't seem to mind."


This one's a reader submission from [info]manda_x; I'd never seen it before, but a Google search turns up a charming column from The Morning News written in 2004 by a man who struggled with awkwardness long into adulthood.

Also notable is the profound etymological confusion surrounding this word. There are no less than three different suggested origins, in addition to the American Heritage Dictionary's apt but unsatisfying "Origin unknown":
  1. The Random House Unabridged Dictionary for 2006 declares it to be a variant of hoberdyhoy -- an alliterative compound, consisting of hoberd (from Roberd, Robert) + -y + -hoy for boy (the b's changing to h's for purposes of alliteration).


  2. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, however, considers it to derive from the English term hobbledygee, with a limping movement; another possibility might have been the French hobereau (country squire) combining with the Old French hoi, today, inviting speculation that the original sense of the word was something like "an upstart of today."


  3. Lastly, Douglas Harper's Online Etymology Dictionary claims it's a compound based on hob in its sense of clown, prankster (as in hobgoblin), with the second element coming from the Medieval French de haye, translating as worthless, untamed, wild -- literally, of the hedge.
Personally, I like the third explanation best, but you can please yourselves. :)

--- Ajax.
May. 8th, 2008 @ 11:05 am Word Of The Week #108
walter, eeeevil, profile, sadjax, football, mothra, predicate, rex, wrong, kitty, hero, in the flesh?, obey the kitty, anger, WOTD, kissy, logo, warrior, skulls, obey the kitty 2, metalfan, smile
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Hey, that sounds like: Elton John -- Harmony
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Word Of The Week -- poltroon

Definition: pol·troon (pŏl-trōōn')
n.
A base, wretched coward; a craven.
Etymology: [French: poltron, from Old Italian poltrone, coward, idler, perhaps augmentative of poltro, unbroken colt (from Vulgar Latin *pulliter, from Latin pullus, young animal; see pau-¹ in Indo-European roots) or from poltro, bed, lazy.]

Obscurity: 60% (I've seen this word a few times, but am uncertain of the definition.)

Usefulness: 25% (More common synonyms are generally preferred in casual conversation, but it scans well.)

Examples:
(def. 1) "Stand fast, poltroon, your liege lord commands it!"


An interesting etymology behind this one. Down a rather long and winding road, it's related to poultry through the term pullet (a chicken less than one year old), which in turn comes from the generic Latin term (pullus) for any young animal.

Along with cad, blackguard, and dastard, this is also one of my favorite old-timey insult words, which are always handy to have on tap when "punk-ass" just won't get the job done. :)

--- Ajax.
Nov. 14th, 2007 @ 11:32 am Word Of The Week #83
walter, eeeevil, profile, sadjax, football, mothra, predicate, rex, wrong, kitty, hero, in the flesh?, obey the kitty, anger, WOTD, kissy, logo, warrior, skulls, obey the kitty 2, metalfan, smile
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Hey, that sounds like: Swords of Mars -- Old Enough
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Word Of The Week -- peculiar

Definition: pe·cu·liar (pĭ-kyōōl'y&r)
adj.
  1. Strange; queer; odd.

  2. Distinctive in nature or character from others.

  3. Belonging characteristically or exclusively to some person, group or thing (usually followed by to).
n.
  1. A property or privilege belonging exclusively or characteristically to a person.

  2. British. A particular parish or church that is exempted from the jurisdiction of the ordinary or bishop in whose diocese it lies and is governed by another.

  3. British Printing. A special character not generally included in standard type fonts, as phonetic symbols, mathematical symbols, etc. Generally plural; also called arbitraries.
Etymology: [Latin: peculiaris, of one's own (property), from peculium, private property; lit. property in cattle (in ancient times the most important form of property), from pecu, cattle, flock related to pecus, cattle (see pecuniary).]

Obscurity: 5% (Ooo! I know that one!)

Usefulness: 95% (Common parlance in conversational English.)

Examples:
(def. 1) "I find it peculiar that it's raining over the expressway, but not on the houses to either side."
(def. 2) "Jessie's fashion choices have always seemed a bit peculiar for a girl of her generation, but she relishes the attention she gets for them, so it's all good."
(def. 3) "Super Bowl Sunday may have originally been a celebration peculiar to the United States, but these days it gathers attention around the world."
(def. 4) "The Wyndham Hills resort is a peculiar of the Stotz family, who own almost half of the real estate in Davidson County."
(def. 5) "The Truro and Falls Church congregations might be termed peculiars, as they are now directed by the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a mission of the Nigerian Church, rather than by their local ecclesiasts."
(def. 6) "Something's gotta be done about that new bug in our software, it's replacing every other consonant with a peculiar when you send a document to print."


Another not-very-obscure word; I decided to use it today because I was interested in the etymology. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the sense of peculiar as a synonym for "strange" didn't come about for nearly 150 years after its first use as a term of property, circa 1460 CE, and it took another generation after that for the sense of "special characteristic" to evolve.

So when slavery in the American South was being referred to as "our peculiar institution" by its defenders, they weren't making a comment about how charmingly odd they were for continuing to buy and sell human beings. The word's close tie to pecuniary (meaning "of or pertaining to money") was much more on their minds.

--- Ajax.
Oct. 4th, 2006 @ 11:20 am Word Of The Week #25
walter, eeeevil, profile, sadjax, football, mothra, predicate, rex, wrong, kitty, hero, in the flesh?, obey the kitty, anger, WOTD, kissy, logo, warrior, skulls, obey the kitty 2, metalfan, smile
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Hey, that sounds like: Melvins -- Lizzy
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Word Of The Week -- turbid

Definition: tur·bid (tŭr'bĭd)
adj.
  1. Not clear or transparent because of stirred-up sediment or the like; clouded; opaque; obscured.

  2. Heavy, dark, or dense, as smoke or fog.

  3. In a state of turmoil; muddled.
Etymology: [Latin: turbidus, disordered, from turba, turmoil, probably from Greek turbē.]

Obscurity: 35% (I know where and how to use this word, but am not 100% certain of the definition.)

Usefulness: 45% (Scans well and the meaning is generally clear from context.)

Examples:
(def. 1) "The water coming out of the sink faucet is too turbid to drink -- I wouldn't even wash the dishes in it if I were you."
(def. 2) "Those turbid clouds of smoke coming from under the hood would seem to indicate a problem with the engine."
(def. 3) "In the first few minutes of the crisis, the situation was far too turbid for a proper course of action to be determined."


Looking for the leading water filters site on the net? Second best won't do? Turbid.net has the hookup.

I found their discussion of magnetic water conditioners, or "trentatrons" (which sound like they ought to be able to transform into giant robots), particularly interesting.

--- Ajax.