The young popinjay was in for a bit of a surprise when the shabbily dressed man he had snubbed turned out to be his boss.

Popinjays usually end up looking foolish in the eyes of others.

"Kiss my ass, you obnoxious popinjay," said the milkman.

"If I was alone in a dark ally with that popinjay I would put 2 in the head of dubya"

Word of the day July 17
 

The Word of the Day for July 17 is:

natatorial • \nay-tuh-TOR-ee-ul\ • (adjective) 1. of or relating to swimming; 2. adapted to or characterized by swimming

A little more information about today’s word:
A warm spring weekday morning; the town swimming hole beckons . . . and boys will be boys. "Mr. Foster [the town truant officer] knew very well where to find us. . . . at our vernal and natatorial frolics. . . ." confessed John Gould in The Christian Science Monitor (January 10, 1992), some 70 years after that warm spring day of his youth. The Latin verb "natare," meaning "to swim," gave English the word "natatorial" and its variant "natatory." It also gave us "natant" (swimming or floating in water); "supernatant" (floating on the surface); "natation" (the action or art of swimming); and last, but not least, "natatorium" (an indoor swimming pool).

My sentence (using definition #1):
Gertrude Ederle displayed her natatorial prowess when, at age 19, she became the first woman to swim the English Channel.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

My natatorial skills are somewhat lacking. I can doggy paddle, though! ;)

I developed my natatorial talents when I was very young;
took to water like a fish.

In Alaska being natatorial is difficult since you have to wear a survival suit.

While growing up, my natatorial skills were very good, but I feel I'm a bit out of practice now.

I feel bad for Jesus. He was never able to hone his natatorial abilities.
Apologies for the blasphemy.

When I read Natatory before bedtime, he falls asleep rather quickly.

Nothin' like a spot of natation on a hot summer arvo

:D @ Sandy

When waiting in line to get into an exclusive club it always seems that the popinjays just pass right through.

One of the things my uncle asked me before I got on the canoe was how were my natatorial skills.

My son's natatorial desires are satisfied by simply jumping off the high dive over and over again.

Word of the day July 18
 

The Word of the Day for July 18 is:

sansculotte • \sanz-koo-LAHT\ • (noun) 1. an extreme radical republican in France at the time of the Revolution; 2. a radical or violent extremist in politics

A little more information about today’s word:
At the time of the French Revolution (1787-1799), knee breeches ("culottes" in French) were the height of fashion for aristocratic men. The men of the general populace could not afford such finery and instead wore the "pantalon" (long trousers). When the poorer classes rose up against the government, members of the Revolutionary army used this difference in dress to distinguish themselves from the aristocracy, calling themselves "soldats sans culottes," literally, "soldiers without culottes." Almost immediately, "sansculotte" became a noun in both French and English.

My sentence (using definition #2):
Foreign diplomats and their families fled the city just before the sansculottes launched their bloody assault on the government.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

The Sansculottes stared as the guillotine came down upon another lord's neck.

“Sansculotte for taking care of that problem for me, I owe you one.”

If he had been in France Goldwater might have said, "Being a sansculotte in pursuit of liberty is no vice."

Using def. #2:

The number of sansculottes in power make this world a dangerous place.

Our government has done nothing but stagnate. The people have tried time and again to counter this, yet the leaders of our government have yet to show any intention of budging. I have only to resort to the attitude of a sansculotte. I will not stand quietly and watch this nation fall under perverse leadership.

2. a violent revolutionist

Sansculottes are the fearless people that change the world, but some are just crazy.

My <font color=green> natatorial </font> abilities seem to have gone to waste, as I have developed an unfortunate habit of getting water up my nose in the swimming pool..

With great insouciance tim ate several pies in one sitting and gracefully expelled the excess contents that exceeded his stomach capacity.

As he jumped off the high-dive

all his natorial insticts took over.

One summer, when I was six, I tried to practice my natatorial skills, but ended up with hypothermia.

Word of the day July 21
 

The Word of the Day for July 21 is:

palaver • \puh-LAV-ur or puh-LAH-vur\ • (noun) 1a. a long parley usually between persons of different cultures or levels of sophistication; 1b. conference, discussion; 2a. idle talk; 2b. misleading or beguiling speech

A little more information about today’s word:
During the 18th century, Portuguese and English sailors often met during trading trips along the African coast. This contact prompted the English to borrow the Portuguese "palavra," a word for a conference or for misleading, idle talk. The Portuguese word traces back to the Late Latin "parabola," a noun meaning "speech, parable," which in turn comes from the Greek "parabole," meaning "juxtaposition, comparison."

My sentence (using definition #1b):
Almost every Saturday, Dad and the other men from our neighborhood would hold a palaver out by the mailbox on the corner.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

I was just test driving my new BMW, and was lost in the moment, when I heard the police loudspeaker say: “Palaver!”

It is a commen sight in the village to see the menfolk gathering at the post office to drink coffee and palaver.

The palaver between the two friends, who hadn't seen each other in years, lasted a few hours.

The initially civil discussion between the men soon turned to palavar when it was discovered that one had attended Harvard, while the other attended Yale.

smoking cigarettes in the rain the two strangers exchanged nods and light palaver before moving on in seperate directions.

Word of the day July 22
 

The Word of the Day for July 22 is:

applesauce • \AP-ul-sawss\ • (noun) 1. a relish or dessert made of apples stewed to a pulp and sweetened; 2. slang : bunkum, nonsense

A little more information about today’s word:
English offers a smorgasbord of words for "nonsense," some of which are better known as words for food. We have "baloney," "spinach," "rhubarb," and "toffee," not to mention "full of beans." And if none of those offerings are to your taste, you can say "that's pure banana oil!" Seemingly innocuous "applesauce" was first introduced to this menu back in the 1920s. Back then, there may have been some bias against the real stuff. Poet Wallace Stevens’ turn-of-the-century description of a meal consisting of "some unnameable smathering of greasy fritters . . . and of course the inevictable applesauce" shows a lack of respect that must have been shared by others.

My sentence (using definition #2):
"He asked for a frank opinion 'because all I ever have handed me is a lot of applesauce from the numerous friends who drink my drinks and eat my provender.'"
-- Judith and Neil Morgan, Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

Note the quoted source above: Dr. Seuss. I love it.

If we can’t get untied and off of this conveyer belt, applesauce in half for sure.

The yankee liked to talk about what a war hero and a cowboy he was but us boys were pretty sure it was all applesauce.

If you listen to their rantings, you'd get the impression that both parties think the other is filled with sansculottes.

Every Monday morning, many office workers are subjected to wasteful palaver.

Occasionally, I enjoy applesauce with a touch of sugar and cinnamon.

One of the more amusing lines from "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" was "applesauce bitch." :)

Dunno if it helps, but here in the UK (apologies to those previous posters who are also here) it's a common word, used to describe e.g. making a mountain out of a molehill, or a great effort for a simple achievement.
I went down the social today to sort out my missing dole cheque, fuck me what a <font color="red">palaver</font>.

Any time I mention growing a beard to my wife in turns into a 4 hour palaver.

That whole story about hair on the palms of your hands is just applesauce.

Word of the day July 23
 

The Word of the Day for July 23 is:

Beltane • \BEL-tayn\ • (noun) the Celtic May Day festival

A little more information about today’s word:
To the ancient Celts, May Day was a critical time when the boundaries between the human and supernatural worlds were removed and people needed to take special measures to protect themselves against enchantments. The Beltane fire festival originated in a spring ritual in which cattle were herded between two huge bonfires to protect them from evil and disease. Perhaps the earliest mention of Beltane (then spelled "belltaine") appears in an Old Irish dictionary commonly attributed to Cormac, a king and bishop who lived in Cashel, Ireland, toward the end of the first millennium. The "Beltane" spelling entered English in the 15th century by way of Scottish Gaelic.

My sentence:
Aunt Kat vividly described the huge bonfires and colorful rituals she had witnessed at the Beltane festival in Edinburgh as a girl.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

I'm sure the Irish keep thier rep for drinking well established at the Beltane festivals.

As the forest fires sparked out of control, the old woman remarked "it's like the Beltane"

If you keep misbehaving, I'm going to use a beltane a switch on you young man.

Sean was well known for being able to drink and dance all night long, then herald the dawn with his bagpipes something he proved at Beltane.

Went to the beltane, tossed a cow in the fire, it rocked.

How can I respond when I know that you know, that I am staring at your tits?

I wonder how many on our board celebrate Beltane.

Do both the Scots and the Irish have a Beltane?

Word of the day July 24
 

The Word of the Day for July 24 is:

cognoscente • \kahn-yuh-SHEN-tee\ • (noun) plural cognoscenti a person who has expert knowledge in a subject; connoisseur

A little more information about today’s word:
"Cognoscente" and "connoisseur" are more than synonyms; they're also linguistic cousins. Both terms descend from the Latin verb "cognoscere," meaning "to know," and they're not alone. You may know that "cognizance" and "cognition" are members of the "cognoscere" clan. Do you also recognize a family resemblance in "recognize"? Can you see through the disguise of "incognito"? Did you have a premonition that we would mention "precognition"? "Cognoscente" itself came to English by way of Italian and has been a part of our language since the late 1700s. Today it is almost always used in its plural form, "cognoscenti."

My sentence:
"The great but not widely known pianist Dave McKenna . . . is revered by the jazz cognoscenti as an inspired interpreter of American standards. . . ."
-- Joseph Nocera, GQ, March 1997

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

OK, I'll get it out of the way before any else says it.

I'm considered a cognoscente of pussy in some parts of the nation. :)

A good food has to be not only a good writer and gourmand but they must be a restaurant cognoscente.

With as many math classes as I've been forced to take so far, one would think that I'd be a cognoscente on the subject.

If he’s going to cognoscente, at least, get on your good side and have you to like him first?

I'm a cognoscente of most things that interest me.

You are having such a bad streak that I think you need your own private Beltane.

He has written fifteen books on the second war which definitely makes him one of the cognoscenti on the subject.

Word of the day July 25
 

The Word of the Day for July 25 is:

dernier cri • \dairn-yay-KREE\ • (noun) the newest fashion

A little more information about today’s word:
Paris has long been the last word in fashion, but hot designer clothes from the city's renowned runways aren’t the only stylish French exports. Words, too, sometimes come with a French label. "Dernier cri," literally "last cry," is one such chic French borrowing. The word is no trendy fad, however. More than a century has passed since "dernier cri" was the latest thing on the English language scene (and cut-steel jewelry was declared the dernier cri by the Westminster Gazette of December 10, 1896), but the term (unlike cut-steel) remains as modish as ever. Other fashionable French words have walked the American runways since then: "blouson" (1904); "couture" (1908); "culotte" (1911); "lamê" (a clothing fabric, 1922); and "bikini" (1947), to name a few.

My sentence:
“The dernier cri today is cheap rubber flip-flops from Brazilian supermarkets, embellished with beads or sequins."
-- The London Times, April 8, 2003

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

No no, the dernier cri today is rather EXPENSIVE rubber flip-flops with fake leapord print fur on them. :P

The dernier cri today are t-shirts bought at Hot Topic declaring the end of capitalism and the establishment.

Isn't that two words?

edit : oh, and the plural is derniers cris.

Having never been able to discern what is dernier cri, I tend to stick to simple clothes in basic black.

Sometimes what was dernier cri,
becomes popular again, like flaired leg jeans.

Dernier cri up on me like that again, and I'll have to do something that'll make you sorry you did!

I'm always out of the dernier cri, I usually just wear a t-shirt and jeans.

There are no dernier cri in my closet.

Well I think that the dernier cri is so 1989.

Trucker hats are the dernier cri of the week as far as my friends are concerned. Needless to say, I am the leader of this trend amongst us (my friends).

At last he was free when he no longer cared what the dernier cri was

Word of the day July 28
 

The Word of the Day for July 28 is:

engagé • \ahn-gah-ZHAY\ • (adjective) committed to or supportive of a cause

A little more information about today’s word:
"Engagé" is the past participle of the French verb "engager," meaning "to engage." The French have used "engagé" since the 19th century to describe socially or politically active people. The term became particularly fashionable in the wake of World War II, when French writers, artists and intellectuals felt it was increasingly important for them to take a stand on political or social issues and represent their attitudes in their art. By 1946, English speakers had adopted the word for their own politically relevant writing or art, and within a short time "engagé" was being used generally for any passionate commitment to a cause.

My sentence:
It came as no surprise when Carol, always the most engagé of an already very politically active and socially committed family, became an outspoken advocate for the disabled.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

At work, I always seem to be the only engagé to making a project design clean.

My mother raised me to be engagé on a local, state and national level.

There are many members who are very engagé of the TFP.

When I saw that Paul had penguin pijamas I knew that he truly was engagé in the whole GNU/Linux thing.

me and my girlfriend did it one time, and they told me i had to get engage. :-)

Word of the day July 29
 

The Word of the Day for July 29 is:

gambol • \GAM-bul\ • (verb) to skip about in play; frisk, frolic

A little more information about today’s word:
In Middle French, the noun "gambade" referred to the frisky spring of a jumping horse. In the early 1500s, the English word "gambol" romped into print as both a verb and a noun. (The noun means "a skipping or leaping about in play.") The English word is not restricted to horses, but rather can be used of any frolicsome creature. It is a word that suggests levity and spontaneity, and it tends to be used especially of the lively activity of children or animals engaged in active play.

My sentence:
"The dawn of spring also brings out animals, and, closest to home, rabbits gambol and frolic nearby. . . ."
-- Frank Curcio, [Bridgewater, NJ] Courier News, April 16, 2003

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

I guess I'll be the one to get the awful pun out of the way first.

When I went to Vegas I did some gamboling.

(Even I'm cringing at that :p)

The girls gamboled about the forest before the picnic started.

I don’t believe Paul married a chick with only one gambol I say!

With all the gamboling the kids do at day care you'd think they'd just drop off to sleep.

Word of the day July 30
 

The Word of the Day for July 30 is:

inveterate • \in-VEH-tuh-rut\ • (adjective) 1. firmly established by long persistence; 2. confirmed in a habit; habitual

A little more information about today’s word:
Like "veteran," "inveterate" ultimately comes from Latin "vetus," which means "old" and which led to the Latin verb "inveterare" ("to age"). That verb in turn gave rise eventually to the adjective "inveteratus," the direct source of our adjective "inveterate" (in use since the 14th century). In the past, "inveterate" has meant "long-standing" or simply "old." For example, one 16th-century writer warned of "Those great Flyes which in the springe time of the yeare creepe out of inveterate walls." Today, "inveterate" most often applies to a habit, attitude, or feeling of such long existence that it is practically ineradicable or unalterable.

My sentence (using definition #2):
It started with an occasional cigarette in college, but by her late twenties, Lilly was an inveterate smoker.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

Dan should never have gotten married because he was an inveterate womanizer.

Using def. 2:

Like many others, I'm a inveterate TFP user.

I'm beginning to suspect that spectre's avatar has an inveterate stroll. I've never seen him change his stride, or even pause.

We need more people to be engagé, but most are apathetic.

Usually, my son's Saturdays begin with an early basketball gambol.

Sadly, I'm an inveterate perfectionist.

If he hadn't been an inveterate smoker he wouldn't have died of pneumonia because he had to have that last smoke in subzero temperartures.

Being an inveterate masturbator, Brian always had trouble getting off with his female partner.

Word of the day July 31
 

The Word of the Day for July 31 is:

olla podrida • \ah-luh-puh-DREE-duh\ • (noun) 1. a rich highly seasoned stew of meat and vegetables usually including sausage and chickpeas that is slowly simmered and is a traditional Spanish and Latin-American dish; 2. hodgepodge

A little more information about today’s word:
In 1599, lexicographer John Minsheu wanted to know "from whence or why they call it olla podrida." Good question. No one is sure why the Spanish used a term that means "rotten pot" to name a tasty stew, but there has been plenty of speculation on the subject. One theory holds that the name developed because the long, slow cooking process required to make the stew was compared to the process of rotting, but there's no definitive evidence to support that idea. It is more certain that both French and English speakers borrowed "olla podrida" and later adapted the term for other mixtures whose content was as varied as the stew. The French also translated "olla podrida" as "pot pourri," an expression English speakers adapted to "potpourri."

My sentence (using definition #2):
Luiza walked along silently, gazing at the astonishing olla podrida of contemporary and antique furniture, carpets, knickknacks, and baubles packed into the house.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

At the Father-Daughter Banquet, it was interesting to watch
olla podrida individual children differently.

Some say the olla podrida of California will someday be representative of the entire United States.

Nobody could believe inveterate she had gotten herself into.

In the movie, "Secretary," Lee inveterately harms herself when her father becomes drunk.

Perhaps America could be described as an olla podrida of people and cultures.

The TFP has an olla podrida topics open for discussion.

I suppose that the olla podrida is served with tortillas.