After listening to music, I tend to be in a more halcyon like state.

I wonder what percentage of flatfoots suffer from flatfoot?

On our vacation last month, we noticed several grenta greens in the mountains.

Halcyon days are here again!

Word of the day July 15
 

The Word of the Day for July 15 is:

insouciance • \in-SOO-see-unss\ • (noun) lighthearted unconcern; nonchalance

A little more information about today’s word:
Don't worry—be insouciant. Perhaps your mind will rest easier if we explain that English speakers learned "insouciance" from the French in the 1700s (and the adjective "insouciant" has been part of our language since the 1800s). The French garnered their term from Latin; its most immediate ancestor was the verb "sollicitare" (meaning "to disturb"), which in turn traces to "sollicitus," the Latin word for "anxious." If it seems to you that "sollicitus" looks a lot like some other English words you've seen, you're right. That root also gave us "solicit" (which now means "to entreat" but which was once used to mean "to fill with concern or anxiety"), "solicitude" (meaning "uneasiness of mind"), and "solicitous" ("showing or expressing concern").

My sentence:
Amanda sauntered casually into the meeting room with an air of insouciance; if she was worried at all about her presentation, she certainly didn't show it.

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

Next sentence?

Cher's lack of insouciance lead her friends to ask what was the matter.

Sometimes I think people who display insouciance actually have a sadness inside.

He put up a front of insouciance so no one would know that something was bothering him.

When I stepped insouciance, I had to be
rushed to the hospital because I am allergic to Fire ant stings.

James Bond always seems to have an attitude of insouciance even when people are trying to kill him.

Her horrifying air of insouciance as I floundered desperately about in an attempt to extinguish the flames on my face and back is something that will live with me each day for the rest of my scar-pocked life.

Try as I might, my personality prohibits insouciance.

Now that I have a new ISP, these are truly halcyon days.

It is with graceful insouciance that Paul stabbed his fork in Mark's blintz.

When my daughter asked me about sex I tried to temporize but she caught on to what I was doing.

Those Oxford boys really look down on my redbrick degree.

Word of the day July 16
 

The Word of the Day for July 16 is:

popinjay • \PAH-pin-jay\ • (noun) a strutting supercilious person

A little more information about today’s word:
Popinjays and parrots are birds of a feather, etymologically speaking. "Popinjay" was borrowed from a Middle French word for "parrot" back in the 1500s, when parrots were rare and were considered exotic. At that time, it was quite a compliment to be called a "popinjay" after such a beautiful bird. But as parrots became more commonplace, their gaudy plumage and vulgar mimicry helped "popinjay" develop the pejorative sense we use today.

My sentence:
The cast and crew of the production soon learned to ignore the vain arrogance of the temperamental popinjay who was playing the leading role.

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

Next sentence?

When he gets home tired and hungry from a day on the set, Ben can't wait to relieve his tension with a quick popinjay Lo...

Had to be the first...

I snicker at those people who come off a Popinjay,
usually they are just hiding behind an image.

Popinjay is what some of us call: “Nailing a jump shot.”

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.