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.