Word of the day September 1
 

The Word of the Day for September 1 is:

vermicular • \ver-MIH-kyuh-ler\ • (adjective) 1a. resembling a worm in form or motion; 1b. vermiculate; 2. of, relating to, or caused by worms

A little more information about today’s word:
What does the word "vermicular" have in common with the pasta on your plate? If you're eating vermicelli (a spaghetti-like pasta made in long thin strings) the answer is "vermis," a Latin noun meaning "worm." If you dig deep enough, you'll find that "vermis" is the root underlying not only "vermicular" and "vermicelli," but also "vermiculate" (which can mean either "full of worms" or "tortuous") and even "worm" itself.

My sentence (using definition #1a):
Viewed from above, the stream's vermicular course undulated across the landscape, winding and twisting like a living thing.

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

Next sentence?

The growing conditions were perfect for grapes with a fine vermicular loam for planting.

The gentleman, who's name was Frankie, except on stage (which he was), where he worked as "Farmer Bob", flung his overalls over Doris' head and continued gyrating awkwardly to the strains of the banjo piece from "Deliverance", while Doris noted the vermicular behaviour of his less-than-impressive appendage and wondered if there wasn't a joke about worm farming in there somewhere.

The vermicular mountain pass was considered a dangerous route to take.

My mouse cord, is quite often vermicular in shape.

His thoughts resembled a vermicular trail...meadering this way and that.

Word of the day September 2
 

The Word of the Day for September 2 is:

Dunkirk • \DUN-kerk\ • (noun) 1. a retreat to avoid total defeat; 2. a crisis situation that requires a desperate last effort to forestall certain failure

A little more information about today’s word:
"Dunkirk" is the English spelling of the name of the French town of Dunkerque, which is located on the Dover Strait near the Belgian border. In 1940, Dunkerque was the scene of a massive evacuation of Allied forces to England after the fall of France to Germany during World War II. Death seemed certain for the 300,000 soldiers who had retreated to Dunkerque until hundreds of naval and civilian vessels arrived to ferry them to safety. The impact of the event was so great that within a year "Dunkirk" was being used for any military retreat carried out to avoid total defeat. Soon after, the word was extended beyond the military sphere and it is now used for any crisis that needs a miracle to save the day.

My sentence (using definition #2):
"In 1981, [President Ronald] Reagan said the country faced an 'economic Dunkirk' if tax rates weren't slashed."
-- Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard, April 9, 2001

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

Next sentence?

If it wasn't for a role in an acclaimed movie, the actor was about to face the Dunkirk of his career after a string of bad movies.

Gibson stepped up to the plate and said to himself: “You’re not dunkirk , hit one out of here now and you’ll be immortalized!”

President Kennedy faced a Dunkirk when the Russians blocked off Berlin but he saved the day with a contasnt airlift of supplies.

It seems that his stomach problems had a vermicular cause.

I faced a Dunkirk when I said she didn't look fat in that dress.

Word of the day September 3
 

The Word of the Day for September 3 is:

Davy Jones's locker • \day-vee-joanz-LAH-ker\ • (noun) the bottom of the ocean

A little more information about today’s word:
Was there a real Davy Jones? Folks have been pondering that question for centuries. Sailors have long used "Davy Jones" as the name of a personified evil spirit of the ocean depths, but no one knows exactly why. Some claim the original Davy Jones was a British pirate, but the evidence that this person existed is lacking. Others swear he was a London pub owner who kept drugged ale in a special locker, served it to the unwary, then had them shanghaied. But the theory considered most plausible is that "Davy" was inspired by St. David, the patron saint of Wales. (St. David was often invoked by Welsh sailors.) "Jones" is traced to Jonah, the biblical figure who was swallowed by a whale.

My sentence:
The old seaman shook his head sadly and said, "That ship was sunk on a reef three years ago, and every poor soul aboard sent to Davy Jones's locker."

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

Next sentence?

It seems that most pirate movies have someone about to walk the plank to go to Davy Jones's locker.

The handsome young pirate was caught sleeping with the captains wife so the captain order that he be tied to a anchor and dropped into Davy Jones Locker.
Needless to say none of the crew tried that again.

Because of her incessant infidelity, I vowed that she would never
see the light of davy jones’s locker in her room till she’s an old woman.

Word of the day September 4
 

The Word of the Day for September 4 is:

osculate • \AHSS-kyuh-layt\ • (verb) kiss

A little more information about today’s word:
"Osculate" comes from the Latin noun "osculum," meaning "kiss" or "little mouth." It was included in a dictionary of "hard" words in 1656, but we have no evidence that anyone actually used it until the 19th century (except for scientists who used it differently, to mean "contact"). Would any modern writer use "osculate"? Ben Macintyre did. In a May 2003 (London) Times piece entitled "Yes, It's True, I Kissed the Prime Minister's Wife," Macintyre wrote, "Assuming this must be someone I knew really quite well, I screeched 'How are you,' . . . and leant forward preparatory to giving her a chummy double-smacker . . . Perhaps being osculated by lunatics you have never seen before is one of the trials of being a Prime Minister's wife. She took it very well. "

My sentence:
"I've been osculated to death," Kevin complained, wiping his cheeks to remove the vestiges of kisses planted there by adoring aunts and cousins on his wedding day.

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

Next sentence?

After being apart for months the young couple spent twenty minutes osculating in the airport lobby.

I agree, I did osculate , the timing just wasn't right to ask you any sooner.

At the reception, people kept hitting thier forks against the side of their glasses to get the newlyweds to osculate.

Never try to osculate with an oscillating fan.

Word of the day September 5
 

The Word of the Day for September 5 is:

antebellum • \an-tih-BEH-lum\ • (adjective) existing before a war; especially existing before the Civil War

A little more information about today’s word:
"Antebellum" means "before the war," but it wasn't widely associated with the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) until after that conflict was over. It comes from the Latin phrase "ante bellum" (literally, "before the war"). Although it did appear in at least one publication around 1847, that reference clearly wasn't to the War Between the States. The term's earliest known association with the Civil War is found in an 1862 diary entry: "Her face was placid and unmoved, as in antebellum days." The author of that line, Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut, recorded the observation of life during the Civil War while accompanying her husband, an officer in the Confederate army, on one of his missions.

My sentence:
Gone With the Wind, published June 30, 1936, follows Scarlett O'Hara from her life of privilege in the antebellum South, through the hardships of the Civil War, and into the post-war reconstruction period.

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

Next sentence?

antebellum · \an-tih-BEH-lum\ · (verb) the act of un-ringing a bell; especially when you have said or done something that you really regret

A little more information about todays word:

You’ve all told the boss to take a leap…then decided that that was not the proper thing to say. Therefore you decide to “antebellum”.

The problem is that you just can’t “antebellum”…you can’t un-ring a bell, otherwise it would be a different world now, wouldn’t it?

My sentence:

I joined the Marines when I was 18, if I could antebellum , I might have chosen the Air Force or the Navy.

There is far too much romanticism based around the antebellum South.

For many people antebellum times are more innocent times.

I always seem to cry in the movies when the lovelorn couple finally meet up and osculate.

My rich uncle built a boat and the first day he put it in the water it sank straight down to Davy Jones's Locker.

There was a very tense period during the antebellum period as the two countries became more hostile.

Word of the day September 8
 

The Word of the Day for September 8 is:

shanghai • \SHANG-hye\ • (verb) to force aboard a ship for service as a sailor; also to trick or force into an undesirable position

A little more information about today’s word:
In the 1800s, long sea voyages were very difficult and dangerous, so people were understandably hesitant to become sailors. But sea captains and shipping companies needed crews to sail their ships, so they gathered sailors any way they could—even if that meant resorting to kidnapping by physical force or with the help of liquor or drugs. The word "shanghai" comes from the name of the Chinese city of Shanghai. People started to use the city's name for that unscrupulous way of obtaining sailors because the East was often a destination of ships that had kidnapped men onboard as crew.

My sentence:
"I'm being shanghaied!" cried Uncle Jim at the family picnic when Aunt Marie pulled him away from the volleyball game to start the barbecue.

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

Next sentence?

Jane shanghaied John into helping her move.

The bartender Mikey Finn was known for drugging mens drinks and then shanghaing them into the British Navy.

I have to shanghai the kids to get them to go to the dentist.

Due to an unfortunate incident involving me webbles, I
shanghai ,and was thereafter dubbed a soprano.

Word of the day September 9
 

The Word of the Day for September 9 is:

viand • \VYE-und\ • (noun) 1. an item of food; especially a choice or tasty dish; 2. plural: provisions, food

A little more information about today’s word:
Are you someone who eats to live, or someone who lives to eat? Either way, you'll find that the etymology of "viand" reflects the close link between food and life. "Viand" entered English in the 15th century from Anglo-French ("viande" means "meat" even in modern French), and it derives ultimately from the Latin "vivere," meaning "to live." "Vivere" is the ancestor of a number of other lively and life-giving words in English, including "victual," "revive," "survive," "convivial," and "vivacious."

My sentence (using definition #2):
Adam couldn't help smiling as he read the opening line of the invitation to the Smith's annual wine-tasting and dinner party: "Join Us for Vino and Viands."

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

Next sentence?

Viand da vorld didn’t you vait for me? (I vas just vashing my Veimaraner!)

The viand of the day at the diner was always a favorite among the customers.

Life is about amour, joy, music and viands.

Word of the day September 10
 

The Word of the Day for September 10 is:

rotisserie • \roh-TIH-suh-ree\ • (adjective) of, relating to, or being a sports league consisting of imaginary teams whose performance is based on the statistics of actual players

A little more information about today’s word:
Fantasy sports such as rotisserie baseball have become popular even among lukewarm sports fans. First invented in 1979 by publishing consultant Daniel Okrent, rotisserie baseball allows fans a way to follow their pastime interactively by compiling teams of real-life players and rating the success of their team based on those players. We can attribute this new sense of the word "rotisserie" to La Rotisserie Francaise, the now-defunct Manhattan restaurant where Okrent and his fellow rotisserie buffs first gathered to perfect the rules of the game and to compare statistics. Variations of the game have since spread to a number of other major sports (including football and basketball), and the word "rotisserie" is applied to these games as well.

My sentence:
Miguel watched the game intently, rooting not only for the home club but also the players on his rotisserie team.

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition.

Next sentence?

It's difficult starting a rotisserie football team because one can never really tell how well a team will do in the NFL.

When putting together a rotisserie one shouldn't go entirely by statistics, numbers rarely tell the whole story.

They wanted our answer immediately, so I rotisserie up and hand-deliver it to them ASAP!

During my churchs' annual Father-Son banquet last June, I looked up from the long tables that brimmed with delicious food, caught the pastors eye and shouted,"Viand con Dios, Padre.

Word of the day September 11
 

The Word of the Day for September 11 is:

paladin • \PAL-uh-dun\ • (noun) 1. a trusted military leader (as for a medieval prince); 2. a leading champion of a cause

A little more information about today’s word:
In ancient Rome, the emperor's palace was located on the Palatine Hill, known as "Palatium" in Latin. Since the site was the seat of imperial power, the word "palatium" came to mean "imperial" and later "imperial official." Different forms of the word passed through Latin, Italian, and French, picking up various meanings along the way, until eventually some of those forms made their way into English. "Paladin" is one of the etymological heirs of "palatium"; another descendant is the word "palace."

My sentence (using definition #1):
"So Bobby [Kennedy] hung back, watching helplessly as Senator Eugene McCarthy, the paladin of the antiwar movement, buried Johnson's re-election chances in the New Hampshire primary."
-- Sam Tanenhaus, The New Leader, September 1, 2000

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

Next sentence?

Have Gun Will Travel was a black and white Western series starring Richard Boone as Paladin, gun for hire.

And...as Paladin might have said :

" Paladin told you once, touch me again and you’ll be taking a dirt nap!"

The troops saw the general as a great paladin, a man who had seen battle and looked out for his troops.

I've always seen RMS as a paladin of free software -- free as in speech.

I realized that as a bachelor I rarely stock up on the viands.

Sometimes it seems that Paul cares more about his rotisserie team than actual sports teams.

Word of the day September 12
 

The Word of the Day for September 12 is:

ratiocination • \rat-ee-oh-suh-NAY-shun\ • (noun) 1. the process of exact thinking; reasoning; 2. a reasoned train of thought

A little more information about today’s word:
Edgar Allan Poe is said to have called the 1841 story The Murders in the Rue Morgue his first "tale of ratiocination." Many today agree with his assessment and consider that Poe classic to be the world's first detective story. Poe didn't actually use "ratiocination" in Rue Morgue, but the term does appear three times in its 1842 sequel, The Mystery of Marie Roget. In Marie Roget, the author proved his reasoning ability ("ratiocination" traces to "ratio," Latin for "reason" or "computation"). The second tale is based on an actual murder, and as the case unfolded after the publication of Poe's work, it became clear that his fictional detective had done an amazing job of reasoning through the crime.

My sentence (using definition #1):
In the mid-1600s British legal scholar Sir Matthew Hale noted, "There are some truths so plain and evident, and open, that need not any process of ratiocination to evidence or evince them."

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

Next sentence?

This early in the morning I find it impossible to have any kind of ratiocination.

That’s a ratiosination , Mr. Cochran, can you not come up with a more logical argument than that?

Solving Calculus equations requires ratiocination.

Back in the day when I played D and D I had a character named
Ezekiel Westrock who was a Paladin

Opium dreams and cocaine schemes do nothing to improve your
ratiocination .


sorry E.A.P

i'm the paliden for social reform in the world. ;)

2ed meaning

I'm the new paladin of pornolization.

Boots "Omar Pussy" Riley: Let's see... I've been fucking with an organization called the Young "Saggysack" Comrades, doing community organizing. I had a sex fighting kid. But I kind of had to take a wad pulling break from music: My life had become so much involved in the whole music industry, and I didn't want my music to become solely about the wad pulling music industry.

It requires a great deal of ratiocination order to work on a lot of the threads in this forum.

Word of the day September 15
 

The Word of the Day for September 15 is:

compadre • \kum-PAH-dray\ • (noun) a close friend; buddy

A little more information about today’s word:
In Spanish, "compadre" means godfather; it is also a traditional term of reverence and friendship for a man. The equivalent feminine term in Spanish is "comadre." "Compadre" and "comadre" appeared simultaneously in the work that gives us our first known use of "compadre" in English: "'Busy as common, comadre!' said Lopez as he entered, addressing the mother, 'late and early I can find you at work.' 'Yes, compadre,' was the answer." (Albert Pike, "A Mexican Tale," 1834). In English, "compadre" means "friend" and can refer to a person of either sex. "Comadre" continues to appear occasionally in English contexts, but it is not yet well enough established to merit entry in English dictionaries.

My sentence:
"You can't even choose a long-distance carrier without consulting a compadre; you're afraid to take even the smallest step without a posse of pals to back you up."
-- Mary K. Moore, "Cosmo Quiz," Cosmopolitan, March 1999

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

Next sentence?

It's always good to have a compadre to back you up in a fight.

Reminds me of all the gangsta movies I've been seeing lately. I guess here on TFP most of us are compadres :)

Most people have a good number of friends, but few compadres.

I'm lucky to have my little brother as a compadre.

When they compadre s, it was unclear who was the best: Sugar Ray Leonard, or Sugar Ray Robinson.

I sure do hope that I meet some people here on TFP that will become my compadres.

Piled high and stacked in my Chevy van, me and my compadres set out for Lost Vegas.

Word of the day September 16
 

The Word of the Day for September 16 is:

froufrou • \FROO-froo\ • (noun) 1. a rustling especially of a woman's skirts; 2. showy or frilly ornamentation

A little more information about today’s word:
Nineteenth-century Europe featured a lot of sophisticated fashions—especially in Paris, a city considered by many to be the fashion capital of the world. Women's dresses were often made of drooping layers of fabric (such as satin or silk) that rustled as the women moved around, and "frou-frou" was the French word coined in imitation of the sound they made. The word made its first appearance in English in 1870 as a noun meaning "rustling." It later came to mean "ostentatious decoration," and its usage expanded beyond the world of fashion to other crafts such as architecture and interior design.

My sentence (using definition #2):
Styled in the manner of a Victorian mansion, the bed-and-breakfast featured so much froufrou that Darlene and Brian dared not touch a thing.

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

Next sentence?

Wow. Bizarre word :D

Here (the Netherlands) frou-frou is a kind of cookie, two thin waffels with vanilla between them (Dutch dictionary: 'biscuitje met creme'. tastes nice, but it is a real grandma cookie...

So here's the sentence:
Grandma served frou-frou with the tea.

The wind caused her skirt to froufrou.

FROUFROU !!!

Sound like a dog's name ...

I'm froufrou I say, with your nonsense!

Like bling bling

Word of the day September 17
 

The Word of the Day for September 17 is:

quietus • \kwye-EE-tus\ • (noun) 1. final settlement (as of a debt); 2. removal from activity; especially death; 3. something that quiets or represses

A little more information about today’s word:
In the early 1500s, English speakers adopted the Medieval Latin phrase "quietus est" (literally "he is quit") as the name for the writ of discharge exempting a baron or knight from payment of a knight's fee to the king. The expression was later shortened to "quietus" and applied to the termination of any debt. William Shakespeare was the first to use "quietus" as a metaphor for the termination of life: "For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, . . . When he himself might his quietus make / With a bare bodkin?" (Hamlet). The third meaning, which is more influenced by "quiet" than "quit," appeared in the 19th century. It sometimes occurs in the phrase "put the quietus on" (as in, "The bad news put the quietus on their celebration").

My sentence (using definition #2):
"This book is also about the death of Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria, a quietus that for reasons not satisfactorily explained has been placed a year later than it actually occurred."
-- Ruth Rendell, The New York Times Book Review, April 6, 1986

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

Next sentence?

After the quietus was made, Jim was glad that he wouldn't have to make any more car payments.

The quietus of TuPac is a much debated topic.

Her grandmother's taste in jewelry was much too froufrou for her liking.

After my drunken word orgy on the boards the other night, I thought that Jadzia Dax was going to issue my quietus

Ahaaa!

As I roamed the red-light district I found myself in front of the Victorian brothel and was lured inside by the frou-frou and girlish
laughter of the women on the third floor balcony.

Word of the day September 18
 

The Word of the Day for September 18 is:

de minimis • \dee-MIH-nih-miss\ • (adjective) lacking significance or importance; so minor as to merit disregard

A little more information about today’s word:
Proponents of readable prose over jargon and legalese might argue that the last thing 20th-century American jurisprudence needed was another Latin term. Yet here we have a legal term that entered English only around 1950. Perhaps we should clarify: the legal doctrine of "de minimis non curat lex" ("the law does not concern itself with trifling matters") has been around for awhile, but use of "de minimis" on its own is relatively recent. At first, the shortened phrase was simply used to refer to the legal doctrine itself ("the de minimis rule"). Then it came to be used more broadly as an adjective ("de minimis contacts with the defendant"). Finally, "de minimis" leaked out of the courtroom and into the world at large.

My sentence:
"The likelihood that I’m going to win the lottery is de minimis," said the struggling young law student, "so I don’t expect to be buying that luxury yacht I’ve got my eye on anytime soon."

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

Next sentence?

Do you want the large, or de minimis ?

Making de minimis payments on high interest debt is a really bad idea.

Although they were missing a thousand dollars, Genereal Motors considered it de minimis and ignored it.

People are often afraid of things that have a de minimis chance of happening.

I much prefer the RIAA's "egregious". :)

Word of the day September 19
 

The Word of the Day for September 19 is:

malinger • \muh-LING-gur\ • (verb) to pretend or exaggerate incapacity or illness (as to avoid duty or work)

A little more information about today’s word:
Do you know someone who always seems to develop an ailment when there's work to be done? Someone who merits an Academy Award for his or her superb simulation of symptoms? Then you know a malingerer. The verb "malinger" comes from the French word "malingre," meaning "sickly," and one who malingers feigns illness. In its earliest uses in the 19th century, "malinger" usually referred to a soldier or sailor pretending to be sick or insane to shirk duty. Later, psychologists began using "malingering" as a clinical term to describe the feigning of illness in avoidance of a duty or for personal gain. Today, "malinger" is used in just about any context in which someone fakes sickness or injury to get out of an undesirable task.

My sentence:
When Kim called in sick on yet another beautiful summer day, her boss began to suspect she was malingering.

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

Next sentence?

I malinger here a while longer; thereby making the boss think I’ve been working overtime on this stupid project.

In Dan's office people were so afraid of being accused of malingering, the they would come to work sick.

The teacher suspected many of the students were malingering when they didn't show up on the day their paper was due.

I must be malingering my insanity to be replying to this post.

Heh. Only kiddin', of course.

He who habitually procrasinates is surely one who shamelessly malingers when work is to be done.

Despite his obssession with demonic themes, he hangs a froufrou poster of ballerinas in the far corner of the room.

Amid the quietus of the rowdy crowd, the candidate was finally able to speak.

Ever relying on his compadre to bail him out of trouble, the two shared fond adventures together.

No amount of ratiocination can ever prepare humanity from the wraths of a madman.

He who shamelessly malingers is surely one who habitually procrastinatates when WORK is to be done.

TALKIN' BOUT

This paladin shall cleanse this unholy land.

:)