sometimes i skirl while i hurl.

When Andrew stroked her thigh, Mary's toe skirled.

The skirling winds of kilt donning men signaled the annual celebration with an ode to haggis and fine Scottish poetry.

Word of the day October 13
 

The Word of the Day for October 13 is:

waitron • \WAY-trahn\ • (noun) a person who waits tables (as in a restaurant); waitperson

A little more information about today’s word:
Gender-neutral language has become an increasingly common phenomenon in English over the past several decades. Nowadays, it seems natural to hear conversations laced with terms like "mail carrier," "firefighter," "police officer," and "waitron." It’s easy to see how the first three terms came about, but the origin of "waitron," which first appeared in print in 1980, is less straightforward. "Waitron" is probably a blend of "waiter/waitress" and "-tron," a suffix that seems to allude to the machinelike impersonality of waiting tables. Despite this hint of disparagement, "waitron" quickly gained popularity. Its gender-neutrality makes it a convenient substitute for "waiter" or "waitress."

My sentence:
"You waitrons better start picking up these orders before they get cold!" yelled the head chef across the busy restaurant kitchen.

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

Next sentence?

The waitron brought the capon the matron.

When we were filming Apollo 13, I said: “Waitron, I don’t know if I’m ready to experience weightlessness, I have a morbid fear of flying."

-- I dont have a witty sentence for this, but just had to say -- what a COOL WORD!!

Waitron. Yeah I like it, very much. It's def going to become part of my vocab. Thanks! :)

I consider "waiter" to be gender-neutral, the same as "actor". "Waitron" seriously sounds like an insult.

John was one of the best waitrons in the restaurant because he could always get a laugh out of the patrons.

Cliff, a well-dressed but poor college student, made certain to leave a 15% gratuity for the waitron, lest he should return to the same restaurant and find large wads of spit in his soup.

Word of the day October 14
 

The Word of the Day for October 14 is:

poetaster • \POH-uh-tass-ter\ • (noun) an inferior poet

A little more information about today’s word:
In Latin, the suffix "-aster" indicates partial resemblance. In both Latin and English, that often translates to "second-rate," or maybe even "third-rate." Not surprisingly, "poetaster" often goes hand in hand with "doggerel," meaning "verse marked by triviality or inferiority." "Most of the people who send me thick sheaves of handwritten or word-processed doggerel," Ms. Greer tells us, in the Independent article we quote above, "appear never to have read any poetry, good or bad. . . . Every week poetasters, like literary flashers seeking to amaze and appal hapless passers-by with the sight of their grey flaccidities, send their effusions to people like me." Are there are other kinds of "-asters" out there? Yes indeed—we have criticasters, philosophasters, and politicasters, among others.

My sentence:
"Germaine Greer, Chair Of Judges For The National Poetry Competition 2000, Invites Entries From Readers, But Be Warned: Poetasters Need Not Apply"
-- Headline, The (London) Independent, May 7, 2000

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

Next sentence?

When there was a wrong to be righted, she could be counted on to be a loud poetaster for the cause.

I'm a poetaster, and I don't even know it!

...wait....

I enjoy writing poetry but have to admit I am a poetaster.

Yes but I believe the philosophasters rule this portion of the board many times as much as the philosophy thread.

Robert, the quintessential poseur gothboi, had often been accused of being a poetaster with bad makeup, despite his degree in creative writing.

Word of the day October 15
 

The Word of the Day for October 15 is:

sawbones • \SAW-bohnz\ • (noun) slang: physician, surgeon

A little more information about today’s word:
"Sawbones" first cut its teeth in Charles Dickens's 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers, when Sam Weller said to Mr. Pickwick, "Don't you know what a sawbones is, sir? . . . I thought everybody know'd as a sawbones was a surgeon." By the late 19th century, the word had also been used by authors such as H. G. Wells and Mark Twain and was well established in English. Nineteenth-century surgeons used saws to perform amputations, and the word "sawbones" was associated with unskillful hacking. Mercifully, medical technology has improved dramatically since then (the surgical saws used in procedures today are a far cry from the primitive tools of yesteryear), but the word "sawbones" is still used, often in a humorous context.

My sentence:
Before going in for his appendectomy, Uncle George jokingly wondered aloud how much blood he'd have left after the old sawbones had sewn him back up.

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

Next sentence?

Overhearing his collegues share some awful medical humor, the shrink offered his favorite pickup line to the old sawbones: "What's a vein like you doing in a joint like this?"

Man, I'm on a roll tonight with bad puns.

I was a novice at this X-ray stuff, so I just sawbones .

"Dammit Jim, I'm a sawbones not a mechanic."

Word of the day October 16
 

The Word of the Day for October 16 is:

walleyed • \WAWL-IDE\ • (adjective) 1. having walleyes or affected with walleye; 2. marked by a wild irrational staring of the eyes

A little more information about today’s word:
The noun "walleye" has several meanings. It can refer to an eye with a whitish or bluish-white iris or to one with an opaque white cornea. It can also refer to a condition in which the eye turns outward away from the nose. The extended second sense of the adjective "walleyed" came from the appearance of eyes affected with the condition of walleye. You might guess that "walleyed" has an etymological connection with "wall," but that’s not the case. Rather, it is derived from "wawil-eghed"—a Middle English translation of the Old Norse word "vagl-eygr," from "vagl" ("beam") and "eygr" ("eyed").

My sentence (using definition #2):
After getting beaned by the pitcher, the walleyed batter was immediately checked by the paramedics for signs of a concussion.

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

Next sentence?

Judth was starting to feel a little freaked by the walleyed midget in the corner, who hadn't taken his eyes (or one of them, at least) off her all evening.

Judging from his walleyed state, the boxer must have taken quite a beating from the last round.

There is nothing tastier then walleyed trout cooked over an open fire.

Walleyed rather be sitting on the beach in Cancun sipping a margarita, I’m toiling to meet a deadline on a project I care nothing about.

Word of the day October 17
 

The Word of the Day for October 17 is:

clement • \KLEH-munt\ • (adjective) 1. inclined to be merciful; lenient; 2. mild

A little more information about today’s word:
Defendants in court cases probably don't spend much time worrying about inclement weather. They're too busy hoping to meet a clement judge so they will be granted clemency. They should hope they don't meet an inclement judge! "Clement," "inclement," and "clemency" all derive from the Latin "clemens," which means "mild" or "calm." All three terms can refer to an individual's degree of mercy or to the relative pleasantness of the weather.

My sentence (using definition #1):
Alex Marsh is considered a clement judge—the type who lets first-time offenders off the hook and gives repeat offenders the minimum required jail time.

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

Next sentence?

Waiting for clement weather during a rainstorm is not an option when you're in a hurry.

Oh! oh! I must make another sentence.

Arnold could not help but be walleyed from the bazoombas perked up before him.

Oh my darling, Oh my darling, Oh my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever, Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
In a cavern, in a canyon, Excavating for a mine, Dwelt a miner, forty-niner, And his daughter Clementine.

We have been having unusually clement weather for this time of year. Of course now that I've said that it is going to snow.

Yankees pitcher, Roger Clemens, is ironically very inclement on the mound, with 3909 career strike outs.

(go yanks!!)

Uncle ment it when he said strippers were god's gift to the world.

Uh.

You guys are *so* fired.

Word of the day October 20
 

The Word of the Day for October 20 is:

profligate • \PRAH-flih-gut\ • (adjective) 1. completely given up to dissipation and licentiousness; 2. wildly extravagant; prodigal

A little more information about today’s word:
When a royal record keeper reported the "profligation of the knights" 477 years ago, he didn’t mean the knights were wildly indulging in excesses; he meant they were thoroughly defeated in battle. There’s nothing etymologically extreme there; the Latin verb "profligare," which is the root of both "profligate" and the much rarer "profligation" (meaning "ruin"), means "to strike down," "to destroy, ruin," or "to overwhelm." When the adjective "profligate" first appeared in print in English in the 1500s, it meant "overthrown" or "overwhelmed." By 1647 it had acquired its "abandoned or given over to vice" sense, and by 1779 it was being used with the meaning "wildly extravagant."

My sentence (using definition #2):
Each political party tried to paint the other side as profligate wasters of the taxpayers’ money.

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

Next sentence?

Bruce Wayne led an apparently profligate lifestyle in order to keep anyone from thinking he could be Batman.

Everyone liked going to John's profligate parties.

I bought a new car with one of those fancy “keyless entry” keypads, and I just know I’ll profligate the combination when I need it the most.

The Hilton sisters certainly make no apologies for their profligate expenditures.

Word of the day October 21
 

The Word of the Day for October 21 is:

smashmouth • \SMASH-mouth\ • (adjective) characterized by brute force without finesse

A little more information about today’s word:
"Smashmouth" crashed its way into the English language during the 1984 football season to describe the brutally hard-hitting play that is characteristic of the game. It has since been used to describe similar physicality in other contact sports, such as hockey and basketball, and has even forced its way out of the realm of sports into politics; we've been using it to describe hardball tactics in politics since the 1984 U.S. presidential election. However, this political application of "smashmouth" never made it into the end zone. It occurs too rarely in English to merit its own sense in the dictionary.

My sentence:
Monday night’s game, between two teams known for their hard-hitting, aggressive styles, promises to be entertaining if you like smashmouth football.

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

Next sentence?

The mobster took smashmouth measures to secure his position and fortunes.