Entries Tagged as 'words'

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

Learn-A-Word Wednesday: lachrymose \LAK-ruh-mohs\

adjective:
1. Generating or shedding tears; given to shedding tears; suffused with tears; tearful.
2. Causing or tending to cause tears.
Lachrymose is from Latin lacrimosus, from lacrima.

As parents, we learn new lachrymose things all the time from our kids.
No clean Hello Kitty shirt? WAAAAAAHHHH!
No RED popsicle? WAHHHHHH!
No watermelon gum? WAHHHHH!
Yesterday, I learned […]

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

a cuppa, cuppa what?…a.k.a., how to freak mommy out

We were in the bathroom multitasking, me brushing my teeth, her on the potty. Yes, a regular Norman Rockwell scene (now THAT’S what we want hanging on our wall!).
I finish brushing, take a sip of water and spit.
“Mommy, have you ever peed in a cup?”
“Yes,” I said finishing my last gulp. […]

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Learn-A-Word Wednesday: prink \PRINGK\

transitive verb:
1. To dress up; to deck for show.
2. To dress or arrange oneself for show; to primp.
Prink is probably an alteration of prank, from Middle English pranken, “to show off,” perhaps from Middle Dutch pronken, “to adorn oneself,” and from Middle Low German prunken (from prank, “display”).

I don’t have a lot to say about […]

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

Learn-A-Word Wednesday: lenity \LEN-uh-tee\

noun:
The state or quality of being lenient; mildness; gentleness of treatment; leniency.
Lenity comes from Latin lenitas, from lenis, “soft, mild.”

We have a lot of lenity (a word my spellcheck is denying!) going on around here. I know because Kid a) ate a popsicle IN BED the other night, and b) ate a popsicle IN […]

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\

noun:
A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.
The historian Peter Gay — who felt Schadenfreude as a Jewish child in Nazi-era Berlin, watching the Germans lose coveted gold medals in the 1936 Olympics — has said that it “can be one of the great joys of life.”
– Edward Rothstein, “Missing the Fun of a […]

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Learn-A-Word Wednesday: amanuensis \uh-man-yoo-EN-sis\

noun:
A person employed to take dictation or to copy manuscripts.
Amanuensis comes from Latin, from the phrase (servus) a manu, “slave with handwriting duties,” from a, ab, “by” + manu, from manus, “hand.”

Okay, totally long and useless word when you have “scrivener” or “secretary” or “mommy.”
See, this has been my job ever since Kid learned about […]

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Learn-A-Word Wednesday: perdurable \pur-DUR-uh-bul; pur-DYUR-\

adjective:
Very durable; lasting; continuing long.
Perdurable ultimately comes from Late Latin perdurabilis, from Latin perdurare, to last a long time, to endure, from per-, throughout + durare, to last.

Sure, this word is an easy one, although why not just “durable”??
The twist on it I have for you is an example of something you may […]

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