Hoosegow
hoosegow
"jail," 1911, western U.S., from mispronunciation of Mex.Sp. juzgao "tribunal, court," from juzgar "to judge," used as a noun, from L. judicare "to judge," which is related to judicem

This has always been one of my favorite words which I delight in overusing. Of late this involves Paris Hilton references.

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Enervate
Enervate (ěn'ər-vāt')
tr.v. en·er·vat·ed, en·er·vat·ing, en·er·vates
To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of: "the luxury which enervates and destroys nations" (Henry David Thoreau). See Synonyms at deplete.
Medicine To remove a nerve or part of a nerve.

adj. (ĭ-nûr'vĭt)
Deprived of strength; debilitated.


[Latin ēnervāre, ēnervāt- : ē-, ex-, ex- + nervus, sinew; see (s)neəu- in Indo-European roots.]

en'er·va'tion n., en'er·va'tive adj., en'er·va'tor n.
Usage Note: Sometimes people mistakenly use enervate to mean "to invigorate" or "to excite" by assuming that this word is a close cousin of the verb energize. In fact enervate does not come from the same source as energize (Greek energos, "active"). It comes from Latin nervus, "sinew." Thus enervate means "to cause to become 'out of muscle'," that is, "to weaken or deplete of strength."

This is one of my favorite words because as the usage note states the meaning is so opposite of what you'd expect. It even beats out pulchritude on that score!!!

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Leporine
Leporine
–adjective Zoology.
of, pertaining to, or resembling a rabbit or hare.
[Origin: 1650–60; < L leporīnus, equiv. to lepor- (s. of lepus) hare + -īnus -ine1]

I don't mean to be snarky but this entry was inspired by an email I received this morning from a delightful but decidedly "rabbity" friend!!!!

Current Mood: silly

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Dogsbody
Dogsbody [dawgz-bod-ee]
–noun, plural -bod·ies. Chiefly British Slang.
a menial worker; drudge.
[Origin: 1810–20; orig. a junior naval officer, earlier a sailor's term for soaked sea biscuits or pease pudding]

This has always been one of my favorite briticisms--with a few notable exceptions most dogs live lives utterly free of responsibility. Although my dog, Bahr, would disagree as he considers keeping our yard squirrel free to be of utmost importance!

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Osculate
Osculate [os-kyuh-leyt] -lat·ed, -lat·ing.
–verb (used without object)
1. to come into close contact or union.
2. Geometry. (of a curve) to touch another curve or another part of the same curve so as to have the same tangent and curvature at the point of contact.
–verb (used with object)
3. to bring into close contact or union.
4. Geometry. (of a curve) to touch (another curve or another part of the same curve) in osculation.
5. to kiss.
[Origin: 1650–60; < L ōsculātus (ptp. of ōsculārī to kiss), equiv. to ōscul(um) kiss, lit., little mouth (see osculum) + -ātus -ate1]

A little sumpin' sumpin' for your Valentine's Day cards!!!

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Mage
mage
n.
A magician or sorcerer.

[From Middle English mages, magicians, variant of magi. See magus.]

I encountered this word in some of my recent reading. The author kept alternating between referring to his protagonist as a "mage" and a "sage".

Current Mood: amused

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diptych
diptych |ˈdiptik| noun
a painting, esp. an altarpiece, on two hinged wooden panels that may be closed like a book.


I've come across this word like four times in the past week...out of nowhere...

Current Mood: busy

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hetaera
hetaera n. pl. he·tae·rae (-tîr) or he·tae·ras also he·tai·rai (-tr) or he·tai·ras
An ancient Greek courtesan or concubine, especially one of a special class of cultivated female companions.

[Greek hetaira, feminine of hetairos, companion. See s(w)e- in Indo-European Roots.]
he·taeric adj.

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Hooligan
Hooligan
n.
1. A tough and aggressive or violent youth.

[Origin unknown]
hooli·gan·ism

n : a cruel and brutal fellow [syn: bully, tough, ruffian, roughneck, rowdy, yob, yobo, yobbo]


This is in honor of the World Cup starting tomorrow as in "football hooligans". I think it is a wonderful turn of phrase and it pleases me everytime I hear it.

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impinguate
impinguate - v., to fatten.


My department calls the place you leave out goodies to share the Impinguation Station. It's right outside my office door.

---L.

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windrow
I'd long been confused by windrow, and looking at a couple dictionaries, I see why. From American Heritage:

1. A row, as of leaves or snow, heaped up by the wind.
2. A long row of cut hay or grain left to dry in a field before being bundled.

While Merriam-Webster has:

1 a : a row of hay raked up to dry before being baled or stored b : a similar row of cut vegetation (as grain) for drying
2 : a row heaped up by or as if by the wind
3 a : a long low ridge of road-making material scraped to the side of a road b : BANK, RIDGE, HEAP

I've heard both the purposeful and accidental senses as essential, when in fact it's either.

---L.

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euthymic
euthymic - adj., mentally peacedul and tranquil; in a moderate mood, neither manic nor depressed.


From Greek, "good feeling." Not to be confused with dysthymic.

---L.

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trabeated
trabeated - adj., having horizontal beams or lintels rather than arches.


From Latin trabs, trab-, beam (influenced by trabetus, clothed in the trabea, a ritual garment).

---L.

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boodling
Money, especially bribe money, or counterfeit money, or stolen money.

For a discourse on boodling (and the verb to boodle), scroll down to the August 3, 2004 entry.

boodling!

---L.

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Bowdlerize
Bowdlerize
tr.v. bowd·ler·ized, bowd·ler·iz·ing, bowd·ler·iz·es
1 To expurgate (a book, for example) prudishly.
2. To modify, as by shortening or simplifying or by skewing the content in a certain manner.

[After Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare in 1818.]

bowdler·ism n.
bowdler·i·zation n.
bowdler·izer n.

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Ghee
ghee
n.
A clarified semifluid butter used especially in Indian cooking.

[Hindi gh, from Sanskrit ghtam. See gwher- in Indo-European Roots.]

I had murky recollections of ghee from a Hinduism class I took 14 years ago (was looking for an exotic scrabble move).

Current Mood: bouncy

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Soubrette
Soubrette
n.
1. A saucy, coquettish, intriguing maidservant in comedies or comic opera.
2 An actress or a singer taking such a part.
3. A young woman regarded as flirtatious or frivolous.

[French, from Provençal soubreto, feminine of soubret, conceited, from soubra, to leave aside, from Old Provençal sobrar, to be excessive, from Latin superre, from super, above. See uper in Indo-European Roots.]

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Manqué
man·qué
ADJECTIVE:Unfulfilled or frustrated in the realization of one's ambitions or capabilities: an artist manqué; a writer manqué.
ETYMOLOGY: French, from past participle of manquer, to fail, from Old French, from Old Italian mancare, from manco, lacking, from Latin mancus, maimed, infirm.


A lifesansvanilla word...Had the opportunity to play this word tonight in Scrabble, but alas I couldn't as the E on the board already had an S following. I think I'll start using this word more in conversation.

Current Mood: melancholy

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frivol
friv·ol
intr.v. friv·oled, or friv·olled friv·ol·ing, or friv·ol·ling friv·ols or friv·ols
1. To behave frivolously.

[Back-formation from frivolous.]
frivol·er n.

v : act frivolously [syn: trifle]

I'm obviously familiar with the word frivolous, but had never heard the word frivol used until a couple of days ago.

Current Mood: pleased

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Dolorous
Dolorous
adj.
Marked by or exhibiting sorrow, grief, or pain.

[Middle English, from Old French doloros, from Late Latin dolrsus, from dolor, dolor. See dolor.]
dolor·ous·ly adv.
dolor·ous·ness n.

Function: adjective
1 : causing, characterized by, or affected with physical pain
2 : causing, marked by, or expressive of misery or grief —do·lor·ous·ly adverb

adj : showing sorrow [syn: dolourous, lachrymose, tearful, weeping]

*I love this word although my great-aunt Dolores always springs to mind unbidden.

Current Mood: silly

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