The NEVERENDING word(s) of the day thread

Ah, vivisepulture, a word for the ages.

I used to think I was a good speller. And then they started showing the Spelling Bee on tv. Hah. I'm glad I can spell my name right.

I'm late to the party, but has anyone tossed in "Infralapsarian?"

n. One who ventures to believe that Adam need not have sinned unless he had a mind to -- in opposition to the Supralapsarians, who hold that that luckless person's fall was decreed from the beginning. Infralapsarians are sometimes called Sublapsarians without material effect upon the importance and lucidity of their views about Adam.

The above definition courtesy of Ambrose Bierce in "The Devil's Dictionary"

You can't make that stuff up.

Gustav, It's never too late to throw in a good word or two. Yours are outstanding. The next time I'm in a discussion of free will and sin, I'll be ready.

My word of the day is solipsism: A theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing.

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4. Weird Words: Eyot /eIt/
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A small island, especially in the Thames.

You say it like the number eight. Anyone living along the River
Thames upstream of London as far as about Windsor or Reading will
know this word, as it's commonly used in the names of the little
islands that dot the river in those reaches. But for most British
people it surfaces only as a curious term during commentaries on
the Oxford-Cambridge boat race, when places like Chiswick Eyot are
regularly mentioned. It's from Old English "iggath" (or "igeth"),
which is based on "ieg", an island, plus a diminutive suffix. So -
a small island. As you might expect from its Old English origins,
it turns up in a couple of places in J R R Tolkien's Lord of the
Rings: "That night they camped on a small eyot close to the western
bank". (That, I must tuttingly tell the shade of Professor Tolkien,
is a tautology, since all eyots are by definition small.) An older
form that's more clearly connected to the way you say it is "ait",
a spelling retained in the names of some of the Thames islands and
which Charles Dickens used in Bleak House: "Fog everywhere. Fog up
the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down
the river, where it rolls deified among the tiers of shipping and
the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city".

World Wide Words is copyright (c) Michael Quinion 2003. All rights
reserved. The Words Web site is at <http://www.worldwidewords.org>.
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Hey Andy,

Ait is a crossword puzzle word. Pronouced like the number 8, it means a small island in a river.

You're right, Roboita. Now that you mention it. I hadn't made the connection between the two variant spellings.

Here is a seemingly obvious selection, rife with topical subtleties of meaning, provided with an alterior motive in mind (adding this thread to my personal list, so I can monitor it):
"embedded"
actual meaning quoted from Oxford; 1 fix "firmly" in a surrounding "mass". 2 implant (an "idea" or feeling). [my quotes]
Perhaps adds a new dimension to embedded journalists?

And, I also have a question; I couln't find the word alterior used above in any of my, admittedly undersized, dictionaries; is the word a figment of my imagination, or badly misspelled?

BoGoWo, Embedded is a good word. Lots of possibilities. I believe the correct spelling you're looking for is ulterior.

Yeah!
Thanks, that would be it.

I must have been having an "a"ltimate moment!

My word of the day is ignominy: deep personal humiliation and disgrace; disgraceful or dishonorable conduct, quality, or action.

I chose this word because I've seen it in print often enough, but I rarely hear it spoken. My ESL student often asks me whether a particular word is spoken frequently. Some words seem to exist in writing but rarely in speech.

How right you are, Roberta! Whenever I do a vocabulary exercise with my students, they ask if they're likely ever to use a particular word. I always tell them, probably not, but it's good to know the word if you run into it while reading something.

I'm new at this. May more than one person post a word of the day? My self-esteem would take an ignominious fall if I were to err and post one that is unwelcome by the rules.

Perhaps my favorite word of all is crepuscular. It is a word that, while fairly well known, doesn't get the respect or recognition it deserves. Why isn't crepuscular used more, conversationally? Many times I have witnessed people talking about, oh, maybe a owl or a fox, and they mention the fact that they only see these creatures at dawn or dusk. They could say something like, "Are these creatures crepuscular by nature?"

Anyway, that's my word... crepuscular

definition: becoming active at twilight or before sunrise

Ain't no rules, Osso. This is a free-for-all.

gustav, Good one. Crepuscular. I like that.

Osso, Jump right in. We'll take as many words of the day as you're willing to throw at us.

Roberta, I am glad you liked my word. It is one of my favorites. I wanted to post another word, a type of eel I believe, but I forgot the darn word. That's not important, however, because what I really wanted to pass along was the definition of the word. I remember reading it and chuckling. I have used the definition many times when I am angered my someone. I call them a slimy boneless gastropod.

You have my permission to place that into your quiver of insults. If I happen to stumble across the word that preceded the definition I will pass it along.

Gustav, My quiver of insults is quivering in anticipation. Now I can't wait for someone to piss me off. Please try to remember the word from which the definition is derived. It would be even more fun to call someone a word he or she doesn't know.

Would an eel be boneless? Nope. I just checked the dictionary. A gastropod is a mollusk as in snails and slugs. I once accused someone of having the learning curve of a sea slug. Not bad, but I like gastropod better.

Word of the day -- Varlet

n. Low, menial scoundrel.

Varlets were common in medieval times. They roamed around with a cast of comparable ilk. Let us journey back in time. You are in the office of your castle, mulling over a new problem with the moat. The moat has been leaking and you are at your wits end trying to figure a way to stop the leak. You're tense and irritable because a dry moat will make you the laughingstock of the neighborhood. You hear a noise. Glancing out the window you see a collection of scoundrels at the gate.

"Get those varlets, lackeys, knaves and caitiffs out of here!", you yell to your doorkeeper.

You continue to anguish over your moat problem as you mutter, "Damn varlets! I hate those guys."

Gustav, Varlets. LOL. I hate those guys too.

In keeping with your earlier animal theme, my word of the day is monotreme--an order of egg-laying mammals comprising platypuses and echidnas.

I wish we had a native monotreme is the good old U.S. of A.

Monotreme. What a coincidence! I was doing some yard work earlier and discovered some eggs under one of my hostas. My neighbor yelled over the fence, "What are you looking at, Gus?"

I replied, "Eggs. I think they're bird eggs because I've never seen any monotreme in this area."

Now, my word of the day... Ranarium
n. A frog farm

The lad decided he would quit high school and go to work at the ranarium. He was sure a job of such high prestige would enable him to pick up women easier.