Gus, I use zaftig all the time to describe a well-endowed, Reubensesque full-bodied woman.I know at least one or two other men who also use the word occasionally.
Actually, I find such women absolutely "exzaufting"!
Andy, Outstanding word. Cachinnatory. I have on several embarrassing occasions experienced cachinnatory convulsions. If I think something is extremely funny, I start laughing and can't stop. Friends will go to see a comedic play with me only if I promise not to sit in the first row.
Bo, The Ablution Solution. Sounds like a Tom Clancy novel. LOL.
Monger, Thanks for your word. I had always thought of bombast as oral hot air. I didn't know it could refer to written hot air as well. Live and loin.
Gustav, Haven't heard zaftig in a long time. And I'm surprised that you couldn't find a way to work it into a sentence--considering your previous sentence spinning skills.
My word for the day is chutzpah--supreme self-confidence; nerve, gall. When my mother came to visit me at my place of work, she had the chutzpah to tell my boss to give me a raise. (Humiliating but true.)
I can never see that word -- chutzpah -- without remembering the classic definition of it from The Joy of Yiddish. An example of chutzpah is the boy who, having slain his parents, pleads for mercy in court on the grounds that he is an orphan.
gymnophoria - the feeling that someone is mentally undressing you.
I get that all the time.
One of my favourite words:
lickerish (or, my preferred spelling, liquorish):
1. Eager for choice food
2. Greedy
3. Lustful
And here is an old sweetie:
lice-ladders: colloquial name for sideburns
Gus, a healthy capybara is zaftig.....
Roberta;
Your "I had always thought of bombast as oral hot air."
Sure beats "anal" hot air; oops that would be "bombassed"!
baldric (n.) -- shoulder strap for holding the scabbard of a sword.
Craven, I had no idea that there was a word for that. Gymnophoria. And what is it called when you think that someone is dressing you mentally? Ungymnophoria?
Deb, Lickerish appears in my dictionary with the definitions you provide. Liquorish is not listed. It's got liquorice, which tells me to see licorice. And still in the Ls. lice-ladder. Never heard that one. Like it, though.
Andy, Baldric? Don't have anything snappy to say. Let's face it. This is not a word that comes up all that often. But if the situation arises, I'm ready.
Rpbrta, I saw the word and immediately wondered whether the Bard was thinking of it when he named Osric Osric and then made him speak virtual gibberish about swordplay.
Roberta:
If someone is dressing you mentally, a fashionista, was
trying to think of what you should wear,
that would be : garmentia.
Andy, Wouldn't it be glorious to know what the Bard was thinking--about anything. I sometimes ask my students to tell me whom they would invite to dinner if they could ask any ten people who ever lived--and why. (It gets them to talk.) I usually have to start. Willie S. is always at the top of my list.
Roberta; actually, to me it is strange that you should say that, as I have always felt, somewhat, the other way around; I have always been in awe of the way one can virtually converse with artists of Shakespear's level, simply by reading, listening to (music), or observing/experiencing (art), what they have created.
I must admit I feel my favourite artists are very much like admired friends, who exist in their work in a very real way.
Joe, Garmentia. I love this. If I ever edit another fashion textbook, I'm going to stealthily add this word.
Bo, An interesting perspective. I agree that artists communicate with us in very personal ways. But I would prefer some give and take, which is why I like the dinner party idea. And I'd like to know what some of the greatest artists were like beyond their work. IMO, we don't know nearly enough about Shakespeare.
Roberta -- why don't you start a thread on that theme? "Who would you invite to your dinner party?" Sounds like a fascinating mind-game.
Andy, You think so? I think maybe the idea is a bit stale.
Common word, rarely used meaning:
enthrall :: to reduce to slavery
Roberta -- no, I think it'd fly with this crowd.
Crave -- good 'un. Apropos to that, try to figure out the etymology of the word 'enthusiasm'. From the Greek, en- (within), Theos (God).
You know, not being able to spell worth a damn, provides one with numerous opportunities to come across words one has not previously encountered, and, as a bonus get the spelling correct too:
"opprobrious" - highly critical.
Your telling me that my spelling "sucks" is quite opprobious!
That's right, my "edit" is correcting my spelling (great system this!)
