|
|
Post by althea on Mar 27, 2017 11:37:51 GMT
I was always told that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.Despite that,I have known people who used it very wittily indeed.
|
|
|
|
Post by ARENA on Mar 30, 2017 8:47:30 GMT
FREELANCE
Actually came from lesser knights ,who had to supply their own weapons.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Mar 30, 2017 15:15:18 GMT
Oh,of course.  |
|
|
|
Post by ARENA on Mar 31, 2017 9:51:31 GMT
MUNIFICENT
Munificent was formed back in the late 1500s when English speakers, perhaps inspired by similar words such as magnificent, altered the ending of munificence. Munificence in turn comes from munificus, the Latin word for "generous," which itself comes from munus, a Latin noun that is variously translated as "gift," "duty," or "service." Munus has done a fine service to English by giving us other terms related to service or compensation, including municipal and remunerate.
|
|
|
|
Post by marispiper on Apr 11, 2017 10:28:19 GMT
I am reading a book Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave (OK 😐 -this month's book group read)
There appears a word I don't know the meaning of...canicular.
"The garret room was damp and draughty in winter, with a soaring canicular heat in summer"
|
|
|
|
Post by ARENA on Apr 11, 2017 10:40:47 GMT
Canicular refers to Canus major/Sirius.
It is sometimes used to donate the dog-days of summer but I don't feel it appropriate in that sentence.
Summer heat, is summer heat.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Apr 11, 2017 14:08:48 GMT
It means very hot, as in pertaining to the Dog star. I agree with Arena though.
It sounds a little pedantic to me.
|
|
|
|
Post by marispiper on Apr 11, 2017 15:15:13 GMT
Thanks wise ones 😃😃 I have a hefty OED but it wasn't in there 😒
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2017 15:38:35 GMT
One my dad once said. Obstitute. Definition. An obstitute is an institute for destitute prostitutes. As you were....  |
|
|
|
Post by ARENA on Apr 14, 2017 9:55:56 GMT
We'll carry on, being... magnanimous
When you see anima, animus, or a similar formation in a word, it's an indicator of something alive, lively, or spirited. Something described as animated is full of life, for example, and the word animal names a living, breathing thing. The Latin word animus means "soul" or "spirit." In magnanimous, that animus is joined by Latin magnus, meaning "great." Basically meaning "greatness of spirit," magnanimity is the opposite of pettiness. A truly magnanimous person can lose without complaining and win without gloating. Angry disputes can sometimes be resolved when one side makes a magnanimous gesture toward another.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Apr 14, 2017 15:06:32 GMT
I like the word,magnanimous and I like magnanimous people even more.
|
|
|
|
Post by ARENA on Apr 18, 2017 10:05:31 GMT
GRIMALKINIn the opening scene of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, one of the three witches planning to meet with Macbeth suddenly announces, "I come, Graymalkin." The witch is responding to the summons of her familiar, or guardian spirit, which is embodied in the form of a cat. Shakespeare's graymalkin literally means "gray cat." The gray is of course the color; the malkin was a nickname for Matilda or Maud that came to be used in dialect as a general name for a cat—and sometimes a hare—and for an untidy woman as well. By the 1630s, graymalkin had been altered to the modern spelling grimalkin. 
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Apr 19, 2017 11:08:11 GMT
I have learned a new word today. I have never seen or heard "grimalkin" before.
It's a good day when you learn a new word. I think I may have difficulty finding a use for it,but never say never.......................
|
|
|
|
Post by ARENA on Apr 29, 2017 11:14:19 GMT
If you can't be bothered reading this, it could be..........
lethargy
In Greek mythology, Lethe was the name of a river in the underworld that was also called "the River of Unmindfulness" or "the River of Forgetfulness." Legend held that when someone died, he or she was given a drink of water from the river Lethe to forget all about his or her past life. Eventually this act of forgetting came to be associated with feelings of sluggishness, inactivity, or indifference. The name of the river and the word lethargic, as well as the related noun lethargy, all derive from lēthē, Greek for "forgetfulness."
|
|
|
|
Post by ARENA on May 22, 2017 9:46:02 GMT
ACERBIC
English speakers created acerbic in the 19th century by adding -ic to the adjective acerb. Acerb had been around since the 17th century, but for most of that time it had been used only to describe foods with a sour taste. (Acerb is still around today, but now it's simply a less common synonym of acerbic.) Acerbic and acerb ultimately come from the Latin adjective acerbus, which can mean "harsh" or "unpleasant." Another English word that comes from acerbus is exacerbate, which means "to make more violent or severe."
|
|
