Word of the Day - Add to this thread

[izeveryboyin]

voracious
1 : having a huge appetite : ravenous
2 : excessively eager : insatiable <a>

[gypsyjoker]

turgid

1: being in a state of distension : swollen, tumid <turgid>; especially : exhibiting turgor
2: excessively embellished in style or language : bombastic, pompous

[Doreen Peri]

hypergraphia

an overwhelming urge to write

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Hypergraphia

Hypergraphia was one of the central issues in the mysterious story of Virginia Ridley, a Georgia woman who also suffered from agoraphobia and epilepsy and remained secluded in her home for twenty-seven years. When her husband, Alvin Ridley, was accused of holding his wife in the home for almost three decades and killing her, her ten thousand-plus page hypergraphic journal was central at the 1999 trial and in the ultimate acquittal of Mr. Ridley. Her writings literally answered every question raised about the mysterious woman in the small town of Ringgold, Georgia, when prosecutors had assumed that she had been held against her will and murdered.

Both Vincent van Gogh and Fyodor Dostoevsky are reported to have been affected by Hypergraphia. The fearsomely prolific American composer Alan Hovhaness may have been affected by hypergraphia. He claimed to have thrown over 1,000 of his early compositions into the fireplace in the 1940s whilst still a young man, and even at the time of his death, in 2000, had penned at least 400 more, of which at least 300 are published.

Lewis Carroll, the esteemed author of "Alice in Wonderland" is said to have had hypergraphia; in his lifetime he wrote over 98,000 letters varying in format. The letters were written backwards, in rebus, and in different patterns, such as the "Mouse Tail" in the former book. Some examples of his letters can be found here.

[gypsyjoker]

Clay wrote:

it's susserant
brushes on cymbals

sussurant

Whispering, making a low continuous indistinct sound
words that sound like what they mean

Ever notice how some words sound like what they mean?

In fact, all words sound like what they mean.
http://www.trismegistos.com/

[gypsyjoker]

fig·u·ra·tive (fgyr--tv)

adj.
1.
a. Based on or making use of figures of speech; metaphorical: figurative language.
b. Containing many figures of speech; ornate.
2. Represented by a figure or resemblance; symbolic or emblematic.
3. Of or relating to artistic representation by means of animal or human figures.

[gypsyjoker]

ensorcelling

Main Entry:

en·sor·celled or en·sor·celed; en·sor·cell·ing or en·sor·cel·ing
Etymology:
Middle French ensorceler, alteration of Old French ensorcerer, from en- + -sorcerer, from sorcier, sorcer sorcerer — more at SORCERY
Date:
circa 1541
: BEWITCH, ENCHANT

Obama, on the other hand, may seem esoteric, and sometimes looks haughty or put-upon when he should merely offer that ensorcelling smile.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/opini ... ei=5087%0A

[gypsyjoker]

Hincty

I think the first time I came across the word -hincty was in a Kerouac novel.

Steve Sims wrote:
I recently heard the word "hinky" on an old Dragnet episode and remembered the word used in several James Ellroy novels. Yet, the word cannot be found in the several dictionaries I have searched. What is the origin, meaning and is it only used in reference to crime?
There are two related words involved here, and the origin of neither one is known.

The first word is hincty, found in various spellings. First recorded in the 1920s, hincty has two distinct senses. The first is found almost exclusively in Black English, and means 'snobbish; haughty; conceited; aloof; fastidious'. Example: "She wasn't a bit hinkty like so many folks when they're light-complexioned and up in the money" (Langston Hughes, Ways of White Folks, 1934). This word is of unknown origin.

The second sense is apparently the one you have in mind: 'wary or extremely cautious; feeling suspicion', a sense used chiefly by the police and members of the criminal underworld. This also dates from the 1920s, but was never very common.

The second word is your hinky. This seems to be a variant of hincty, with the medial -t- lost for ease of pronunciation. Hinky is extremely rare in the sense 'snobbish', but it quite common as a police and underworld term for 'wary', and hence 'nervous or jumpy'. The word is often found in crime novels. It is first recorded in the 1950s, though in reference to the 1940s; as with many such words, it is quite likely that it was in long use but went unrecorded owing to the primarily oral nature of the subcultures in which it was used.

There are a few related terms. In Black English hincty is used as a noun in reference to a hinkty person, a sense alleged to date from the 1930s. As a police and underworld term, hinky can also mean 'arousing suspicion' (in English, suspicious can mean both 'feeling suspicion' and 'arousing suspicion', so we can separate hinky into both meanings as well).


http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.p ... e=19990510

[gypsyjoker]

solipsizer
A word coined by Azar Nafisi in her memoir titled Reading Lolita in Tehran

Nafisi (in her discussion questions at the end of the book) interprets "solipsizer" as one who robs individuals of their identities. This seems to fit well enough with the dictionary definition of solipsist (although, as you have pointed out with an additional twist) and is certainly an apt word for Humbert and, indirectly, Khomeini.

[stilltrucking]

To Suss:

I was wrong
Douglas Adams did not coin the word

"Suss" was around before 1977.I remember hearing it for the first time circa 1973.Pete Stevenson may be correct,it appeared around about the time that there was some
controversy around the SUS law.Douglas Adams didn't coin it.

# Posted on March 1st 2003 by dafydd
Re: Derivation of the term "To Suss"
Nah, yer right, it predates the bould Doug. I suss it's one of those things

http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/4536

[stilltrucking]

Sarchasm:

The gap between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it

http://www.whyyouarewrong.blogspot.com/

[stilltrucking]

Quotation, n. - The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

Quoted from here:
Words of Wisdom and Foolery:

another quote from there I like.

You don't look a bear or a New Yorker in the eye.
Bitsy, December 28, 2004

[izeveryboyin]

idea:noun. 1. any conception existing in the mind as a result of mental understanding, awareness, or activity.
--Dictionary.com

Or, as stated on wikipedia: An idea is a form (such as a thought) formed by consciousness (including mind) through the process of ideation. Human capability to contemplate ideas is associated with the ability of reasoning, self-reflection, and of the ability to acquire and apply intellect, intuition, inspiration, etc.. Further, ideas give rise to actual concepts, or mind generalizations, which are the basis for any kind of knowledge whether science or philosophy.