Word du Jour            

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Friday, September 30, 2005

bombinate

\BOM-buh-nayt\, intransitive verb:
To buzz; to hum; to drone.

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Thursday, September 29, 2005

afflatus

\uh-FLAY-tuhs\, noun:
A divine imparting of knowledge; inspiration.

--Hey God, make with the afflatus, see? Mehhh!
--“The thinematic comic book adaptationth of today lack a thertain afflatuth found in thothe of yethteryear,” Marvin observed.
--Pour some afflatus on meeeee (in the name of Love.)
--“You have failed to sate us with your afflatus,” remarked the Siamese cats.
--His graduate studies at New Paltz always provoked strong feeling deep inside John. Was it afflatus? Not quite. Was it irritable bowels? Probably.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

paterfamilias

paterfamilias \pay-tur-fuh-MIL-ee-us\, noun;
The male head of a household or the father of a family.

--Miles always liked to think of himself as the A.V. Club's "paterfamilias." And since he was the club's only member, no one else ever seemed to object.
--I don't care if I'm your brother. WHEN YOUR MOM'S NOT AROUND, YOU CALL ME PATERFAMILIAS. GOT IT, FUCKER?!
--Father puts the "ERF" in "PATERFAMILIAS."
--Johnny, I've always said that you need a good strong paterfamilias in your life. And so, I'm marrying your mother. No no no, don't try and talk me out of it--I insist.
--Remember to check me out at www.bigfatfuckingpaterfamiliasincharge.com.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

stentorian

\sten-TOR-ee-uhn\, adjective:
Extremely loud.

--No one could out-talk Loud Larry, save for Stentorian Steve.
--The stentorian slurps and gargantuan gulps of King Henry VIII filled the hall, making it difficult for his dinner guests to hear one another, let alone enjoy their meals.
--"BOOM BOOM BOOM," said the Stentorian Tuba. "Well ting ting ting," replied the Tiny Triangle. "BOTHYA SHADDUP," added impatient Pavarotti.
--The stentorian sound of AC/DC record not only awoke the bears from their hibernation; it also had them playing air guitar and doing one-legged hops across the frozen cave.

Monday, September 26, 2005

bedizen

\bih-DY-zuhn\, transitive verb:
To dress or adorn in gaudy manner.

--Fresh out of prison, Mr. Wizard made the decision to become bedizened in prisms risen from the schism chiseled between fizzled fission and wizened communism.
--And here comes Swamp Thing strutting down the aisle, bedizened in seaweed, fish-hooks, and old shoelaces, looking stunning as always.
--At Christmas, Ms. Clayburgh mourned her beloved Mipsy by bedizening the tree with pieces of kitty litter, horded from the cat's younger, more regular days.
--I'll right, Frankie. Here's the deal, you get bedizened and I'll get bedazzled."
"Okay, okay. Sounds good. But how we gonna do that, Paully?"
"Easy. First, you go in there and put on something nice and flashy-like, like David Bowie's studded skin-suit from 'Labyrinth.' Then you come out here, and I'll say, 'Frankie, I am truly bedazzled.' And that's how we're gonna do that.

Friday, September 23, 2005

extempore

\ik-STEM-puh-ree\, adverb:
Without previous study or meditation; without preparation; on the spur of the moment; suddenly

--In the heat of the moment, the preacher launched extempore into a rendition of "Back Dat Ass Up." The crowd had been with him until that point.
--Traditionally, Dr. Herling liked to begin his film seminar by delivering drunken reflections extempore about his marital failings. "Always put stickers on your stuff," he would advise between whiskey burps. "Love comes and goes, but a limited edition vinyl print of Sargent Pepper's is forever."
--Grandpa may not remember any of our names, because he can still recite the entire series final of Quantum Leap, extempore. And dammit if that doesn't count for something!
--"But why don't you love me?" Bruce asked Sheila, not expecting her to respond quite the way she did; calmly and extempore, with an 8-hour long, nonstop marathon list of very specific and well-articulated reasons.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

defenestrate

\dee-FEN-ih-strayt\, transitive verb:
To throw out of a window.

After delivering a succinct and eloquent suicide speech, Arnold bid his co-workers a friendly adieu and proceeded to defenestate himself.
Anyone can defenestrate. It's refenestrating that takes talent.
Down with elevation! Up with defenestration!
"Charles?" "Yes, honey?" "I defenestrated your record collection." "Aww. Thanks dear."
Jay Mohr defenestrated a phone out of a Rockefeller Center window. (true story!)

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

perdurable

\pur-DUR-uh-bul;\, adjective:
Extremely durable; lasting; continuing long.

--George wanted to seem smart, so instead of calling the garbage cans "extremely durable," he called them "perdurable."
--Ah, my son, there is nothing so perdurable as the love of a Norseman.
--After 200 years had passed, Frank's ghost was now beginning to regret not shelling out an extra fifty for a PERdurable tombstone.
--To prove the perdurability of these scientific assertions, I am going to rub doody all over them. (Rubs doody all over them.) See? They still hold true, even with doody all over them.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

hobbledehoy

\HOB-uhl-dee-hoy\, noun:
An awkward, gawky young fellow.

--Humphrey the Hobbledehoy slinked over to Susan intending to ask her out, but instead just breathed on her neck.
--I'm sweating like a hobbledehoy at a figurine convention.
--There was only one nasal decongestant left, and the hobbledehoys were clawing and biting each other to get it.
--"Do you have any hobbledehoy in you? Would you like some? I mean, can I have sex with you?"

Monday, September 19, 2005

louche

\LOOSH\, adjective:
Of questionable taste or morality; disreputable or indecent; dubious; shady.

--There was something about the way Antonio ate that Little Debbie snack-cake. Something louche.
--"Bambi" was not Janice's kind of film. She preferred more louche fare, like Bernardo Bertollucci's "Flight of the Clown Rapist."
--Sure, around the office they knew him as John. But at the pubs downtown, he was Louche Lucius, King of the Slime.

Friday, September 16, 2005

trencherman

\TREN-chuhr-muhn\, noun:
A hearty eater.

--Yup, I work down at the dock. I'm a trencherman. No, I do it for free. You know, always like to help out.
--Carol always hated breastfeeding when her husband's friends were around. "Look at him, milkin' 'is mother's titties like it was 'is last meal on earth! That boy's a trencherman, 'at's what 'e is!"
--When it came to sex, Martha was a trencherman, eating cock like it was pie at the county fair.
--Jim seemed like a nice enough guy, but once the hors-doevres came out, he transmogrified into a ruthless, cold-blooded trencherman, shoving second-cousins and great aunts aside just to make his way to the stuffed mushroom table.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

foofaraw

\FOO-fuh-raw\, noun:
1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation or decoration.
2. A fuss over a matter of little importance.

He could hardly recognize Bessie under all that foofaraw.
I never listened to all the foofaraw. I'll listen to the hoopla occasionally, but never the foofaraw.
Gladys may have married Steve and moved to the country, but as always, her heart was still brimming with Broadway foofaraw.
Give me foofaraw or give me death!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

zooglea

zo·o·gle·a also zo·o·gloe·a
n. An aggregate of bacteria forming a jellylike mass with cell walls swollen by the absorption of water or other fluid.

--"My zooglea/brings all the boys to the yard/My zooglea/is better than yours."
--He had been in bed so long that after he awoke, he was now half man, half zooglea. Particularly his lower half. Instead of walking or tiptoeing around as he had done in his youth, he now slid from place to place, usually leaving a trail of water or some other fluid behind him.
--The zooglea continued to double in size by the second, until Marshall's refrigerator and house had broken to bits. Then, the zooglea packed a suitcase full of cereal bars, put on a top-hat, and headed west to try to make it in Hollywood.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

precipice

\PRES-uh-pis\, noun:
1. A very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging place; a cliff.
2. The brink of a hazardous situation.

"I dance with disaster," exclaimed Toby with his trademark lisp. "I prance upon precipices!"
Me and the men stood proudly upon the precipice of the candycane volcano, until a giant glob of minty molten lava squirted out and scalded us all!
There was something that James loved about being on the precipice of danger; this is why he constantly pleasured himself in his cublicle, despite the fact that he shared the space with 3 others.

Monday, September 12, 2005

maunder

\MON-duhr\, intransitive verb:
1. To talk incoherently; to speak in a rambling manner.
2. To wander aimlessly or confusedly.

--She looked up from her wine glass only to see that her husband was still maundering on about the price of gas.
--"It's funny, I can never remember any of my dreams. The last dream I remember having was in 7th grade, I was dressed up like a bumblebee only instead of flying and buzzing like a bumblebee I was swimming in the ocean kind of like Super Mario does in Super Mario 3 when he puts on the frog suit, which reminds me, why didn't they ever give Mario a chance to put on a bumble costume, I think bumblebees are far more interesting than frogs or mushrooms..." he maundered.

--The drunk knight maundered off in search of a dragon to slay to return him to his former glory.

Friday, September 09, 2005

wayworn

\WAY-worn\, adjective:
Wearied by traveling.

Tony was so wayworn by his adventures in the Orient that he couldn't even look at a jar of lo mein without wanting to heave a couple loads.
Unlike the other 4-year-olds, Tara had been around the globe 4 times already, leaving her wayworn and uninterested in playing hopscotch.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

crop-ear

\Crop"-ear`\ (kr?p"?r`), n. A person or animal whose ears are cropped.

Yep, despite her folks' wishes, lil' Jenny went and married a Crop-ear.
All you crop-ears gather 'round. GATHER 'ROUND I said!!!
What is this? A crop-ear convention?
In addition to being a crop-ear, James was also a registered Democrat!

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

harridan

harridan \HAR-uh-dn\, noun:
A scolding, vicious old woman.

"It was you! You and your insatiable monster cock drained me of everything I have!" shrieked the shriveled harridan.
The harridan boiled a pot of tea, giggling like the Dickens.
Fred might have enjoyed his cruise to the Netherlands, if his harridan of a wife hadn't been beside him at every turn, criticizing everything from the way he butters his crumpets in the morning to the he wears tie in the evening.