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Interesting/Unusual daily WORD


Irene
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If you know/find any interesting or unusual words, please feel free to add them to the thread. 

 

Oxymoron (n.pl)

~ A phrase in which two words of contradictory meaning are used together for special effect.

 

For example:

Seriously funny

Foolish wisdom

Open secret

Liquid gas

 

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Serendipity  (noun)

~ The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident. 

“A fortunate stroke of serendipity.”

 

Source: Wikipedia

Quote

Serendipity means a "fortunate happenstance" or "pleasant surprise".  It was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754.  In a letter he wrote to a friend, Walpole explained an unexpected discovery he had made by reference to a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip.  The princes, he told his correspondent, were "always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of".  The notion of serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of scientific innovation such as Alexander Fleming's accidental discovery of penicillin in 1928, the invention of the microwave oven by Percy Spencer in 1945, and the invention of the Post-it note by Spencer Silver in 1968.

 

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floccinaucinihilipilification (noun)       :shok: 

 

 ~ The action or habit of estimating something as worthless

 

 

 

Origin

Mid-18th century: from Latin flocci, nauci, nihili, pili (words meaning at little value) + -fication.

The Latin elements were listed in a well-known rule of the Eton Latin Grammar.

 

More information and pronunciation HERE

 

 
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Sesquipedalian (adjective)       :shok:

 

~ (of a word) polysyllabic; long:

‘sesquipedalian surnames’

    Characterized by long words; long-winded:

‘the sesquipedalian prose of scientific journals’

 

Origin

Mid 17th century:  from Latin sesquipedalis a foot and a half long, from sesqui + ped- foot.

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rubricate (verb) historical

 ~ To add elaborate, typically red, capital letters or other decorations to (a manuscript):

 

Rubrication was one of several steps in the medieval process of manuscript making.  Practitioners of rubrication, so-called rubricators, were specialized scribes who received text from the manuscript's original scribe and supplemented it with additional text in red ink for emphasis.  The term rubrication comes from the Latin rubrico, "to colour red".

 

example:

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54 minutes ago, -pops- said:
borborygmus
a rumbling or gurgling noise made by the movement of fluid and gas in the intestines.

 

I take Metformin to assist in the control of Diabetes and it has precisely that effect!  :laugh:  :whistling:

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Incunabulum

~ An early printed book, especially one printed before 1501.

 

Origin

From Latin incunabula (neuter plural) swaddling clothes, cradle, from in- into + cunae cradle.

 

Books printed before 1501 are called incunabula; the word is derived from Latin for swaddling clothes and used to indicate that these books are the work of a technology still in its infancy.

:clipart-study-girl-smiley-emoticon-0623:

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doryphore (noun)

 ~ A pedantic and annoyingly persistent critic 

...As an example, I could name one... but I won't  :sign_groan:

 

Origin

1950's (introduced by Sir Harold Nicolson): from French, literally Colorado beetle, from Greek doruphoros spear carrier.

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