Rod's Word of the Day

Word of the Day:  Elegiac Context: Humane, literate, spiritual, elegiac , poetic, somewhat nostalgic and constantly attuned to human weakness, Kirk's prose evokes feeling of reverence, awe, and mutual loyalty. Source: National Review ; May 20, 2019; Ideology's Enemy by Matthew Continetti; p 44. Elegiac: el·e·gi·ac, [ˌeləˈjīək] ADJECTIVE relating to or characteristic of an elegy. "haunting and elegiac poems" NOUN (elegiacs) verses in an elegiac meter. The definition of elegiac is full of mourning and sorrow.

Word of the day: Ersatz Context: ....: Too Far to Go (1979) may be an ersatz novel, consisting of individual stories about Mr. and Mrs Mapel as they embark on life together and eventually hurtle toward divorce, but ..... Source: National Review : May 20, 2019; Updike's Steady Vision by Peter Tonguette; p 43. Ersatz : er·satz [ˈerˌzäts, ˈerˌsäts] ADJECTIVE (of a product) made or used as a substitute, typically an inferior one, for something else. "ersatz coffee" synonyms: artificial · substitute · imitation · synthetic · fake · false · faux · mock · simulated · pseudo · sham · bogus · spurious · counterfeit · forged · pretended · so-called · plastic · [more]

Word of the day: Churlish Context: I was less churlish after finishing Endgame's immediate predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War , which had a rare weight among Marvel movies because ...... Source: National Review ; May 20, 2019; Marvel's Meaningless Monument by Ross Douthat; p 47. Churlish: churl·ish [ˈCHərliSH] ADJECTIVE rude in a mean-spirited and surly way. synonyms: rude · ill-mannered · discourteous · impolite · ungracious · unmannerly · uncivil · ungentlemanly · ungallant · unchivalrous · ill-bred · boorish · oafish · loutish Comment: This is another word that is not unfamiliar but I could not define. 

Word of the day: perfidy Context: The president clearly meant that Comey had been falsely depicting him as complicit in Russia's perfidy , but Democrats pounced, spinning Trup's statements as admission .... Source: National Review ; April, 22, 2019; Mueller's Folly ; page 19. Perfidy: per·fi·dy [ˈpərfədē] NOUN, deceitfulness; untrustworthiness. Comment: This is another word that I should have known but could not define. It is not a new word but I could not define it.

 Word of the day: sagacity Context: Andrew Marshal was framed for his expertise and sagacity , and eventually for his longevity. Source: National Review; April 22, 2019; p 14. Sagacity: sa·gac·i·ty, [səˈɡasədē] NOUN, the quality of being sagacious.   synonyms: wisdom · (deep) insight · intelligence · understanding · judgment · acuity · astuteness · insight · sense · canniness · sharpness · depth · profundity · profoundness. Comment: This is one of the words that I am almost embarrassed to admit I did not know the meaning. This is a word with which I was not unfamiliar. No doubt I have read across this word hundreds of times but when I asked myself to define it I could not. 

Word of the Day: provenance Context: Even today, if I find myself at a cocktail party and a  particular work of at comes up n conversation, out of my mouth always leaps the question "Yes, but what is its provenance?" Source: The New Yorker ; p 33; March 11, 2019; Italy by Ian Frazier. Provenance: prov·e·nance /ˈprävənəns/ noun Provenance: the place of origin or earliest known history of something.

Word of the Day: equipoise Context: My father's health had attained a confusing state of equipoise . Source: The New Yorker ; p38; March 11, 2019; Blood Relations , by James Marcus. Equipoise : e·qui·poise   /ˈekwəˌpoiz/, noun.  E quipoise: balance of forces or interests. Synonyms: equilibrium, balance, evenness, symmetry, parity, equality, equity

Word of the day: detritus Context: ....., Al Gore was on the top of the Eiffel Tower doing a marathon webcast about the existential danger of climate change and prepping for a Parisian global conference that will now take place amid the detritus of a recent mass terrorist attack--....... Source : National Review ; p 21; December 7, 2018; The Islamic War , by Victor Davis Hawson. Detritus: de·tri·tus, /dəˈtrīdəs/ . noun: detritus, waste or debris of any kind.  

Word of the day: berserker Context: A nuclear Iran could play a beserker role with Russian of a crazy nuclear North Korea cuddling up to China. Source : National Review ; p 21; December 7, 2018; The Islamic War , by Victor Davis Hawson. Berserker:   Berserkers were a special group of elite Viking warriors who went into battle without traditional armor. Instead, they wore animal pelts, typically from bears or wolves.

Word of the day: transmogrify Context: But conflicts that do not end always transmogrify and the war on terror 2015 is not that of 32001, much less that of 1979. Source : National Review ; p 21; December 7, 2018; The Islamic War , by Victor Davis Hawson. Transmogrify: trans·mog·ri·fy, /transˈmäɡrəˌfī,tranzˈmäɡrəˌfī/, verb, humorous, verb: transmogrify ; 3rd person present: transmogrifies ; past tense: transmogrified ; past participle: transmogrified ; gerund or present participle: transmogrifying. t ransform in a surprising or magical manner. Transmogrify definition, to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely; transform.

Wored of the day:  commendatore Context: The best Italian restaurants-- and isn't each one the best?-- make you fell like a commendatore . Source: National Review ; p 51; Dec.7, 2015; Talk of Many Things , by Richard Brookhiser. Commendatore : com·​men·​da·​to·​re , kəˌmendəˈtōrē, a member of an Italian honorary order of chivalry who ranks next above an officer and next below a grand officer.

Word of the day: métier Context: Posse fiction, however, was not to be his métier. Source : National Review ; p 44, Dec. 7, 2015; Not Enough to Succeed , by Terry Teachout. Métier: mé·tier, /ˈmāˌtyā,/ , noun: métier ; plural noun: métiers, a trade, profession, or occupation.

Today's word of the day is not really a word but a cultural reference. I was unfamiliar with it when I came across it. Word of the Day: Parson Weems Context: As for his seven middlebrow historical novels, Andrew ferguson sadit the last word about them when eh declared that theri author "filled more readers' heads with historical crapola than anyone sience Parson Weems." Source: National Review; p 44, Dec. 7, 2015; Not Enough to Succeed, by Terry Teachout. Parson Weems: Mason Locke Weems (October 11, 1759 – May 23, 1825), usually referred to as Parson Weems , was an American book agent and author who wrote the first biography of George Washington immediately after his death. He was the source of some of the apocryphal stories about Washington. The tale of the cherry tree ("I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet") is included in the fifth edition of The Life of Washington (1809 imprint, originally published 1800), a bestseller tha...

Word of the day: booboisie Context: ....... and the fact that he eventually found within himself the ability to churn out everything-you-know-is-wrong historical novels that sold by the truckloand to the booboisie can have soothed his pain only to a limited degree. Source: National Review ; p 43. Dec. 7,2015; Not Enough To Succeed, by Terry Treachout. Booboisie: boob·oi·sie, , / ˌbo͞obwäˈzē /. noun: booboisie. stupid people as a class. A segment of the general public composed of uneducated, uncultured persons. Coined by H.L. Mencken, as a blend of boob (a stupid person) + bourgeoisie (the middle class).

Word of the day: Oeurve Context: In this view, the transformation and revitalization oa a culture into something more fitting to our human endowments is the principal task facing conservatives and conservatism, and Russell Kir's oeuvre needs to be rean in the lng , an not as guidebook ..... Source: National Review ; p 43. Dec. 7,2015; Rediscovering Kirk , by Wilfred McClay. Oeurve:  oeu·vre, / ˈəvrə , ˈo͞ovrə /,   noun: oeuvre ; plural noun: oeuvres, the works of a painter, composer, or author regarded collectively. "the complete oeuvre of Mozart."   Comment: I came across this word in the above context about three months ago when I started the process of  looking up every word I could not define.  It is somewhat astonishing that at the time I did not know this word because I have since encounters it perhaps a dozen times. I had probably encountered it hundreds of times before looking it up and it never registered with me.

Word of the day: Desiderata Context: For Kirk, conservatism was not a set of policy desiderata. Source: National Review ; p 42. Dec. 7,2015; Rediscovering Kirk , by Wilfred McClay. Desiderata: de·sid·er·a·tum, / dəˌzidəˈrädəm /, noun, plural noun: desiderata, something that is needed or wanted. "Desiderata" (Latin: "things desired") is an early 1920s prose poem by the American writer Max Ehrmann.

Word of the day : Sybarite Context : He lied to Rick when he shut him down for gambling; he was a hypocrite and a sybarite; but he knew the fine pleasures of civilization and wished to continue to enjoy them. Source : National Review; December 7, 2015; p 39, Athwart , by James Lileks. Sybarite : syb·a·rite [ˈsibəˌrīt] NOUN. A person who is self-indulgent in their fondness for sensuous luxury. Comment: It was about four months ago when I started looking up every where I read that I could not define. At the time, this was one. Since looking it up and becoming aware of the word, I have probably came across it  four or five time. 

Word of the day: TULIP. Context: "I have to everyday wake up and acknnowlege tha I am so deeply embedded with racist thoughts and otiona and action in my body that I have to choose every day to antiracist work and thin in and anti-racist way," said a graduate stuent whom Botum was able to locate, sounding all the world like a Calvnist expainng the T in TULIP. Source: National Review; December 7, 2015; p 34;  The Holy Spirit Comes to Campus, by Helen Andrews. TULIP: An acronym used to summarize the Five Points of Calvinism, which were codified in the Canons of Dort by the Synod of Dort in 1618 and 1619, which met to address the points raised by the Arminians of that day. Calvinism is known by an acronym: T.U.L.I.P. T otal Depravity (also known as Total Inability and Original Sin) U nconditional Election L imited Atonement (also known as Particular Atonement) I rresistible Grace P erseverance of the Saints (also known a...

Word of the day: Cetris paribus Context: Imagine, if you will, that an American citizen were arrest on suspicion of stabbing somebody and subsequently charged.  Cetris paribus , we would require a number of conditions to be met in order for his conviction to be acceptable. Source: Nastional Review; Dec. 7, 2015; p 31; Shall We Have a King, by Charles C. W. Cooke. Ceteris paribus: ce·te·ris pa·ri·bus, /ˌkād(ə)rəs ˈperəbəs// Ceteris paribus or caeteris paribus is a Latin phrase meaning "other things equal"

Word of the day: scrum Context: The patrons have become self-conscious in their role-playing as Average American, trying to finish their cardboard waffles while the politicians go glad-handing from table to table surrounded by a scrum. Source: Vanity Fair , October 2018, p106, Twilight at the Diner by James Wolcott. Scrum: /skrəm/ , noun: scrum ; plural noun: scrums. 1. Rugby, an ordered formation of players, used to restart play, in which the forwards of a team form up with arms interlocked and heads down, and push forward against a similar group from the opposing side. The ball is thrown into the scrum and the players try to gain possession of it by kicking it backward toward their own side.   Informal • British. a disorderly crowd of people or things Scrum also has an IT definition derived from the Rugby term. That definition is, "set of practices used in agile project management that emphasize daily communication and the flexible reassessment of plans t...

Word of the day: jabots Context: In 2014, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg introduced Datie Couric, and America, to her extensive collection of courtroom jabots. Source: Vanity Fair , October 2018, p 78. Jabots: ja·bot, / ZHaˈbō , ˈZHaˌbō /, noun, plural noun: jabots, an ornamental frill or ruffle on the front of a shirt or blouse, typically made of lace. Comment: In context, the next sentence in this article explains the term. It reads, "Ginsberg had adopted these collars and ruffs early in her Supreme Court tensure as a feminine alternative to the button-downs and neckties  visible...."  There was also a picture of Justce Ginsberg wearing a jabot, so the article adequately explained the term.

Word of the day: Stendhal syndrome Context: I have to confess a touch of Stedhal syndrome. Source: Vanity Fair , October 2018, p 77, The March of Jo by Mark Rozzo. Stendhal syndrome: Stendhal's syndrome or Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic condition involving rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations, allegedly occurring when individuals become exposed to objects or phenomena of great beauty. Stendahal (sten-dal') [Pen name of Marie-Henri Beyle, Fr. writer, 1783–1842].

Word of the day : bildungsroman Context: The book, originally punished in two stand-alone volumes, was equal parts bildungsroman , thinly disguised family memoir, complex social chronicle, and you-adult novel, a genre that Alcott arguably invented- and .... Source: Vanity Fair, October 2018, p 72, The March of Jo by Mark Rozzo. Bildungsroman: Bil·dungs·ro·man, /ˈbildo͝oNGzrōˌmän,ˈbēldo͝oNGks-/, noun: a novel dealing with one person's formative years or spiritual education.

Word of the day: ayahuasca Context: This is the ayahuasca trip of guerrilla guidebooks. Source: Reason , p 60, February 2019, The Revised Boy Scout Manual, by Jesse Walker. Ayahuasca: Ayahuasca or ayaguasca (UK: /ˌaɪ(j)əˈwæskə/, US: /-ˈwɑːskə/) or ayaguasca (in Hispanicized spellings) from Quechua Ayawaska  (aya: soul, waska: vine), or yagé (/jɑːˈheɪ, jæ-/), is an entheogenic brew made out of Banisteriopsis caapi vine and other ingredients. The brew is used as a traditional spiritual medicine in ceremonies among the indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin and is known by a number of different names