On the left side of the sanity bell curve
pe·dan·tic [puh-dan-tik] adj 1. ostentatious in one’s learning. 2. overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching. Origin: 1590–1600; pedant + -ic Related Quote: “Just as in habiliments it is a sign of weakness to wish to make oneself noticeable by some peculiar and unaccustomed fashion, so, in language, the quest for new-fangled… Continue reading Word of the Day: Pedantic
A while back I added “baby feeds” to the site because I wanted to write about more than just “mom stuff” but I didn’t want to create multiple sites. I realized today I never explained how to subscribe to a specific feed so I thought I’d show you. First thing you do is find the… Continue reading How To Subscribe To a Taste Like Crazy Feed
Oneirodynia [o·nei·ro·dyn·i·a (o-ni’ro-din’e-?)] n. Intense mental disturbance or distress associated with dreaming. I don’t remember having a lot of bad dreams. In fact, now that I think about it, no nightmares stick out in my mind. That could possibly be due to me lacking a hippocampus but that hasn’t been proven so at this point,… Continue reading Word of the Day: Oneirodynia
nar·whal [nahr-wuhl] n. A small arctic whale, Monodon monoceros, the male of which has a long, spirally twisted tusk extending forward from the upper jaw. Also, nar·wal, nar·whale [nahr-hweyl, -weyl] Origin: [1650–60; < Scandinavian; compare Norwegian, Swedish, Danish nar ( h ) val, reshaped from Old Norse nāhvalr, equivalent to nār corpse + hvalr whale1 ;… Continue reading Word of the Day: Narwhal
My mind is pretty much blank today but I figured if I started typing then maybe something would come of it. I guess a bit of house keeping or something is in order first. One of the first “new blogger” tips you always read is: Have one topic for your blog and stick to it.… Continue reading You Choose What You Read
mud·lark [muhd-lahrk] n. 1. Chiefly British . a person who gains a livelihood by searching for iron, coal, old ropes, etc., in mud or low tide. 2. Chiefly British Informal . a street urchin. 3. either of two black and white birds, Grallina cyanoleuca, of Australia, or G. bruijni, of New Guinea, that builds a large, mud… Continue reading Word of the Day: Mudlark
la·bile[/ˈlāˌbīl/ /-bəl/] adj. Liable to change; easily altered Of or characterized by emotions that are easily aroused or freely expressed, and that tend to alter quickly and spontaneously; emotionally unstable Easily broken down or displaced [Origin: C15: via Late Latin lābilis, from Latin lābī to slide, slip] I’m in a labile mood at the moment. It’s like I need to change; I’m on… Continue reading Word of the Day: Labile
kra·ken [krah-kuhn] n. ( often initial capital letter ) A legendary sea monster causing large whirlpools off the coast of Norway. A fabulous Scandinavian sea monster perhaps imagined on the basis of chance sightings of giant squids. It appears in literature in a poem of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s juvenilia called “The Kraken.” [Origin: “monster of the North Sea,” 1755, from Norw. dial. krake.] We… Continue reading Word of the Day: Kraken
Jab·ber·wock [jab-er-wok] noun, plural -wock·ies, adjective n. 1. A playful imitation of language consisting of invented, meaningless words; nonsense; gibberish. 2. An example of writing or speech consisting of or containing meaningless words. adj. 3. Consisting of or comparable to Jabberwocky; meaningless; senseless. Also, Jab·ber·wock·y [jab-er-wok-ee] [Origin: coined by Lewis Carroll in Jabberwocky, poem in Through the Looking… Continue reading Word of the Day: Jabberwock
il-lee-iz-êm n. The use of a third person pronoun (he or she) referring to oneself or someone expected to be addressed as you. The use of third person expressions in referring to yourself as, “Stop asking me the same thing. I got on this weird tear on Twitter where I was referring to myself in the third… Continue reading Word of the Day: Illeism
haus·tel·lum [haw-stel-uhm] n. plural haus·tel·la [haw-stel-uh] (in certain crustaceans and insects) an organ or part of the proboscis adapted for sucking blood or plant juices. My grandpa used to give me words like this to lookup in his 50 million pound dictionary. The thing smelled like leather and dirt and coffee and pipe smoke. Did I mention it was heavy? So why is haustellum a word my grandpa would have “assigned” to me? Because… Continue reading Word of the Day: Haustellum
Medical terms are stupid because they don’t structure the definitions like they’re structured in regular dictionaries. I’m feeling punchy today. Just go with it. So, Gerascophobia. This is a fun phobia. Sufferers of this fear experience undue anxiety about aging even though they may be in good health–physically, economically and otherwise. They may worry about… Continue reading Word of the Day: Gerascophobia
