Words!

My blog's new location:

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:47:36 -0500

http://superfreakingwords.wordpress.com/

Hey everyone,

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:17:28 -0500

So I really need to get rid of my stupid main blog. So once you notice that you’re not following me, just punch in this url and find me again. I’m going to delete and reclaim this url sometime this weekend. I just want everyone to see this first.

Hopefully this purge of my life will allow me enough peace of mind to establish a routine and post to this blog more regularly.

Thanks <3

I see what ya did there.

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:12:17 -0500

I see what ya did there.

INADVERTENT (in-ed-VER-tant)

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:30:06 -0500

This is another word that I’ve been throwing around for my entire life, not really being sure what it means. So I figure I should save myself some embarrassment and learn it.

This one is fairly simple; inadvertent is an adjective used to describe something that has happened unintentionally. This word often has a negative connotation of negligence. For example, when I told one of my friends that I thought she was beautiful because she has soft features, I inadvertently upset her, because she though I was calling her fat. I really should have though that one through.

VIRILE (VEER-uhl)

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:59:04 -0500

This is relevant, because I was just printing out my gender studies homework!

Virile is an adjective that describes a man who is fertile, who is fully capable of reproduction. It is important to know that, although women can also be fertile, virile is not a word that is associated with females. Because of the way the society functions, the word can also be used to describe any person who possesses “manly,” qualities, such as physical strength and a strong sex drive. In that case, it is synonymous with “masculinity.” Though, obviously, a men who is skinny and introspective is not necessarily less capable of makin’ babies than one who is boisterous and bulging with muscle.

Update, and ECHELON (ESH-uh-lon)

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:17:48 -0500

Hey guys, sorry about the hiatus. I’ve been really busy going to school and not having any friends. The good news is, now that school has started, I read more dense books than I thought was physically possible, so I’ll have plenty of interesting vocabulary from now on.

An echelon is a formation that I find difficult to explain without a picture, so I’ll just show you a picture:

It looks like the way geese fly, only backwards and with only one side of the V. It’s mainly a term used for military aircrafts, but anything in this formation could be called an echelon I tried to figure out how this formation functions in an applicable setting, but I couldn’t find anything on the internets, so if you know, leave a message :)

An echelon can also be a rank in some sort of system. The military jumps immediately to my mind… such is the nature of the word. For example, a major is of a higher echelon than a captain. Another example: in America today, with the huge gap between the wealthy and the working class, most people are in the lower echelon of the implied class system.

Busy, busy, busy

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:08:33 -0500

#what I am

My brother's answers to his homework:

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:05:37 -0500

1. (v) to make slow, delay, hold back - retard (he got this one right)

2. (adj) shared, felt, or shown equally by two or more - murtal (mutual)

3. (n) the killing of one person by another - homecide (homicide)

4. (v) to persuade not to do something - dessuade (dissuade)

5. (n) a government in power; a form or system of rule or management; a period of rule - entrapenure (entrepreneur… but the correct answer was “regime.”)

Just thought this acted as an interesting window into how native-speaking children interpret the relationship between spelling and pronunciation. They gave him an IPA word bank at the top of the page.

RANDY

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:40:44 -0500

No, it’s not just a name!

Randy is an adjective used to describe someone who is very openly sexual. You could use it as a synonym for “horny.”

MUSK

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:49:38 -0500

I was thinking about how to describe my boyfriend’s scent because I’m wearing his hockey jersey and constantly burying my face in it. The first word that popped into my head was “musk,” but then I realized I don’t actually know what musk is.

There is a breed of deer called the “musk deer.”

(Daw look at his little fangs)

The scent that we call musk originally came from the extract from a gland inside the male deer. However, since this breed of deer possesses the trait of elusiveness, humans have found that the scent can be retrieved from many other male animals.

Basically, it smells like balls. Not just balls… the balls of another species. Kind of like how we think it’s a good idea to drink the breast milk of another species, not only as children, but into adulthood. People are weird like that.

If you practice veganism, like I do, and you like to use perfume or cologne, check the contents for, “musk,” because yes, an animal did die for this, and technically you shouldn’t be using it.

And no, I guess my boyfriend doesn’t smell like musk. He smells like his own B.O., not like a deer’s B.O.

“Musk Information | Evidenced-Based Supplement Guide on MedicineNet.com.” Web. 15 Dec. 2011. <http://www.medicinenet.com/musk/supplements-vitamins.htm>.

“Musk « The Quantum Biologist.” The Quantum Biologist. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. <http://quantumbiologist.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/musk/>.

EPOCH (EH-puhk, pronounced similarly to "epic")

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:10:05 -0500

An epoch is a period of time defined by certain events or ideas. For example, the Renaissance was the epoch of Enlightenment thinking.

An epoch can also be a significant date. Perhaps your Bar Mitzvah was the epoch of your manhood.

ENNUI (ahn-WEE)

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:05:05 -0500

Ennui is just a fancy way of saying, “boredom.”

(click for picture source)

I love the ones that are just as simple as this, don’t you? Because then you can throw them into everyday conversations :)

NEOTENY (knee-AH-ten-ee)

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:10:06 -0500

Neoteny is a biological term that refers to a condition in which development is slowed, and, as a result, an organism retains physical attributes that are only seen in pre-adult stages. The word is used literally, but it can also be used to describe someone who has childlike qualities.

For example, Cupid could be considered neotenous due to his softness, slight-chubbiness, and childlike nature.

“Neoteny.” Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/n/neoteny.htm>.

ACCOST (uh-COST)

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:06:23 -0500

The word accost means to approach and speak to someone boldly and/or aggressively, but it is important to recognize that this word has negative connotations. You don’t accost the person you have a crush on with a friendly greeting, you accost your little brother when accusing him of stealing your stuff.

Not that I'm not always MIA,

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:34:14 -0500

but I’m going to be super MIA until next week because it’s finals-crunch-time. Sorry, guys : (

PALIMPSEST (PA-limp-sest) (noun)

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:32:05 -0500

In the time before pencils and erasers, a palimpsest was a piece of parchment from which the writing has been scraped off, and thus can be used again.

You can clearly see the writing in the foreground, but you can also see the faded writing beneath it. With today’s technology, researchers can decipher the under-text fairly easily. In this manner, they have been able to recover works that were thought to be lost.

In everyday speech, palimpsest can be used to describe something with many layers. For example, the dirt is a palimpsest of the earth’s history.

PATOIS (PA-twah) (noun)

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 10:25:00 -0500

Patois refers to any type of language that is non-literary. Rather, a patois is a dialect.

For example, I can understand a decent amount of Spanish because of school, half-conversing with my grandparents (I’m half Mexican), and having a Bolivian man-friend for a short while. However, I cannot understand the patois of specific countries since I can only speak in very simple terms. The dialects of South America are all over the place, and sometimes even native speakers can’t understand another country’s patois.

AEGIS (EE-jis)

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:24:15 -0500

In Greek mythology, the Aegis is the shield or breastplate of Zeus or Athena. Athena’s aegis bore the face of the Gorgon. (Gorgon is a species… Medusa is a Gorgon.)

As a result, in ancient times, an aegis was an article of clothing or accessory worn or carried to signify protection from a higher power.

Today, when you are “under someone/something’s aegis,” you are under its protection or sponsored by it.

Sorry about the lack of posts

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:28:50 -0500

I need to utilize the queue more often

DESECRATE

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:46:15 -0500

To disrespect, to deface, to defile. Especially something sacred. If you draw all over the face of a dead body, you have desecrated that corpse. If you were to draw graffiti in a church, you would have desecrated that church.

If somebody spray paints, “Dick Head,” on your fence, that is desecration of your property. Not to mention an indication of a poor sense of humor. Pahahaha.