Word Tasting Notes

Sounding Like the “Right Sort” I was in Columbus for the annual ACES conference for the last few days

excipient There are quite a lot of words that we use on a regular basis to smooth the flow of reading

cathedral  If polyhedral means 'many-sided', and dodecahedral means 'twelve-sided',

Pronunciation tip: Irish counties It's St. Patrick's again, and why would I pass up a chance

bodacious “Bodacious!” OK, who said it? Who do you associate bodacious with? Let me guess. Snuffy

nival Who can rival the nival scenery of the True North Strong and Free? There's no place like a

ensconced, sconce  At the evening's length, as I love to do, I abscond with my laptop into my

scuzzy  Would you rather go to a sketchy place or a scuzzy place? What would you say is the

stodgy It's stodgy weather, chums, when all is muck and slush and sludge, like guts full stuffed

penchant I remember when I first encounteried this word, I had a sense of what it meant, generally –

ignotus America has a set of matching acronyms for some of its most important people: POTUS, the

I have updated the article on my blog – with the pronunciation for both Avenings, as heard on videos

obambulation I did something this morning that I seldom enjoy – and didn't enjoy today either: I

vetation In a language as verbally efflorescent as English, the inevitable excrescent lexical

Pronunciation tip: 10 useful German words My latest pronunciation tip is about 10 German words that I

chortle Heh. This is a word that sounds like it sounds like it means, or anyway sounds like it means

biopic English pronunciation is a balancing act, a tightrope between sound and spelling where even a

Unknown knowns It's opening the door to meet a stranger and realizing you know the person already

cistern Let us first flush out any misconceptions about what this word comes from or what it might

viz. One of the comic strips I liked in my childhood was a quirky one set in the “old west” and

pregale, regale “It's seven courses,” Arlene said, leaning forward, her eyes widening. “Not

cold feet, hotfoot This is the time of year you can get to be like a cat when it comes to heading

flounce He pounced on a piece of text and fairly bounced with outrage. “Words don't get meaning

sashay It turns out my sense of traipse is a little out of step with some other people's. A few

Pronunciation tip: Uranus OK, we all know that there are two ways people pronounce Uranus. We may

traipse In her song “Language Is a Virus,” Laurie Anderson says “paradise is exactly like where you

From the bookshelf: Twice Have the Trumpets Sounded My mother-in-law, Arisa, when she left us, left

desultory I have to admit, my word tastings have been somewhat desultory lately. In truth, they'

Pronunciation tip: decisive, divisive, err My latest pronunciation tip is about three words that my

slothe I spent a week at my parents' house over Christmas doing as little as possible. I went to