Monday, February 29, 2016

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Word of the Day: xylology

What's the word I'm thinking of? Today, it's...

xylology (noun) [TWITO, page 165]

The study of wood

Dale was impressed by the lumber mill. "I see you're a real expert in xylology," he said after the tour. "Nah, I just know a lot about wood," Pete said.
wooden
(Photo by me. Somebody likes wood.)

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Link Mania: Can you say "quockerwodger"?

Including "enantiodromia" (TWITO, page 46), "fanfaronade" (page 52), "scripturient" (page 133), "ultracrepidarian" (page...

Posted by The Word I'm Thinking Of on Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Random Sequence: exsufflicate

"Exchange me for a goat
When I shall turn the business of my soul
To such exsufflicate and blowed surmises,
Matching thy inference."
--William Shakespeare, Othello, Act 3, Scene 3

exsufflicate (adjective) = inflated, empty or full of nothing but air

I think most surmises are exsufflicate, don't you? Still, being exchanged for a goat seems excessive.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Link Mania: Are You an "Internaut"?

You too may be an "internaut".https://ohmyword.xyz/inspiration/best-new-words-oxford-english-dictionary-2015/

Posted by The Word I'm Thinking Of on Thursday, February 18, 2016

Monday, February 15, 2016

Photo of the Week (by me): Buddha Stone

Buddha stone
Inspired by a meditation class I'm taking. Stare at it while you concentrate on your breathing. You know you want to.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Story Cubes 14: Shooting (fiction)

I was his guardian now, after the shooting. We would talk about anything, little Thaddeus and I, while we sat on the living room rug, in the dark, with a flashlight. Thaddeus thought of it as a sort of magic wand. We would sometimes make shadows on the wall, but most often he would draw with the beam, and I would try to guess what he depicted.

That night, one of them was a swooping U shape -- a horseshoe? A rainbow? No, a magnet he said. That led to a discussion of electromagnetism. He wondered if it would be possible to build an electromagnetic weapon, a gun that would shoot a beam, like a tiny lightning bolt, through a keyhole.

"Maybe," I said. "But why would you want to do that?"

"To stun people. Not kill them."

"And why would you want to do that?"

"So nobody would ever need bullets again."

###

(The bold-faced words are interpreted from the images on Rory's Story Cubes)