Photo of the Week (by me): Tailfins

I met this 1959 Chevy during the annual Madison-Bouckeville Antique Week in upstate New York earlier this month. It's not an antique car show, so I was surprised to see this well-preserved specimen of flamboyant mid-century styling there. I'm a fan of the the tailfin era, but those wings were a bit much, even for 1959.

Link Mania: Do you have 'cachet' or 'panache'?

7 Deep and Darkening Words Only Those Who Love the Night Will Understand
They forgot "mesonoxian" [mez-oh-NOX-ee-an] (adjective) [TWITO, page 88]: pertaining to midnight. Writing a story about vampires? This list might help.

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Don’t Be a Ninnyhammer: 11 Old-Fashioned Words for Idiots
Including "jobbernowl" (TWITO, page 78) and "ninnyhammer" (page 96). My favorite here is "dunderwhelp".

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16 Little Words and Phrases for Describing Small Amounts
Do you give a...hoot? Ouch, they forgot "pinch".

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10 Words With Difficult-to-Remember Meanings
Nonplussed? Then you won't find this list dilatory. Do you have "cachet" or "panache"? Both? Wow....

Open 'The Iron Box': Free Audiobook (and Free Kindle)

We interrupt our regularly scheduled cavalcade of ostrobogulous links and lexemes for this commercial message. My new audiobook (a short noir thriller with a 4-star customer review) is available from Amazon and Audible: The Iron Box. I have 25 FREE codes to distribute to anyone who would like to download and listen to this one-hour audiobook. Just leave a comment here and I'll send you a code.



You can also download the Kindle ediiton if you prefer to read. It's free on Kindle Unlimited: The Iron Box.

Random Sequence: exsufflicate

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

exsufflicate (adjective) = puffed up, windy, inflated

This word makes me think of a certain presidential candidate currently generating much media blather.

Fish Food for Thought

Story Cubes 6: Bedtime Story

I was lying in bed, asleep and snoring softly (no doubt), when I heard a key twist in the lock. Immediately my eyes flicked open, thinking it must be Mona at the front door. The bedroom was pitch, but I could see the moon and a star framed by the window. Why hadn't Mona called if she was going to be late? Then I remembered -- I had lost my phone to some thief that day when I forgot to close my gym locker.

I heard the front door creak, but no further sound for a long time. If that was Mona coming in, she was moving as slow as a turtle. All I wanted was to hear her voice, to see her smiling face. Any second I expected to see her in the bedroom doorway. But no one was appearing. Not yet. Then I remembered. I had also lost my keys....

Word of the Day: penetralia

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

penetralia [pen-eh-TRAY-lee-uh] (noun) [TWITO, page 109]

The innermost part of a structure, especially a temple sanctuary; the most private or secret part of something


(photo by me)

Photo of the Week (by me): Paperweight Girl

"There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid."
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Link Mania: Don't Be a 'Windy-Wallets'

The 20 Weirdest Words Added to the Dictionary Because of Technology
Srsly, is fat finger your First-World problem?

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14 Victorian Insults to Unleash in Casual Conversation
Don't be a "windy-wallets". (Time is money.) Includes "gongoozler" [TWITO, page 62]. It's not polite to stare!

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10 Common Crossword Puzzle Words You Should Know
These "common" words include "asea", "iambi", and "smee". That last one has nothing to do with Captain Hook. I guess you could say "psst" is common -- if you do a lot of whispering.

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21 Interesting Words from David Foster Wallace's Vocabulary List
David Forster Wallace's writing was a cornucopia of unusual and interesting words. My favorites here are "privity", "tarantism", and "afterclap".

Random Sequence: questant

"[S]ee that you come
Not to woo honour, but to wed it; when
The bravest questant shrinks, find what you seek,
That fame may cry you loud: I say, farewell."
--William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, Act II, Scene I

questant (noun) = a seeker, someone on a quest

Where are my keys? I'm a questant.

Fish Food for Thought

Story Cubes 5: Backyard Dreamland

When he was a kid, Hector's favorite pastime was camping out in his parents' backyard in his makeshift teepee under the fulgent moon. He would watch the darkened sky for alien spacecraft. When the UFOs failed to show up after an hour or two -- all he ever saw was the occasional winking airplane -- he would take out his magnifying glass and pretend it was a magic wand that could materialize anything he wished. He would draw it up to his eye and imagine, through the blurry image, that he was under the sea, gliding like a fish. When it was past his bedtime, his mother would call him from the backdoor and insist that he climb inside his sleeping bag. He'd do so reluctantly but couldn't drop off until he started counting sheep. Eventually, though, he would drift off to dreamland -- and always miss the midnight saucer floating overhead.