Still can't descide who to vote for? That's ABOULOMANIA

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

ABOULOMANIA [ay-BOO-lo-MAY-nee-uh] (noun) 

Pathological indecisiveness

"Chocolate or strawberry? Cursing his aboulomania, Sylvester continued to stare at the ice-cream parlor’s menu." (TWITO, page 9)

Would you vote for a MAKEBATE?

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

MAKEBATE [MAYK-bayt] (noun)

A person who creates discord or conflict

"I am no makebate, no inciter of quarrels," said Nelson. "I simply think that a discussion of one’' religion shouldn't be taboo in polite company." (TWITO, page 86)

Can we agree that 2020 is a TOURBILLON?

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

TOURBILLON [toor-bee-YON] (noun)

A whirlwind or vortex

"In this state of things, had I accepted and returned home, do you think that a seat upon the bench would have removed me from the tourbillon of politics?"
--John Quincy Adams, letter (1811) (TWITO, page 148)

Ignore all that campaign FANFARONADE

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

FANFARONADE [FAN-fer-uh-NAID] (noun)

Empty boasting, arrogant bluster

"We laugh at the fanfaronade of the French, but never in my life did I see fanfaronade approaching in extravagance to the fanfaronade of this piece, and every burst of vapour was received by the audience with bouts of applause."
--"Diary of a Constant Reader," in The London Magazine (1826) (TWITO, page 52)

It's not a good time to be HAPTIC with each other

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

HAPTIC [HAP-tik] (adjective) 

1. Relating to or based on the sense of touch 
2. Characterized by or favoring the sense of touch 

"You will please keep your hands to yourself," Clara murmured to the haptic Mr. Weems. (TWITO, page 65)

Doesn't the world seem in a state of HOOROOSH?

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

HOOROOSH [who-ROOSH] (noun)

An uproar, a great fuss

"What a hooroosh aloft there! I would e’en take it for sublime, did I not know that the colic is a noisy malady."
--Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851) (TWITO, page 68)

Somehow it will all CONGLOBATE in the end

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

CONGLOBATE [KONG-lo-bate] (verb) 

To form into a globe or ball 

"He decided to conglobate all of his string into a sort of weird planetesimal."
--Michael Gates, The Word I'm thinking Of (2013)

TWITO, page 33

Doesn't it seem like there's more TOHUBOHU these days?

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

TOHUBOHU [TOE-hoo-BO-hoo] (noun)

Chaos, confusion

"...it is now easy to see that this bird is the Creator walking in chaos, brooding over the primitive mish-mash or tohu-bohu, and finally hatching the egg of the world."
--Viktor Rydberg, Rasmus Björn Anderson, James William Buel, Teutonic Mythology (1907)

TWITO, page 147

Dear Diary: I'm feeling SCRIBACIOUS

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

SCRIBACIOUS [scrib-AY-shuss] (adjective)

Fond of writing

"Heraud is a loquacious scribacious little man, of middle age, of parboiled greasy aspect, whom Leigh Hunt describes as ‘wavering in the most astonishing manner between being Something and Nothing."
--Thomas Carlyle, The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson (1899)

TWITO, page 133

Are these times FISSIPAROUS or what?

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FISSIPAROUS [fih-SIP-er-us] (adjective)

Tending to break apart; divisive.

"This endless multiplication of somatic cells has been going on under the eyes of numerous observers for forty years. What observer has watched for forty years to see whether the fissiparous multiplication of Protozoa does not cease? What observer has watched for one year, or one month or one week?"
--Herbert Spencer, "Professor Weismann's Theories", in Popular Science (1893)

The word "congress" means "coming together". Odd, isn't it, how fissiparous the US Congress tends to be?


TWITO, page 54

Are you a nobody or are you a PANJANDRUM?

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PANJANDRUM [pan-JAN-drum] (noun)

A very important person (VIP) -- or someone who thinks he or she is (sometimes capitalized).

"Panjandrum" is sometimes used as a metaphorical synonym for other things, such as an explosive weapon used by the British military in World War II, and even for the Supreme Being. (I prefer to refer to the latter as The Cosmic Muffin.)

TWITO, page 106

Are your nights these days ONEIRIC?

What's the word I'm thinking of? Today (tonight) it's...

ONEIRIC [oh-NYE-rik] (adjective)

Related to or suggestive of dreams

"A fairly common type observed was a state of mental confusion associated with what has been termed oneiric delirium, symptoms of which were associated with a history of concussion and exhaustive experiences."
--John H. W. Rhein, M.D., "Psychopathic Reactions to Combat Experiences in the American Army," The American Journal of Insanity (1920)

TWITO, page 102