Art of Expression: Expanding Your Vocabulary, Sharing Sites and Great Words (2 Viewers)

[Krena]

This is a thread dedicated to the use of words, a key component in our communications.

I will start out with a website that is dedicated to words: Wordsmith.org. This site is quite plain, but you can find the link to subscribe to their Word.A.Day post.

They have 375,000 subscribers to their free service of providing a word a day with pronunciation, definition, usage, and a quote that appeals to them. Usually, there is a theme, this week's being words with unclear origin. They also offer two books for sale and a place to chat.

This is a site for writers, linguists and those who love words.

In this thread, please feel free to add words you love, new words that have just been created or start a discussion about a word.

 

[Linda]

I love words. I grew up with a Mother who always said "Look it up in the dictionary" - maybe that has something to do with it. Part of our summer vacation was going to the library once a week and checking out a stack of books.

There are so many words with a unique twist on the meaning. One of my favorite words and literary concepts is onomatopoeia - when a word sounds like what it means, such as "meow" or "icicle".

Another favorite word is flummoxed, which means bewildered. I use it when describing my feelings about the actions of people or an event that defy logic or reason.

 

[Krena]

Love gobsmacked.
gob + smack, refers to being shocked by a blow to the mouth, or to clapping a hand to one's mouth in astonishment
Astounded, utterly astonished.

Onomatopoeia!

 

[Jenny]

I love 'fluffy' because it is. And, for some inexplicable reason, words with a 'B' in it - rabbit, rubber, badger, bonkers, billy (as in silly). Cornucopia is another favourite.

 

[Laron]

Each day I get a new word delivered to my inbox.

Today the word is,

quartziferous

MEANING:
adjective: Containing or bearing quartz.

ETYMOLOGY:
From German Quartz + Latin -ferous (bearing), from ferre (to bear). Earliest documented use: 1831.

Photo from wordsmith.org's Word of the Day
​

I'm subscribed to the word of the day because I like to learn new words and find this a great way to do so.

You can subscribe too, through this URL: https://wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html

​

 

[Sinera]

I learn a new English word each day just by reading posts in this forum.


Therefore transients is my wordsmith.

 

[Anaeika]

I subscribe to this also. They do a good job because not only is there a definition but they also use the word in a sentence. A link is included to teach proper pronunciation. And a nifty quote is at the bottom, often thought-provoking.

Laron, I like the rose quartz in that picture.

 

[Anaeika]

Sinera , I’ll teach you words, especially slang, any day.

 

[Snowmelt]

I read a phrase I liked yesterday in a book I am reading about Alexander the Great (The Persian Boy, by Mary Renault). The phrase was: "The stream was in spate."

For those who don't know, "in spate" means in flood, probably because of springwater melt. You can imagine the water trying to rush down from the hills to get to the sea.

 

[Laron]

Today's word is

bavardage

MEANING: noun: Chattering; gossip. ETYMOLOGY: From French bavarder (to chatter), from bavard (talkative), from bave (saliva, drivel). Earliest documented use: 1835. USAGE: “A long time ago, I joined a former friend from high school and her husband for dinner at a restaurant. Though the three of us shared a table, the couple engaged in side conversations in French, which they spoke fluently knowing that my French was barely conversational. As their bavardage grew more frequent and lengthy, I dined alone in their company.”

 

[Laron]

Today's word:

weltanschauung

MEANING:
noun: World view.

USAGE:
“By the end of the decade he had reeled off a dozen more hits ... which tapped into the teenage weltanschauung, articulating adolescent passions.” — Chuck Berry (obituary); The Times (London, UK); Mar 20, 2017.

 

[Laron]

Here is an interesting one:

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

MEANING:
noun: A lung disease caused by silica dust.

ETYMOLOGY:
From New Latin, from Greek pneumono- (lung) + Latin ultra- (beyond, extremely) + Greek micro- (small) + -scopic (looking) + Latin silico (like sand) + volcano + Greek konis (dust) + -osis (condition). Earliest documented use: 1935.

 

[Snowmelt]

My word for today is "purportedly", which is an adverb.

From Dictionary.com:

purported
Examples

• Word Origin

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
adjective
1.
reputed or claimed; alleged:
We saw no evidence of his purported wealth.
Origin of purported
1890-1895
First recorded in 1890-95; purport + -ed2
Related forms
purportedly, adverb

 

[Laron]

Note that I have merged my thread that I started this year, about the same source, with this one that Krena started as it has a better introduction.

Feel free to share your words!

"In this thread, please feel free to add words you love, new words that have just been created or start a discussion about a word." — Krena

Original post below.

Each day I get a new word delivered to my inbox.

Today the word is,

quartziferous

MEANING:
adjective: Containing or bearing quartz.

ETYMOLOGY:
From German Quartz + Latin -ferous (bearing), from ferre (to bear). Earliest documented use: 1831.

Photo from wordsmith.org's Word of the Day
​

I'm subscribed to the word of the day because I like to learn new words and find this a great way to do so.

You can subscribe too, through this URL: https://wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html

 

[Snowmelt]

Phytoplankton - something we live with every day, creating the health of our oceans, but forget is there.

from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton are the autotrophic components of the plankton community and a key part of oceans, seas and freshwater basin ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words φυτόν, meaning "plant", and πλαγκτός, meaning "wanderer" or "drifter". Most phytoplankton are too small to be individually seen with the unaided eye. However, when present in high enough numbers, some varieties may be noticeable as colored patches on the water surface due to the presence of chlorophyll within their cells and accessory pigments in some species.

 

[Lila]

I have loved the word 'zeitgeist' since I first heard it.
Sometimes it reminds me a bit of what Clif High aims to capture via his linguistic programs though his focus seems to often be predictive.

I'm not terribly sure how to define it except that it seems to be a (communal) feeling that reflects the themes of times.
It seems to inherently acknowledge that there is a consciousness bigger than the individual and I have always, I think, imagined that that which reflects the times (all of us) can/should/does also define the times (which we seem to be learning that we do).
Sinera, CosmicReflections, am I close? How would you define it?

I believe that one of the reasons I love the word is that I love to play with the concept and feel that we are in a time of rapidly changing zeitgeist as we realize how closely we are all linked to the processes of change.

 

[CosmicReflections]

Hmmm interesting. Well, from personal experience, I like to address these concepts from two standpoints: from the pure metaphysical experience of feeling the levels of physicality and energy that makes up everything, and the standpoint of religions or dogmas divided into two classifications: right hand path and left hand path.

From metaphysical experience, when you tap into densities in which the individuality is totally fragmented and merged fully into the ocean of Oneness, you feel only light but you have no personality. In contrast, as human beings we are individuals with a unique personality but we can experience levels of disconnection coming from our own fragmentation and in consequence we feel alienated from the rest of existence. A lot of people strive for the first experience of total merging and total fragmentation that enables this kind of blissful-forgetful condition in which you are just one with everything and you lose yourself as individual, while personally I do not seek this but instead the middle path of being individual with unique personality but feeling connected to the individual energies of everything and everyone, like threads of energy that flow from heart to heart without losing ourselves to the others. Disconnection is of course something that no one enjoys either.

In understanding these three basic states of existence within a spectrum, then you can understand that higher and greater consciousness means that either you connect to all of your soul energy in all timelines and spacelines, making you a fully whole being greater than your current incarnation, (Higher Self or Individual Universal I AM) whereas, if you connect to All That Is, you are connecting to the conscious and subconscious awareness of the collective. The concept of Higher Self and Gods (individual beings that serve as guides or God as All that Is) is the fundamental force that is reffered to in dogmas of the Right Hand Path. In contrast, Left Hand Path tells you simply that you are your own master, your own guide, you do whatever you feel is right or want, based on your own discernment and capacity to create your own reality without the need to be guided by a higher consciousness or gods and as such you must accept and love all your personality as individual, including your ego and from there you are the creator of your own reality without a greater force dictating your steps. In my understanding, the optimal is to follow a middle path in everything, conciliating both extremes.

So zeitgeist might be something defined according to the desires of each person, meaning what is your optimal level of connection to yourself and to what makes up everything outside of yourself as individual human and soul? What exactly is our balance? For this reason I differentiate a bit extensively between these levels of energetic and physical connection and levels of awareness of individuality and collective consciousness.

 

[Lila]

So zeitgeist might be something defined according to the desires of each person, meaning what is your optimal level of connection to yourself and to what makes up everything outside of yourself as individual human and soul? What exactly is our balance? For this reason I differentiate a bit extensively between these levels of energetic and physical connection and levels of awareness of individuality and collective consciousness.

Hmmm, more to consider Right hand, left hand, middle path (so buddhist!)
Yes, it seems awareness level must be a part of this conversation/definition too.

 

[Laron]

Today Wordsmith had this word:

latitudinarian

MEANING:
adjective: Holding broad and tolerant views, especially on matters of religion.
noun: One who is broadminded and tolerant, especially concerning religion.

 

[Snowmelt]

I would like to offer the following term which is a linguistic tool (especially used in essay writing) but also found in all forms of writing: Ellipses
(ellipsis - singular; ellipses - plural). I liked the material the dictionary used to illustrate the use of ellipses - from Henry David Thoreau, so I am including it here.

Ellipses
An ellipsis is a set of three periods ( . . . ) indicating an omission. Each period should have a single space on either side, except when adjacent to a quotation mark, in which case there should be no space.

Informal writing
In informal writing, an ellipsis can be used to represent a trailing off of thought.

If only she had . . . Oh, it doesn’t matter now.

An ellipsis can also indicate hesitation, though in this case the punctuation is more accurately described as suspension points.

I wasn’t really . . . well, what I mean . . . see, the thing is . . . I didn’t mean it.

Like the exclamation point, the ellipsis is at risk of overuse.

In quoted material
Ellipses are most useful when working with quoted material. There are various methods of deploying ellipses; the one described here is acceptable for most professional and scholarly work.

The following examples are based on a paragraph from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden:

I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

Ellipses at the beginning of a quotation

It is rarely necessary to use ellipsis points at the beginning of a quotation, even if the quotation begins mid-sentence. It is also usually acceptable to change the capitalization of the first word of the quotation to match the surrounding material. (When a change in capitalization must be acknowledged, you should use brackets, as explained here.)

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,” writes Thoreau, “he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Moreover, Thoreau claims that “in proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex.”

http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/ellipses.html

 

[Laron]

There's a bit of controversy out there around having spaces or not.

Examples:

(Wikipedia)

In American English​

According to Robert Bringhurst's Elements of Typographic Style, the details of typesetting ellipses depend on the character and size of the font being set and the typographer's preference. Bringhurst writes that a full space between each dot is "another Victorian eccentricity. In most contexts, the Chicago ellipsis is much too wide"—he recommends using flush dots, or thin-spaced dots (up to one-fifth of an em), or the prefabricated ellipsis character (Unicode U+2026, Latin entity &hellip. Bringhurst suggests that normally an ellipsis should be spaced fore-and-aft to separate it from the text, but when it combines with other punctuation, the leading space disappears and the other punctuation follows. This is the usual practice in typesetting. He provides the following examples:

i … j​

In British English
The Oxford Style Guide recommends setting the ellipsis as a single character (…) or as a series of three (narrow) spaced dots (. . .), and surrounding it by spaces. If there is an ellipsis at the end of an incomplete sentence, the final full stop is omitted. However, it is retained if the following ellipsis represents an omission between two complete sentences.[14]

The … fox jumped …
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. … And if they have not died, they are still alive today.
Contrary to The Oxford Style Guide, the University of Oxford Style Guide demands an ellipsis not to be surrounded by spaces, except when it stands for a pause; then, a space has to be set after the ellipsis (but not before). An ellipsis is never preceded or followed by a full stop.[15]

The…fox jumped…
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog…And if they have not died, they are still alive today.
It is not cold… it is freezing cold.
​

 

[Snowmelt]

I agree with you, Laron. I'm old enough to remember typing on a manual typewriter, and we touched the space bar a lot. Now things are quicker, more fluid, and more encompassing. Besides, we are leaving a lot of the "old" to create the new. At one time in my work life I had to follow a lot of typographic rules as I did proof reading for a publisher, and those rules really are a fashionista type exercise.

 

[Laron]

I never actually knew there was another way of doing the ... so I learnt something there . . . so have no preference really, except very rarely, if ever, seeing it written like . . . , but I do see it written wrong all the time, like ...... ..................... .... when it should be 3 ...!

I think the one everyone gets wrong constantly, including main stream media sites, is the en dash, hyphen and em dash. It's rare to see people use a real em-dash — and I always try to now as it makes a huge difference, and looks a lot better with structuring the words.

 

[Lila]

I like ellipses... I use them quite a lot.
Now I know what to call them

 

[Laron]

I think people over use them! I love editing them out of articles people submit to transients . . .

 

[Snowmelt]

Ha! The wand of the wizard taking out stray dots...

 

[AmandaPanda17]

I agree with Jenny, B is by far the best letter! I use the word "bazaar" all the time it even looks cool. My dad is Norwegian and was really into Nordic mythology and when we would act crazy he would always call us "barbarian bazerkers"!

Bazerker: ber·serk·er.an ancient Norse warrior who fought with frenzied rage in battle, possibly induced by eating hallucinogenic mushrooms.

 

[Laron]

Today's word:

emesis

MEANING:
noun: The act or process of vomiting.

USAGE:
“If you feel nauseous, there are emesis bags in the side compartments.”
Alan “DOC” Jamison; Space Force: Alien Treasures; Strategic Book Publishing; 2013.

 

[AmandaPanda17]

Today's word:

emesis

MEANING:
noun: The act or process of vomiting.

USAGE:
“If you feel nauseous, there are emesis bags in the side compartments.”
Alan “DOC” Jamison; Space Force: Alien Treasures; Strategic Book Publishing; 2013.

that's an awesome word!

 

[Sinera]

If you had a drink or two too much then Emesis might be your Nemesis.

Skol!