"To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters the meaning of the object photographed. …. The arrangement of the words matters, and the arrangement you want can be found in the picture in your mind. …. The picture tells you how to arrange the words and the arrangement of the words tells you, or tells me, what’s going on in the picture."

— Joan Didion (via bobulate) (via mlarson)

6:05 am  •  18 December 2009

claytoncubitt:

(is a grammatically correct sentence. (thanks KT)

See also:

James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher

That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is

4:54 am  •  15 December 2009

dirtysilver:

shadowofthebridge:

guerrillamamamedicine:

champagnecandy:

smutandsparkle:

rainbowmummies:

fairphantom:

coffeeandlipstick:

walkthewaves:

Ailurophile A cat-lover.
Assemblage A gathering.
Becoming Attractive.
Beleaguer To exhaust with attacks.
Brood To think alone.
Bucolic In a lovely rural setting.
Bungalow A small, cozy cottage.
Chatoyant Like a cat’s eye.
Comely Attractive.
Conflate To blend together.
Cynosure A focal point of admiration.
Dalliance A brief love affair.
Demesne Dominion, territory.
Demure Shy and reserved.
Denouement The resolution of a mystery.
Desuetude Disuse.
Desultory Slow, sluggish.
Diaphanous Filmy.
Dissemble Deceive.
Dulcet Sweet, sugary.
Ebullience Bubbling enthusiasm.
Effervescent Bubbly.
Efflorescence Flowering, blooming.
Elision Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.
Elixir A good potion.
Eloquence Beauty and persuasion in speech.
Embrocation Rubbing on a lotion.
Emollient A softener.
Ephemeral Short-lived.
Epiphany A sudden revelation.
Erstwhile At one time, for a time.
Ethereal Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
Evanescent Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.
Evocative Suggestive.
Fetching Pretty.
Felicity Pleasantness.
Forbearance Withholding response to provocation.
Fugacious Fleeting.
Furtive Shifty, sneaky.
Gambol To skip or leap about joyfully.
Glamour Beauty.
Gossamer The finest piece of thread, a spider’s silk
Halcyon Happy, sunny, care-free.
Harbinger Messenger with news of the future.
Imbrication Overlapping and forming a regular pattern.
Imbroglio An altercation or complicated situation.
Imbue To infuse, instill.
Incipient Beginning, in an early stage.
Ineffable Unutterable, inexpressible.
Ingénue A naïve young woman.
Inglenook A cozy nook by the hearth.
Insouciance Blithe nonchalance.
Inure To become jaded.
Labyrinthine Twisting and turning.
Lagniappe A special kind of gift.
Lagoon A small gulf or inlet.
Languor Listlessness, inactivity.
Lassitude Weariness, listlessness.
Leisure Free time.
Lilt To move musically or lively.
Lissome Slender and graceful.
Lithe Slender and flexible.
Love Deep affection.
Mellifluous Sweet sounding.
Moiety One of two equal parts.
Mondegreen A slip of the ear.
Murmurous Murmuring.
Nemesis An unconquerable archenemy.
Offing The sea between the horizon and the offshore.
Onomatopoeia A word that sounds like its meaning.
Opulent Lush, luxuriant.
Palimpsest A manuscript written over earlier ones.
Panacea A solution for all problems
Panoply A complete set.
Pastiche An art work combining materials from various sources.
Penumbra A half-shadow.
Petrichor The smell of earth after rain.
Plethora A large quantity.
Propinquity An inclination.
Pyrrhic Successful with heavy losses.
Quintessential Most essential.
Ratatouille A spicy French stew.
Ravel To knit or unknit.
Redolent Fragrant.
Riparian By the bank of a stream.
Ripple A very small wave.
Scintilla A spark or very small thing.
Sempiternal Eternal.
Seraglio Rich, luxurious oriental palace or harem.
Serendipity Finding something nice while looking for something else.
Summery Light, delicate or warm and sunny.
Sumptuous Lush, luxurious.
Surreptitious Secretive, sneaky.
Susquehanna A river in Pennsylvania.
Susurrous Whispering, hissing.
Talisman A good luck charm.
Tintinnabulation Tinkling.
Umbrella Protection from sun or rain.
Untoward Unseemly, inappropriate.
Vestigial In trace amounts.
Wafture Waving.
Wherewithal The means. Woebegone Sorrowful, downcast.

“vestigial”? “susquehanna”? OK, maybe not all of these are great, but I still love words.

1:29 pm  •  14 December 2009

claytoncubitt:

“In linguistics, a phatic expression is one whose only function is to perform a social task, as opposed to conveying information. The term was coined by anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in the early 1900s.

For example, “you’re welcome” is not intended to convey the message that the hearer is welcome; it is a phatic response to being thanked, which in turn is a phatic whose function is to be polite in response to a gift.”

•

“Speech patterns between women tend to be more collaborative than those of men, and tend to support each other’s involvement in the conversation. Topics for small talk are more likely to include compliments about some aspect of personal appearance. For example, “That dress really suits you.” Small talk between women who are friends may also involve a greater degree of self disclosure. Topics may cover more personal aspects of their life, their troubles, and their secrets. This self-disclosure both generates a closer relationship between them, and also is a signal of that closeness.

By contrast, mens’ small talk tends to be more competitive. It may feature verbal sparring matches, playful insults, and putdowns. However, in a way these are also both creators and signals of solidarity — the men are signalling that they are comfortable enough with each other’s company to be able to say these things without them being taken as insults.” -Phatic communication

•

“Jerry Michalski and Pip Coburn were recently talking about the puzzle of “exhaust data.”   These are data that pass between friends on Facebook and Twitter…as when someone tells me they’re doing their nails, or I tell them I’m entertaining my cat.

Who on earth cares?  What kind of communication is this?  Can it be that we are using the internet to issue trivial facts about ourselves?   Facts? The “fact” that I am entertaining the cat is so staggeringly unimportant it fails to interest even the cat.

But there is another, anthropological, point of view.  Exhaust data is, I think, a clear case of “phatic communication.”  This is communication with little hard, informational content, but lots of emotional and social content.  Phatic communications doesn’t get much said, but it has social effects so powerful, it gets lots done.” -How social networks work: the puzzle of exhaust data

5:27 am  •  14 December 2009

elvira:

crowth:

2. The closing quotation mark should come before all punctuation marks unless these form part of the quotation itself, e.g. Did Nelson really say ‘Kiss me, Hardy’? but Then she asked, ‘What is your name?’

The comma at the end of a quotation, when words such as he said follow, is regarded as equivalent to the final full stop of the speaker’s utterance, and is kept inside the quotation, e.g. ‘That is nonsense,’ he said. The commas on either side of he said, etc., when these words interrupt the quotation, should be outside the quotation marks, e.g. ‘That’, he said, ‘is nonsense.’ But the first comma goes inside the quotation marks if it would be part of the utterance even if there were no interruption, e.g. ‘That, my dear fellow,’ he said, ‘is nonsense’.

8:44 am  •  11 December 2009

"serein n
in the tropics, fine rain falling from an apparently cloudless sky after sunset [Origin French, from Latin serum evening, from serus late] Chambers, 1998"

— 100 Words: serein. Lovely. (via mappeal)

8:03 am  •  11 December 2009

Corpus delicti (plural: corpora delicti) (Latin: “body of crime”) is a term from Western jurisprudence which refers to the principle that it must be proven that a crime has occurred before a person can be convicted of committing the crime. For example, a person cannot be tried for larceny unless it can be proven that property has been stolen. Likewise, in order for a person to be tried for arson it must be proven that a criminal act resulted in the burning of a property. Black’s Law Dictionary (6th ed.) defines “corpus delicti” as: “the fact of a crime having been actually committed.”

4:37 am  •  22 November 2009

ragbag:

the end of an era (the 1300’s)

friends, i knew this day would eventually come and though i have been preparing for it mentally these last 5 weeks, nothing could brace me for the anguish i felt upon awakening this morning knowing that the archaic and provincial f-words series would soon meet its bitter end. i briefly considered word-blogging archaic e-words, but that seemed kinda arbitrary (plus: words that begin with e are lame).

[part the final: FOX-IN-THE-HOLE to FYLLOK]

• FOX-IN-THE-HOLE. A type of game where boys hopped on one leg and beat one another with or pieces of leather tied at the end of strings
• FOXY. Said of beer which has not fermented properly
• FRAME-PERSON. A visitor whom it is thought requisite to receive ceremoniously
• FRAM-WARD. In an opposite direction
• FRANCH. To scrunch with the teeth
• FRAZE. Half a quarter of a sheet of paper
• FREAMING. Said of the noise a boar makes in rutting time
• FREE-MARTIN. If a cow has twin calves of different sexes, the female is termed a free martin, and is said never to breed
• FRENCHMAN. Any man of any country that cannot speak English
• FRESCADES. Cool refreshments
• FRIMICATE. To affect delicacy; to give one’s self airs about trifles
• FRIPPERY. An old clothes shop
• FRODMORTELL. A free pardon for murder or manslaughter
• FROSLING. Any thing as a plant or animal nipped or injured by frost
• FRUITESTERE. A female seller of fruit
• FUCKWIND. A species of hawk
• FUDDLE. To intoxicate fish
• FUDGEL. An awkward child
• FUGLEMAN. A person who directs the cheering of a crowd or mob
• FULLAMS. False dice. There are high fullams and low fullams to denote loaded on the high or low number
• FULLOCK. To jerk the hand unlawfully
• FURCHURE. The place where the thighs part
• FYLLOK. A wanton girl

now, if you will allow me a moment to vent my despair, i will excuse myself to a public place and fullock like a chronic masturbator on a benzedrine bender.

11:41 am  •  19 November 2009

quix⋅ot⋅ic   /kwɪkˈsɒtɪk/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [kwik-sot-ik]

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) resembling or befitting Don Quixote. 2. extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable. 3. impulsive and often rashly unpredictable. Also, quix⋅ot⋅i⋅cal. Origin: 1805–15; ( Don ) Quixote + -ic

3:12 pm  •  18 November 2009

valedictory [ˌvælɪˈdɪktərɪ -trɪ] n pl -ries 1. a farewell address or speech 2. (Social Science / Education) US and Canadian a farewell speech delivered at a graduation ceremony, usually by the most outstanding graduate

3:10 pm  •  18 November 2009