The Word of the Day for August 20, 2010 is:
JOVIAL • \JOH-vee-ul\ • adjective
1 : of or relating to Jove
*2 : markedly good-humored especially as evidenced by jollity and conviviality
Example Sentence:
Andy remembered his Uncle Jim as a jovial, easy-going man with a ready smile, a firm handshake, and a cheery greeting for all.
Did you know?
In Roman astrology, planets were named after gods, and people were thought to share the personality traits of the god whose planet was rising when they were born. Jupiter, also called Jove, was the chief Roman god and was considered a majestic, authoritative type who was the source of joy and happiness. The Late Latin adjective "jovialis" meant "of or relating to Jove." In Middle French this had become "jovial." English speakers picked up "jovial" in the late 16th century and began applying it to folks who shared the majestic or good-natured character of Jupiter (regardless of their birth date).

And for those that like go to Auctions:

Morbid = A higher offer than I bid! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />

I feel jovial after reading Skunkhunter's "Redneckese"! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Glad youns like em! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> But I only got about another 3 weeks worth left!

The Word of the Day for August 21, 2010 is:
GRIMALKIN • \grih-MAWL-kin\ • noun
: a domestic cat; especially : an old female cat
Example Sentence:
Maizy, the family grimalkin, wasn't as fast as she used to be, but she was still very good at catching mice.
Did you know?
In the opening scene of Macbeth, one of the three witches planning to meet with Macbeth suddenly announces, "I come, Graymalkin." The witch is responding to the summons of her familiar, or guardian spirit, which is embodied in the form of a cat. Shakespeare's "graymalkin" literally means "gray cat." The "gray" is of course the color; the "malkin" was a nickname for Matilda or Maud that came to be used in dialect as a general name for a cat (and sometimes a hare). By the 1630s, "graymalkin" had been altered to the modern spelling "grimalkin."

And for those who look for cheap dwellings:

NITRATES = They're cheaper than DAY RATES! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The Word of the Day for August 22, 2010 is:
MINUSCULE • \MIN-uh-skyool\ • adjective
1 : written in or in the size or style of lowercase letters
*2 : very small
Example Sentence:
As the director of a tiny nonprofit organization, Julie is adept at managing expenses while working within the restraints of a minuscule budget.
Did you know?
"Minuscule" derives from the Latin adjective "minusculus," which means "rather small." The "minuscule" spelling is consistent with the word's etymology, but since the 19th century, people have also been spelling it "miniscule," perhaps because they associate it with the combining form "mini-" and words such as "minimal" and "minimum." Usage commentators generally consider the "miniscule" spelling an error, but it is widely used in reputable and carefully edited publications and is accepted as a legitimate variant in some dictionaries.

And for those of use who are perhaps Psychic I bring you this word.

NODE = I just node that Obama was gonna lie to us when his mouth opened! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />

I like the Node!

Jeff, thank you for the vote of thanks!

August 25, 2010Word of the Day
CARCERAL \KAHR-suh-rul\ DEFINITION adjective

: of, relating to, or suggesting a jail or prison
EXAMPLE Every time John walked by the old hospital he was haunted by the abandoned building’s imposing carceral towers and tiny windows.
DID YOU KNOW? Describing a painting of John Howard visiting a prison in 1787, Robert Hughes wrote that Howard was "the pioneer of English carceral reform" (Time Magazine, November 11, 1985). "Prison reform" might be the more common phrase, but the use of "carceral" was by no means unprecedented. Vladimir Nabokov, in his inimitable prose, described a prison scene in Invitation to a Beheading thusly: "The door opened, whining, rattling and groaning in keeping with all the rules of carceral counterpoint." An adjective borrowed directly from Late Latin, "carceral" appeared shortly after "incarcerate" ("to imprison"), which first showed up in English around the mid-1500s; they're both ultimately from "carcer," Latin for "prison."

And for those of us who are not the most medically inclined, I present this:

OUTPATIENT = A person who has fainted!

August 29, 2010Word of the Day
QUORUM\KWOR-um\DEFINITIONnoun

1: a select group
2: the number (as a majority) of officers or members of a body that when duly assembled is legally competent to transact business
EXAMPLEThe town’s charter states that a quorum of at least nine members must be present before any voting by the town council can take place.
DID YOU KNOW?In Latin, "quorum" means "of whom," which is itself the genitive plural of "qui," meaning "who." At one time, Latin "quorum" was used in the wording of the commission issued to justices of the peace in England. In English, "quorum" initially referred to the number of justices of the peace who had to be present to constitute a legally sufficient bench. That sense is now rare, but it's not surprising that "quorum" has come to mean both "a select group" and "the minimum people required in order to conduct business."

And for anyone who had a "Close call", I give you this:

PAP SMEAR = A fatherhood test!

September 01, 2010Word of the Day
HECTOR \HEK-ter\DEFINITIONverb

1: to play the bully : swagger
2: to intimidate or harass by bluster or personal pressure
EXAMPLEThe judge sternly ordered the attorney to stop hectoring the witness.
DID YOU KNOW?In Homer's Iliad, Hector, the eldest son of King Priam of Troy, was a model soldier, son, father, and friend, the champion of the Trojan army until he was killed by the Greek hero Achilles. How did the name of a Trojan paragon become a verb meaning "to bully or harrass"? That use was likely influenced by gangs of rowdy street toughs who roamed London in the 17th century and called themselves "Hectors." They may have thought themselves gallant young blades, but to the general populace they were swaggering bullies who intimidated passersby and vandalized property. By 1660, "hector" was being used both as a verb and as a noun meaning "bully."

And for us quasi-normal folks Y'll got this:

PELVIS = second cousin to Elvis

September 02, 2010Word of the Day
VULPINE\VUL-pine\DEFINITION adjective

1: of, relating to, or resembling a fox
2: foxy, crafty
EXAMPLE"There is something Gatsby-esque about the whole story. [Bernie] Madoff is a clear proxy for Meyer Wolfsheim, the vulpine, self-satisfied criminal seducer." (Daniel Gross, Newsweek, January 12, 2009)
DID YOU KNOW?In Walden (1854), Henry David Thoreau described foxes crying out "raggedly and demoniacally" as they hunted through the winter forest, and he wrote, "Sometimes one came near to my window, attracted by my light, barked a vulpine curse at me, and then retreated." Thoreau's was far from the first use of "vulpine"; English writers have been applying that adjective to the foxlike or crafty since at least the 15th century, and the Latin parent of our term, "vulpinus" (from the noun "vulpes," meaning "fox"), was around long before that.

And for those of us who use the USPS system:

Post Operative = A letter carrier

September 03, 2010Word of the Day
CLITIC\KLIT-ik\DEFINITIONnoun

: a word that is treated in pronunciation as forming a part of a neighboring word and that is often unaccented or contracted
EXAMPLEIn "what's happening?" the "s" in "what's" is a clitic.
DID YOU KNOW?We hear clitics every day in sentences like "This'll be fine" and "C'mon over here." There are two kinds of clitics: "enclitics" and "proclitics." An enclitic is a clitic that is associated with the word that comes before it. Contractions, such as the "ve" in "would've" and the "ll" in "it'll," are enclitics. A proclitic is associated with the word that follows it. Proclitics are transcribed into print far less often than enclitics are, but we hear them frequently in speech. For example, the sentence "They love to dance" is typically pronounced with the "to" truncated to a "t" that gets tacked onto the front of "dance."

And for us furniture lovers

Recovery room = place to do upholstery!