October 27, 2010Word of the Day
NOTCH \NAHTCH\DEFINITIONnoun

1: a V-shaped hollow in an edge or surface
2: a narrow pass between two mountains
3: degree, step
EXAMPLES The instructions said to cut small notches at the corners of the fabric.

"The center said at 5 p.m. EDT that Paula had dropped a notch from a Category 2 storm as it took a track forecast to pass very near or over western Cuba later in the night or early Thursday." -- From a press release by Paul Haven, The Associated Press State & Local Wire, October 13, 2010
DID YOU KNOW? Occasionally, you might hear a child ask for a "napple," as in "I would like another napple," mistaking the phrase "an apple" for "a napple." A similar error is believed to be behind "notch," which may have resulted from a misdivision of "an otch." ("Otch" is a noun that is assumed to have existed in earlier English as a borrowing of Middle French "oche," meaning "an incision made to keep a record.") "Notch" would not be alone in developing from such a mistake. The words "newt" and "nickname" were formed, respectively, from misdivisions of "an ewte" and "an ekename." Going in the other direction, "umpire" first appears in Middle English as "oumpere," a mistaken rendering of "a noumpere."

I guess that Body Odor considers the health bill another notch under his belt. Much to OUR DISATISFACTION!

Hey not exactly a redneck term, not enough profanity, but it fits.

INCOGNITO \in-kahg-NEE-toh\DEFINITIONadverb or adjective

: with one's identity concealed
EXAMPLES The food critic made an incognito visit to the restaurant.

"[Mary, Queen of Scots] loved St. Andrews, where she kept a small vacation cottage and often stayed incognito, doing her own shopping and cooking, and playing golf along the links by the Firth of Forth." -- From an article by Sally Jenkins in The Washington Post, July 15, 2010
DID YOU KNOW? The ancient Greeks and Romans knew that there were times when you didn't want to be recognized. For example, a myth tells how Zeus and Hermes visited a village incognito and asked for lodging. The apparently penniless travelers were turned away from every household except that of a poor elderly couple named Baucis and Philemon, who provided a room and a feast despite their own poverty. The Romans had a word that described someone or something unknown (like the gods in the tale): "incognitus," a term that is the ancestor of our modern "incognito."

Well, the incognito fits a certain person who should fill the sting of the American people on Tuesday, November 2, 2010.

Jeff, I was gonna make a comment about Body Odor but held off. Guess I missed a great opportunity!

vanguard \VAN-gahrd\DEFINITION
noun

1: the troops moving at the head of an army
2: the forefront of an action or movement
EXAMPLESThe manufacturer is in the vanguard of green technology.

"Classical beauty is easy, but a taste for the difficult, the unconventional, the ugly, has often been seen as a mark of sophistication, a passport into the rarefied world of the artistic vanguard." -- From an article by Natalie Angier in The New York Times, August 10, 2010
DID YOU KNOW? "Vanguard" derives from the Anglo-French word "avantgarde." Both terms were created by combining the French words "avant," meaning "before," and "garde," meaning "guard." In medieval times, "avantgarde" referred to the troops that marched at the head of the army. English speakers retained that meaning when they adopted "vanguard" in the 15th century. "Avant-garde," which is now used in English to refer to a group of people who develop new and often very surprising ideas in art, literature, etc., didn't make its own English debut until 1910.

Redneckism:

Hey didju hear that Billy Jobob got one of them thar Vanguards fer his PT Cruiser! Posed to be able to run into a cow and not do annie damage atall!

October 30, 2010Word of the Day
MISCONSTRUE \miss-kun-STROO\DEFINITION
verb

: to understand or explain wrongly : misinterpret
EXAMPLES According to the candidate, her comments about the city's schools were misconstrued by the media.

"It's now been 10 years since humans deciphered the digital code that, in a very real sense, defines us as a species. It's hard to overestimate the significance of that achievement -- but easy to misconstrue what it means and where its true promise lies." --From an opinion piece by Dr. James P. Evans in Newsday, June 27, 2010
DID YOU KNOW? In the 14th century, English speakers acquired the closely linked words "construe" and "construction." You may think of "construction" as a word having to do with building houses or highways, but it has long had other meanings, including "arrangement of words in a sentence" and "interpretation." Similarly, "construe" can mean "to analyze the arrangement and connection of words in a sentence" or "to interpret or explain." Both "construe" and "construction" come from the Latin verb "construere" ("to construct or construe"). The "mis-" of "misconstrue" was an English addition; it was added to "construe" in the 15th century to create a word meaning "to put a wrong construction (that is, a wrong interpretation) on."

HE says we have "Misconstrued" his meaning, what he is trying to accomplish.

All I can say is those two little words that THEY fear the most, and that is:

YOU'RE FIRED! Misconstrue THAT! Ok so it's FOUR words. Sheesh!

HOBGOBLIN \HAHB-gahb-lin\DEFINITION
noun

1: a mischievous goblin
2: a source of fear, perplexity, or harassment
EXAMPLES Max was convinced that hobgoblins had taken over his computer, which was why it was flashing garbled error messages.

"For one thing, the turtle was an enjoyable hobgoblin for the kids who swim in the lake. They used to stand atop the floating dock looking out anxiously to see if the turtle was nearby and it added an element of chills to an otherwise placid swimming experience." --From an article by Scott Gerschwer in the Redding Pilot (Connecticut), September 9, 2010
DID YOU KNOW? While a goblin is traditionally regarded in folklore as a grotesque, evil, and malicious creature, a hobgoblin tends to be more about creating mischief. (The character of Puck from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream might be regarded as one.) First appearing in English in 1530, "hobgoblin" combined "goblin" with "hob," a word meaning "sprite" or "elf" that derived from "Hobbe," a nickname for Robert. "Goblin" derived via Middle English and Medieval Latin from the Greek word "kobalos," meaning "rogue." The American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson famously applied the word's extended sense in his essay Self-Reliance: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."

Word Trivia: What word for a small dog breed with short fur, tightly curled tails, and wide wrinkled faces comes from an old word for hobgoblin?



Yea Rufus, we used to have them thar hobgoblins EVERWHERES. But Two years ago they all moved To Washington D.C.!
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The Dog breed.... PUG! Huh, it DOES sound like Washington!

Interesting, I didn't know that there was a difference between a hobgoblin and a goblin goblin!

Hobgoblins live in Washington D.C. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

PUNGLE \PUNG-gul\DEFINITION
verb

: to make a payment or contribution of money -- usually used with up
EXAMPLES We all decided to pungle up for pizza.

"They visited the pound over the weekend with their own Chihuahua, Kiki, to make sure the two dogs would get along. And they pungled up $107 to cover the adoption fee, castration fee, inoculation fee, licensing fee and microchipping fee." -- From an article by Steve Rubenstein in The San Francisco Chronicle, February 18, 2009
DID YOU KNOW? "Pungle" is from the Spanish word "pongale," meaning "put it down," which itself is from "poner," meaning "to put" or "to place," or more specifically "to contribute money." The earliest uses of "pungle" are from the 1850s and are in reference to anteing up in games of chance. It did not take long for the word to be used in other contexts. It was in Huckleberry Finn's deadbeat dad's vocabulary: "I'll make [Judge Thatcher] pungle, too, or I'll know the reason why," Huck quotes his father in Mark Twain's famous novel. Nowadays, "pungle" is mainly used in the western part of the United States.


Another one that means the same things is "Pony up". Lest ways that's what we say around here.

On November 2, 2010 the voters of America pungled up for a showing of distaste for the current administration.

Poner.... Weenie joke anyone? Yo tenia que poner para obtener un Pito... No recibo! ¿Qué ha pasado con mi pito!?