ECF, HUH?

November 04, 2010Word of the Day
ULULATE \ULL-yuh-layt\DEFINITION
verb

: howl, wail
EXAMPLES The puppy ululated in distress every time he was left alone.

"[Singer] Sussan Deyhim is one of Iran's most potent voices in exile, for the simple reason that she possesses a marvelously potent voice. She wails and coos and ululates, the sound of the soul in translation." -- From a music review in the Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2010
DID YOU KNOW? "When other birds are still, the screech owls take up the strain, like mourning women their ancient u-lu-lu." When Henry David Thoreau used "u-lu-lu" to imitate the cry of screech owls and mourning women in that particular passage from his book Walden, he was re-enacting the etymology of "ululate" (a word he likely knew). "Ululate" descends from the Latin verb "ululare." That Latin root carried the same meaning as our modern English word, and it likely originated in the echoes of the rhythmic wailing sound associated with it. Even today, "ululate" often refers to ritualistic or expressive wailing performed at times of mourning or celebration or used to show approval.

In light of yesterdays historic event I can only surmise that the Liberals will continue to Ululate for quite some time, perhaps NEVER coming to grips for the REAL reasons for the Turnabout.

And as promised to MB I give to you this, the new and exciting following MonkeyBombism. LONG TERM STUPID! I refer you to him for it's exact meaning. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Amazing thread!

Will add to my 'Favorites.'

~Gnarly

OOPS!

Hit the wrong button!

~Gnarly

lol, I rolled that one in Spanish, my bad. I said, using the new word you gave us, "I had to put money into buying a weenie. It's not here! Where is my weenie!?" roughly translated

November 05, 2010Word of the Day
GREASY SPOON \GREE-see-SPOON\DEFINITION
noun

: a dingy small cheap restaurant
EXAMPLES For dinner, Juan and his sister, who was visiting him at college, went to his favorite greasy spoon in the city.

"When I first went on the road, I went into every truck stop and greasy spoon in the country just to experience it all." -- Trisha Yearwood, quoted in The Dallas Morning News, April 14, 2010
DID YOU KNOW? In the decades following its first use in 1902, the surrounding context of "greasy spoon" usually included words along the lines of "lousy," "wind up eating in," "slinging hash," "the underside of society," "settle for," or "rather starve." And while things haven't changed entirely, a recent wave of nostalgia has elevated the status of greasy spoons. Since the 1970s, the descriptions might contain words like "fabled," "distinction," "beloved," "classic," "an institution," "fondness for," and "comfort food." Now you can consult a "Greasy Spoon Guide" and read up on "Best Greasy Spoons," or lunch at a diner "restored to look like a greasy spoon." Some of these eateries are now even named "The Greasy Spoon."


Redneck Defination: When Cheryl forgets to do the dishes!

I have been to some Greasy Spoons over the years, and generally there is some great conversations about politics going on in there, and the coffee is always hot.

November 06, 2010Word of the Day
VAGARY \VAY-guh-ree\DEFINITION
noun

: an erratic, unpredictable, or extravagant manifestation, action, or notion
EXAMPLES Stock market analysts were pressed to determine whether the sharp decline in prices was a one-day vagary or a sign of more serious economic trouble on the horizon.

"Allocating water is not an easy job, especially considering the vagaries of Western weather. A dry winter, such as Montana experienced this year, was offset by an unusually wet spring and summer." -- From an article by Brett French in the Billings Gazette (Montana), September 29, 2010
DID YOU KNOW? In the 16th century, if you "made a vagary" you took a wandering journey, or you figuratively wandered from a correct path by committing some minor offence. If you spoke or wrote vagaries, you wandered from a main subject. These senses hadn't strayed far from their origin, as "vagary" is probably based on Latin "vagari," meaning "to wander." Indeed, in the 16th and 17th centuries there was even an English verb "vagary" that meant "to wander." Nowadays, the noun "vagary" is mostly used in its plural form, and vagaries have more to do with unpredictability than with wandering.


Down here we just say something was strange or weird.

Strange and weird......vagary, I sure I have some classroom tales on that.

B.O.'s election was a vagary for many Americans! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Tom you're right, and the nightmare has lasted for 2 years now!

November 07, 2010Word of the Day
FOSSICK \FAH-sik\DEFINITION
verb

a : to search about : rummage b : to search for by or as if by rummaging : ferret out
EXAMPLES As teenagers, the twins spent many summer afternoons fossicking for opals in the old mine.

"Meanwhile that little dog of ours, whose pedigree goes back some 400 years, is out the front fossicking round on the lawn and in the garden, following scents, sniffing at new growth, chasing birds (and flies), barking at cats or watching the world go by from the front doorstep." -- From an article by Garth George in The New Zealand Herald, October 7, 2010
DID YOU KNOW? The first people to "fossick" (in the oldest but still-current meaning of the word), back in the 1850s, were picking over abandoned mining excavations in search of gold or gemstones. But within a few decades "fossick" was being used more generally to mean "to search about" or "to rummage." "Fossick" was brought to the shores of Australia and New Zealand by immigrants from the United Kingdom. The word was originally an English dialect term meaning "to ferret out." That meaning is derived from older words: the first spelled "fussick," meaning "to bustle about," and the second "fossack" or "fussock," meaning "a troublesome person."

I hope and pray that our new government employees will be able to fossick around and finally start to get the country off it's deathbed and toward a world power once again.