Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Illaq’ueate, v. to entangle; to entrap. Word in the Wild: The received wisdom is that mouse traps are the best way to illaqueate mice, but Wayne, who was at his wit’s end, was seriously thinking of investing in a mongoose. You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries […]
Lexical Vexations medal n. an award, especially one composed of a stamped, coin-like piece of metal. meddle v. to interfere in others’ plans. metal n. an opaque and often shiny material that is composed of one or more of the metallic elements in the periodic table of elements. mettle n. the quality of strength or […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Hendi’adis, n. a using of two nouns in place of an adjective and a noun. Word in the Wild: Ludwig’s assertion that Laila never used hendiadis in her speeches was a presumption and an embarrassment. Okay, so that sample sentence doesn’t do a lot to help explain what hendiadis means, does it? But […]
Lexical Vexations feat n. an accomplishment. feet n. appendages that protude from the bottoms of a person’s legs. Words in the Wild: That Rocky could stay on his feet for five rounds against Mr. Fabulous was an incredible feat. Okay, I won’t lie. These two words are very seldom mistaken for one another, but when […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Grub’ble, v. to feel in the dark. Word in the Wild: Max was in the wine cellar when the lights went out. He lurched and grubbled about, breaking a bottle of Richebourg Leroy while he tried to find the stairs. It was as he paused to mourn the loss that he heard the […]
Questions and Answers Cheryl—a loyal reader and fellow verbivore—sent in another great question yesterday: I have a question that has been puzzling me for some time. What is the opposite of the word “fade”; as in “light fades at dusk”? What does light do in the morning? Well, after checking out a couple of thesauruses, I’ve […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Flammiv’omous, a. belching out flames. Word in the Wild: The flammivomous dragons embroidered on the fraying tapestry were nothing like the ones Huang Long had read about in her story books as a child—these creatures were positively terrifying. The contributor of the photo of the dragon is Jim Winstead Jr. The photograph is copyrighted […]
Recommended Read Prose, Francine. Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them New York: Harper Perennial, 2007. [ISBN-13: 978-0-06-077705-0] Seeing Francine Prose speak last week galvanized me into finally posting on a book of hers I read last winter. Reading Like a Writer is […]
Lexical Vexations faze v. to cause embarrassment or social distress. phase n. a regular part of a cycle or progression (a phase of the moon, a phase of early childhood development; v. to make gradual changes (phase in the new inventory control system). Words in the Wild: Having been warned in advance about Leopold’s excentricities, […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Exi’tial, Exi’tious, a. destructive; fatal. Word in the Wild: When people head into the forest for the first time, they’re often afraid of garter snakes even though they’re harmless and timid, yet few are afraid of the mushrooms they see despite the fact that many of them are exitial. You can find a […]