mantic \MAN-tik\, adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to divination.
2. Having the power of divination.
"She spent some evenings secretly working to expand the ever-present taint of the mantic sight still trapped within her."
-- Barb Hendee, J. C. Hendee, In Shade and Shadow
"It is these mantic responses that alert the intelligence to the presence of something that calls for interpretation."
-- M. R. Wright, Andrew Barker, Reason and Necessity: Essays On Plato's Timaeus
Mantic stems from the Greek mantikos, "of a soothsayer."
Monday, August 15, 2011
hoary
hoary \HAWR-ee\, adjective:
1. Tedious from familiarity; stale.
2. Gray or white with age.
3. Ancient or venerable.
Compare that with the elements of a musical in about 1920: the star in a cliche story that was merely a framing device for generic musical numbers, hoary joke-book gags, and the usual specialty performers in a staging more often than not by a hack.
-- Ethan Mordden, Coming Up Roses
Had Mozart lived to the hoary old age of 73, he might indeed have fallen out of favor in an era besotted with Rossini, becoming a "largely forgotten, neglected, unperformed composer."
-- Marilyn Stasio, "Crime", New York Times, June 23, 1996
Hoary derives from Middle English hor, from Old English har, "gray; old (and gray-haired)."
1. Tedious from familiarity; stale.
2. Gray or white with age.
3. Ancient or venerable.
Compare that with the elements of a musical in about 1920: the star in a cliche story that was merely a framing device for generic musical numbers, hoary joke-book gags, and the usual specialty performers in a staging more often than not by a hack.
-- Ethan Mordden, Coming Up Roses
Had Mozart lived to the hoary old age of 73, he might indeed have fallen out of favor in an era besotted with Rossini, becoming a "largely forgotten, neglected, unperformed composer."
-- Marilyn Stasio, "Crime", New York Times, June 23, 1996
Hoary derives from Middle English hor, from Old English har, "gray; old (and gray-haired)."
deadpan
deadpan \DED-pan\, adjective:
1. Marked by or accomplished with a careful pretense of seriousness or calm detachment.
2. Displaying no emotional or personal involvement.
"He sat down on the top step with a rare deadpan expression, his best attempt yet at a poker face."
-- Carol O'Connell, Shell Game
"She had instructed the kids to remain deadpan, because she did not want to paint from a shot in which they were mugging."
-- Dean Koontz, What the Night Knows
Deadpan is a coinage from the 1930s combining "dead" and the sense of "pan" referring to the head or face.
1. Marked by or accomplished with a careful pretense of seriousness or calm detachment.
2. Displaying no emotional or personal involvement.
"He sat down on the top step with a rare deadpan expression, his best attempt yet at a poker face."
-- Carol O'Connell, Shell Game
"She had instructed the kids to remain deadpan, because she did not want to paint from a shot in which they were mugging."
-- Dean Koontz, What the Night Knows
Deadpan is a coinage from the 1930s combining "dead" and the sense of "pan" referring to the head or face.
aureate
aureate \AWR-ee-it\, adjective:
1. Characterized by an ornate style of writing or speaking.
2. Golden or gilded.
3. Brilliant; splendid.
"Nothing in the aureate language of the English poets can match the splendid virtuosity of Ane Ballat of Our Lady."
-- Whitney French Bolton, The Middle Ages
"Scholasms, by the way, may be divided into two classes: aureate terms and inkhorn terms."
-- Charles Harrington Elster, There's a Word for It!: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life
Aureate originally comes from the Latin aureus, "golden."
1. Characterized by an ornate style of writing or speaking.
2. Golden or gilded.
3. Brilliant; splendid.
"Nothing in the aureate language of the English poets can match the splendid virtuosity of Ane Ballat of Our Lady."
-- Whitney French Bolton, The Middle Ages
"Scholasms, by the way, may be divided into two classes: aureate terms and inkhorn terms."
-- Charles Harrington Elster, There's a Word for It!: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life
Aureate originally comes from the Latin aureus, "golden."
gazump
gazump \guh-ZUHMP\, verb:
To cheat (a house buyer) by raising the price, at the time a contract is to be signed, over the amount originally agreed upon.
"I promise not to gazump you this time," he said, sitting down next to her on the sofa and reaching out to stroke the back of her head."
-- John Trenhaile, Tiger of Desire
"It is yet another thing for me to be paranoid about, but I can't see them letting anyone else gazump you us."
-- Diana Appleyard, Homing Instinct
Gazump evolves from the earlier gazoomph, "to swindle," which is an argot (jargon among thieves) word of uncertain origin.
To cheat (a house buyer) by raising the price, at the time a contract is to be signed, over the amount originally agreed upon.
"I promise not to gazump you this time," he said, sitting down next to her on the sofa and reaching out to stroke the back of her head."
-- John Trenhaile, Tiger of Desire
"It is yet another thing for me to be paranoid about, but I can't see them letting anyone else gazump you us."
-- Diana Appleyard, Homing Instinct
Gazump evolves from the earlier gazoomph, "to swindle," which is an argot (jargon among thieves) word of uncertain origin.
ambsace
ambsace \EYMZ-eys\, noun:
1. The smallest amount or distance.
2. The lowest throw at dice, the double ace (two ones.)
3. Bad luck; misfortune.
"Sleeping is thick arras or ambsace, like an alcatraz across water."
-- Brian Teare, Sight Map: Poems
"We're within ambsace of being done."
-- Jo Ann Ferguson, A Phantom Affair
Ambsace stems from the Old French ambes as, "both aces."
1. The smallest amount or distance.
2. The lowest throw at dice, the double ace (two ones.)
3. Bad luck; misfortune.
"Sleeping is thick arras or ambsace, like an alcatraz across water."
-- Brian Teare, Sight Map: Poems
"We're within ambsace of being done."
-- Jo Ann Ferguson, A Phantom Affair
Ambsace stems from the Old French ambes as, "both aces."
melismatic
melismatic \mi-liz-MA-tik\, adjective:
Characterized by the singing of several notes to one syllable of text, for emotional impact, as in blues and other musical styles.
His blues are pure Texas and in an older style with thumping bass notes in the guitar playing and breathy melismatic singing.
-- American Folklore Society, Journal of American Folklore
It almost sounds as if he's making it up as he goes, ending each verse with a melismatic flourish.
-- Camille DeAngelis, Petty Magic: Being the Memoirs and Confessions of Miss Evelyn Harbinger
Melismatic finds its source in the Greek melisma, "music."
Characterized by the singing of several notes to one syllable of text, for emotional impact, as in blues and other musical styles.
His blues are pure Texas and in an older style with thumping bass notes in the guitar playing and breathy melismatic singing.
-- American Folklore Society, Journal of American Folklore
It almost sounds as if he's making it up as he goes, ending each verse with a melismatic flourish.
-- Camille DeAngelis, Petty Magic: Being the Memoirs and Confessions of Miss Evelyn Harbinger
Melismatic finds its source in the Greek melisma, "music."
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