eloquent... exotic... esoteric... (please provide definitions)

Yes, Xelebes, the fear of puns. The whole idea of it is daft; why anyone would got to the trouble of inventing a word for it....

*shakes head*


And so to another word:

promulgate v.t. make known to the public, disseminate (creed, etc.), proclaim (decree, news). Hence promulgation.
 
Ursa major said:
Yes, Xelebes, the fear of puns. The whole idea of it is daft; why anyone would got to the trouble of inventing a word for it....

*shakes head*
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Well, maybe the paronomasiamanic are just not meant to be with the paronomasiaophobic.
 
shagreen untanned leather with a granular surface, made of shark, seal, etc.

galloon a braid or trim of worsted, silk, gold, silver, etc.

ormolu a gilded metal such as brass or bronze, or a gold-colored copper alloy; generally used as ornamentation on furniture, clocks, etc.

buhl an elaborate inlaid work of woods, tortoise shell, ivory, metal, etc.
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Cool stuff Teresa - I would actually love to own some of those things. By the way, do you know any buhlmongers (those who sell buhls ;))?
 
Granfalloon said:
By the way, do you know any buhlmongers (those who sell buhls ;))?
Click to expand...

Not a one.

defenestration to throw something or someone out of a window

(Once a popular form of civic or political dissent. Toss your local authority figure out of a high window, and see how hard he falls. The First Defenestration of Prague resulted in several deaths. The Second Defenestration of Prague would have resulted in a few more, had the victims not landed in a handy manure pile which saved their lives. Their survival because of this fortunate circumstance was later ascribed -- honestly, you could look it up -- to an act of divine mercy.)

smaragd an emerald (somewhat archaic)
smaragdine of or pertaining to emeralds

(The Smaragdine Tablet, which according to hermetic lore was originally copied from an emerald tablet found in a tomb, describes in 13 sentences the basic precepts of alchemy and -- according to some mystics -- the whole of magical doctrine. I found it a useful object of study when I was writing my first book.)
 
fatuous - pointless, ridiculous

vacuous - mindless, lacking in intelligence; also empty**

maundering - rambling, especially of a discursive style

specious - superficially plausible, but wrong, especially of a line of reasoning

J


** another contender in the archaic stakes
 
Surreal : –adjective, having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic; surreal complexities of the Crab Nebula.

Erudite : –adjective, characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly: an erudite professor; an erudite commentary.
 
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A few foody words, and a request for a word.

gormandize/gourmandize - eat well, especially to excess

epicure - a person who takes pleasure in good food and drink

trencherman - a man with a hearty appetite

And the request:

A friend is convinced that there is a specific word for the kind of three tiered cake stand one finds in smart hotels/tea shops. I've searched a few thesari and googled without success. Anyone out there know?

J
 
Couple of bugbears ...

wrest (not rest) - to take away by force, as in "I wrested the poor bird from my cat's mouth."
moot (not mute) - of little or no practical value, as in "it's a moot point."
wont (not want) - habit or practice, as in "we sang songs, as we were wont to do."
toe (not tow) - (v) to touch with a toe, as in "in the end, I toed the line."

There are many, many others I might come back to later
 
The Judge said:
A friend is convinced that there is a specific word for the kind of three tiered cake stand one finds in smart hotels/tea shops. I've searched a few thesari and googled without success. Anyone out there know?

J
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Tortes come in a variety of forms with layers. Better be more specific than that.
 
I've only seen the terms "wedding-cake stand" and "cup-cake stand", J, and the former is certainly not specifically restricted to three tiers.

I'm flummoxed. adj. confounded, bewildered, disconcerted; from

flummox v.t. to confound, bewilder, disconcert.


And while we're on food:

flummery: n. sweet dish made with flour, milk, eggs, honey, etc.;

which also has the meaning:

flummery: n. empty compliments, trifle, nonsense.
 
Judge, if you are referring to the stand that holds a variety of small cakes on each tier, I think it's usually called a three-tiered server, although I have seen it referred to as a sweet server, which I like much better.


But onward, with some ideas that might be of use to SFF writers who wish to create alien or non-human races with one, three, or more genders:

telegony the supposed influence of a previous mate on a female's subsequent offspring -- an idea accepted well into the nineteenth century, when it was still supposed that if a widow produced children by a second husband all of those children would resemble the first.

homunculus a diminutive human being; (formerly) a fully formed tiny human body contained in the spermatozoon; (archaic) a tiny living being in human form created by a magician or alchemist inside a bottle or other glass vessel; a carved mandrake root animated by magical processes and human sperm to create such a being

whereas this third procedure produces an offspring without a mother,

parthenogenesis the growth and development of an embryo or seed without fertilization by a male, a method of procreation known among certain newts

produces a child without a father.

parthagenesis the creation of a child by only one parent (male or female), as Athena from the head of Zeus, or Gaia creating Ouranos, Ourea, and Pontos.
 
Thanks Ursa and Teresa. I've come across the 'cup-cake ** stand' as well, but have never seen 'server' in relation to a cake-stand: I wonder if this is a strictly American usage? Of course, Teresa, to us Brits, 'sweet' has a dual meaning of confectionery (candy to you?) and pudding. So 'sweet server' to me conjures up either some kind of confectionery dispenser, or one of those hostess-trolley things that we used to get in old fashioned restaurants containing half-a-dozen different cold desserts.

Perhaps we'll have to invent a word - a kind of high-rise patisserie equivalent of a standish (a stand for holding pen and ink etc).

J

** when (and why) did the fairy cakes of my youth transmogrify (transform, especially in a magical manner) into cup-cakes?
 
(Does that mean we could use standoffish for people who are too ill to eat anything off, for example, a three-tiered cake stand? Or perhaps it describes people who are all too keen to scoff its contents? ;):))


Standoffish adj. aloof, reserved, unsociable, unfriendly.

Scoff v. eat greedily

Scoff n. food, meal
 
The Judge said:
Of course, Teresa, to us Brits, 'sweet' has a dual meaning of confectionery (candy to you?) and pudding.
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When we use those stands over here they often do hold candy (which we do call it confectionary, but not in everyday conversations) and cookies (biscuits to you) along with the little cakes. Stands specifically for cupcakes are a comparatively new thing, reflecting the rapidly expanding popularity of cupcakes over the last several years. The word "server" I have only encountered from vendors selling these stands. In ordinary life, we tend to be as confused about what to call them as your friend is.

fracas a disorderly noise, disturbance, or fight

quash to suppress completely; to quell, subdue; to make void, annul

unctuous 1) of the nature of an unguent or ointment; oily, greasy; having an oily or soapy feel 2) characterized by excessive piousness or moralistic fervor; excessively smooth, suave, or smug

scoff to mock, deride, or scorn

deride to scoff or jeer at; to speak of with contempt or ridicule

fleer v. to grin or laugh coarsely or mockingly, to deride; n. a jeer
 
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Parsimony n. Great reluctance to spend money unnecessarily.

Parsimonious adj. Exhibiting parsimony; sparing in expenditure of money; frugal to excess; penurious; niggardly; stingy.

Frugal adj. thrifty, economical.
 
Grockle n. A tourist or day-tripper.

Sophrosyne n. - reason, soundness, self-control.

Mulligrubs adj. - a state of depression.

Eleemosynary adj. - charitable.
 
pyan said:
Grockle** n. A tourist or day-tripper. I always thought this was a dialect word like emmet (also used for trippers but literally an ant) but on checking my dictionary I see that is isn't, though it is a strictly British term.

Sophrosyne n. - reason, soundness, self-control. Not in my dictionary so I googled it - the wikipedia entry is v. interesting re its philosophical underpinnings. In fact it will come in very useful for my aliens' moral system - so many thanks for this.

Mulligrubs** adj. - a state of depression. Also not in my dictionary - and this definitely seems like a dialect word. Where did you find this one, Pyan?

Eleemosynary adj. - charitable.
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** am I right in supposing you've been out in the Forest today, with all our lovely tourists?!

J
 
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