PURLOIN

I'm baaackkk!!!

Purloining purple paper is a particularly passionate perpetration.

DEF:
v. tr.
To steal, often in a violation of trust. See Synonyms at steal.
v. intr.
To commit theft.

[Middle English purloinen, to remove, from Anglo-Norman purloigner : pur-, away (from Latin prō-; see pro-¹) + loign, far (from Latin longē, from longus, long; see del-¹ in Indo-European roots).]
pur·loin'er n.

Thank you to Angela for starting the chain of events that led to the purloining and to Zaid, my lovely nephew, who at one point started most of his words with "p" which led to my love of sentences full of "p" words.

LURID

I realize that publishers think lurid covers to draw in readers, but do they ever think that they are, also, scaring away readers who are horrified by the luridness of the cover or simply too embarrassed to walk around with such a book.

DEF: adj.

1. Causing shock or horror; gruesome.
2. Marked by sensationalism: a lurid account of the crime. See Synonyms at ghastly.
3. Glowing or shining with the glare of fire through a haze: lurid flames.
4. Sallow or pallid in color.

[Latin lūridus, pale, from lūror, paleness.] (American Heritage)

VILLAINY

If I were a Zoroastrian -- according to what I learned in class today -- I would believe that good would triumph over villainy. However, Tuesday's miscreant has not left me in such a hopeful and positive frame of mind.

DEF:

1.	the actions or conduct of a villain; outrageous wickedness.

2.	a villainous act or deed.

3.	Obsolete. villeinage.

---

Origin:
1175–1225; ME vile(i)nie, vilainie <>See villain, -y ³

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

MISCREANT

Some miscreant stole the lovely and puffy and warm down jacket lent to me by the kind Heba out of my suitcase, when I was flying back to Tucson. Freeze, scumbag, freeze!

DEF:

Main Entry:	miscreant1
Part of Speech:	adj
Definition:	disbelieving; heretical
Etymology:	Middle French mes- 'mis-' + croire 'to believe'

Main Entry:	miscreant1
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	a disbeliever; heretic
Etymology:	Middle French mes- 'mis-' + croire 'to believe'

Main Entry:	miscreant2
Part of Speech:	adj
Definition:	depraved; behaving badly
Etymology:	Middle French mes- 'mis-' + croire 'to believe'

Main Entry:	miscreant2
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	a scoundrel; reprobate
Etymology:	Middle French mes- 'mis-' + croire 'to believe'

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2009 Dictionary.com, LLC

Contemporary synonym: SCUMBAG

LAME

Lame is not have a word of the day daily.

DEF:

	just plain stupid, un-original, or lifeless. barbed wire tattoos, butterflies, and tribal tattoos are lame, they say a lot about the person who gets them. sarah got a butterfly tattoo on her lower back. that's so lame, i'd rather get a dick on mine, at least i'll be more original.

(urbandictionary.com)


I am so guilty. Sorry!

PROCLIVITIES

We all know Allison's proclivities -- watching pretty young girls.

Also, my proclivity to procrastination has become glaringly obvious in that I have posted the word of the day only once in a month. Bad me.

DEF:
–noun, plural -ties.

natural or habitual inclination or tendency; propensity; predisposition: a proclivity to meticulousness.

---

Origin:
1585–95; < class="ital-inline">prōclīvitās tendency, lit., a steep descent, steepness, equiv. to prōclīv(is) sloping forward, steep (prō- pro- ¹ + clīv(us) slope + -is adj. suffix) + -itās -ity

Dictionary.com Unabridged

TRANSGRESSION

Upon seeing Christian juicing blood oranges, his landlady acted as if he had committed a transgression, while it was a mere solecism.

Apparently, juicing blood oranges is not the done thing in Tunisia.

DEF:
n.

1. A violation of a law, command, or duty: "The same transgressions should be visited with equal severity on both man and woman" (Elizabeth Cady Stanton). See Synonyms at breach.
2. The exceeding of due bounds or limits.
3. A relative rise in sea level resulting in deposition of marine strata over terrestrial strata.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME <>trānsgressiōn- (s. of trānsgressiō) a stepping across.
(American Heritage)

Sorry for the tardy postings. A two week break makes on lazy.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0102/p18s01-hfes.html

For all the word lovers out there, an article about words. Yeah!

EFFULGENT

The effulgent sanctuary of the University Closure is rapidly approaching.

DEF:
adj. Shining brilliantly; resplendent. See Synonyms at bright.

[Latin effulgēns, effulgent-, present participle of effulgēre, to shine out : ex-, ex- + fulgēre, to shine; see bhel-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
(American Heritage)

"Effulgent rays of light." --Cowper.

OK a serious usage of effulgent:
It is a rare day in Arizona that there are no effulgent rays of light.

TASSEOMANCY

Would tasseomancy be considered more or less scientific than astrology?

[;-) JC, you know I don't love you less -- and perhaps more -- because you are interested in astrology.]

Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.

The terms derive from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the Arabic tassa (cup), and the Greek suffixes -graph, -logy, and -mancy (divination).

(Wikipedia)

We love obscure words that we can use to confound others. *evil, self-aggrandizing laugh echoes hollowly in mad business manager's office* OK. Really how often can one use such words that you read in historical novels.

SOLECISM

When my parents' arrival in town is imminent, worries about solecisms move to the forefront of my mind (and possibly, my sister's though she says she doesn't care).

That is not to say that I don't enjoy either noticing or pointing out the solecisms others utter.

DEF:
n.

1. A nonstandard usage or grammatical construction.
2. A violation of etiquette.
3. An impropriety, mistake, or incongruity.

[Latin soloecismus, from Greek soloikismos, from soloikizein, to speak incorrectly, from soloikos, speaking incorrectly, after Soloi (Soli), an Athenian colony in Cilicia where a dialect regarded as substandard was spoken.]
(American Heritage)

PUGNACIOUS

In a pugnacious (not a characteristic typically associated with her) tone of voice, Anne stated that if the Dean's office was closing early we would, too.

DEF: adj. Combative in nature; belligerent. See Synonyms at belligerent.

[From Latin pugnāx, pugnāc-, from pugnāre, to fight, from pugnus, fist; see peuk- in Indo-European roots.]
pug·na'cious·ly adv., pug·na'cious·ness, pug·nac'i·ty (-nās'ĭ-tē) n.


SOURCE:
CMES staff meeting re: holiday break

INSOUCIANT

Angela asked the meaning of my email address "duyen_hn" and I told her that Duyen is my Vietnamese name, hn is for Hanoi. Duyen means charming and insouciant.

DEF:

Part of Speech:	adj
Definition:	unconcerned, undisturbed; carefree and nonchalant
Etymology:	Latin in- + soucier 'to disturb'

(Webster's Millenial)

OBSTRUCTIONIST

Bureaucracy by design is obstructionist not facilitative. We need to keep that in mind when dealing with one.

DEF:
n. One who systematically blocks or interrupts a process, especially one who attempts to impede passage of legislation by the use of delaying tactics, such as a filibuster.
(American Heritage)

INSPIRATION:
My job.

OCCLUDE

At times, the University bureaucracy creates occlusions rather than mere obstacles.

DEF:
–verb (used with object)

1.	to close, shut, or stop up (a passage, opening, etc.).

2.	to shut in, out, or off.

3.	Physical Chemistry. (of certain metals and other solids) to incorporate (gases and other foreign substances), as by absorption or adsorption.

(Dictionary.com)

OFFICIOUS

Officiousness is the frequent refuge of middle management. It gives me a rash.

adj.

1. Marked by excessive eagerness in offering unwanted services or advice to others: an officious host; officious attention.
2. Informal; unofficial.
3. Archaic Eager to render services or help others.
   

[Latin officiōsus, obliging, dutiful, from officium, duty; see office.]

(American Heritage)

Usage: Impertinent, Officious, Rude. A person is officious who obtrudes his offices or assistance where they are not needed; he is impertinent when he intermeddles in things with which he has no concern. The former shows a want of tact, the latter a want of breeding, or, more commonly, a spirit of sheer impudence. A person is rude when he violates the proprieties of social life either from ignorance or wantonness. "An impertinent man will ask questions for the mere grafication of curiosity; a rude man will burst into the room of another, or push against his person, inviolant of all decorum; one who is officious is quite as unfortunate as he is troublesome; when he strives to serve, he has the misfortune to annoy." --Crabb. See Impudence, and Insolent.

(Webster's Unabridged)

Thanks to the boss of the boss of CMES' cleaner who asked "Has anyone shared with you that bicycles are not allowed in the building?"

VINDICTIVE

Today's last minute effort reporting reminded me that I am glad that a certain vindictive person no longer makes an "effort" here.

DEF:

1. Disposed to seek revenge; revengeful.
2. Marked by or resulting from a desire to hurt; spiteful.

(American Heritage)

RECALCITRANCE

The recalcitrance of the numerous reports overdue to Financial Services is making me despair that I will ever be free of their overdue-ness.

DEF:
recalcitrant - adj. Marked by stubborn resistance to and defiance of authority or guidance. See Synonyms at unruly.
n. A recalcitrant person.

[Late Latin recalcitrāns, recalcitrant-, present participle of recalcitrāre, to be disobedient, from Latin, to deny access : re-, re- + calcitrāre, to kick (from calx, calc-, heel).]
re·cal'ci·trance, re·cal'ci·tran·cy n.
(American Heritage)

QUELL

This is the time of year, when students (and perhaps others) need to quell feelings of panic.

DEF:

1. To put down forcibly; suppress: Police quelled the riot.
2. To pacify; quiet: finally quelled the children's fears.

(American Heritage)

PRESCIENT

NPR considers one of the storylines of Vikram Chandra's book "Sacred Games" to be prescient in light of the Mumbai bombings.

DEF:
adj.

1. Of or relating to prescience.
2. Possessing prescience.

(American Heritage Dictionary)

FYI: I prefer the pronunciation of prěsh-ē-ənt.