Words for Hunger

For all you vocabulary fans: FreeRice.com

For every correct word chosen from a four-word multiple choice list, FreeRice.com will donate 10 rice grains to the United Nations World Food Program. So far 232.7 million grains have been donated and the site only began on October 7. I earned 1000 grains tonight.

The site itself is gorgeous and they customize your test as you answer the questions. Read the FAQ for a description of how it works. I fluctuated around the mid- to low 40s. How 'bout you?

Here are some of the more difficult words I got (descriptions in the comments):

teredo
hebdomadal
meretricious
amercement
leister
rumen

Be Prepared

preparedness: a state of readiness, esp. for war : the country maintained a high level of military preparedness

I like planning. I like being prepared for what might come my way. I'm also, along with many of my fellow Californians, in a state of denial about what kind of living situation I might find myself in when the Big One comes.

Yes, for us, preparedness mostly refers to earthquakes. I thought I'd take advantage of the expert shopping advice of my visiting sister to assist me in collecting items for my disaster kit. One I should have had prepared a long time ago but haven't been serious about until the 4.2 quake hit us a week ago. So yesterday I purchased the following items:

• a crank-powered radio
• light sticks (the kind you break and they give off a sickly green light)
• heavy duty trash bags
• work gloves
• can opener
• spork
• collapsible cups
• first aid kit
• antibiotic cream
• sunscreen
• spray bleach
• whistle (with a compass & thermometer)

I'll still need to pick up food items, water, a blanket (and probably other things I can't think of now). I already have a crank flashlight and a multitool thanks to Sal. I might want to put a book or two in my kit too as my own personal emergency items!

Loving Words

TagFest: Words

When I discovered the Dictionary program on my computer, I started looking up interesting words I happened upon while reading. Some were words I didn't know; some were ones I was just curious to see how they were defined. Here are some of my favorites:

assiduity: constant or close attention to what one is doing

bugbear: a cause of obsessive fear, irritation, or loathing

effusion: an instance of giving off something such as a liquid, light, or smell (medicine: an escape of fluid into a body cavity)

effulgent: shining brightly; radiant; (of a person or their expression) emanating joy or goodness

encomium: a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly

shambolic: chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged

and of course

rant: to speak or shout at length in a wild, impassioned way

Talking Nonsense

TagFest: Rants

Rant: to speak or shout at length in a wild, impassioned way.

The word "rant" is from the Dutch word "ranten" which means "to talk nonsense". I think that's highly appropriate for most rants I make, and have to listen to. It's not the words that are spoken but the fire behind them that is important. You just need to get something off your chest. You might not have the perfect argument backed up with icy facts and stony figures but you have an opinion and someone needs to hear it, dammit! (Ah, there's the shouting.) Powerful gestures from the arms and hands often help.

My obligatory rant for this TagFest post is:

Some people think they can just criticize someone's spelling when they really should be offering their congratulations on an important anniversary in their friend's life. I don't need to hear about where the parentheses should be. I want to hear, "Hey, great job sticking with your stupid blog for a year. I never thought you'd do it."

Oh, sorry, 'geek. Just talking some nonsense.

Words Overheard Today

Today during staff meeting, a new co-worker used three words not normally heard in everyday conversation.

iterative: relating to or involving iteration: the repetition of a process or utterance. • repetition of a mathematical or computational procedure applied to the result of a previous application, typically as a means of obtaining successively closer approximations to the solution of a problem

cogent: (of an argument or case) clear, logical, and convincing

salient: most noticeable or important; prominent; conspicuous

It was refreshing.

Words I've Looked Up Lately

purgation: the purification or cleansing of someone or something; (in Roman Catholic doctrine) the spiritual cleansing of a soul in purgatory

bespoke: (of goods, esp. clothing) made to order

bromide: a trite and unoriginal idea or remark, typically intended to soothe or placate

oracular: (of an utterance, advice, etc.) hard to interpret; enigmatic

rapprochement: (esp. in international relations) an establishment or resumption of harmonious relations

apposite: apt in the circumstances or in relation to something

shambolic: chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged

denigrate: criticize unfairly; disparage

Words I've Looked Up Recently

ersatz: (of a product) made or used as a substitute, typically an inferior one, for something else

alacrity: brisk and cheerful readiness

dram: a small drink of whiskey or other spirits (often used in humorous imitation of Scottish speech)

theobromine: chemistry: a bitter, volatile compound obtained from cacao seeds. It is an alkaloid resembling caffeine in its physiological effects

viscid: glutinous; sticky

puissant: archaic or poetic/literary: having great power or influence.

assiduity: constant or close attention to what one is doing

redolent: strongly reminiscent or suggestive of (something), poetic/literary: strongly smelling of something

More Words

Now I'm starting to look up words just for the fun of it. Which one is your favorite?

anneal: heat (metal or glass) and allow it to cool slowly, in order to remove internal stresses and toughen it

cresset: a metal container of oil, grease, wood, or coal burned as a torch and typically mounted on a pole

mnemonic: a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something

epithet: an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned; such a word or phrase as a term of abuse; a descriptive title

tessellate: decorate (a floor) with mosaics, in mathematics: cover (a plane surface) by repeated use of a single shape, without gaps or overlapping (bj: this word was used in reference to an Escher print)

effulgent: shining brightly; radiant; (of a person or their expression) emanating joy or goodness

Words I Looked Up Recently

I spent most of the day reading today. Here's another list of words I looked up recently:

limn: depict or describe in painting or words

sumptuary: relating to or denoting laws that limit private expenditure on food and personal item

cantrip: a mischievous or playful act; a trick

atropine: a poisonous compound found in deadly nightshade and related plants. It is used in medicine as a muscle relaxant, e.g., in dilating the pupil of the eye

venn diagram: a diagram representing mathematical or logical sets pictorially as circles or closed curves within an enclosing rectangle (the universal set), common elements of the sets being represented by the areas of overlap among the circles

meme: an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation

spurious: not being what it purports to be; false or fake; (of a line of reasoning) apparently but not actually valid

trope: a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression

extant: still in existence; surviving (especially of a document)

prodigious: remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree

encomium: a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly

provenance: the place of origin or earliest known history of something

bugbear: a cause of obsessive fear, irritation, or loathing

inculcate: instill (an attitude, idea, or habit) by persistent instruction

solecism: a breach of good manners; a piece of incorrect behavior; a grammatical mistake in speech or writing

Lost Words

I discovered digg today and found a link to The Phrontistery and its list of words that have been lost to the English language. Very amusing.

Here's ee23246's original comment:

"Lost words" are words that were removed from dictionary since they were assumed to be out-dated or unfit for modern English.Here's a comprehensive list of such words."

read more | digg story

Word Games

I was next-blogging tonight and happened upon someone who had a fun word game, Match Up, in their sidebar. I've always liked vocabulary tests so I played a little while then thought why not share it with you all. So I added both Match Up and Hangman to my blog too so we can all work on our word skills. Scroll down and take a look. Can you get five out of five correct? Don't you love playing the Wheel at home without that annoying Pat Sajak?

Thanks to The Free Dictionary for helping us keep our brains working. Go visit them and see what other interesting tidbits they offer.

Words I Had to Look Up

Here is a list of words I looked up while reading recently:

saphenous: relating to or denoting either of the two large superficial veins in the leg

flinders: small fragments or splinters

anomie: lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group

arnica: a plant of the daisy family that bears yellow daisylike flowers (a preparation of this plant used medicinally, esp. for the treatment of bruises)

effusion: an instance of giving off something such as a liquid, light, or smell (medicine: an escape of fluid into a body cavity)

pronate: put or hold (a hand, foot, or limb) with the palm or sole turned downward

tautology: the saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style (logic: a statement that is true by necessity or by virtue of its logical form)

How many did you know?

Definitions are from my Oxford American Dictionary Widget (gotta love that Tiger).