rusticate

rusticate - verb - to go into or reside in the country; to pursue a rustic life

Not for me! I'm all about technology (got to have my high-bandwidth internet), which is usually more available in the city than the country. Still, I enjoy visiting the country; it's beautiful out there.

wax

wax – v - To grow or become.

We all know what wax is, but I want to call attention to its verb form. For example, I have a marked tendency to wax nostalgic, to wax sentimental, etc.

And now, here's today's exquisite female (men are many things, but exquisite is an adjective I'd hate to have applied to me). We tend to think of Elizabeth Taylor as an aged fat woman, but here's what she looked like in her youth. At age eight I saw her in Raintree County and fell in love for the first time in my life.

august

august – adj - Inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic.

Playing catch-up. One word leads to another.

venerable

venerable – adj - Commanding respect because of great age or impressive dignity; worthy of veneration or reverence, as because of high office or noble character.

I can't believe this hasn't already been used. Anyway, what brought it to mind is I was doing some reading on Augustus Caesar (63 BC - AD 14), which made me think of the title he was awarded by the Senate: Augustus, i.e., 'venerable one.'

stasis

stasis - noun - a state of balance, equilibrium or stagnation; stoppage of the normal flow of a bodily fluid or semifluid

punctilious

punctilious - adj - Strictly attentive to the details of form in action or conduct; precise; exact in the smallest particulars

It helps to be described this way when involved in computer programming. As with other things, 'The devil is in the details'.

coruscate

coruscate - verb - To give off or reflect beams or flashes of light; to sparkle; to exhibit brilliant, sparkling technique or style

Just what might 'sparkling technique' mean? If I'm writing a program, how would I demonstrate 'sparkling technique'?

uphold

uphold – v To support or defend, as against opposition or criticism.

The reason I've picked such a common word is to illustrate one of the hazards of reading old documents. The specific example I have in mind comes from the debates over the proposed constitution for the United States (1787-88). A supporter of the constitution accused one of his opponents of "upholding ratification" in their state, which sounds funny until you realize that his use of "uphold" was synonymous with "hold up." Let the modern reader - me included - beware!

confabulation

confabulation - noun - Familiar talk; easy, unrestrained, unceremonious conversation; a plausible but imagined memory that fills in gaps in what is remembered


You'd think there would be a more common word for common conversation. I guess the closest I can think of would be 'small talk'.

revanche

revanche - n - The act of retaliating; revenge; A usually political policy, as of a nation or an ethnic group, intended to regain lost territory or standing.

The United States is now how to anywhere from 12 to 35 million revanchists. The beauty shown at left, Gina Lollobrigida, is not one of them.

tortuous

tortuous - adj - Marked by repeated turns and bends; not straight forward; devious; highly involved or intricate


Well, today is my 14th wedding anniversary, and it should be noted that this word only applies to that fact in-so-far as it is used in the repeated turns and bends sense (as opposed to devious!). It has been a fun 14 years (with all those turns and bends), and I'm looking forward to many more of them (turns and bends included).

expostulate

expostulate – v - To reason earnestly with someone against something that person intends to do or has done; remonstrate.

Today's "beauty" is Marie Antoinette (1755-1793), shown here at age 28. I have always been amazed that many people consider here one of the great beauties of all time. She's not unattractive by any means, but she's not exactly in the Helen of Troy class either.

gallimaufry

gallimaufry - noun - A medley; a hodgepodge.

This is a fun word! I have been terribly busy with a veritable gallimaufry of tasks. I have also been pair-programming quite a bit, so I haven't been at my desk to submit my words. I have a few to submit though, so I'll try to be more attentive.

lex talionis

lex talionis – n - The principle or law of retaliation that a punishment inflicted should correspond in degree and kind to the offense of the wrongdoer, as an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; retributive justice.

And now, for no better reason than that I like looking at pretty girls, here's Grace Kelly, whose Hollywood career ended when she married Prince Ranier of Monaco and started a new life as Princess Grace.

simoleon

simoleon – n - A dollar.

A slang word for today, and, to make up for it, an exquisite from yesteryear: Sandra Dee (sadly, the late Sandra Dee).

trepidation

trepidation - noun - tremulous fear, alarm or agitation; perturbation

My son left for church camp today with a bit of trepidation. I told him not to worry, he was going to have more fun than he could handle. I'm not sure if my reassurances helped.

triskaidekaphobia

triskaidekaphobia - noun - a morbid fear of then number thirteen or Friday the 13th


Say that word three times fast! Extra bonus points today if you can find a way to get this word into normal conversation and actually pronounce it correctly.

elephantine

elephantine - adj - Of great mass; huge and bulky.

If Porthos was portly, Nero Wolfe was elephantine.

I go back to the 14th Century B.C. for today's exquisite: Queen Nefertiti.

portly

portly - adj - rather heavy or fat; stout; corpulent; (archaic) stately, dignified or imposing

Porthos is described thus in The Three Musketeers, maybe there is a relation to his name?? (probably not).

sere

sere - adj - dry; withered

And in unrelated news, here is an exquisite entry, which we haven't had in a while, from my favorite source, domai.com that is neither dry nor withered.

tendentious

tendentious - adj - Marked by a strong implicit point of view; partisan.

heterodox

heterodox - adj - Contrary to or differing from some acknowledged standard, especially in church doctrine or dogma; unorthodox; holding unorthodox opinions or doctrines

deduction

deduction – n -A process of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the premises presented, so that the conclusion cannot be false if the premises are true.

I'm back and very glad to be back.

Today's word was inspired by yesterday's 'rationication' and by the much earlier entry 'induction.' Wolf, it may be time for us to dive yet again into that Sherlock Holmes omnibus we have on our shelves, an enjoyable exercise I've undertaken periodically since that glorious winter of 1959, when I was first introduced to that greatest of all fictional detectives. (Sorry Auguste, Jane, Nero, Hercule, Perry, and Philip, but he's still the man to beat after better than a century.)

ratiocination

ratiocination - noun - the process of reasoning

agglomerate

agglomerate - verb - to collect or gather into a collection or mass

I found this word while reading about Unix System Administration. The author was referring to the various admin tips and techniques usually found in such a book.

collude

collude - verb - to act in concert; to conspire; to plot


I'm surprised I haven't used this one before since it is such a cool word. In this case I'm thinking of the behavior on the part of Cardinal R. in The Three Musketeers who plots to subvert the Queen. The other primary participants are the Count Rochefort and Milady Clark.

clamber

clamber - verb - to climb with difficulty, or on all fours; to scramble

revenant

revenant – n - A person who returns; a person who returns as a spirit after death; ghost.

Examples would be Jesus Christ, Napoleon Bonaparte, and one other whose anonymity on this blog will be respected.

agon

agon - noun - a struggle or contest; conflict; especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work.

For example, D'Artagnan's man of Meung, the Count Rochfort, a cardinalist, who seems always to be just one step of the hero. I'm speaking, of course, of the conflict, not the characters.

risible

risible – adj - Causing or capable of causing laughter; laughable; ludicrous.

"Fool me once, shame on - shame on you - fool me - eh - can't get fooled again!" -

Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1800

rejoinder

rejoinder - noun - An answer to a reply; or, in general, an answer or reply

I don't know if this one has been used yet, I'll check later when I get the chance.

rejoinder

rejoinder - noun - An answer to a reply; or, in general, an answer or reply

I don't know if this one has been used yet, I'll check later when I get the chance.

xenophobia

xenophobia – n - An unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.

Cultural Marxism, popularly known as political correctness, is a real vocabulary builder. My objections to the ongoing barbarian invasion of my favorite country are popularly attributed to xenophobia (when they're not dismissed as racism). If that's the case, I can offer at least one strong argument in favor of both those unmentionables.

palliate

palliate - verb - to reduce in violence (said of diseases); to lessen or abate; to cover by excuses and apologies; to extenuate; to reduce in severity; to make less intense


I was talking with a friend of mine today who hatched a plan to stop his 15 year-old brother-in-law from surfing porn on his computer while he (my friend) was at work. Of course, my friend runs Linux, so the matter is simple. He installed appropriate software and setup what appeared to be an FBI notification of illegal behavior, then sprung the trap on the unsuspecting adolescent last night. After capturing logs containing every site he had been to, my friend confronted the youth with fabricated story (which actually isn't that far from what could actually happen) about losing his job, house, etc. Let's just say the effect was dramatic.

leitmotif

leitmotif - noun - In music drama, a marked melodic phrase or short passage which always accompanies the reappearance of a certain person, situation, abstract idea, or allusion in the course of the play; a sort of musical label; a dominant and recurring theme.

I'm sitting here listening, as I frequently do while working, to the musical soundtracks from the StarWars movies. I'm a huge fan of John Williams' scores. He really seems to have a knack for emotionally charging a particular scene, or getting your to feel a certain dread, animation, excitement, or other emotional connection to the action or characters on-screen.

I'm sure just about anyone can hear the theme titled "A New Hope" and know it pertains to Luke Skywalker, or to certian other themes and know Jar Jar Binks is about to be on screen and do something ridiculous. The most famous, and probably most recognizable theme, is "Lord Vader's March".

The concept of musical labels goes back a long time (especially in movies) to early themes in which the music was played by the organist or some other player in the theater as the movie was run. The particular sounds emitted were cues the bad guy (or good guy, or beautiful damsel - possibly in distress) were about to be or were indeed on the screen. This particular idiom has become such a part of our current concept of entertainment - it makes it into tv shows, and children playing make their own music (humming tunes or singing in various voices) to indicate a particular suspensful or action packed time of their play. I can say I am guilty of having played in this fashion while I was a child - often with some comic interpretation by my parents who happened to overhear such renditions.

concomitant

concomitant – adj - Existing or occurring with something else, often in a lesser way; accompanying; concurrent.

What follows has nothing to do with today's word, but I found it so interesting I had to pass it on.

As you know, women outnumber men in the developed world, and they've outnumbered them since about the 12th Century. Based on the available - and admittedly spotty and largely anecdotal - evidence, the situation was reversed right up until the High Middle Ages. What happened? It seems that women of child-bearing age need twice as much iron in their diets as men; pregnant women need three times as much. The typical diet in, for example, ancient Rome was heavy on grains, fruits, green vegetables, olives, and fish, with the result that most women were severely anemic by the time they were in their 20s, which in turn made them easy prey to any virus or bacterial infection that was making the rounds. Starting in the 11th Century West, beans and peas were introduced, rabbits were brought to France and England from Spain, and the supply of meat in general increased. Result: women at all levels were getting an iron-rich diet and living longer; in fact, they started outliving men.

One point is that women weren't being starved or worked to death by an oppressive, sexist patriarchy, and the drivel being promoted by the Womyns' Studies types is just that - drivel. Men and women were subsisting on the same diets; the effect on women was catastrophic, on men negligible. To drive the point a little further home, it wasn't until the 20th Century that anyone would have known what you were talking about if you had mentioned vitamins and minerals as they pertained to diet.

epicene

epicene - adj - having the characteristics of both sexes; effeminate; unmasculine; sexless; neuter; having but one form of the noun for both the male and female

lumpen

lumpen - adj - of or pertaining to dispossessed and displaced individuals, especially those who have lost social status; common; vulgar;

Jumping on a similar concept with the comments Jack posted today.

porcine

porcine – adj - Of or pertaining to swine; resembling swine; hoggish; piggish.

Today's word was inspired by the photograph on my new state ID. I was sufficiently horrified to go on a diet, and this time I'm going all the way. (Now if I could only get more exercise. . .)

To tell the truth, I reminded myself of Charles Laughton as Quasimodo in the 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame. I might consider a career change if I found a cathedral in the market for a bell-ringer.

incipient

incipient - adj - beginning to exist or appear


In my last post I mentioned the drudgery of work and how the winds of change were beginning to blow. They have certainly gusted recently and this word is in honor of my new position, beginning in two weeks.

nymphomania

nymphomania - n - Abnormally excessive and uncontrollable sexual desire in women.

I was going to make 'satyriasis' my word for today, but - lo and behold! - it's already been used - and by me, no less! (I can't remember if I remarked that, when I was younger, I was "heterosexual to the threshhold of satyriasis," but if I didn't then, I will now. Absurd as it may seem, much of that remains as I pass from middle- to old-age. Of the Seven Deadly Sins, Lust has always been deadliest to me.)

I must have considered using today's word before, but no doubt refrained out of respect for that "rare and radiant maiden(?) whom the angels named" Natalie. Well, Nat's gone, and our daily institution need no longer be rated PG-13.

Check out one of my favorite sculptures, Gianlorenzo Bernini's Apollo and Daphne (completed 1625).

perfunctory

perfunctory - adj - done merely to carry out a duty; performed mechanically or routinely; lacking interest, care, enthusiasm; indifferent


I'm am largely surprised I (or someone) have not submitted this word already. Although, at this point it largely describes my approach to work. Have you ever seen the movie, "Office Space"? It is largely a satirical treatise on the "normal" office environment. Largely (I think) inspired by the Dilbert comic strip. In one particular scene, the "contractors" are there to evaluate where cuts can be made and are interviewing each employee. The hero (antihero?) of the movie sits before these gentlemen and describes his approach to the day. "First I sit and stare at my computer. I do that for about an hour ..." and so on. He doesn't really like his work, his work environment, the company for which he works, etc. I relate to this particular character. However, the winds of change are blowing and a new day may be dawning...

aspirant

aspirant - n - One who aspires, as to advancement, honors, or a high position.

I myself am an aspirant - aren't we all? Unfortunately, "Time is the bridge that burns behinds us." The traditional three-score-and-ten just isn't enough time to achieve all my aspirations. If I attain salvation, as I hope to, I'm sure there will be a great library in Heaven; Hell's library will no doubt be packed to the rafters with Stephen King and Danielle Steele - yet another incentive (if one were needed) to live a Christian life.

Do I ramble? Very well then, I ramble! "I am infinite, I contain multitudes!" ;^D

Come to think of it, it's been a while since I posted one of my exquisite women. Today's example won't be to everyone's taste, but I think she's irresistible. She's the Vicomtess Othenin d'Haussonville, formerly Louise-Albertine de Broglie, painted by Jean August Dominique Ingres in 1845. In the days of my youth, I'd have followed those eyes anywhere.

kitsch

kitsch – n - Something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste.

Personally, I like Milan Kundera's definition, that kitsch is "the translation of the stupidity of received ideas into the language of beauty and feeling."

It grieves me to admit it, but there's a lot of kitsch (along with much that is brilliant) in Charles Dickens's fiction. For example, in Bleak House, I nearly went into a diabetic coma reading Esther Summerson's gushy prattle about her "darlings, Richard and Ada." On the other hand, the same novel's Mr. Lawrence Boythorne mad me laugh out loud.

polyglot

polyglot - adj - able to speak or write several languages; multilingual; containing, composed of, or written in several languages

Somehow I missed submitting this one after polymath, but it seems appropriate today after yet more examples written in comments on yesterdays word by Jack.

fiat

fiat - noun - an arbitrary or authoritative command or order; formal or official authorization or sanction

Arbitrary -or- authoritative? That combination seems odd. Besides, isn't this just a small red car? -wink-

fib

fib – n - A small or trivial lie; minor falsehood.

A simple word for today. I don't think I've heard it anywhere but New York. Is it used elsewhere?

appellation

appellation - noun - the word by which a particular person or thing is called and known; name; title; designation; the act of naming


Why is the name of the color blue? And how is it so universally understood? My son, recently asked (again) why certain things are named the way they are. Of course, he picked the simple and universal ones. Those are always the hardest to answer, if they can indeed be answered.

lacuna

lacuna - n - A gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series, or logical argument; hiatus.

A particularly frustrating example of lacunae is the Annals of Tacitus (A.D 55-117), which has large gaps, especially in his lives of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula. It's enough to make stones weep and turnips bleed.

polymath

polymath - noun - a person of great or varied learning; one acquainted with various subjects of study


Earlier in the list appears the word Autodidact describing a person who is self-taught. This word seems to go hand-in-hand with it. Good examples from history: Leonardo da Vinci, Julius Ceaser, Benjamin Franklin, Jack....

transubstantiation

transubstantiation - n - The changing of one substance into another; the changing of the elements of the bread and wine, when they are consecrated in the Eucharist, into the body and blood of Christ (a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church).

I can't believe this hasn't already been used. The Catholic doctrine in question has been controversial since before the Reformation. John Wycliffe, to mention a prominent example, denied the real prescence of Christ in the bread and wine. In the 17th Century, Thomas Hobbes derided "transubstantiation" as a nonsense word promulgated by "deceived and deceiving Schoolmen." The Catholics, Orthodox, and some Protestant denominations maintain the doctrine today.

delectation

delectation - noun - great pleasure, delight, enjoyment

Something I wish I could get out of my job, and which I hope everyone else is getting. I have a couple of opportunities which may offer more in the way of this word, but I haven't heard when I can present myself for consideration for them yet.

avuncular

avuncular - adj - Of or having to do with an uncle; regarded as characteristic of an uncle, especially in benevolence or tolerance.

insuperable

insuperable - adj - incapable of being passed over, surmounted or overcome; unsurmountable


Related to my current job, I am (unfortunately) no longer programming. The company has purchased what is (I think) a wonderful piece of software to allow non-technical users to develop fully working business plans (BPM). However, from the developer perspective, there isn't much to keep the interest. So, I'm sure I'll be in the job market again since I insist on being either a programmer or a manager of programmers.

Junoesque

Junoesque - adj - Having the stately bearing and imposing beauty of the goddess Juno.

andante

andante – adj, adv - Moderately slow and even.

Jeff, you missed this one, so I'm muscling in on your musical turf.

vitiate

vitiate - verb - to make faulty or imperfect; to render defective; to impair; to corrupt morally; to debase; to render ineffective

Is this inline with your opinion mentioned in your word today John?

demography

demography - n - The science of vital and social statistics, as of the births, deaths, diseases, marriages, etc., of populations.

I wish I could remember who first said that demography is destiny. It's one of those propositions that's so obviously true that it becomes a full-time job pretending it's not. Diversity, as the word is currently understood, has never been any nations greatest strength ever, anywhere or anytime. If the Bush-Kennedy amnesty passes congress, it will be the end of what's left of the United States.

flagitious

flagitious - adj - disgracefully or shamefully criminal; wicked; guilty of enormous crimes; corrupt; profligate

internecine

internecine - adj - Of or relating to conflict within a nation, an organization or a group; mutually destructive; involving or accompanied by mutual slaughter; deadly; destructive

Armageddon comes to mind.

I was reading this article (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm) today which talks about patent Armageddon, a situation in which companies sue each other into oblivion over patent infringement issues.

In some ways the precipitation of hostilities during the Cold War could have been described in the same way.

Dire, no matter how you cut this one.

cui bono

cui bono - n - Utility, advantage, or self-interest considered as the determinant of value or motivation.

I couldn't find a really satisfactory definition. This is generally seen as a question and might best be translated as, "Who benefits?" or "Who profits?"

I'm campaigning for a new holiday: Siete de Junio, commemorating the French army's occupation of Mexico City in 1863.

doughty

doughty - adj - Marked by fearless resolution; valiant; brave

Back to the words.

redound

redound - verb - to have a consequence or effect; to return; to rebound; to reflect; to become added or transferred; to accrue


This word seems appropriate in light of the news of Natalie's impending departure for Houston as her husbands career moves to the next stage. Congratulations to both of them!

termagant

termagant - noun - a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; a shrew

Can't think of anyone who would actually qualify, but a certain movie adapted from a play by Wm. Shakespeare does come to mind.

A 17th Century Exquisite

This just in from the art world: today's painting was long thought to show King Charles II's mistress Nell Gwynne. New evidence suggests that the woman portrayed was an earlier mistress, Barbara Villiers, justly considered one of the great beauties of the day.

dirndl

dirndl – n - A woman's dress with a close-fitting bodice and full skirt, commonly of colorful and strikingly patterned material, fashioned after Tyrolean peasant wear.

I'm back.

supplant

supplant - verb - to take the place of another, especially through intrigue or underhanded tactics; to take the place of and server as a substitute for

gregarious

gregarious - adj - tending to form a group with others of the same kind; seeking and enjoying the company of others

... or, as the saying goes, "birds of a feather flock together". Recently, however, this list has often felt like a list of one.

impugn

impugn - verb - to attack by words or arguments; to call in question; to make insinuations against; to oppose or challenge as false; to gainsay

I'm on a good pace for a word entry every-other-day. :-(

I'll try to do better, I've been real busy learning new stuff at work.

bedaub

bedaub - verb - to smudge over; to besmear or soil with anything thick and dirty; to overdecorate; to ornament showily or gaudily

Not something done to corn with butter. That would be daub. (get it! ;-)

condescend

condescend – v - To behave as if one is conscious of descending from a superior position, rank, or dignity; to stoop or deign to do something.

Wolf, one of your strengths as a teacher is that you were never condescending.

Today's Exquisite entry is my teenage dream girl Natalie Wood.

petit

petit - adj - small; petty; minor

I was on this kind of jury last week. We tried a case in which we found the defendant guilty on felony charges and sentenced him to a total of 11 years in prison. I promise the process felt anything but petit. Overall, it was a good experience though. I enjoyed being a part of the "system".

jingo

jingo – n - A person who professes his or her patriotism loudly and excessively, favoring vigilant preparedness for war and an aggressive foreign policy; bellicose chauvinist.

Sorry, I've been so busy lately I've had to neglect WoD. By the way, have you noticed there's never a Jeff around when you meed one?

anschluss

Anschluss – n - Union, esp. the political union of Austria with Germany in 1938.

From the German for 'annexation.' The Third Reich annexed Austria in 1938 followed by Czechoslavakia's mostly German-speaking Sudetenland in 1939. These were unintended consequences of the redrawing of the European map by the victors at Versailles, and were part of the buildup to the second world war that the 1919 treaty had, in my opinion, made inevitable.

And now, in honor of J B Wolf, I offer The Pasture, a favorite poem by Robert Frost (1874-1963).

I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;

I'll only stop to rake the leaves away

(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):

I sha'n't be gone long.

You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf

That's standing by the mother.

It's so young, It totters when she licks it with her tongue.

I sha'n't be gone long.

You come too.

arriviste

arriviste - noun - a person who has recently attained success, wealth or high status but not general acceptance or respect; an upstart

tenet

tenet - noun - any opinion, principle, doctrine, dogma, etc., esp. one held as true by members of a profession, group or movement

tortillon

tortillon - noun - a stump made of paper twisted to a point, used in drawing

Inspired by the serendipity of finding the exquisite drawing posted yesterday, I went looking for more pencil art, specifically portraits of people. There are several sites which describe how to perform beautiful renditions, most of them refer to this tool as an indispensable blending tool. The exquisite post today is another pencil drawing, this time with colored pencils.

crescendo

crescendo - noun - A directive to a performer to smoothly increase the volume of a particular phrase or passage.

One of the cartoons my kids used to watch on the Discovery channel featured a musical rocket propelled by the cartoons encouraging the children to pat their legs in a dumming motion. To make the rocket go faster, they needed to be louder, so the cartoons would yell "CRESCENDO", as would my children.

Incidentally, this will conclude (at least temporarily) my foray into the music dictionary for entries. There are so many other words I feel like I've missed in reading recently, I'd like to go back to pick them up and add them.

I am including an exquisite pencil drawing of Natalie Portman. I wish I had the kind of talent this artist does. The ability to make the drawing so very life-like. Especially examine the integrity of each strand of hair.

abstract expressionism

abstract expressionism – n - A movement in experimental, nonrepresentational painting originating in the U.S. in the 1940s, with sources in earlier movements, and embracing many individual styles marked in common by freedom of technique, a preference for dramatically large canvases, and a desire to give spontaneous expression to the unconscious.

I've already commented on Jackson Pollock, so I'll use an untitled masterpiece by Mark Rothko (1903-1970) to illustrate today's word. Now isn't that better than all those tedious Exquisites? Enjoy! (Wolf, what was that you were saying about shades of gray?)

cadenza

cadenza - noun - an ornamental passage performed near the close of a composition usually improvised and usually performed by a soloist

Some examples:
Tchaikovsky: Violin concerto in D major, Op. 35, I
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, I

opus

opus - noun - the classification of a composition in relation to the composer's other composition, usually given in chronological order.

So, for example, the first composition would be given an opus of 1 (Op. 1). However, most of the time, the publishers are the ones assigning opus numbers, so the numbers don't always represent the true chronology of a composition.

Impressionism II

Wolf, this one's for you. It's the Renoir Blonde Bather I've been threatening to post seemingly forever. She's plumper than we like them today, but no less exquisite for that. Aside from that, the painting is another fine example of impressionism. (Natalie, you have nobody to blame but yourself.)

cubism

cubism - n - A style of painting and sculpture developed in the early 20th century, characterized chiefly by an emphasis on formal structure, the reduction of natural forms to their geometrical equivalents, and the organization of the planes of a represented object independently of representational requirements.

(I know I'm not being very systematic in my art presentation.)

Probably the most famous example is Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, displayed at the 1913 New York Armory exhibition. In my opinion, fine art has never recovered from the cubists; they paved the way for the outrageously overrated Picasso, Kandinsky, Pollock, and too many others to list.

ballad

ballad - noun - a simple song of natural construction, usually in the narrative or descriptive form, usually having several verses of similar construction and may or may not have a refrain

baroque

baroque – adj - Of or pertaining to a style of architecture and art originating in Italy in the early 17th century and variously prevalent in Europe and the New World for a century and a half, characterized by free and sculptural use of the classical orders and ornament, by forms in elevation and plan suggesting movement, and by dramatic effect in which architecture, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts often worked to combined effect.

In my opinion, "movement" and "dramatic effect" are the key terms. These elements are prominent in Caravaggio's Conversion of Saint Paul (1600).

scale

scale - noun - a collection of musical notes that provides material for part or all of a musical work.

Someone once said the most difficult thing to define is the simplest. How true of the musical scale. Not only is this a collection of notes, but it also has several properties and additional (adverbs!) to describe it (diatonic, chromatic, whole-tone, etc). Ignoring most of these additional properties doesn't really do justice to the term, but consider the following items: scales go up and/or down a musical score and the separation of the notes from each other is constant. If you'd really like to be bamboozled by the description of a scale, try out wikipedia.

Post-Impressionism

Post-Impressionism – n - A varied development of Impressionism by a group of painters chiefly between 1880 and 1900 stressing formal structure, as with Cézanne and Seurat, or the expressive possibilities of form and color, as with Van Gogh and Gauguin.

The best known post-impressionist is Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). His Starry Night is a spectacular example.

In my opinion, the post-impressionists were the beginning of the end for Western art.

arpeggio

arpeggio - noun - Playing the notes of a chord consecutively (harp style). A broken chord in which the individual notes are sounded one after the other instead of simultaneously.


This picture doesn't really do justice to the term. This doesn't look much different from a scale, which I'll save for a later word entry.

impressionism

impressionism – n - A style of painting developed in the last third of the 19th century, characterized chiefly by short brush strokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition to represent the effect of light on objects; a manner of painting in which the forms, colors, or tones of an object are lightly and rapidly indicated.

Jeff's got the music market cornered (and is doing a great job), so I'll take art.

Impressionism was largely a reaction to the almost photographic realism found in such works as Ingres' portraits. The eexample I've chosen is The Dance Class (1874) by Edgar Degas.

adaggisimo

adaggisimo - noun - An extremely slow tempo marking slower than Largo.

Lumbering and ponderous in slowness. I have played only one piece while I was in high school several years ago that had this marking and it was really difficult to bow (I was playing violin at the time).

oubliette

oubliette – n - A secret dungeon with an opening only in the ceiling, as in certain old castles.

largo

largo - noun - a slow and solemn tempo marking having between 40 and 60 beats per minute

microcephaly

microcephaly - n - An abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain.

The microcephalon, popularly known as a pinhead, is usually mentally retarded, or, if you prefer Newspeak, exceptional or special. Tod Brownings tasteless 1932 movie Freaks, loosely based on Todd Robbins's really disturbing short story Spurs, featured genuine circus Freaks, including such celebrities as Siameses twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, midgets Harry and Daisy Earles, basket case Randian, half-man Johnny Eck, and pinheads Schlitzy and the Snow Twins. Schlitzy was unusual in that he was not as severely retarded as most pinheads. and especially in that he was a transvestite.

I finally saw Freaks around 1973. It's a creepy movie, and one of the few I've seen where castration plays a prominent role.

adagio

adagio - adj - slowly

The opposite of allegro. There is a beethoven piece that uses several of my previously submitted words: Adagio con molto expressione (http://play.rhapsody.com/ludwigvanbeethoven/violinsonatas/adagioconmoltoespressione?didAutoplayBounce=true). Interestingly (or maybe not considering how common the words are) Beethoven isn't the only composer to create a work by that name. Others include Clementi and Sibelius.

diktat

diktat – n - A harsh, punitive settlement or decree imposed unilaterally on a defeated nation, political party, etc.; any decree or authoritative statement.

A prime example would be the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which ended the Great War and made almost inevitable a greater one. At least France got even for its loss in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871! (That must have been cold consolation in May, 1940.)

Shown above are the victors at Versailles: from left to right, David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson.

Molto

molto - adj - much; very;

In music I seem to see this as 'Allegro con molto', which (loosely translated) means 'very quickly'. However, I have also seen references as 'molto allegro', meaning the same thing.

pro forma

pro forma - n - According to form; as a matter of form; for the sake of form.

The typical political apology is pro forma, along the same lines as calling Senator Kennedy "my esteemed colleague." The specimen issuing the apology will often claim to have "misspoken." Translation: 1) I inadvertently said what I was really thinking; 2) I accidentally told the truth.

Today's Exquisite entry, another mother and daughter scene, is by Frederick Leighton. Motherhood perhaps detracts from one variety of beauty but makes up the loss with another, more spiritual kind. I may have to display Raphael's Sistine Madonna soon, or even Botticelli's Annunciation.

allegro

allegro - adj - brisk or rapid in tempo

So far, the words posted have mentioned tone (in terms of it's range and volume), but this word (and a few more I'll submit unless Natalie beats me to it :) have to do with tempo, or how fast or slow a piece is played. One of the things about music seems to be it's ability to convey meaning by relativity. Specifically what is piano or forte? How quiet should piano be? Well, obviously, it should be quieter than loud! So, specifically, how fast (or brisk) should allegro be? Listen to several renditions of Bach's fugues and you'll hear several interpretations of allegro

naïf II

I realize I'm abusing my posting privileges, but I can't resist. Here's another Vigee-Lebrun. Not the least of her attractions is that she looks like a grownup; I see so few of them these days.

naïf

naïf – n - A naive or inexperienced person.

Today's Exquisite entry shows a self-portrait of Elizabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun (1755-1842) and her daughter Julie. This is yet another of Jack's favorites. In fact, I once saw a good reproduction priced ridiculously low at $1500. I had my wallet out and was halfway through the gallery door when my wife told me she was going to pack up the kids and go home to mother if I bought it. Maybe someday. . .

She was about 34 when she painted this. I'm happy to report that she and her husband fled France as soon as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were arrested, and thus lived to a ripe old age. Good for her and good for everybody who loves art, people like - oh, just to pull an example out of my hat - me.

Note: She's even more beautiful in her early portraits, but this is my favorite. The mother and daughter theme appeals to me. Perhaps I'll use a similar example by Frederick Leighton in the near future.