melodrama

melodrama – n - A dramatic form that does not observe the laws of cause and effect and that exaggerates emotion and emphasizes plot or action at the expense of characterization.

Very popular, especially in Victorian England - but not only there by any means, and not only then either. Still, I grow nostalgic for a time I never knew when I think of Varney the Vampire, Sweeney Todd (the demon barber of Fleet Street), Sawney Beane and his cannibal family, etc.

tout court

tout court - adv - Briefly: without qualification or additional information.

A foreign term for the reading vocabulary.

And now - humor a middle-aged fat man with trifocals - another modern who strikes my fancy, Charlize Theron. She does a great Georgia accent, and she gave one of the gutsiest answers I've ever heard in an interview. When asked why she left South Africa (she's a Boer!), she replied, "It was no place for a pretty white girl." Her one defect, which I find easy to overlook, is that she's only an inch shorter than I am; in heels, she'd be a little taller.

bill of attainder

bill of attainder - n - A legislative act pronouncing a person guilty of a crime, usually treason, without trial and subjecting that person to capital punishment and attainder. Such acts are prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.

I ran into this term while reading the debates on the Constitution (in 2,000+ surprisingly interesting pages). I'm trying to figure out where we went wrong, and I'm starting my search at the beginning.

Today's exquisite is Connie Nielsen. One of the things I like about her is that she looks like a grownup.

impudent

impudent – adj - Of, pertaining to, or characterized by impertinence or effrontery: The student was kept late for impudent behavior.

A favorite saying of adults in the days of my youth was, "Of all the impudent tricks, that one beats all!"

leave

leave - noun - permission to be absent, as from work or military duty

Yes, I'm going to leave (the verb) so I'll not be updating words that frequently. It's time for my annual two week military duty - so I'm taking (somewhat) leave of this list for perhaps that long. I'll still have internet access, so you may still see words appear here.

verily

verily – adv - In truth; really; indeed.

Inspired by my reading of John's Gospel.

jeremiad

jeremiad - noun - A tale of sorrow, disappointment or complaint; a doleful story; a dolorous or angry tirade

parse

parse - verb - To resolve into its component parts; to examine closely or critically; to make sense of; to comprehend; to analyze or separate into more easily processed components


Something we do everyday. What is interesting is that (I'm guessing here) most people probably associate this word with computer science.

chattel

chattel – n - A movable article of personal property; any article of tangible property other than land, buildings, and other things annexed to land; a slave.

Slaves were a prime example in our history, but the issue was never quite so cut and dried as many moderns now see it. A Northern factory worker worked - if he was lucky - five 12-hour days a week and eight on Saturday for bare-subsistence wages; a slave may have worked from dawn to dusk but he got free room, board, and medical attention. If the factory worker was unable to work for any reason, age,injury, or illness, he was out of luck; a slave had full retirement benefits until death. George Washington made an inventory of his assets in 1795 and discovered that he owned 317 slaves, only 104 of whom were actually working; the rest were either too old, too young, or too sick. In other words, better than two-thirds of his work force called in sick every day.

Of course, slavery had its down side, starting with the fact that a slave couldn't quit his job. My point is only that the issue is not quite so black-and-white as may appear on first glance. (And - No! - I am not defending slavery.)

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).