Category: Word of the Day

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Word of the Day – Enshittification

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Noun: Enshittification
    1. an informal word used to criticize the degradation in the quality and experience of online platforms over time, due to an increase in advertisements, costs, or features. It can also refer more generally to any state of deterioration, especially in politics or society.
    2. For an expanded dive into this word follow this link to Wikipedia:  Enshittification
  • Synonyms:
    1. encrappification
    2. platform decay
  • Encountered: While reading an article on Paul Krugman’s blog: Why Does Everyone Hate AI?
  • Usage: “Why have Americans turned on tech companies? While it surely reflects growing awareness of the psychological and societal harm done by social media, much of it also reflects the enshittification of tech products.”

Unfortunately, the process of enshittification applies to much more than online platforms.  Politics are deeply into this process, and it strikes me that our culture is also.

I will have to admit I am not a fan of AI for any number of reasons, but mainly because the way it is blurring the line between reality/truth and computer generated versions that frequently have little to do with either reality or truth.

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Word of the Day – Elegiac

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Adjective: Elegiac
    1. relating to or similar to an elegy (= a sad poem or song, especially remembering someone who has died or something in the past)
  • Synonyms:
    1. funereal
    2. melancholy
    3. mournful
    4. sad
    5. sorrowful
    6. doleful
    7. threnodial
  • Encountered: While reading the article Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing. A song I would put somewhere near the top of my all time favorite songs
  • Usage: “But I’ll tell you why it hits them: because the guy says it to almost no one. He makes the announcement with the same seriousness and ceremony as if they’d just finished the second set at the Hammersmith Odeon, and the room is basically empty, and he says it anyway. He claims the name. He insists on it. We are the Sultans. Past tense would have been elegiac. Future tense would have been desperate. Present tense is the whole ballgame. We are.”

And cuz I know you want to…

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Word of the Day – Weltschmerz

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Noun: Weltschmerz
    1. mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state
    2. a mood of sentimental sadness
  • Note: Another word we borrowed from German and that we never gave back. Ranks up there with schadenfreude for me. A word I learned twice.  Once from one of my brothers attempting to show off his erudition, although it was the mot juste for that moment. And a second time from Mr. Sikeston who loves trivia.
  • Synonyms:
    1. ennui
    2. tiredness
    3. weariness
    4. apathy
    5. melancholy
    6. doldrums
    7. dispiritedness
  • Encountered: While watching an offering from Great Courses Plus , one on vocabulary, go figure.
  • Usage: When I asked daNet to use it in a sentence, I got this:

“After reading the news, she was overcome with a profound sense of weltschmerz, a deep melancholy for the world’s suffering and imperfections that felt too heavy to bear. “

Which is pretty much where I am these days. It depresses me so that as individuals, some of us, at least part of time, can be so noble, but as a species we are so incredibly stupid, base and at times downright evil. Of course, going back to my biology degree, the job a species is to propagate itself.  We have done an incredible job of that, actually too good.

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Word of the Day – Snollygoster

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Noun: Snollygoster
    1. a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially a politician – US dialect.
  • Synonyms:
    1. Machiavellian
    2. opportunist
    3. knave
    4. And many more… Synonyms for Snollygoster
  • Encountered: While watching an offering from Great Courses Plus , one on vocabulary, go figure.
  • Usage: Well not usage, but my thoughts on the word.  When I first heard the definition I immediately thought of El puta pendejo naranja currently stinking up the Oval Office. I began playing with how the word sounded as I pronounced it.  On its own it changed from snollygoster to Snollygoster-in-Chief. For a brief moment I thought it a good euphemism for President Baldy Locks, but I then thought it sounded much too cute for that, like a character in a Dr. Seuss book. However, there is no way his heart will ever grow three sizes in one day.  In fact it seems to be shrinking more and more with each new day, almost as fast as his cognitive decline.
  • More:
    1. If you want to get your nerd on here is an article on the origin of the word: What’s a snollygoster? Even lexicographers are wrong sometimes

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

A snallygaster, not a snollygoster

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Word of the Day – Doge

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Noun: Doge
    1. the chief magistrate in the former republics of Venice and Genoa.
  • Synonyms:
    1. prime minister
    2. leader
    3. premier
    4. chancellor
    5. PM
    6. President
    7. head of government
    8. head of state
    9. chief of state
    10. commander in chief
    11. chief minister
    12. first minister
    13. chief executive
    14. head of the government
    15. ruler
  • Usage:
    1. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), officially the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, is an initiative of the second tAss administration informally led by that POS Elon Musk
  • Encountered:
    1.  Okay, this has been niggling at the back of my mind for a while, so I finally looked it up.  I knew I had read this word somewhere, history being one of my prime non-occupational interest.  I am sure the POS that is Elon Musk (who probably dreamed up this name) is well aware of the double entendre. I doubt tAss has a inkling as it is doubtful he reads beyond the fifth grade level. I am clueless as to why this man is part of the government except, as impossible as it seems, tAss is the  biggest whore in his circle, a circle full of the worst possible excuses for Homo sapiens imaginable. I sometimes think that they must be blackmailing El puto pendejo naranja, except he has no shame.

I just need to get me some more gummies and go back to ignoring the demise of my once beloved country, to pretending this is really not happening.

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Word of the Day – Hierophant

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Noun: Hierophant
    1. a priest in ancient Greece, specifically : the chief priest of the Eleusinian mysteries
  • Synonyms:
    1. proponent
    2. supporter
    3. advocate
    4. advocator
    5. apostle
    6. paladin
    7. promoter
    8. expounder
    9. white knight
    10. herald
    11. champion
    12. true believer
    13. tub-thumper
  • Usage:
    1. “One of the enduring mysteries of America is why the citizens of Red states are generally poorer, less educated, and sicker than the citizens of Blue states. To that question, I step up as your hierophant with an answer to this deep mystery that you may not have previously considered..”
  • Encountered:
    1.  While reading the following article by Thom Harmann piece shared to me by a friend: Why are Red State Citizens Poorer, Less Educated, & Sicker than Blue State Citizens?

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Word of the Day – TheoBro

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Noun: Theobro
    1. A conservative male (likely evangelical) obsessed with arguing Christian theology with others, often on Twitter. Theobro is the result of the combination of “theology” and “bro.”  ~~  Not a dictionary word at this point.  This definition is from slang.net and is the cleanest one I could find.
  • Synonyms:
    1. misogynist
    2. racists
    3. bigot
    4. homophobe
    5. authoritarian
    6. fanatic
  • Usage:
    1. “In their place, a group of young pastors hope to spearhead a Christian nationalist glow-up as they eagerly await a “Christian prince” to rule America. These often bearded thirty- and forty-somethings have suits that actually fit. They are extremely online, constantly posting on myriad platforms, broadcasting their YouTube shows from man caves, and convening an endless stream of conferences for like minded followers. Let’s call them, as one scholar I spoke with did, the TheoBros.”
  • Encountered:
    1.  While reading the Mother Jones piece: To Understand JD Vance, You Need to Meet the “TheoBros”

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Word of the Day – Epigone

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Noun: Epigone
    1. an inferior descendant, follower, or imitator
  • Synonyms:
    1. adherent
    2. disciple
    3. follower
    4. apostle
    5. partizan
  • Usage:
    1. “Such impartiality redounds to the benefit of a candidate whose dictatorial ambitions are not merely performative. And where there will be dictators, there won’t be comedy — at least not the type of punch-up satire practiced by Stewart and his many epigones.”
  • Encountered:
    1.  While reading the MSNBC piece: Jon Stewart’s about-face on Trump jokes is quietly meaningful

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Word of the Day – Cyberchondria

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Noun: Cyberchondria
    1. unfounded anxiety concerning the state of one’s health brought on by visiting health and medical websites
  • Synonyms:
    1. hypochondriac
    2. valetudinarian
    3. valetudinary
    4. hypochondriast
    5. hypochrondriast
    6. melancholico
    7. neurotic
    8. malade imaginaire
    9. obsessive person
    10. morbid person
  • Usage:
    1. “Working with our mortality in a meaningful way can be challenging. For one, we live in a death-averse culture in which comforting and life-affirming ways of thinking and talking about illness and death are rare. Further, the unprecedented nature of Covid-19, as well as an increase in self-diagnosis via the internet (“cyberchondria”), has been associated with an overall rise in health anxiety..”
  • Encountered:
    1.  While reading the Guardian piece: Illness and death are facts of life – Buddhism teaches us to be mindful but not fearful of it

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Word of the Day – Ablute

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Verb: Ablute
    1. abluted; abluting; ablutes
      chiefly British
      : to wash one’s body : to perform one’s ablutions : bathe
  • Synonyms:
    1.  bath
    2. cleansing
    3. decontamination
    4. lavation
    5. purification
    6. shower
  • Usage:
    1. “ Like the orientation of toilet paper, shower times are surprisingly divisive. One group swears you need a morning shower to make the most of your day. The evening team, on the other hand, holds that anyone who doesn’t wash before bed is a grimy heathen whose sheets are besmirched by filth. Some people – compromisers – suggest you can get the best of both worlds by abluting twice a day. “
  • Encountered:
    1.  While reading the fluff piece: There is a perfect time to shower – and it’s not when you think in The Guardian

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day