what's that word?

In a effort to up my vocabulary, not really on purpose but to figure out what some of the computer generated words mean on my Scrabble game, I find myself looking up the meaning of the following words.  You may already know them and use them regularly but as for me..  they are somewhat new.

 

I will say that I have brought the words Quango and Fatling into my vocabulary using them quite often over the last week from my previous "what's that word?" post.  Mostly because they make me laugh.

 

Here are a few that I have written down since I last shared new words with you.

 

 

Foist:  to force someone to accept (something that is not good or not wanted)

 

 

Zechin:   sequin (I wonder if there is cool word for glitter!  My sister Marty would say, "yes... crap")

 

 

Ingot:  a mass of metal cast in a convenient form for shaping, remelting, or refining.

 

 

Radix:  Mathematics. a number taken as the base of a system of numbers, logarithms, or the like. 

              (huh... no wonder I didn't know this one... horrible as a math student)

 

Podzols:  a type of soil characteristic of coniferous forest regions having a greyish-white colour in its upper leached layers

 

 

Renvoi:  the expulsion by a government of an alien, especially a foreign diplomat, from the country.(can't believe I haven't heard this one on NPR in all their illegal alien talk)

 

 

Lowborn:  of humble birth.

 

 

Jihad:  any vigorous, emotional crusade for an idea or principle.

 

 

Pingo:  a hill of soil-covered ice pushed up by hydrostatic pressure in an area of permafrost.

 

 

Yeans:  (of a sheep or goat) to bring forth young.

 

 

Okay well I don't feel so silly now because there are obviously reasons why I've not heard some of these words before.  Well I know them now and by combining last the last "what's that word?" post and this one I've made a sentence for you that my English teacher from high school may of may not be proud of!

 

P.S. this is all being said while my pointer finger is in the air as if making a grand declaration.

 

 

We shall foist the lowborns and fatlings and those who yean into our radix quango and jahid to the podzols and pingos while using our dirks and ingot-made zechin until anoxias when at last they renvoi us all!!!

 

 

Wow... what a statement.  I believe if I were standing next to you right now you would be looking at me about like this...  either one... 

 

 



what's that word?

Guess what....

In addition to my love of glitter I am also a lover of the game Scrabble.  Funny though that I was not a fan of words in English or Language class in school and my teachers would probably be amused that I am at all a despiser of misspelled words (although spell check doesn't catch them all on the blog here)and a huge fan of Scrabble and Wheel of Fortune.  I love that one too. 

I recently purchased a computer version of Scrabble that I play every day.  Maybe it helps keep my brain sharp on the game and words because sometimes I come up with words, when there are a rack of lettered tiles in front of me, that I didn't know were in my vocabulary.  Sometimes I spell out words that are correct but I couldn't really tell you the meaning.  Speaking of which, in my pc game I always play the computer mainly because I'm the only one here that can play and although I have played the board game solo it's better to have an opponent.  Which leads me to my title of this post... what's that word?

The computer opponent comes up with some of the craziest words.  Words I have never heard of let alone seen.  So I decided while playing today to make a list and look up some of the words I've not heard before.  Maybe it will help me to remember them when I have letters I don't know what to do with. 

Quango: an organization that deals with public matters and is supported by the government but that works independently and has its own legal powers

Brant: a small goose (Branta bernicla) about the size of a mallard having a black head, neck, and chest

Biro: used for a ballpoint pen

Skirred: (Skirr)  to leave hastily, to run, fly, sail, or move along rapidly

Gonia: (being the plural form)the point on each lower human jaw closest to the vertex of the gonial
angle

Adz: (presented as Adze)  a cutting tool that has a thin arched blade set at right angles to the handle and is used chiefly for shaping wood

Zerk: a grease fitting

Fatling: a young animal fattened for slaughter (makes sense)

Silex:  silica or a siliceous material (as powdered tripoli) especially for use as a filler in paints or wood

Dirk: a long straight-bladed dagger

Anoxias: hypoxia especially of such severity as to result in permanent damage (which leads me to look up hypoxia - hypoxia especially of such severity as to result in permanent damage... well how about that)


 Maybe these words are familiar to you but they were not to me.  I know a couple of guys named Brant but didn't know it stood for "wild goose".  And I've never used the word Quango but will try my dangedest (not a word) to do so in the future.  There are many more and I may write them all down as I go.  You just learn something new every day and as for me.. I learn something new every time I play Scrabble!



I even have a Scrabble Fun album on Flickr created years ago.  You can find it HERE.  Which leades me to wonder why I ever stopped buying flowers for my table.  The pictures were pretty much taken when I was a single gal in my house in Hendersonville.  At the time you could get a bunch of filler flowers for three dollars.  I picked some up every couple of weeks.  Aren't they pretty?!

My sister M.E. even made me and NeeNee a Scrabble cake for our birthday one year.  Wish you could see the cake better in the picture.  How crafty!