Good evening, Word Fans! (Okay, so I’m late with this post…)

Last week’s WOW was blench. Merriam Webster Online says that blench means: to draw back or turn aside from lack of courage or to flinch. Ummm….this begs the question: Why not just use the word flinch??? It’s the same number of letters. In fact, with the exception of two letters, it’s the same friggin’ word! Clearly, MaryAnn is not a part of the word wizarding team at Merriam-Webster when they’re deciding what words to label “archaic” in their dictionary. I suppose now that most of us look up the words online anyway, deleting out-of-use words from the dictionary is not a particularly cost-saving venture anymore. But, still!

This week’s WOW is agon. Why do I have this weird feeling all my favorite MIP readers are going to know this one??? Heck, I feel like I should know it, too, so here are my guesses (both serious and not so serious) for agon:

agon (ˈä-ˌgän) 1. the condition or state of someone or something being gone 2. how a Southerner refers to processing cheese and/or wine 3. all gone 4. argon gas once it has started dissipating (Think about it–it will hit you later.)

What’s your definition of agon? Comment below with your guess!

Wednesday’s Post: Cabinetry at the Cabin

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Howdy, Word Lovers!

WOW (Word of the Week) is baaaaaaaack! I’m going to start “fresh” and instead of me giving the true definition for the previous WOW, I’m will simply start with my guesses for sacerdotal. Don’t forget to comment below if you have a guess or already know the definition of it!

sacerdotal (sa-sər-ˈdō-tᵊl) 1. doting on a saucer 2. a story involving soccer 3. something tasting like saccharin.

No fair looking up the definition!

Wednesday’s Post: Logging some more Rhythms…

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Good morning, Word Nerds! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was infrangible. The father-in-law chimed in with his definition that it means “unbreakable or indivisible.” He also noted that it was a much shorter definition than last week’s! 🙂

Merriam-Webster Online says that infrangible means:

1. not capable of being broken or separated into parts

2. not to be infringed or violated

Can I just have the vocabulary my father-in-law has forgotten????

This week’s WOW is interpellate. Here are my guesses for interpellate:

interpellate (in-tər-ˈpe-ˌlāt, in-ˈtər-pə-ˌlāt) 1. legal matters that are between appellate courts 2. the space between pellets 3. interstellar appellate courts 4. the mental process in which a person connects two distinctly different ideas and synthesizes them into a new idea

What’s your guess for interpellate? Submit a comment below this post! Thank you for “playing.”

Wednesday’s Post: Phase III…

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Good Morning, Word Nerds! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was imprimatur. The father-in-law continues to impress with his vast vocabulary and guessed that the definition was:  acceptance of a translation or document (especially Roman Catholic) by a bishop or higher authority so that it is permissible for use by the masses of the laity and others. It agrees with accepted doctrine and teaching, It is the signing of the work on the opening pages in testimony of its acceptability.

Let’s see if Merriam-Webster agrees: official approval. I give m-w.com points for brevity and the father-in-law points for thoroughness!

This week’s WOW is infrangible. I feel like I should know the definition for this word and probably, at one time, I did! (Oh, the joys of aging!) Here are my rather clueless guesses for it:

infrangible: (in-ˈfran-jə-bəl) 1. a fragile intangible 2. not applicable to France 3. the unintelligible early morning utterings of Fran

What’s your guess for infrangible? Outdo the father-in-law. I double dog dare you. Post a comment below this post with your guess for infrangible!

Wednesday’s Post: How many builders does it take to stain a cabin gray?

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Howdy, Word Nerds! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was haplology. Merriam-Webster Online says that the definition for haplology is: contraction of a word by omission of one or more similar sounds or syllables (as inmineralogy for hypothetical mineralology orˈprä-blē for probably).

Since I’m a “probly” kind of person (Is that a midwestern thing???), it’s good to know why I do it!

This week’s WOW is imprimatur. My guesses for it are as follows:

imprimatur (im-prə-ˈmä-tu̇r) 1. an imprint amateur 2. a person knowledgeable about primitive art 3. a connoisseur of impressive food

What’s your guess for imprimatur? Let me know by submitting a comment below this post.

Wednesday’s Post: The Joanna Gaines effect…

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Good morning, Word Nerds! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was cybrarian. Here’s what Merriam-Webster Online says is the definition for said WOW: a person whose job is to find, collect, and manage information that is available on the World Wide Web. I guessed a “cyberspace librarian,” so can I count that as a “win”??? (Let’s be honest–I don’t get that many wins!)

This week’s WOW is haplology. Here are my guesses for haplology:

haplology: (ha-ˈplä-lə-jē) 1. the study of happiness 2. the study of unlucky people 3. the biology of haplos (whatever that is)

What’s your guess for haplology? Post a comment below to let me know how smart you are!

Wednesday’s Post: Becoming a log home cybrarian...

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Howdy, Word Nerds! If you’re wondering where my posts have gone, it’s called a busy life on several fronts. So, sue me–I took a brief vacation from writing!

Last week’s WOW was caparison. Merriam-Webster Online says there are 2 definitions:

1. a :  an ornamental covering for a horse b :  decorative trappings and harness

2. rich clothing :  adornment

Quite clearly none of my horse owner friends read this blog! Of course, the fact that I rarely (if ever) reference horse stuff here has absolutely nothing to do with that.

This week’s WOW is cybrarian. Here are my guesses for cybrarian:

cybrarian: (sī-ˈbrer-ē-ən) 1. an employee of a circular library 2. a cyberspace librarian 3. Marion the Libarian’s and Harold Hill’s son, Cy.

What’s your guess for cybrarian? Post a comment below to let me know the REAL definition.

Wednesday’s Post: Logging Miles…

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Howdy, Word Nerds! Last week I chose to salute the 4th of July. So, we need to go back two weeks to Beltane. According to Merriam-Webster Online, Beltane is: the Celtic May Day festival. Remind me of that next May.

Today’s WOW (Word of the Week) really is caparison. No, I didn’t misspell it.

Here are my guesses for caparison:

caparison: (kə-ˈper-ə-sən) 1. a comparison of capes 2. a comparison of Cape Hatteras to Cape Cod 3. a comparison of capitals 4. being stuck on comparisons of words that begin with “ca”

What’s do you think caparison means? Your guess deserves “center stage”, so leave a guess below!

Wednesday’s Post: More Log Rhythms!

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Happy 4th of July, everyone! Happy 240th Birthday, America!

We interrupt my normal Monday posts for a word we all say we know. However, I think that on this special day, it’s smart to remind ourselves what we’re celebrating.

Because our founding fathers (and mothers!) gave us freedom of speech, it’s easy to state how dissatisfied we are with our country currently. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that we need to change some things about our country. In doing that we often begin to question whether or not our founding principles are still valid.

I suggest they are still as valid today as they were 240 years ago. We still need to guard against tyranny by another regime far, far away from our borders. We still need to keep our government in check when it gets excessive. We still need to allow people to worship whoever and however they like. We still need to promote the general welfare. Is that easily accomplished?

Of course not. It wasn’t 240 years ago, either. People died defending these rights. Friends. Family members. Children. People lost homes and farms and businesses. It was chaos.

But out of chaos came something truly unusual and beautiful. Respecting others and defending this grand experiment we call a democracy.

So, it bears repeating the Merriam-Webster’s Online definition of patriotism:

patriotism: (ˈpā-trē-ə-ˌti-zəm) love for or devotion to one’s country

Despite the rancor of this year’s politics, patriotism is still in the top 10% of popularity for English words. Perhaps even more interesting are some of the synonyms and antonyms for patriotism:

Synonyms: constancy, faithfulness, loyalty, steadfastness, passion

Antonyms: desertion, falseness, treachery

Let’s strive for a few of those synonyms this day and every day especially as we elect a new President this year. The world could use a little constancy, faith, loyalty, steadfastness, and passion.

Be safe!

Wednesday’s Post: More news from Solitude...

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