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Last week’s Word of the Week (WOW) was aegis. There are 3 definitions for it at Merriam-Webster Online and I have a sneaky suspicion that the first one is largely archaic, but thanks to a resurgent interest in mythology cinematically, maybe it’s getting a little more usage these days. Here’s what m-w.com had to say on the subject: 1) a shield or breastplate emblematic of majesty that was associated with Zeus and Athena 2) protection or controlling or conditioning influence and 3) auspices, control or guidance especially by an individual, group, or system. When I think about those last 2 definitions, I do believe I have heard this word in actual usage, but if it means auspices, why not just use the much more popular auspices???

Way too serious for a Monday? Okay…On to the WOW for this week, which is roseate. Here are my definition guesses for roseate:

roseate: (ˈrō-zē-ət) 1. when the dog eats your roses (a very real possibility at my house…sigh) 2. Ross’ seat in  le France 3. the lunch Rosie the Riveter had while working at the factory in WWII. You’re welcome for the bonus history lesson today.

So, what are your guesses for roseate??? Leave a comment below regarding your guess (or just the fact that my guesses are under the aegis of insanity)

Tomorrow’s Post: What act of kindness did you do for a selfless teacher?

You might also like: Word of the Week: aegis; Word of the Week: meretricious; Word of the Week: sangfroid; Word of the Week: eurytopic; Word of the Week: balneology

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Last week’s word was meretricious. According to Merriam-Webster online, meretricious has several meanings and the first two may not be suitable for audiences under the age of 60: 1. of or relating to a prostitute : having the nature of prostitution 2. tawdrily and falsely attractive. The last one I like a whole lot better for my “rated G” audience: superficially significant.

I seldom comment on politics here, but I think we can safely say our “do-nothing” Congress is definition # 3 right now. Do you agree??? 🙂

This week’s word is:  aegis. Here are my definition attempts for it:

aegis (ˈē-jəs) 1. what a hillbilly thinks is a very, very long time. 2. the birth name of a Scot who was named after some really nasty food 3. when Regis Philbin isn’t behaving

What’s your guess?

Tomorrow’s Post: What was your act of kindness for the week?

You might also like: Word of the Week: meretricious; Word of the Week: sangfroid; Word of the Week: eurytopic; and Word of the Week: balneology

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Howdy, Word Lovers! Last week’s Word of the Week was sangfroid. According to Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary, sangfroid means: the ability to stay calm in difficult or dangerous situations. I seem to panic when the situation is a mere trifle, but generally am rather sangfroid when the danger is real. Perhaps sangfroid is just another word for being in shock???

Today’s word is meretricious and here’s my guess:

meretricious: (mer-ə-ˈtri-shəs) 1. vicious merit 2. a rather run-of-the-mill trick 3. looking delicious in the mirror

What’s your guess? Submit a comment now!

Tomorrow’s Post: What act of kindness did you do for Lauren Rousseau?

You might also like: Word of the Week: sangfroid; Word of the Week: eurytopic; Word of the Week: balneology; and Word of the Week: nascent

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Howdy, word lovers! Last week’s word was eurytopic. According to Merriam-Webster, eurytopic means tolerant of wide variation in one or more environmental factors. The daughter guessed that it had something to do with being perfect and she was pretty close to the right definition! I must be eurytopic because I tolerate the messy condition of my youngest’s room, right? Thankfully, I won’t have to be eurytopic much longer since he departs for college later this month. But perhaps we should pray that his future roomie has this quality???

Today’s word is sangfroid.  My “French” alarm is going off on this one, so if these definition guesses don’t make much sense, then blame it on those croissant people.

sangfroid: (säⁿ-ˈf(r)wä) 1. to be sad about being frozen. 2. the song Freud sang poorly 3. to sing about being cold.

What’s your guess?

Tomorrow’s Post: What did you do in honor of Avielle?

You might also like: Word of the Week: eurytopic; Word of the Week: balneology, Word of the Week: flehmen; and Word of the Week: nascent

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Did you miss me? My heart decided to give me some more fits for the past few days, so I have been taking meds and resting a lot. Sorry for the delay of this post! So, let’s not delay anymore and get to the Word of the Week!

Last week’s word was balneology. Merriam-Webster defines balneology as: the science of the therapeutic use of baths. I probably didn’t know it because I tend to be a shower gal. Does contemplating your navel in the shower count as balneology??? Hmmm….

This week’s word is eurytopic. Here are my guesses for it:

eurytopic: (yur-i-ˈtä-pik) 1. any topic pertaining to Europe 2. being excessively snobby for no apparent reason 3. only seeing Europe when you look at a map

What are your guesses for eurytopic? Submit a comment below!

Tomorrow’s Post:  What would you do to honor someone who loves horses?

You might also like: Word of the Week: balneology; Word of the Week: flehmen; Word of the Week: nascent; and Word of the Week: canorous

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Good morning, dear readers! (Okay, so it’s morning for me…many of you don’t read this until nighttime.  Deal with it, night owls!) Yes, Word of the Week is back! Are you excited? If so, we really must get you better entertainment.

Way back in June the last word we tried to collectively conquer (I love alliteration!) was flehmen. Here’s the Merriam-Webster definition of flehmen: a mammalian behavior (as of horses or cats) in which the animal inhales with the mouth open and upper lip curled to facilitate exposure of the vomeronasal organ to a scent or pheromone. This would probably explain why I’m ridiculously allergic to horses and cats.

Today’s word is balneology. For the newer readers of MIP here are the “rules” for Word of the Week. I will attempt several definitions for the selected word and then you are free to submit definitions of your own in the comment box below. NO ONE, myself included, is allowed to consult a dictionary to get the proper definition–you must guess! “Points” for creativity and humor in your definition guesses! And even more points if you guess correctly or already know the definition. What do the points get you? Absolutely nothing other than my admiration. Hopefully we will all learn some new words and broaden our use of them.

After I have attempted my guesses, then I look up the word online and get you the pronunciation, so my definitions may be way off if I have been mispronouncing the word in my head as I guess! It seems to be nearly impossible to ignore the true definition when getting the pronunciation, so there’s your proof that I also avoid the dictionary when guessing.

balneology: (bal-nē-ˈä-lə-jē) 1. the study of new bowels 2. the study of new Ranger baseballs (That was just for you, DSL!) 3. the study of the ball joint of a knee (That was really reaching…wasn’t it?!)

What do you think balneology means?

Tomorrow’s Post: Have you done your act of kindness this week?

You might also like: Word of the Week: flehmen; Word of the Week: nascent; Word of the Week: canorous;  and Word of the Week: carminative

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Last week’s Word of the Week was carminative. the DFIL (Darling Father-in-Law) is guessing it has something to do with the color carmine. Good thought, but unfortunately, wrong. But he’s in good company (if he considers me good company!). According to Merriam-Webster carminative means: expelling gas from the stomach or intestines so as to relieve flatulence or abdominal pain or distension. Uh-hunh. I’m so very glad I chose to use this word last week. Hmmm…so this means, once again, that my guesses were full of “hot air,” right???

This week’s word is canorous. Here are my guesses for canorous:

canorous: 1. the title of a store where you can buy canned goods 2. the ability to get things done (Obviously, this word would never apply to our federal government.) 3. someone having the abilities/talents of a canter

So, what’s your guess for canorous?

Tomorrow’s Post: Big jump in the total of MIP Acts of Kindness!

You might also like: Word of the Week: carminative, Word of the Week: fuliginous, Word of the Week: thimblerig, Word of the Week: bosky, Word of the Week: nepenthe 

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Last week’s Word of the Week was fuliginous. According to Merriam-Webster online fuliginous means sooty or obscure and murky. It could also mean having a dark or musky color. I think all those definitions probably symbolize the murky nature of my mind while attempting to guess at the definition for fuliginous.

Today’s word is carminative. Here’s my fuliginous definition guesses for carminative:

carminative: (kär-ˈmi-nə-tiv) 1. the matchbox cars my son left on the living room for me to stub my bare foot on at night (But they were all perfectly parked, so at least he was organized about injuring his mother???) 2. Anything related to the opera “Carmen” 3. anything related to a boxcar on a train (Sorry…I can’t make this humorous no matter how hard I try…it’s Monday…give me a break.)

What’s your guess? Submit it here!

Tomorrow’s Post: What did you do for your act of kindness this week?

You might also like: Word of the Week: fuliginous, Word of the Week: thimblerig, Word of the Week: bosky, Word of the Week: nepenthe

Last week’s Word of the Week was thimblerig. Reader Stonesmama says that a thimblerig is Thumbelina’s souped-up monster truck that she drives over thimblecars. (Maybe she should be writing this blog???) However, Merriam-Webster would disagree with that definition. The online definition is: a swindling trick in which a small ball or pea is quickly shifted from under one to another of three small cups to fool the spectator guessing its location. In fact the person doing this trick is called a thimblerigger. I’d love to see that as the previous job title on an employment application!

This week’s word is fuliginous. God bless you. When you say fuliginous, doesn’t it sound like someone sneezing???? So, here are my definition attempts:

fuliginous: (fyu-ˈli-jə-nəs) 1. the sound made by a human being while sneezing. 2. a flexible foolish person. 3. the feeling one has after eating 2 Thanksgiving dinners back-to-back.

What are your definition ideas for fuliginous?

Tomorrow’s Post: What did you do for Grace?

You might also like: Word of the Week: thimblerig, Word of the Week: baba, Word of the Week: bosky, Word of the Week: fanfaronade,Word of the Week: zarzuela.

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Last week’s Word of the Week was bosky. Bosky means having abundant trees or shrubs. In other words most of Texas is sans bosky.

This week’s word is thimblerig. As usual, submit your guess for thimblerig either via my contact page or through a comment below.

thimblerig: (ˈthim-bəl-rig) 1. the necessary equipment needed to hoist the Statue of Liberty’s thimble, if she had one 2. the size of a fire ant’s truck 3. the amount of oil generated from a drilling rig in downtown Manhattan.

Tomorrow’s Post: What was your act of kindness for this week?

You might also like: Word of the Week: bosky; Word of the Week: nepenthe; Word of the Week: provenience; Word of the Week: zarzuela