04
Apr
by maryann

Howdy, Word Nerds! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was diapason. The father-in-law set me straight on this one–I knew I had seen it before! (If I had remembered the days when I sat beside my mom as she played the church pipe organ, it would have dawned on me!)
According to Merriam-Webster Online, diapason actually has several meanings:
a) a burst of sound
b) the principal foundation stop in the organ extending through the complete range of the instrument
c) : the entire compass of musical tones
range or scope
a) tuning fork
b) a standard of pitch
Today’s WOW is actually composed of two parts, but is listed as one word in the dictionary. Here are my guesses for ex cathedra:
ex cathedra (eks-kə-ˈthē-drə) 1. a former cathedral 2. the relief of a hospital patient after a catheter is removed *cough* 3. when you finally quit being obsessed by Cathy comic strips
What is your guess for ex cathedra? Post a comment below to let me know!
Wednesday’s Post: Where’s Your Center?
You Might Also Like: Word of the Week: diapason; Word of the Week: captious; and Word of the Week: caitiff
28
Mar
by maryann

Good morning, Word Nerds! Hope you had a blessed Easter weekend!
Last week’s WOW was captious. Merriam-Webster says that captious means:
marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections
calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument
So, when I berate myself over character flaws, a forgiving God could say I’m being captious!
Today’s WOW is diapason. I know I’ve heard this before, but I’m blanking on the definition, so I’m sure one of you knows the correct definition! Here are my 3 guesses for diapason:
diapason: (dī-ə-ˈpā-zən) 1. a REAL diaper genie (one who pops into your home to change diapers) 2. the diagonal of a trapezoid 3. the unconscious state from dieting for too long
So, have at it! Remind me of the true definition by submitting a comment below this post!
Wednesday’s Post: Out of breath?
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21
Mar
by maryann

Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was caitiff. According to Merriam-Webster Online caitiff is defined as: cowardly or despicable. I guess certain wealthy animators could have entitled a couple of movies Caitiff Me or a particular character in a beloved children’s story could have been called the Caitiff Lion, but I doubt the author of that story or the animators would have made as much dinero with such titles.
Today’s WOW is captious. For some reason I feel like I should know this word, but its definition is escaping me, so I have a feeling all my Word Nerds are going to deluge me with comments at the end of this post telling me the actual definition for captious.
Here are my 4 guesses (yes, a bonus guess!), so you can officially give me grief about it:
captious (ˈkap-shəs) 1. being held captive 2. captivating 3. like a captain 4. like Hawkeye Pierce
14
Mar
by maryann

Good morning, Word Nerds! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was calumny. Merriam-Webster Online says that calumny is:
a misrepresentation intended to harm another’s reputation
the act of uttering false charges or misrepresentations maliciously calculated to harm another’s reputation
While we had some close guesses for calumny, I don’t think any were spot-on. However, I think we can safely say there’s a lot of calumny going on in the 2016 election!
This week’s WOW is caitiff. Here are my definition guesses for it:
caitiff: (ˈkā-təf) 1. a bailiff named Caitlyn 2. a Pontiff’s cane 3. an iffy cadence
What are your guesses for caitiff? Post a comment here!
Wednesday’s Post: Contemplative Meditation…
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