Good morning, Word Nerds! Last week’s Word of the Week (WOW) was septentrional. Merriam-Webster Online says that septentrional means: northern. (And that’s probably why septentrional is the bottom 20% of words currently used by English-speakers!) It refers to the septentriones, which means the seven stars of Ursa Major (the Big Dipper) and the Ursa Minor (The Little Dipper). Since these constellations are normally in the northern sky, septentrional became known as northern or the north. That’s your astronomy lesson for today!

This week’s WOW is solecism. Here are my guesses for the definition of solecism:

solecism (ˈsä-lə-ˌsi-zəm) 1. the study of oneness 2. solemnity 3. examining the bottom of one’s shoes

What’s your guess for solecism? Post a comment below and let me know what you think!

Wednesday’s Post: Examining Examen…

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Good morning, Word Nerds! How are you today?

Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was retronym. The definition of retronym, according to Merriam-Webster Online is as follows: a term consisting of a noun and a modifier which specifies the original meaning of the noun. For instance, a film camera is an example of a retronym and there are even web sites dedicated to retronyms. Who knew?!

Today’s WOW is septentrional. My French antennae are going off yet again because sept means seven in French. (In the original version of the Roman calendar, September was the 7th month of the year, not the 9th. Adding January and February to the calendar is why it’s now # 9! You’re welcome for giving you a little known fact that will never be useful Ever.)

septentrional (sep-ˈten-trē-ˌän^əl) 1. purposely grouping things together in 7’s 2. relating to one week’s time 3. having to do with the septum

What’s your guess for septentrional? Submit a comment to this post to let me know!

Wednesday’s Post: Know Your Body…

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Howdy, Word Lovers! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was ne plus ultra. Merriam-Webster Online says that ne plus ultra means:

1. the highest point capable of being attained

2. the most profound degree of a quality or state

The daughter guessed ““No more than” or “the most of something.” She deduced that from co-founding the Latin Club in high school. Ummm…didn’t even know she did that. Was I asleep while she was in high school??? Anyway, she’s “two for two”! Let’s see if she can make it three for three this week. Here’s this week’s WOW and my guesses for it:

retronym (ˈre-trō-ˌnim) 1. a word that no longer is the meaning of another word 2. a return to the former meaning of a word 3. a synonym of an antonym of a homonym

What’s your guess for retronym? Submit a guess below this post!

Wednesday’s Post: Guided Meditation…

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Good morning, Word Nerds! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was: mellifluous. The daughter guessed that it was “sweet sounding, musical, etc. ????” Let’s see how close she got.

Merriam-Webster Online says that mellifluous means having a smooth, flowing sound. So, she’s pretty darn close! Glad to know all those music lessons paid off! 🙂

Today’s WOW is ne plus ultra. Again, my French “bells” are going off, so let’s see what I can conjure up as my definition guesses for it:

ne plus ultra (nā-ˌpləs-ˈəl-trə) 1. no longer special 2. not noteworthy or significant 3. subtraction

What are your guesses for ne plus ultra? Submit a comment to this post to let me know!

Wednesday’s Post: Put on your thinking caps…

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Good morning, Friends! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was longueur. This one stumped everybody, so here’s what Merriam-Webster Online had to say about it: a boring part of something (such as a book or play). Hmmm…could WOW be longueur??? I hope not!

Today’s WOW is mellifluous. I feel like I’ve heard this word before, but I can’t pull out the definition from my memory, so here are my guesses for it:

mellifluous (me-ˈli-flə-wəs) 1. full of Mello  Yello 2. a melodic tune 3. infatuated with Mel Gibson

What’s your guess for mellifluous? Submit it in a comment here!

Wednesday’s Post: Sensate Prayer…

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Good morning, Word Nerds! Last week’s WOW was legerdemain. We had one guess that it meant slight of hand or magic-like. According to Merriam-Webster Online legerdemain means: skill in using your hands to perform magic tricks, so the guess is absolutely correct! I wonder if legerdemain would be useful in making the clutter in my house disappear. Hmmm….

Today’s WOW is longueur. I think there’s a French basis for this word, too, so maybe that will pay off somehow, but I’m not holding my breath over here:

longueur: (lōⁿ-ˈgœr) 1. an interminably long event  2. the act of being vertical 3. a tall person

What’s your guess for longueur? Submit a guess below this post!

Wednesday’s Post: It May Be More than Woman’s Intuition…

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Good morning, Word Lovers! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was ex cathedra. The father-in-law had a guess for this one again (I need to pick tougher words???). According to Merriam-Webster Online ex cathedra means: by virtue of or in the exercise of one’s office or position. The father-in-law had a more specific take on it, as an official pronouncement from the Pope that is believed to be without error. More than likely that is how ex cathedra is used most often. Too bad my children didn’t think of my parenting as ex cathedra. Hmmm….

Today’s WOW is legerdemain. My French brain is going off right now and it remembers that demain means tomorrow in French, so let’s see how close I get to the correct definition this time:

legerdemain (le-jər-də-ˈmān) 1. the entry one puts into a ledger after receiving an IRS audit notification 2. the hope a short person has for longer legs in the future 3. procrastination

What’s your guess for legerdemain? Put a comment below to let me know your guess!

Wednesday’s Post: Feeling Prayer…

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Good morning, Word Nerds! Hope you had a blessed Easter weekend!

Last week’s WOW was captious. Merriam-Webster says that captious means: 

1. marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections

2.  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-z^ən) 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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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

Good morning, Word Nerds! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was calumny. Merriam-Webster Online says that calumny is: 

1. a misrepresentation intended to harm another’s reputation

2. 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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