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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

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Last week’s word was nepenthe. Can I just state, for the record, that it was darn hard to come up with definitions for nepenthe??? How about you? Did you think it was difficult, too?

The real definition of nepenthe is as follows: a potion used by the ancients to induce forgetfulness of pain or sorrow. Apparently, I need a nepenthe for my inability to define nepenthe. Maybe I just need more coffee? There’s always room for more coffee, right? (Kinda like that one dessert Bill Cosby used to promote!)

Today’s word is bosky. I chose it because we live near a river (In our town it more resembles a stream or brook.) with a similar name. I expect to see a lot of comments from my local readers on this one.

bosky: (ˈbäs-kē) 1. a brook or stream pretending to be a river. 2. an overfed duck that stalks walkers/runners as they train for the next long-distance run/walk beside a brook or stream pretending to be a river. 3. a key belonging to a boss

What are your guesses for bosky?

Tomorrow’s Post: How did you honor Ana?

Good morning, Word Lovers! Last week’s word was provenience and the PH knew this word and emailed me to guess it. (It’s so annoying when he’s right.)

Provenience means origin or source, particularly as it relates to the ownership of works of art. I knew it sounded familiar to me, but I just couldn’t retrieve the meaning from my rusty old brain. So, if you, like the PH, had it on the tip of your tongue, congratulations for not needing rust remover.

Today’s word is nepenthe. Let’s see if the PH can get 2 in a row. Here are my silly guesses:

nepenthe: (nə-ˈpen(t)-thē) 1. doing a pentathlon completely on your knees. 2. the repentance that comes when you deliberately lisp around someone who stutters 3. how one speaks after taking crystal meth (Sorry…the counseling background crept in here.)

What are yours? I love to hear what you think, so submit away. (No fair cheating!)

Tomorrow’s Post: What did you do to honor Jesse?

Last week’s Word of the Week was scumble. Scumble means to make (as color or a painting) less brilliant by covering with a thin coat of opaque or semi-opaque color applied with a nearly dry brush or to apply color to something in this way. Since I have no artistic ability whatsoever, I now completely understand why I had no clue what this word meant.

This week’s word is traduce. As usual, submit guesses via the comment box below or send me an email on the Contact page (if you’re shy). No fair looking up the word in a dictionary!

traduce: (trə-ˈdüs) 1. to lower the number of traditions practiced in one’s family at Christmastime (something that MaryAnn should try to do next December!) 2. to lose pounds from your waistline by flying through the air with the greatest of ease on a trapeze. 3. to figure out who gave us the best performance in Trading Places

Your turn.

The Word of the Week for last week was realia. Merriam-Webster Online says that realia are: objects or activities used to relate classroom teaching to real life, especially of peoples studied. So, since I know a fair number of educators and worked in the College of Education at our town’s university, I’m hoping a few of my readers already knew the real meaning of realia. However, it’s a word I did not encounter as an employee there. Now, pedagogy? That’s a word I learned there. We’ll discuss pedagogy some other day.

This week’s Word of the Week is scumble. I love this word. It just sounds fun. And once I learn the real definition, it may have to find its way into my posts as often as plethora. (You’re welcome, DD.)

So, what’s your guess for scumble? Submit a comment below and let me know! Here are my mere attempts:

scumble (skəm-bəl): 1. When a scumbag finally becomes humble, which roughly occurs around the same time as the freezing of Hades. 2. When gang members scatter after a “rumble” 3. When Scots take a tumble from their “highlands”

No fair peeking in the dictionary!

Tomorrow’s Post: Did you read a book this week? Dylan would have. 🙂

Last week’s Word of the Week was kanban. Kanban means “just-in-time.” So, if the kangaroo convention gets canned veggies before its opening, I suppose that will  be kanban. In other words…I wasn’t even close with my definition guesses!

This week’s word is realia. As usual, no fair looking up words online or in an honest-to-goodness dictionary. Just submit your definition below in the comment section and we’ll see who gets closest.

realia (rē-ˈa-lē-ə): 1. The mania that ensues when things get too real. (Can you tell that the master’s in counseling regularly “leaks” into my definition guesses???) 2. regalia that is slightly less regal. 3. the trash that gets deposited on your real estate after a party on Saturday night, even when you weren’t the hosts of the party. (Can you tell that we have some experience with this at our “real estate”?)

So, what is your guess? Make sure you submit it kanban. 🙂

Tomorrow’s Post: What did you do for the Birthday Girl?

Last week’s Word of the Week was heliacal. The PH said that he thought it had something to do with helicopters. Well, at least he’s thinking in the right direction. Heliacal means “relating to or near the sun.” Based on the weather we typically have in Texas, I think we could describe the Lone Star State as heliacal. And my three definitions were completely off the mark!

Today’s Word of the Week is: kanban. Just the mere potential pronunciation of this word causes me to think in some very weird directions! No fair cheating and looking words up in the dictionary! And yes, that means you, PH.

kanban: (ˈkän-ˌbän)1. The restriction of beverage containers in Ketchikan, AK. 2. The lack of canned vegetables at a kangaroo convention 3. The elimination of the University of Kansas in the NCAA Division I basketball tournament (which generally makes Duke University feel better)

Just to be sure I don’t cheat, I don’t look up the pronunciation of the Word of the Week until after I have taken a stab at the definitions (It is way too easy to see the definition when I’m looking up the pronunciation.). Therefore, my definitions may be way off once you see the pronunciation!

So, what’s your definition of kanban? Put it in the comment box below and submit your guess! “Points” for extra creative definitions!

Tomorrow’s Post: What did you do for your 26 Acts of Kindness this week?

Good morning, Word Lovers! It tickles me to see some of the $ 20 word discussions at the FB web site page. Oh. My. And I am in utter love with the submissions from last week’s post on the definition for last week’s word. And that leads me to…

For those of you wondering, fanfaronade was the Word of the Week last Monday and its definition is “empty boasting.” So, does this mean I get partial credit for my 3rd definition???

Today’s Word of the Week is: (Where are the percussionists in the family when I need a drumroll?) baba. (I may actually be able to pronounce this one!)

Same rules apply as from last week–no dictionaries allowed! Thus, submit a comment with your definition and we’ll see who gets the closest.

Here’s my attempt:

baba (bä-bä): 1. the sounds a baby makes when a sheep walks by. 2. the slang version of “baby” when Rudy Huxtable is lip-syncing a song from her parents’ era in honor of her grandparents’ wedding anniversary 3. the sounds an MIP blogger makes before she has her morning coffee.

If I get it right, do I get to engage in some fanfaronade? ;D Your turn!

Tomorrow’s blog: Have you finished your mission for 26 Tuesdays? Last chance to let me know so I can include you in this week’s tally. 🙂