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…

You Might Also Like: Word of the Week: calumny and Word of the Week: anabasis

Good morning, Word Nerds! Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was anabasis. No one had a guess for anabasis, so let’s find out what Merriam-Webster says about the definition:

1. a going or marching up as in a military advance

2. a difficult and dangerous military retreat

Let me guess: the battle of the Little Big Horn was a bit of an anabasis for Custer.

This week’s WOW is calumny. Here are my guesses for its definition:

calumny (ˈka-ləm-nē) 1. column-y 2. like Callum 3. a quandary created by Californians

What’s your guess about calumny. Submit a comment below this post!

Wednesday’s Post: Journaling as Prayer…

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If you think you missed the WOW post last week, you didn’t. Last week just wasn’t my week! But here is the Merriam-Webster Online definition for chatoyant from 2 weeks ago: having a changeable luster or color with an undulating narrow band of white light. Perhaps one should call their dermatologist if he or she has chatoyant skin??? Or to Ghostbusters???

Today’s Word of the Week (WOW) is eolian. My definition guesses for eolian are as follows:

eolian (ē-ˈō-lē-ən, –ˈōl-yən) 1. linoleum that has lost its lint 2. linoleum that has lost its chatoyant qualities 3. one who insists on using margarine

What’s your guess for eolian? Submit it here to see if you are right!

Wednesday’s Post: Jesus is a Nomad…

You Might Also Like: Word of the Week: chatoyant; Word of the Week: nonage; Word of the Week: chinoiserie; and Word of the Week: plastron

It’s a little difficult to do your WOW post when there’s no internet service at your house. I had to remind myself how to do things without wifi yesterday. When your memory is already sketchy, retrieving information from the early 1970s gives me one large pain in my neck and head.

To add insult to injury, it was once again time for me to come up with a new list of words I don’t know. Merriam-Webster Online recently got a face lift and of course, it’s now a lot harder to find their Word of the Day Archives that I use for this purpose. Argh.

I probably should address my tendency towards procrastination. I’ll work on that tomorrow.

Anyway, you have my apologies for not posting “normally”. Here’s a very belated WOW post:

Last week’s WOW was chinoiserie. Merriam-Webster says chinoiserie means: a style in art (as in decoration) reflecting Chinese qualities or motifs; also:  an object or decoration in this style. So, one of my guesses was getting close to the correct meaning! Woohoo!

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

nonage: (ˈnä-nij, ˈnō-) 1. when Vonage has no cell signal 2. what MaryAnn would like to do in her old age physically 3. that which contributes to nothingness (what?!)

What’s your guess for nonage? Go here to tell me!

Wednesday’s Post: Is there any benefit to a night owl getting up earlier?

You Might Also Like: Word of the Week: chinoiserie; Word of the Week: plastron; Word of the Week: abecedarian; and Word of the Week: zeitgeber

Book Club: The March 2015 MIP Book Club Selection must mean I’m a masochist. See why.

Good morning, Word Lovers! Last week’s WOW was abecedarian. Merriam-Webster Online says that it means: one learning the rudiments of something (as the alphabet). I am probably an abecedarian about more things than I care to admit. Exhibit A: I’m typing this while on a plane, which means I have to learn the rudiments of gogoinflight. Let’s just say I’ll probably be an abecedarian about that for more than one flight.

This week’s WOW is memesis. This sounds very sciencey to me. What? You don’t think sciencey is a word? I’m using it anyway. Since science wasn’t exactly my strong suit in school, this should be entertaining for Readerland. Here are my very unscientific guesses for mimesis:

mimesis (\mə-ˈmē-səs, mī-)  1. the biological process which occurs when I sing a do-re-mi scale too early in the morning. 2. what happens to MaryAnn when she drinks a mimosa without a straw. 3. when I become my own nemesis

What are your guesses for mimesis? Go here to tell me how wrong I am.

Wednesday’s Post: Word of the Day

You Might Also Like: Word of the Week: abecedarian; Word of the Week: zeitgeber; Word of the Week: solatium; and Word of the Week: crepitate

Good morning, Word Lovers! Last week’s WOW was zeitgeber. This word intrigued a bunch of you! Unfortunately, no one successfully guessed the definition. Merriam-Webster says that zeitgeber is: an environmental agent or event (as the occurrence of light or dark) that provides the stimulus setting or resetting a biological clock of an organism. If that is the case, then clearing brush from lots is a zeitgeber for me!

Today’s word is no “shrinking violet.” Why? Because it’s not exactly a short word! And I feel like I should know abecedarian. Let’s see how close I can get to the true definition:

abecedarian: (ā-bē-sē-ˈder-ē-ən) 1. a person who likes to recite the alphabet 2. a person who does math exclusively with an abacus 3. a person who dares others to recite their ABCs in public

What’s your guess for abecedarian? Go here to tell me about it!

Wednesday’s Post: An odd day…

Book Club: This Friday’s post will be the Slow Reader Friday discussion of Christine Caine’s Unstoppable. This book is quickly becoming one of my favorites!

Compassion Counseling Center: We have $ 760 to raise by 1/15/15. If you would like to help people in our area get much-needed counseling, please go to the link to the right and donate. Memorial/Tribute gifts can be given in honor of a special person in your life and organizations can become a Compassion partner for a contribution of at least $ 500. Our partners and our Tribute honorees will be published on our web site. Compassion is now a 501(c)(3) public charity and U.S. donations to Compassion are tax deductible.

The 12 Days of MIP:  Beginning this Wednesday I will start revealing my favorite blog posts for this year. Do you have favorites? Go here and tell me about why you liked a particular post!

Book Club: Once again, a book comes into my life right when I need it! Have you started reading Unstoppable by Christine Caine? Click here for more details.

Compassion Counseling Center Update: We had our first fundraiser for Compassion this past Saturday and it was a lot of fun. If you wished you could attend, but didn’t, there is still time to participate! Debbie Noel will allow all of us to buy gifts for our family and friends until December 10th (and yes, they can be sent directly to your gift recipient in time for Christmas!) and give her commission and 15% of the sales to Compassion! In addition, she is offering great bargains to all participants. Debbie fought off the flu to make fabulous food and fun for all who attended. Please at least visit here to see the products she offers. Thanks!

Fast Five: I will be posting about the final short book of the Bible–Jude. (Why does a Beatles song always “play” in my head when I see that name???)

Howdy, Word Lovers! One of the counselors-in-training for Compassion Counseling Center said she looked up malversation last week and that I was really close on my 3rd definition guess. Here’s Merriam-Webster’s definition: misbehavior and especially corruption in an office, trust, or commission or corrupt administration. Since my 3rd guess was “a discussion between Congress and President Obama,” I’m putting this in my “win” column on Word of the Week.

This week’s WOW (Word of the Week) is refulgence. Here are my guesses for refulgence:

refulgence (ri-ˈfu̇l-jən(t)s) 1. the gastric response to too many refills 2. reefer indulgence 3. the lovely smell that remains on your hands when you overfill your car gas tank at the gas station

What’s your guess for refulgence? Go here to submit your guess.

Wednesday’s Post: Hey, Jude…

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Book Club: Are you Unstoppable? No? Well, let’s work on that. Go here for the details!

Compassion Counseling Center Update: Our web site is up! Go here to see it!  The DSL (who created this web site) created Compassion’s site. I’m impressed. How about you?

Happy Thanksgiving Week, Word Lovers! (I figure if stores can have “Black Friday Week” that’s really a day, we can have a week of giving thanks, right???) Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was infix. No one knew this one! So, let’s consult Merriam-Webster for a little help. There are actually 3 definitions for infix: to fasten or fix by piercing or thrusting in; to impress firmly in the consciousness or disposition; and to insert (as a sound or letter) as an infix.

I would like to state, for the record, that my last definition guess (last week) was kinda close. Why? Because it almost never is. So there.

Book Club Fans: This coming Friday is the Slow Reader Friday review for Patsy Clairmont’s Twirl. Give Twirl a whirl! 🙂

Random Post Alert! For the next two weeks, there won’t be any Fast Five posts as I get things ready for a Thanksgiving family get-together, so you know what that means, don’t you? A random post from me. This could be serious trouble.

Top Mommy Blog Reminder! If you like what you read here, please click on the icon to the right and rate my blog! You can rate it as many times as you like. Thanks!

Last week’s Word of the Week (WOW) was opusculum. No one knew this word, but the hubby said he looked it up. He said I wouldn’t like the definition. I now know why. Merriam-Webster Online defines opusculum as a minor work (as of literature) —usually used in plural. That pretty much describes all posts at MIP. *le sigh*

Today’s WOW is infix. I keep thinking I should know this word, but since the brain cells are dying by the nanosecond, it escapes me. I’ll lay odds I’m going to hear from several of you about the definition for this one, as a result. Here are my guesses for infix:

infix: (ˈin-ˌfiks) 1. the opposite of “fixin’ to” in Texas 2. fixing the Inn 3. attaching something to the internal part of something else. 4. fixing dinner when it’s too cold and snowy outside

What’s your guess for infix? Submit it here!

Wednesday’s Post: Hmmmm….maybe a Lessons Learned???? 

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