brouhaha- a loud confused noise; commotion; uproar
- French, of imitative origin
What's clear from this brouhaha is that the foreign policy has zero support from the states and cultures involved.
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
#180 brisance
brisance- the shattering effect or power of an explosion or explosive
- C20 from French, from briser to break, ultimately of Celtic origin; Old Irish brissim
This explosive is supposed to be 30% more powerful than dynamite containing 60% nitroglycerin, and has 30% more brisance.
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- C20 from French, from briser to break, ultimately of Celtic origin; Old Irish brissim
This explosive is supposed to be 30% more powerful than dynamite containing 60% nitroglycerin, and has 30% more brisance.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
#179 brio
brio- liveliness or vigour; spirit
- C19 from Italian, Celtic origin
His Richard III had a hypnotic power, an evil elegance and wit the like of which I had never seen before and have not seen since, and in certain comic parts his imaginative brio is quite superlative.
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- C19 from Italian, Celtic origin
His Richard III had a hypnotic power, an evil elegance and wit the like of which I had never seen before and have not seen since, and in certain comic parts his imaginative brio is quite superlative.
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Sunday, June 27, 2010
#178 brigand
brigand- a bandit, plunderer, especially a member of a gang operating in mountainous areas
- C14 from Old French, from Old Italian brigante fighter, from brigare to fight from briga strife of Celtic origin
But "a pistol in the hand of a brigand is also power," but do you think that I should be morally obliged to give him my purse?
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- C14 from Old French, from Old Italian brigante fighter, from brigare to fight from briga strife of Celtic origin
But "a pistol in the hand of a brigand is also power," but do you think that I should be morally obliged to give him my purse?
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Saturday, June 26, 2010
#177 bric-a-brac
bric-a-brac- miscellaneous small objects, especially furniture and curios, kept because they are ornamnetal or rare
- C19 from French; phrase based on bric piece
She wandered round, picking up delicate silver, bric-a-brac and china, smelling at the bowl of flowers, fingering the books which someone had thoughtfully placed at the bedside, examining the window hangings and the bedspread on the bed with its important carved head-board.
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- C19 from French; phrase based on bric piece
She wandered round, picking up delicate silver, bric-a-brac and china, smelling at the bowl of flowers, fingering the books which someone had thoughtfully placed at the bedside, examining the window hangings and the bedspread on the bed with its important carved head-board.
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Friday, June 25, 2010
#176 bravado
bravado- vaunted display of courage or self-confidence; swagger
- C16 from Spanish bravada, from Old Italian bravare- to challenge , provoke, from bravo- wild
Their bravado is a cover up for a desperate fear they will be exposed as ordinary humans.
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- C16 from Spanish bravada, from Old Italian bravare- to challenge , provoke, from bravo- wild
Their bravado is a cover up for a desperate fear they will be exposed as ordinary humans.
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Thursday, June 24, 2010
#175 bramble
bramble- any of various prickly herbaceous plants or shrubs of the blackberry family, or dog rose
- Old English braembel; Old Saxon bramal, Old High German bramo
It doesn't amuse me scrambling over rocks and scratching my legs in bramble bushes.
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- Old English braembel; Old Saxon bramal, Old High German bramo
It doesn't amuse me scrambling over rocks and scratching my legs in bramble bushes.
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
#174 braggadocio
braggadocio- vain empty boasting; a braggart
- C16 from Braggadocchio- name of a boastful character in Spenser's Faerie Queene
Implicit in all this braggadocio is a growing suspicion abroad, rightly or wrongly, that a more naive, more unsteady America is broke, tired and unwilling to confront challenges as in the past.
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- C16 from Braggadocchio- name of a boastful character in Spenser's Faerie Queene
Implicit in all this braggadocio is a growing suspicion abroad, rightly or wrongly, that a more naive, more unsteady America is broke, tired and unwilling to confront challenges as in the past.
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Tuesday, June 22, 2010
#173 brae
brae- a hill or hillside; slope; an upland area
- C14 bra; related to Old Norse bra- eyelash; Old High German brawa- eyebrow
The brae is a little trying, sir. Speaking as a physician, I should say that you would do well to rest here before you go further.
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- C14 bra; related to Old Norse bra- eyelash; Old High German brawa- eyebrow
The brae is a little trying, sir. Speaking as a physician, I should say that you would do well to rest here before you go further.
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Monday, June 21, 2010
#172 bracken
bracken- large course ferns having large fronds with spore cases along the undersides and extensive underground stems; a clump of any of these ferns
- C14 Scandinavian origin; Swedish braken, Danish bregne
The hectares previously cultivated have now reverted to grassland and heath, and bracken is encroaching.
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- C14 Scandinavian origin; Swedish braken, Danish bregne
The hectares previously cultivated have now reverted to grassland and heath, and bracken is encroaching.
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Sunday, June 20, 2010
#171 boycott
boycott- to refuse to have dealings with a person, organization or refuse to buy something as a protest or means of coercion: to boycott foreign produce
- C19 after Captain C. Boycott (1832-97) Irish land agent for the Earl of Erne who was a victim of such practices for refusing to reduce rents
I think a boycott is a reasonable response, although the workers will suffer more than the greedy shareholders.
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- C19 after Captain C. Boycott (1832-97) Irish land agent for the Earl of Erne who was a victim of such practices for refusing to reduce rents
I think a boycott is a reasonable response, although the workers will suffer more than the greedy shareholders.
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Saturday, June 19, 2010
#170 bowdlerize/bowdlerise
bowdlerize/bowdlerise- to remove passages of words regarded as indecent from a play, novel, etc.
- C19 after Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825) English editor who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare
Later, when the novel appeared in book form, the Comstocks began an action to have it suppressed, and forced the publisher to bowdlerize it.
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- C19 after Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825) English editor who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare
Later, when the novel appeared in book form, the Comstocks began an action to have it suppressed, and forced the publisher to bowdlerize it.
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Friday, June 18, 2010
#169 boutade
boutade- outburst, sally
- C17 from French, from bouter- to thrust
He objected to the brothers that they "affected the obsolete when it was not worthy of revival," and his boutade about their own poetry is well known.
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- C17 from French, from bouter- to thrust
He objected to the brothers that they "affected the obsolete when it was not worthy of revival," and his boutade about their own poetry is well known.
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Thursday, June 17, 2010
#168 bourgeois
bourgeois- (often disparaging) a member of the middle class, especially one regarded as being conservative and materialistic or (in Marxist thought) a capitalist exploiting the working class; a mediocre, unimaginative, or materialistic person
- C16 from Old French borjois, burgeis- burgher, citizen, from bourg- town
- also bourgeoise
Hatred of the bourgeois is the beginning of virtue. ~ Gustav Flaubert
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- C16 from Old French borjois, burgeis- burgher, citizen, from bourg- town
- also bourgeoise
Hatred of the bourgeois is the beginning of virtue. ~ Gustav Flaubert
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Wednesday, June 16, 2010
#167 boule
boule- the parliament in modern Greece; the senate of an ancient Greek city state
- from Greek boule- senate
In Greek antiquity, a legislative council, originally aristocratic, consisting of the heads of the citizen families, sitting under the presidency of the king. Later, in Ionian states, where a democratic polity had prevailed, the boule, particularly at Athens, became a second or higher popular assembly, corresponding to the senate in modern governments. At Athens the boule consisted of 500 citizens over 30 years of age, chosen annually by lot. 50 from each tribe. It had charge of the official religious rites important in the ancient world, and its chief legislative duties were to examine or prepare bills for presentation to the popular assembly (the real governing body), which could modify or reject the conclusions reached by the senate, and to advise the assembly regarding affairs of state. The Athenian boule had also some executive functions, especially in connection with the management of the navy and the cavalry.
- from Greek boule- senate
In Greek antiquity, a legislative council, originally aristocratic, consisting of the heads of the citizen families, sitting under the presidency of the king. Later, in Ionian states, where a democratic polity had prevailed, the boule, particularly at Athens, became a second or higher popular assembly, corresponding to the senate in modern governments. At Athens the boule consisted of 500 citizens over 30 years of age, chosen annually by lot. 50 from each tribe. It had charge of the official religious rites important in the ancient world, and its chief legislative duties were to examine or prepare bills for presentation to the popular assembly (the real governing body), which could modify or reject the conclusions reached by the senate, and to advise the assembly regarding affairs of state. The Athenian boule had also some executive functions, especially in connection with the management of the navy and the cavalry.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
#166 boubou/bubu
boubou/bubu- a long flowing garment worn by men and women in Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and some other parts of Africa
- native name in Mali
Wednesday in the small Senegalese village of Dal Diam, where he was given a traditional robe known as a boubou to wear, as if to justify the nickname the daily Le Soleil had given him that morning: "Clinton the African.
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- native name in Mali
Wednesday in the small Senegalese village of Dal Diam, where he was given a traditional robe known as a boubou to wear, as if to justify the nickname the daily Le Soleil had given him that morning: "Clinton the African.
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Monday, June 14, 2010
#165 bosh
bosh- informal- empty or meaningless talk or opinions, nonsense
- C19 from Turkish bos- empty
What bosh is all this?" he asked, after a moment, in a hard, unsympathetic tone.
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- C19 from Turkish bos- empty
What bosh is all this?" he asked, after a moment, in a hard, unsympathetic tone.
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Sunday, June 13, 2010
#164 boscage/boskage
boscage/boskage- literary- a mass of trees and shrubs, thicket; also bosk
C14 from Old French bosc
I stumbled upon a cemetery of old gilt tombs, absolutely overgrown and lost, and thrice caught glimpses of little trellised yalis choked in boscage.
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C14 from Old French bosc
I stumbled upon a cemetery of old gilt tombs, absolutely overgrown and lost, and thrice caught glimpses of little trellised yalis choked in boscage.
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Saturday, June 12, 2010
#163 borscht
borsch, borsh, borscht- a Russian and Polish soup based on beetroot
- C19- from Russian borshch
Borscht is close to my heart. I make a large pot regularly with all the vegetables you can imagine but beets is not one of them.
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- C19- from Russian borshch
Borscht is close to my heart. I make a large pot regularly with all the vegetables you can imagine but beets is not one of them.
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Friday, June 11, 2010
#162 borough
borough- a town, municipality, district that forms a constituency or governing body
- Old English burg; related to beorgan- to shelter, Old Norse borg- wall; Gothic baurgs-city; Old High German- burg- fortified castle
The borough offered each citizen $400 as compensation.
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- Old English burg; related to beorgan- to shelter, Old Norse borg- wall; Gothic baurgs-city; Old High German- burg- fortified castle
The borough offered each citizen $400 as compensation.
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Thursday, June 10, 2010
#161 bordello
bordello- a brothel
-C16 from Italian, from Old French borde- hut, cabin
As a 21st century take on decadence, the style - let's call it bordello chic - relies heavily on the lushness of 19th century.
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-C16 from Italian, from Old French borde- hut, cabin
As a 21st century take on decadence, the style - let's call it bordello chic - relies heavily on the lushness of 19th century.
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Wednesday, June 9, 2010
#160 boondoggle
boondoggle- futile and unnecessary work, project
- coined by R. H. Link, American scoutmaster
Some call the marina, which is getting 15 million in federal stimulus money, a giant boondoggle.
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- coined by R. H. Link, American scoutmaster
Some call the marina, which is getting 15 million in federal stimulus money, a giant boondoggle.
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Tuesday, June 8, 2010
#159 bon mot
bon mot- a clever and fitting remark
- French- literally- good word
Bon mot is a shaft of wit.
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- French- literally- good word
Bon mot is a shaft of wit.
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Monday, June 7, 2010
#158 bonhomie
bonhomie- exuberant friendliness
- C18 from French, from bonhomme- good-humoured fellow, from bon good+homme man
A state known for gently rolling grasslands, rich black soils and cowboy bonhomie is increasingly noted for flaring tempers.
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- C18 from French, from bonhomme- good-humoured fellow, from bon good+homme man
A state known for gently rolling grasslands, rich black soils and cowboy bonhomie is increasingly noted for flaring tempers.
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Sunday, June 6, 2010
#157 bona fide
bona fide- real or genuine; undertaken in good faith
- C16 from Latin
The bona fide manuscript was displayed in the museum.
We have a bona fide agreement.
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- C16 from Latin
The bona fide manuscript was displayed in the museum.
We have a bona fide agreement.
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Saturday, June 5, 2010
#156 bludger
bludger- a person who scrounges; a person who avoids work; a person in authority regarded as ineffectual by those working under him
- Australian, New Zealand- informal
The rogue bludger undermined the good will shown by the other team members working on the project.
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- Australian, New Zealand- informal
The rogue bludger undermined the good will shown by the other team members working on the project.
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Friday, June 4, 2010
#155 blithe
blithe- very happy or cheerful; heedless; casual and indifferent
- Old English- blithe
- also blithely, blitheness
She accepted the honor and the duties in blithe confidence, never dreaming of difficulties.
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- Old English- blithe
- also blithely, blitheness
She accepted the honor and the duties in blithe confidence, never dreaming of difficulties.
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Thursday, June 3, 2010
#154 blatant
blatant- glaringly conspicuous or obvious; offensively noticeable
- C16 coined by Edmund Spenser; influenced by Latin blatire- to babble; Low German- pladderen
- also blatancy- noun, blatantly- adverb
That's a blatant lie. Moreover, you have a blatant disregard for the truth.
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- C16 coined by Edmund Spenser; influenced by Latin blatire- to babble; Low German- pladderen
- also blatancy- noun, blatantly- adverb
That's a blatant lie. Moreover, you have a blatant disregard for the truth.
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Tags: word of the day, best words, etymology, spelling, vital, useful, expressive, emotional, strategic, onomatopoeic, connotation, how to, English usage, language, learning, mnemonic devices, vocabulary, quoteflections, quotation, quotes
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
#153 blancmange
blancmange- a jelly-like dessert, stiffened usually with cornflour and set in a mould
- C14 from Old French blanchir from blanc white
What is that thing that looks like an inebriated blancmange?
Companion site: quoteflections- a regular, eclectic mind fix
Tags: word of the day, best words, etymology, spelling, vital, useful, expressive, emotional, strategic, onomatopoeic, connotation, how to, English usage, language, learning, mnemonic devices, vocabulary, quoteflections, quotation, quotes
- C14 from Old French blanchir from blanc white
What is that thing that looks like an inebriated blancmange?
Companion site: quoteflections- a regular, eclectic mind fix
Tags: word of the day, best words, etymology, spelling, vital, useful, expressive, emotional, strategic, onomatopoeic, connotation, how to, English usage, language, learning, mnemonic devices, vocabulary, quoteflections, quotation, quotes
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
#152 blain
blain- a blister, blotch, or sore on the skin
- Old English blegen; related to Middle Low German bleine
The blain is more frequent in spring and summer than at other seasons for some animals.
Companion site: quoteflections- a regular, eclectic mind fix
Tags: word of the day, best words, etymology, spelling, vital, useful, expressive, emotional, strategic, onomatopoeic, connotation, how to, English usage, language, learning, mnemonic devices, vocabulary, quoteflections, quotation, quotes
- Old English blegen; related to Middle Low German bleine
The blain is more frequent in spring and summer than at other seasons for some animals.
Companion site: quoteflections- a regular, eclectic mind fix
Tags: word of the day, best words, etymology, spelling, vital, useful, expressive, emotional, strategic, onomatopoeic, connotation, how to, English usage, language, learning, mnemonic devices, vocabulary, quoteflections, quotation, quotes
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