Search found 1104 matches
- Sat Jan 18, 2014 6:54 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Postiche
- Replies: 10
- Views: 14442
Re: Postiche
On the difference between a pastiche and a parody, Mel Brooks' comedies Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein are mixtures of stock elements from the original Westerns and Horror Films, respectively, e.g., sheriffs, Indians, bad guys, castles, hunchbacks, etc. They are pastiches (mixtures) which ma...
- Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:34 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Oocephalus
- Replies: 1
- Views: 4082
Re: Oocephalus
Far outnumbered by the "stipecephalus," or blockhead.
- Thu Jan 16, 2014 1:07 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Postiche
- Replies: 10
- Views: 14442
Re: Postiche
A "pastiche" is both an imitation and a hodgepodge. The two senses of "pastiche" with examples are discussed here:
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Pastiche
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Pastiche
- Sat Jan 04, 2014 8:25 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Deference
- Replies: 1
- Views: 4558
Re: Deference
Contrary to what one might expect, replacing the prefix "de" meaning "away" in "deference" with its opposite, "in" does not produce an antonym of "deference," but "inference," a word which is neither a synonym nor an antonym. (Is there a na...
- Fri Jan 03, 2014 9:37 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Toxophilite
- Replies: 2
- Views: 5688
Re: Toxophilite
According to my researches, Toxophilus "was (not only) a treatise on archery but it was was also an argument for writing in the vernacular: in English. You could say he (Roger Ascham) shot two birds with one arrow." http://wordsmith.org/words/toxophilite.html A Wikipedia article expands (o...
- Thu Jan 02, 2014 11:08 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Bumptious
- Replies: 3
- Views: 6231
Re: Bumptious
Not always.
bumptious: humorously hunchbacked, e.g. Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein.
bumptious: humorously hunchbacked, e.g. Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein.
- Wed Jan 01, 2014 3:39 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Hogmanay
- Replies: 3
- Views: 5301
Re: Hogmanay
There's little to do except get out of the way of this one. Wikipedia (the Rodney Dangerfield of authorities) does have a warm song associated with Hog, Hog,...you say it! Haste ye back, we loue you dearly, Call again you're welcome here. May your days be free from sorrow, And your friends be ever n...
- Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:59 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Dissemble
- Replies: 1
- Views: 4106
Re: Dissemble
Animals dissemble through mimicry and camouflage.
- Mon Dec 30, 2013 2:27 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Noel
- Replies: 7
- Views: 9813
Re: Noel
Are you in an arroyo, Philip? There was an echo.
NOEL, noel,....
NOEL, noel,....
- Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:49 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Troglodyte
- Replies: 17
- Views: 22761
Re: Troglodyte
Where are the trogs of yesteryear, Luke? Take your trog, is he retired with brain damage from a career in pro football? A happy grandfather dandling his grandson on his knee? I personally knew no trogs, being of modest un-troglike dimensions. Water seeks its own level, bulk its bulk. I do recall the...
- Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:03 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Troglodyte
- Replies: 17
- Views: 22761
Re: Troglodyte
Hoppius' Amoenitates Academicae (1763) classified primates (Anthropomorpha) into the following categories: 1. Troglodyta Bontii, 2. Lucifer Aldrovandi, 3. Satyrus Tulpii, 4. Pygmaeus Edwardi According to a blog on the "Frontiers of Zoology," 2. refers to the Gibbon, 3. to the Chimpanzee, a...
- Sat Dec 28, 2013 7:49 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Gobemouche
- Replies: 4
- Views: 7167
Re: Gobemouche
And speaking of coincidences, "scaramouche," the name of a stock character in Italian comedy, is unrelated to "gobemouche" it turns out. Different "mouches." See http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=scaramouche Just thought I'd bring this dead end to your attention....
- Fri Dec 27, 2013 7:11 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Gobbledygook
- Replies: 2
- Views: 6620
Re: Gobbledygook
Government Gobbledegook "is dying a slow painful death" according to a recent news article : http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/19/12840181-government-gobbledygook-its-dying-a-slow-painful-death?lite Across the pond, actor Richard Gere was awarded a Golden Bull award for his outstandi...
- Wed Dec 25, 2013 2:34 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Noel
- Replies: 7
- Views: 9813
Re: Noel
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
1563 Noël is a main belt asteroid with an orbital period of 1184.8564680 days (3.24 years).
The asteroid was discovered on March 7, 1943.
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1563
1563 Noël is a main belt asteroid with an orbital period of 1184.8564680 days (3.24 years).
The asteroid was discovered on March 7, 1943.
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1563
- Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:13 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Swaddle
- Replies: 3
- Views: 6513
Re: Swaddle
That swaddled infants resemble swaddled mummies is a well-known if unsettling fact. Infants enter life swaddled; Pharoes once departed the same way. Why? TLC, I suppose. My limited online research shows that if Christ were born today he might not have been swaddled because "Aside from increased...