Seldom-Used Words

[patrick1]

Originally Posted by Handley_Page

adroit /drt/ a. M17. [(O)Fr., f. adv. phr. a droit; according to right, properly.]
Physically or mentally resourceful; dexterous, skilful.adroitly adv. M18. adroitness n. M18.

[I believe it stems from the French a droit, 'at right']


adroit adjective
1. his adroit handling of the boat|adroit at tennis skilful, skilled, expert, adept, dexterous, deft, clever, able, capable, competent, masterly, proficient.
2. an adroit politician skilful, expert, adept, clever, quick-thinking, quick-witted, cunning, artful, resourceful, astute, shrewd.

---------------------------------------------------------
Excerpted from Oxford Talking Dictionary
Copyright © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Isn't this interesting, the association in both English and French between the right hand and rightness meaning correctness?

I presume this is reflected in a subtle joke by the makers of the fairly subtle tv series 'Dexter', in so naming the character who is both a serial killer, and the one we empathise with.

Sinisterly yours

Patrick

[Tio_Narratore]

Originally Posted by patrick1

Isn't this interesting, the association in both English and French between the right hand and rightness meaning correctness?

I presume this is reflected in a subtle joke by the makers of the fairly subtle tv series 'Dexter', in so naming the character who is both a serial killer, and the one we empathise with.

Sinisterly yours

Patrick

Yes, Patrick, and in Latin, "left" is "sinister."

[AllardChardon]

How simply fascinating, gentlemen. I truly enjoy the interaction.

Patrick, my adult children love Dexter, which I have not watched, but I do see the similarity with the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and am a big fan of Stephen Sondheim and Johnny Depp, so I am sympathetic to despicable characters. Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein, Dracula, the Were Wolf have all been played with the same card, otherwise they would have been seen as monsters, like Hitler.

I found this entry and immediately wanted one for myself;

remembrancer - noun one that reminds; esp. : one of several English officials originally appointed to remind a government authority

[trysail]

graphene • n., an allotrope of carbon, whose structure is one-atom-thick planar sheets of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice; the crystalline or "flake" form of graphite consists of many graphene sheets stacked together. The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2010 was awarded to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene."






You're likely to hear this word used more frequently in the future as the material may have physical and electrical properties that could make it ideal for microelectronic applications and in nanotechnology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

...

I found this entry and immediately wanted one for myself;

remembrancer - noun one that reminds; esp. : one of several English officials originally appointed to remind a government authority

The King's Remembrancer didn't have to remember it all. He kept the files (including the secret ones).

The UK's National Archives has a set of data called The King's Remembrancer Files and they can be searched on-line. They are generally boring accounts because Kings were always interested in money and taxes.

The Papal Archives, kept by what we English referred to as the Pope's Remembrancer, were the most extensive archive of knowledge in medieval Europe. The controller of the archive knew so much that he was indispensable - he knew where the darkest secrets lay buried.

[TE999]

I've always thought that the word 'aerodrome' had a more romantic feel to it than the prosaic 'airport'. I guess flying doesn't have the sense of adventure it once had.

[mynameisben]

Originally Posted by TE999

I've always thought that the word 'aerodrome' had a more romantic feel to it than the prosaic 'airport'. I guess flying doesn't have the sense of adventure it once had.

You're right about that. I would much rather soar the wild blue yonder at the clutching hands of an adventure-loving aviatrix, rather than be flown by the machinery and programmed subroutines of autopilot.

[elfin_odalisque]

Originally Posted by mynameisben

You're right about that. I would much rather soar the wild blue yonder at the clutching hands of an adventure-loving aviatrix, rather than be flown by the machinery and programmed subroutines of autopilot.

And why can't we be aeronauts again instead of boring 'passengers'? A bit like astronauts and cosmonauts.

Aerodrome still exists - a piece of level ground for aircraft (not airplanes) and airships (!) to take off and land. 'Airport' derives from the latin for door 'porta' and, like a 'seaport' implies leaving somewhere. You usually return to the aerodrome at the end of the flight.

Just to add: After 'adroit', 'sinister' and 'dextrous', what about 'gauche' - adj. clumsy or awkward (fromfrench for 'left' - 'gauche')

So can we say that Democrats are gauche and republicans are adroit?

[trysail]

attar • n., 1. Also, atar, athar, ottar, otto. a perfume or essential oil obtained from flowers or petals,
2. Also called attar of roses. rose oil.






From the work of another product of tidewater, Pat Conroy, and his My Reading Life.

...There have been hundreds of novels about the Civil War, but Gone With The Wind stands like an obelisk in the dead center of American letters casting its uneasy shadow over all of us. It hooked into the sweet-smelling attar that romance always lends to the cause of a shamed and defeated people. Millions of Southerners lamented the crushing defeat of the Southern armies, but only one had the talent to place that elegaic sense of dissolution on the white shoulders of the most irresistable, spiderous, seditious, and wonderful of American heroines, Scarlett O'Hara...

[trysail]

Originally Posted by elfin_odalisque

...Just to add: After 'adroit', 'sinister' and 'dextrous', what about 'gauche' - adj. clumsy or awkward (from french for 'left' - 'gauche')...

The tattered remnants of my schoolboy Latin and the mnemonics [a]droit, sinistra and gauche are how I manage directions in French— be they in the mountains, upon the sea or in the city.

[AllardChardon]

Thanks, Gentlemen, for the great read this morning. Hi, TE999, mynameisben and elfin_odalisque, and thanks for contributing.

Og, I never considered the Pope might have a Remembrancer. Thanks for the enlightenment. I would love to ask him a few questions, including where Jesus and Mary's bones are hidden, but that is just the realist in me talking.

This right/left, good/bad slant on words is so interesting. I have known a few lefties in my lifetime and they don't seem so sinister or gauche to me. How difficult it must have been to be born left-handed back in olden times and even more recently. I recall a friend my age telling me he had his left hand whacked with a ruler by the nuns in Catholic school.

Finally, I might prefer to be called an aeronaut, if the frigging security did not make me feel like a criminal. The days of carefree flight are long gone. I prefer to drive, if possible, crazy as that seems.

reman - vt 1. to man again or anew 2. to imbue with courage again

[GeekyAsh]

Originally Posted by TE999

I've always thought that the word 'aerodrome' had a more romantic feel to it than the prosaic 'airport'. I guess flying doesn't have the sense of adventure it once had.

the most recent thing they've done in the 2012 edition of the Merriam and Webster (I think) dictionary? remove the word aerodrome and add shit, fuck, and other much inferior words.

[oggbashan]

The Shuttleworth collection of historic aircraft is based at The Old Warden Aerodrome.

[mynameisben]

Originally Posted by GeekyAsh

the most recent thing they've done in the 2012 edition of the Merriam and Webster (I think) dictionary? remove the word aerodrome and add shit, fuck, and other much inferior words.

If you think those additions profane the english language, how do you feel about the addition of "words" such as OMG, LMAO and MoFo?

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by trysail

The tattered remnants of my schoolboy Latin and the mnemonics [a]droit, sinistra and gauche are how I manage directions in French— be they in the mountains, upon the sea or in the city.

As long as you don't forget that 'toute droit' is straight on.

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

...

This right/left, good/bad slant on words is so interesting. I have known a few lefties in my lifetime and they don't seem so sinister or gauche to me. How difficult it must have been to be born left-handed back in olden times and even more recently. I recall a friend my age telling me he had his left hand whacked with a ruler by the nuns in Catholic school.

...

Both my parents were ambidextrous with a left-hand bias. At school in the 1920s they were not allowed to write with their left hands so they wrote with their right hand. As soon as he could, my father bought a typewriter and used that until his mid 90s.

My brother and sister were ambidextrous. My brother can write, draw and paint with either hand and, when he's showing off, both hands at once.

I'm ambisinistrous - equally incompetent with both hands. I use my right hand for most things but if my left is nearer, that hand will do. My wife and, when I was working, my secretary could decipher my scrawl. My secretary preferred to type from my audio dictation if possible. When I acquired a desktop computer terminal in the 1970s I used that whenever I could.

All three of my daughters are lefties but the eldest is reasonably competent with her right hand as well. My granddaughter is a leftie. My grandson (at 9 months) appears ambidextrous.

Left-handers have had a bad press over the centuries, perhaps because they were so unusual, and awkward for a right-handed fighter to deal with. A left-handed swordsman knew how to fight a right-handed opponent because most people were right-handed, but a right-hander facing a left-hander would be off balance.

There is a Scottish castle which has a spiral staircase designed for left-handed defenders because almost the whole clan were lefties.

[Handley_Page]

I managed to cause wholesale panic. I had polio when I was four. so I write with my right, but lift heavy thing with my left; like a pistol. I shoot a rifle the usual way.
Drove my instructors mad !

[AllardChardon]

I remember children getting polio, when I was young and soon enough the vaccine was given on a sugar cube at the school auditorium for the whole family, Handley. Funny the things one forgets as time goes by, like the thalidamide babies.

Og, I found the Kerr Clan very interesting and I am somewhat ambidextrous myself. The Shuttleworth collection was wonderful. You are so informative and add a lot to this thread. Thanks, again.

relume - vt to light or light up again: REKINDLE

relumine - vt RELUME

[patrick1]

Originally Posted by elfin_odalisque

And why can't we be aeronauts again instead of boring 'passengers'? A bit like astronauts and cosmonauts.

Aerodrome still exists - a piece of level ground for aircraft (not airplanes) and airships (!) to take off and land. 'Airport' derives from the latin for door 'porta' and, like a 'seaport' implies leaving somewhere. You usually return to the aerodrome at the end of the flight.

Just to add: After 'adroit', 'sinister' and 'dextrous', what about 'gauche' - adj. clumsy or awkward (fromfrench for 'left' - 'gauche')

So can we say that Democrats are gauche and republicans are adroit?

OMG WTF politics in the words thread

Ogg's remarks about ambi-ness chime with my own memories. Both my parents were left-handed and had trained themselves to be ambidextrous. Odd about the genes: my brother and I are both right-handed.

P

[AllardChardon]

Has anyone heard or read this one, other than its longer forms;

reluct - vi to feel or show repugnance or opposition: REVOLT

[AllardChardon]

Happy Labor Day weekend, I hope you don't have to labor very much. I am curious about my last entry, though. Could underlings reluct against their superiors? Sounds odd. I know a few people who resemble this next word;

religiose - adj excessively, obtrusively, or sentimentally religious

[Handley_Page]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Has anyone heard or read this one, other than its longer forms;

reluct - vi to feel or show repugnance or opposition: REVOLT

I am curious about my last entry, though. Could underlings reluct against their superiors?


I guess so, in theory.
It's where "Reluctance" comes from:-

reluct [L reluctari struggle against, f. as RE- + luctari to struggle.]
1 Strive or struggle to do.
2 Be reluctant; show reluctance, offer opposition, rebel, object.


---------------------------------------------------------
Excerpted from Oxford Talking Dictionary
Copyright © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


I should perhaps point out that there is a term used in magnetism, "reluctance", which defines the ability of an object to be magnetised.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_reluctance
It drove me mad when I was a student.

[Virtual_Burlesque]

I haven't read this whole thread yet.

Might I be defenestrated if I enter a word that has appeared before?

[mynameisben]

Originally Posted by Virtual_Burlesque

I haven't read this whole thread yet.

Might I be defenestrated if I enter a word that has appeared before?

You should go buy yourself a Mac if you're tired of getting thrown out of Windows.

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Happy Labor Day weekend, I hope you don't have to labor very much. I am curious about my last entry, though. Could underlings reluct against their superiors? Sounds odd. I know a few people who resemble this next word;

religiose - adj excessively, obtrusively, or sentimentally religious

A close relation is religeuse - a dedicated female acolyte such as a nun.

Chaucer's Prioress was a religeuse but not religiose.