Slang

airhead: stupid person. "Believe it or not, Dave can sometimes act like an airhead!" amigo: friend (from Spanish). "I met many amigos at Dave's ESL Cafe." ammunition: toilet paper. "Help! We're completely out of ammunition!" antifreeze: alcohol. "I'm going to need a lot of antifreeze tonight!" armpit: dirty, unappealing place. "This cheap motel is an absolute armpit!" ass [offensive] (1): backside. "I fell on my ass on the ski slopes." ass (2): an unworthy and hated person. "I cannot be friends when you act like an ass." awesome: great and impressive. "Dave's ESL Cafe is truly awesome!" baby boomer: a person born from the end of the Second World War until the early 1960s. "Dave Sperling was born in 1961, so he's considered a baby boomer." ball (1): a fun time. "I really had a ball in Dave's ESL class." ball [offensive] (2): a testicle. "After getting kicked in the balls, his voice seemed much higher." bang (1): a very powerful thing. "Disneyland is really a bang!" bang (2): a powerful effect. "Japanese sake really has a bang!" barf (1): vomit.

"My dog barfed all over the carpet." barf (2): vomit. "Don't step on the barf!" barf-out: a displeasing person or affair. "That restaurant was a real barf-out." bazillion: an infinite number of something. "Has Dennis really taught a bazillion students?" B-ball: basketball. "Do you wanna play b-ball with me?" beans: money. "I've worked for this company for ten years, but I still don't have beans." beat: tired. "I'm really beat because I was awake all night." beemer: a BMW. "He wants to buy a beemer when he makes more money." biggie: something important. "I was hoping to get my homework completed, but it's no biggie. " biker: a motorcycle rider. "Dave used to be a biker until he got into a serious motorcycle accident." bitch [offensive] (1): a very unpleasant woman. "My boss can be such a bitch sometimes." bitch [offensive] (2): complain. "Stop bitching and finish your homework!" bitchy [offensive]: moody. "I like my friend Steve, even though he can be really bitchy."

bod: body. "Stalone has a great bod!" bonkers; go bonkers: crazy. "If Dave works too hard, he sometimes goes slightly bonkers!" booboo: a mistake. "I made a booboo on the last question of the exam." boob tube: television. "Benjamin is always in front of the boob tube." booze: alcohol. "The ESL party was fun, even though there wasn't any booze." boss: excellent; great. "Dave's ESL Cafe is totally boss!" bread: money. "Can I borrow some bread?" brew (1): coffee. "Every morning Dave needs a fresh cup of brew." brew (2): beer. "Do you want another brew, dude?" brewski: beer. "I love drinking brewskies!" B.S.: bullshit; lies. "I'm tired of listening to your B.S." bull: bullshit; lie. "That's a bunch of bull!" bullshit [offensive]: lie; dishonesty.

"I dont like people that bullshit me" buns [possibly offensive]: the rear end; buttocks. "Don't stare at my buns!" bushed: extremely tired. "I'm completely bushed." butt: the buttocks. "Stop sitting on your butt and help me wash the dishes!" catch some rays: get some sunshine. "Let's go to the beach and catch some rays." cheesy: cheap; outmoded. "Why are you wearing such cheesy clothes?" chicken: coward. "Don't be such a chicken!" cool: excellent; superb. "Dave's ESL Cafe is totally cool!" cooler, the: jail. "If you drink and drive, you'll end up spending time in the cooler." couch potato: a person who watches too much television. "Why did I have to marry such a couch potato?" crap [offensive] (1): something worthless. "My furniture is a bunch of cheap crap." crap [offensive] (2): excrement. "Yuck! I stepped on dog crap!" crap [offensive] (3): falsehoods and lies. "I've had enough of your crap."

deck: to hit someone. "His wife almost decked him when he returned home with lipstick on his shirt." dicey: unpredictable; risky. "Gambling is a dicey occupation." dinero: money (from Spanish). "I wish I had more dinero!" dirt: extremely bad person. "My ex-boyfriend was dirt." dirty: offensive; pornographic. "Stop looking at the pictures in that dirty magazine!" dorky: strange; peculiar. "If you keep acting so dorky, you'll never get a girlfriend!" dude: a male. "That's really cool, dude!" dynamite: powerful; excellent. "Dave gave a dynamite presentation." dinosaur: something old fashioned or out of date. "I'd love to surf the Net, but unfortunately my computer is a dinosaur." el cheapo: something cheap. "Since I don't make much money, I always purchase the el cheapo brand." evil: great; excellent. "Your car is really evil!" eyeball: to stare long and hard at someone or something. "Dave eyeballed his daughter's new boyfriend." eyepopper: something or someone visibly astounding.

"Wow, that girl is truly an eyepopper!" fab: fabulous. "Dave's ESL Cafe is really fab!" face-off: confrontation. "I think it's time we had a face-off." fart [offensive]: to expel intestinal gas. "It's embarrassing to fart on the first date." fender-bender: small accident. "This morning I had a fender-bender on the Ventura Freeway." flaky: unpredictable. "I waited four hours for my flaky friend to show up." flashback: sudden memory. "In Little Tokyo I had a flashback to my days living in Japan." flick: movie. "Let's go out tonight and watch a flick." fox: attractive, alluring person. "Is it true that Dave is a fox?" freebie: something that does not cost money. "My trip to New York was a freebie." French kiss [possibly offensive]: kissing with the tongue. "Dave's dog is always trying to French kiss him!" geek: someone who works too hard, is more intelligent than usual, and is slightly unattractive. "Bill Gates is kind of a geek." get it: to understand something. "Sorry, but I just don't get it."

get naked [possibly offensive]: to completely relax and have a good time. "Let's get naked tonight!" glitch: flaw. "There must be a glitch in this softwware." go bananas: go slightly mad. "This project is causing me to go bananas!" gomer: a dumb person. "Stop acting like a gomer!" goof (1): a silly and foolish person. "What a goof you are!" goof (2): make a mistake. I really goofed on the test today." goof off (1): waste time. "Stop goofing off and help me clean the house!" goof-off (2): someone who wastes time and isn't serious. "A goof-off never does well in school" goof up: make a mistake. "Oh no! I really goofed up!" goofy: silly. "Kids always make me feel goofy!" grabbers: hands. "Have you washed your grabbers, Benjamin?" grand: one thousand dollars. "He's making over a hundred grand a year!" grass: marijuana.

"Have you ever smoked grass?" grub: food. "Where's the grub?!" grubby: not clean. "I always feel grubby in the morning." grungy: unclean and stinky. "Grungy people are not allowed in Dave's house!" gut: a person's stomach; belly. "Dave is getting a big gut because he loves chocolate ice cream and beer!" guts (1): courage. "It took a lot of guts to ask his boss for a raise." guts (2): the nature of something. "Let's get to the guts of Dave Sperling!" hairy: difficult; dangerous. "The steep and windy road was really hairy." hang a left: make a left turn. "Hang a left at the next corner." hang a right: make a right turn. "Hang a right at the next corner." head: toilet. "I really need to use the head!" hep: sensible; informed. "She's a really hep student." hickey: a love bite on the skin. "Wow! Is that a hickey on your neck?"

hip: sensible; informed. "He really tries hard to be hip." hooker [possibly offensive]: prostitute. "You'll find a lot of hookers in the red light district." horny [possibly offensive]: sexually stimulated; in the mood for sex. "Red wine seems to make my boyfriend horny. " hot (1): popular. "Brad Pitt is really hot now." hot (2): sexy. "Wow! Cindy Crawford is really hot!" humungous: really big. "American supermarkets are humungous." hungries, to have: be hungry. "I don't know about you, but I've got the hungries." hyper: overly excited. "Children often get hyper when they are tired." icky: unpleasant. "The food is really icky in the school cafeteria." I.D.: identification. "If you want to order a beer, you'll need your I.D." I'm outta here: I'm leaving; I'm departing. "Sorry, but I'm outta here, dude." in: fashionable. "Ray-Ban sunglasses are really in now." ivories: teeth.

"Tom Cruise has really beautiful ivories." jack around [possibly offensive]: waste time. "Will you please stop jacking around?" jam, in a (1): trouble. "If you're in a jam, I promise to help you." jam (2): improvise (musically). "I'd love to jam with Bon Jovi!" jamming, to be : going well. "Dave's ESL Cafe is really jamming!" jerk: stupid or annoying person. "How could you go out with such a jerk?" jillion: an immense number. "Do you really have a jillion problems?" jock: someone good at sports. "I've never been much of a jock." john: toilet. "Where's the john?" K (k): a thousand. "I could retire with 100 K (k)!" kick back: relax and enjoy. "I wish I could kick back at the beach today." kick off: die. "My dog finally kicked off." killer: something exceptional or great. "Wow, your boyfriend is killer!"

knock: condemn. "Don't knock it unless you've tried it." knockout: beautiful woman; handsome man. "Benjamin is already a knockout!" kook: peculiar person. "Stop acting like a kook!" laid back: relaxed; calm. "I always feel laid back at the beach." lame: incompetent. "Dave is really lame when is comes to fixing his car." lip: cheeky talk. "My students are always giving me lip!" loser: a bungling and worthless person. "Why are you dating such a loser?" love handles: excess fat around the waist. "Is it possible for Dave to lose his love handles?" luck out: to be lucky or fortunate. "You really luck out by visiting Dave's ESL Cafe!" make waves: cause problems. "Teachers don't like students to make waves." max, to the : maximum. "I'm happy to the max." mega: big. "American restaurants serve mega portions of food." megabucks: a large amount of money.

"It takes megabucks to live in Japan." mellow: relaxed. "I'm feeling very mellow this evening." mickey-mouse: unimportant; time-wasting. "I'm sick of this mickey-mouse job." monkey bite: a kiss that leaves a mark on the skin. "I don't want any monkey bites tonight, okay?" munch out: to eat voraciously. "Let's munch out on a large pizza!" nada: nothing (from Spanish). "I know nada about politics." neat: cool; great. "Isn't my new car neat?" noid: someone that's paranoid. "Why are you so noid?" nuke (1): nuclear weapon. "This world had too many nukes." nuke (2): destroy; delete. "Sorry, but I accidentally nuked your e-mail message." nuke (3): cook something in the microwave oven. "Can you nuke this frozen pizza for me?" nut (1): odd or crazy person. "Why are you always acting like a nut?" nut (2): someone passionate about something. "I'm a nut about computers."

nuts [offensive]: testicles. "Don't ever kick me in the nuts." okay: decent. "My boss is an okay person." OK: decent. "Dave is an okay person." pad: someone's home. "Can I sleep at your pad tonight?" party: celebrate. "Let's party tonight!"

party animal: someone that loves parties. "Dave has been known to sometimes be a party animal." paws: hands. "Get your paws off me!" peanuts: very little money. "I love my job, but the pay is peanuts." pee: to urinate. "I always have to pee after drinking beer." pickled: drunk. "He got pickled on vodka." pig out: eat too much. "Dave is famous for pigging out on chocolate ice cream." piss: to urinate. "My dog pissed on me!"

pissed (off): angry; upset. "I'm really pissed (off) at you." plastered: drunk. "Why does he always get plastered?" pad: someone's home. "Can I sleep at your pad tonight?" poop, the (1): knowledge; information. "What's the poop on Michael Jackson?" poop [offensive] (2): defecation; shit. "Be careful not to step on dog poop." poop out: get tired and quit. "I got pooped out after spending eight hours at Disneyland." pot (1): toilet. "Who's on the pot?" pot (2): marijuana. "It's easy to buy pot in the big city."

pro: someone who's good at something; professional. "She's really a pro at golf."

psycho: crazy person. "Stay away from that psycho!"

puke: vomit. "Alcohol makes some people puke."

pumped (up): excited. "I'm really pumped (up) about Dave's ESL Cafe!"

puss: the face. "My girlfriend slapped me right on the puss."

quarterback: leader. "Dave is the quarterback of Dave's ESL Cafe."

quick and dirty: done fast, but not well. "The mechanic did a quick and dirty repair on my car."

racket (1): noise. "Small kids can make a lot of racket."

racket (2): something that's dishonest or deceptive. "The Tobacco Industry is quite a racket."

racket (3): an occupation. "I've been in the ESL racket for fourteen years."

rank: give someone a difficult time. "She's always ranking her teacher."

rat: a despicable person. "I thought I loved you, but now I know you're really a rat."

razz: annoy someone. "Will you please stop razzing me?"

rear (end): buttocks. "Dave fell on his rear (end)."

riot, a : something or someone very funny. "Jim Carrey is a riot!"

rip off (1): stealing. "Someone ripped off my car."

rip off (2): fraud. "I paid $10,000 for my computer. What a rip off!"

rocking: great; excellent. "Dave's ESL class is really rocking!"

rubbish: nonsense; not true. "That rumor is a bunch of rubbish."

rug rat: a child.

"Dave has a couple of rug rats at home."

runs, the: diarrhea. "Oh no! I've got the runs!"

scarf: to eat. "I can easily scarf an entire banana split."

screw up: to make a mistake. "I screwed up on the driving test, so I didn't pass."

screw-up: a person who makes a mistake. "Why are you such a screw-up?"

scum: a despicable individual. "Don't hang around with that kind of scum."

shades: sunglasses. "Those are really cool shades!"

shoot some hoops: play basketball. "Let's shoot some hoops!"

silks: clothing. "Those are really awesome silks!"

smarts: intelligence. "It takes a lot of smarts to become a doctor."

smurfbrain: a dumb or stupid person. "Stop acting like a smurfbrain!"

snookered: cheated. "I got snookered into buying swamp land in Florida."

sofa spud: a person who watches too much television. "I'm usually a sofa spud on Sunday."

solid (1): really good; cool. "Dave's ESL Cafe is totally solid!"

solid (2): consecutive. "It's been raining for seven solid days."

specs: eyeglasses. "I didn't know that you wore specs."

split: to leave. "Let's split from here now."

spunk: spirit. "She might be small, but she's got a lot of spunk."

stoned (out): drunk from drugs or alcohol. "I'm really stoned (out), dude!"

street smart: knowledgeable about city life. "Since Dave is from Los Angeles, he's very street smart."

suck: to be bad and unacceptable. "That song really sucks!"

technicolor yawn, to do a : vomit. "My dog just did a technicolor yawn all over the carpet!"

thou: thousand. "I need to borrow a hundred thou."

threads: clothing. "My wife spent $900 on new threads."

ticker (1): the heart. "My grandfather has a bad ticker."

ticker (2): a watch.

"Wow! That's a really cool ticker!"

tints: sunglasses. "You have to wear tints in California."

totally: really; completely. "That's totally awesome, dude!"

to the max: maximum. "I studied to the max."

turkey (1): failure; flop. "Thank goodness that Dave's ESL Cafe is not a turkey!"

turkey (2): dumb person. "Turkeys are not allowed to work for this company."

turn-off: something that repulses a person. "Bad breath is a real turn-off."

umpteen: many; countless. "I've asked you umpteen times to show me the money!"

unlax: relax. "Dave needs to definitely unlax with his family."

upchuck: vomit. "She got sick and upchucked three times."

uptight: nervous; anxious. "Why are you so uptight?"

vanilla (1): plain. "She drives a vanilla car."

vanilla (2): Caucasian. "The Midwest is too vanilla for me."

wad: roll of money. "It's dangerous to carry a big wad in your pocket."

wasted: killed. "A lot of people get wasted in the streets of New York."

wheels: car; motorcycle. "If you want to live in Los Angeles, you've got to get some wheels"

whitebread: plain; boring. "Dave's ESL Cafe is definitely not whitebread!"

whiz (1): someone who shows a special talent for something. "Einstein was a whiz in Physics."

whiz [offensive] (2): to urinate. "I really have to take a whiz."

wimpy: weak. "Don't be so wimpy!"

winks, get some: sleep. "I really need to get some winks"

wrongo: wrong. "That is totally wrongo!"

yank (1): bother; harass. "Stop yanking me, okay?" Yank (2): a Yankee; an American. "Dave is a Yank." zero: an unimportant person. "If you don't work hard, you'll end up a zero." zip (1): nothing. "I don't know zip about you." zip (2): energy; vigor. "I need something that will give me more zip. "

zit: pimple; acne. "Teens often have a lot of zits."

nimbus PRONUNCIATION: (NIM-buhs) plural: nimbi or nimbuses MEANING: noun: 1. A rain cloud. 2. A halo or aura around the head of a person depicted in a piece of art. ETYMOLOGY: From Latin nimbus (cloud). Ultimately from the Indo-European root nebh- (cloud) that is also the source of nebula, nephometer (a device used in measuring the amount of cloud cover), and Sanskrit nabh (sky). USAGE: "The works take their cue from the perspective view one might see out an airplane window but become a curious exercise in painterly flatness, the white nimbuses butting up along the faint horizon." Eric Banks; Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstraction; The Washington Post; Feb 20, 2010. ----------pluvial PRONUNCIATION: (PLOO-vee-uhl) MEANING: adjective: Of or relating to rain, especially much rain. ETYMOLOGY: From Latin pluvia (rain), from pluere (to rain). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pleu- (to flow), that is also the source of flow, float, flit, fly, flutter, pulmonary, and pneumonia. USAGE: "The inclement weather was expected to continue throughout the week, and meteorologists predict that the next few days will remain pluvial." Inclement Weather Sweeps Israel; The Jerusalem Post (Israel); Jan 18, 2010.

El Niño or El Nino PRONUNCIATION: (el NEEN-yo) MEANING: noun: A weather phenomenon characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. ETYMOLOGY: From Spanish El Niño, literally "The Boy Child", referring to Baby Jesus as El Niño phenomenon is noticed near Christmas. NOTES: El Niño, which occurs every three to seven years, is marked by warm sea surface temperature along the coast of Ecuador and Peru in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Its effects on weather are observed around the globe. A counter part is La Niña "The Girl Child" in which unusually cold ocean temperatures are observed in the Equatorial Pacific. USAGE:

"The Phoenix area had its second coolest May in just over a decade, National Weather Service Meteorologist Craig Ellis said. The cooler temperatures were likely due to El Nino." Brittany Williams; Phoenix Area May See 110 by Sunday; The Arizona Republic; Jun 1, 2010.

virga PRONUNCIATION: (VUHR-guh) MEANING: noun: Rain or snow that evaporates before hitting the ground. ETYMOLOGY: From Latin virga (rod, streak). USAGE: "Macduff Everton's images are so physical and tactile, you can nearly feel the moisture in the virga." Len Jenshel; 25 All-Time Best Photo Books; National Geographic Traveler (Washington, DC); Jan/Feb 2005.

aeolian or eolian PRONUNCIATION: (ee-O-lee-uhn) MEANING: adjective: Relating to or caused by the wind. ETYMOLOGY: After Aeolus, god of the winds in Greek mythology. As keeper of the winds, he gave a bag containing winds to help with Odysseus's sailing. USAGE: "It would not be surprising if a few features -- even very large ones -- were sculpted by aeolian processes into the pyramidal forms we see." Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan; The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark; Random House; 1995.

kudos PRONUNCIATION: (KOO-doz, -dos, KYOO-) MEANING: noun: Praise, honor, or credit. ETYMOLOGY: From Greek kydos (praise, renown). NOTES: The word kudos is a relatively recent addition to the English language. It entered the language as university slang in Britain, in the early 19th century. It's a singular word, in Greek and in English, but its plural-like appearance prompted some to coin a singular form by dropping the letter s. Many dictionaries (including the OED) now list the word kudo, though marked with an "erroneous" stamp. If the current trends are any indication, chances are over time kudo will drop the black mark on its reputation and become a wellrespected word in the language, just as no one today objects to using the word pea (instead of pease) or cherry (instead of cherise). USAGE: "The Indian economy continues to grow at a healthy 8%. You and your team deserves kudos for that." Raj Chengappa; Dear Dr Manmohan Singh; The Tribune (Chandigarh, India); May 21, 2010.

shambles

PRONUNCIATION: (SHAM-buhls) MEANING: noun: 1. A state of great disorder. 2. A scene of carnage. 3. A slaughterhouse. ETYMOLOGY: From oak to acorn, from a little piece of furniture to a slaughterhouse. The word known today as shambles started out as scamnum (stool, bench). Over time the word's sense evolved to "a vendor's table", more specifically, a butcher's table. Eventually, the word came to be applied to a meat market or a slaughterhouse. From the state of disarray of such a place, today we use the word metaphorically to denote a place of complete disorder. That's the story of a slaughterhouse. To know what became of a fish market, see billingsgate. USAGE: "The program aims to rebuild a system in shambles before nearly 4,000 schools were destroyed." $2 Billion Sought to Overhaul Ruined Haiti Schools; Associated Press; May 15, 2010. --------congeries PRONUNCIATION: (kon-JEER-eez, KON-juh-reez) MEANING: noun: A collection of miscellaneous things. ETYMOLOGY: From Latin congeries (heap), from congerere (to heap up), from con- (with) + gerere (to carry). USAGE: "What an unsightly congeries of mismatched assets the McGuinty government seems to have in mind." David Olive; Ontario's Super-corporation Has Hallmarks of Trial Balloon; Toronto Star (Canada); Mar 9, 2010.

starets PRONUNCIATION: (STAHR-its, -yits) plural startsy (STAHRT-see) MEANING: noun: A religious teacher or adviser. ETYMOLOGY: From Russian starets (elder). In the Eastern Orthodox Church a starets is a spiritual adviser who is not necessarily a priest. USAGE: "Grigori Rasputin, was neither mad nor a monk, but an unconventional starets." Cecilia Rasmussen; Shadowed by Rasputin's Evil Reputation; Los Angeles Times; Oct 10, 1999.

guillotine PRONUNCIATION: (GIL-uh-teen, GEE-uh-teen) MEANING: noun: A device with a heavy blade that drops between two posts to behead someone. verb: To execute by guillotine or to cut as if with a guillotine. ETYMOLOGY:

After French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814) who recommended its use. Ironically the instrument designed as a humane device has come to symbolize tyranny. Dr. Guillotin realized that hanging by rope or beheading by a sword were cruel and urged a more humane method of execution, one that was swift and relatively painless. Dr. Antoine Louis, secretary of the College of Surgeons, designed a device that was called a Louisette or Louison in the beginning, but eventually became known as a guillotine. USAGE: "It appears that the magnificent eagle may be making a resurgence in Essex County. Too bad we won't be able to enjoy them for long. Soon we will find them lying guillotined below the myriad wind turbines our illustrious premier and his gang believe are so good for us." Mary Anne Adam; Turbines Going to Take Out Eagles; The Windsor Star (Canada); May 6, 2010.

Buridan's ass PRONUNCIATION: (byoo-RUHD-uhnz ass) MEANING: noun: A situation demonstrating the impracticality of decision-making using pure reason, especially a situation involving two equal choices. ETYMOLOGY: Named after French philosopher Jean Buridan (1300-1358). NOTES: Imagine a hungry donkey standing equidistant from two identical piles of hay. The donkey tries to decide which pile he should eat first and finding no reason to choose one over another, starves to death. This paradox didn't originate with Buridan -- it's been found back in Aristotle's time. A hungry and thirsty man cannot decide whether to slake his thirst first or his hunger, and dies. Buridan, in his commentaries on Aristotle, chose a dog, but his critics, in their parody of Buridan, turned it into an ass. So Buridan's ass was named after a person who neither proposed the paradox nor picked that animal to discuss it. Buridan studied under William of Ockham (of Ockham's razor fame). USAGE: "Unless we felt strongly enough to exert ourselves in one direction rather than another, we would do nothing, but would suffer the fate of Buridan's ass." A.C. Grayling; Though Euphoria Will Fade, Hope Springs Eternal; The Canberra Times (Australia); Nov 12, 2008.

philippic PRONUNCIATION: (fi-LIP-ik) MEANING: noun: A bitter condemnation, usually in a speech. ETYMOLOGY: From Greek philippikos, the name given to orator Demosthenes's speeches urging Athenians to rise up against Philip II of Macedon. USAGE: "John McCain sat in the elegant ballroom of the Bayerischer Hof hotel in Munich and listened politely as President Putin delivered a full-throated rant against America and all that it stood for. Mr McCain has long been one of Mr Putin's most outspoken critics, but it was less a rush of anger that overwhelmed him as he listened to the Russian leader's philippic, and more a mounting sense of irony." Gerard Baker; Support for War May Yet be the Undoing of John McCain; The Times (London, UK); Feb 15, 2007.

orrery PRONUNCIATION: (OR-uh-ree) MEANING: noun: A mechanical model of the solar system that represents the relative motions of the planets around the sun.

ETYMOLOGY: After Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1676-1731), who was given one of those models by John Rowley, a London instrumentmaker. They were invented by George Graham c. 1700. The device would have been better named either after its inventor, Graham, or its maker, Rowley. USAGE: "The lamp at the center of the orrery demonstrates the way the sun lends light to the planets." James Fenton; Sheridan the Revolutionary; The New York Review of Books; Feb 4, 1999. "Even the nation's attic couldn't contain a 650-yard-long model of the solar system, so the Smithsonian Institution has put it outdoors, on the National Mall. 'Voyage: A Journey Through Our Solar System', a new permanent installation, represents the solar system at one 10-billionth its actual size. ... "The stations within this giant orrery also feature porcelain information plaques with high-resolution, full-color images of the planets." Eric P Nash; A Smithsonian Spin Through the Cosmos; The New York Times; Feb 10, 2002.

McKenzie PRONUNCIATION: (muh-KEN-zee) MEANING: noun: Someone who attends a court trial as an adviser to one of the parties. This person works not as a legal representative, but as an informal adviser. Also known as a "McKenzie friend". ETYMOLOGY: The term arose from the 1970 divorce case McKenzie v. McKenzie in the UK. The man in this case didn't have a lawyer. An Australian barrister, Ian Hanger, wanted to help, but could not as he was not qualified to practise in the UK. The man represented himself; Hanger offered to sit with him and provide advice as a friend, but he was denied this by the court. The man lost the case, and this denial became the basis for appeal which affirmed the position that a litigant can, in fact, have someone attend the trial to help in a non-professional capacity. Given the role of the barrister Hanger, a better choice of coinage for this word would have been Hanger, instead of McKenzie. USAGE: "A measure, of benefit to women especially, would be to permit the litigant to have a McKenzie friend in the course of the case." Chitra Narayan; On An Obstacle Course; Hindu (Chennai, India); Nov 17, 2005.

tabby PRONUNCIATION: (TAB-ee) MEANING: noun: 1. A domestic cat with a striped or brindled coat. 2. A domestic cat, especially a female one. 3. A spinster. 4. A spiteful or gossipy woman. 5. A fabric of plain weave. 6. A watered silk fabric. 7. A building material made of lime, oyster shells, and gravel. ETYMOLOGY: For 1-6: From French tabis, from Medieval Latin attabi, from Arabic attabi, from al-Attabiya, a suburb of Baghdad, Iraq, where silk was made, from the name of Prince Attab. Cats got the name tabby after similarity of their coats to the cloth; the derivations of words for females are probably from shortening of the name Tabitha. For 7: From Gullah tabi, ultimately from Spanish tapia (wall). USAGE: "I was playing whist with the tabbies when it occurred, and saw nothing of the whole matter." Charles James Lever; Jack Hinton, the Guardsman; 1857.

meiosis PRONUNCIATION:

(my-O-sis) MEANING: noun: 1. Understatement for rhetorical effect. 2. The process of cell division in which the number of chromosomes per cell is reduced to one half. ETYMOLOGY: From Greek meiosis (lessening), from meioun (to lessen), from meion (less). NOTES: Meiosis is a figure of speech in which underemphasis is used to achieve a greater effect, for example, "It took a few days to build the Great Wall of China." Also see litotes. USAGE: "At times I have a problem with this understatement. Understatement is effective only when there is real purpose to the meiosis." James Gardner; Cold Mountain; National Review (New York); Dec 31, 1997.

cashier PRONUNCIATION: (ka-SHEER) MEANING: verb tr.: To dismiss from service, especially with disgrace. noun: An employee who handles payments and receipts in a store, bank, or business. ETYMOLOGY: From Dutch cassier or French caissier, both from French caisse (cashbox), from Latin capsa (case). USAGE: "Iraq is thick with bitter men. Some 400,000 were cashiered from the army." Mideast Carnage Tests Our Resolve; Toronto Star (Canada); Aug 20, 2003.

bagman PRONUNCIATION: (BAG-man, BAG-muhn) MEANING: noun: 1. One who collects or distributes money from illicit activities, for example, in a protection racket. 2. UK: A traveling salesman. 3. Canada: A political fundraiser. 4. Australia: A tramp; swagman. 5. Golf: A caddie hired to carry a golf player's clubs. ETYMOLOGY: From the literal senses of the words bag and man. USAGE: "Andres Butron confessed to being a bagman in a drug operation, transporting cash collected in drug sales to Mexico." William Lee; 3 Men Found Dead; Chicago Tribune; May 19, 2010.

jactitation PRONUNCIATION: (jak-ti-TAY-shun) MEANING: noun: 1. A false boast or claim that is intended to harm someone, especially a malicious claim by a person that he or she is married to a particular person. 2. Involuntary tossing and twitching of the body and limbs. ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin jactitation (tossing, false declaration), past participle of jactitare (to throw out publicly, to boast), frequentative of jactare (to throw about), frequentative of jacere (to throw). USAGE: "Film actress Meera has filed a suit for jactitation of marriage against her alleged husband Attique Ur Rehman, seeking court directions to stop him from claiming her as his legal wife." Meera Files for Marriage Jactitation; The Pak Banker (Pakistan); Feb 10, 2010.

St. Elmo's fire PRONUNCIATION: (saynt EL-mohz fyr) MEANING: noun: An electrical discharge visible at the surface of a conductor, as a ship's mast or an airplane's wing. ETYMOLOGY: After St. Erasmus (mispronounced as Elmo by sailors) who is regarded as the patron saint of sailors and an electrical discharge on the mast of a ship is believed to be a sign of his protection. This phenomenon of corona discharge is also called St. Elmo's light. USAGE: "When Capt Moody opened the door to the cockpit he saw the windscreen ablaze with a St. Elmo's fire -- a discharge of static electricity." When Volcanic Ash Stopped a Jumbo at 37,000ft; BBC News (London, UK); Apr 15, 2010.

Achilles' heel PRONUNCIATION: (uh-KIL-eez heel) MEANING: noun: A seemingly small but critical weakness in an otherwise strong position. ETYMOLOGY: After Achilles, a hero in the Greek mythology. When Achilles was a baby, his mother Thetis dipped him into the magical river Styx to make him immortal. She held him by the heel which remained untouched by the water and became his weak point. He was killed when the Trojan king Paris shot an arrow that pierced his one vulnerable spot: his heel. After him, the tendon in the lower back of the ankle is also known as the Achilles tendon. USAGE: "Economics, once the Coalition's strength, is in danger of becoming its achilles heel." Laurie Oakes; Coalition Weak on Economics; Herald Sun (Melbourne City, Australia); Apr 3, 2010.

selkie (noun) A creature in Scottish and Irish folklore that has the form of a seal but can also assume human shape. Selkie is a dialectal diminutive of 'seal'. Example: "Built around the Celtic myth of the selkie -- a sea creature that sheds its seal-like appearance to live temporarily on land -- Ondine is the story of Syracuse (Farrell), a fisherman in a small Irish village who lives alone but makes the most of his time

with his daughter from a broken marriage." - The Huffington Post, "Movie Review: Ondine", by Marshall Fine

TO OFFEND Here are two examples of potential use: Ex 1.: He seemed very offended, because I forgot his birthday. Ex 2.: She'd been always offending him in front of other people and had never showed her love, so he finally broke up the relationship.

vexillology
\vek-suh-LAH-luh-jee\\
noun

Meaning
: the study of flags

Example Sentence
Chris first got interested in vexillology as a child after visiting a museum with a large collection of rare flags.

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"The flag is the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history." Woodrow Wilson was speaking of the U.S. flag when he made that statement in an address in June of 1915, but those who engage in vexillology -- that is, vexillologists -- would likely find the comment applicable to any national banner. Vexillologists undertake scholarly investigations of flags, producing papers with titles such as "A Review of the Changing Proportions of Rectangular Flags since Medieval Times, and Some Suggestions for the Future." In the late 1950s, they coined "vexillology" as a name for their field of research from "vexillum," the Latin term for a square flag or banner of the ancient Roman cavalry. The adjectives "vexillologic" and "vexillological" and the noun "vexillologist" followed soon thereafter.

murrey (noun) In heraldry, a tincture of a dark-reddish brown, also called sanguine, indicated in heraldic representations in black and white by lines crossing each other diagonally at right angles. (noun) A dark red color. Murrey comes from a Latin word meaning 'mulberry' or 'blackberry'. Example:

"Then came the thirteen petty canons, in murrey-coloured gowns, with the arms of Saint George wrought in a roundel on the shoulder; then the twelve canons, similarly attired; and lastly the dean of the college, in his cope." - Windsor Castle, by William Harrison Ainsworth

quintessential \kwin-te-SEN-shel\, adjective: Being the most typical manifestation of a quality or a thing. Carrie, the quintessential single girl, finally ends up married to her true love but doesn't know what to do with him. -- Ian Caddell, "Morocco brought Sex and the City 2's Sarah Jessica Parker and castmates together", Straight.com In such a moonlight Gloria's face was of a pervading, reminiscent white, and with a modicum of effort they would slip off the blinders of custom and each would find in the other almost the quintessential romance of the vanished June. -- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The beautiful and the damned Quintessential translates from Latin as the "fifth element", quint "fifth" and essentia "essence." The idea of the fifth element stems from Greek and medieval alchemical beliefs in the purest essence of a substance. TO CAPTURE Here are two examples of potential use: Ex 1.: He was captured, because he tried to leave the coutry with a stolen passport. Ex 2.: A lot of elephants are captured and killed for their precious tusks. Merriam-Webster’s

Word of the Day
June 13

flagitious
\fluh-JISH-us\
adjective

Meaning
: marked by scandalous crime or vice : villainous

Example Sentence
"Those leading the fight against erotica distribution compiled lists of flagitious books, but tried to keep their lists confidential…." (Jay A. Gertzman, Bookleggers and Smuthounds)

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"Flagitious" derives from the Latin noun "flagitium," meaning "shameful thing," and is akin to the Latin noun "flagrum," meaning "whip." "Flagrum" is also the source of "flagellate" ("to whip" or "to scourge"), but despite the superficial resemblance it is not the source of "flagrant," meaning "conspicuously bad." "Flagrant" and its cousins derive instead from Latin "flagrare," meaning "to burn." "Flagitious" first appeared in the late 14th century, and it was originally applied to people who were horribly criminal or wicked. These days, it can also describe intangibles, such as actions ("flagitious promiscuity"), ideas ("a flagitious notion"), and principles ("flagitious motives").

vernacular \ver-NAK-yuh-ler\, noun: 1. The plain variety of language in everyday use. 2. The language or vocabulary peculiar to a class or profession. 3. The native speech or language of a place. 4. Any medium or mode of expression that reflects popular taste or indigenous styles. adjective: 1. (of language) Native or indigenous. 2. Using the native language of a place. 3. Using plain, everyday language. The BOP, as it is known in industry vernacular, sits atop the wellhead on the seafloor and contains a series of plates, known as rams, stacked on top of each other. The plates close and seal the well if a problem occurs. -- Lauren Steffy, "Oil rig's blowout preventer might not be the main culprit", Herald Tribune, May 2010 The Dow dropped nearly 1,000 points on May 6, before it recovered around 600 points to close down over 300 points. In mountain climbing vernacular, that's an "elevation change" of 1,600, or almost 15 percent, in one day's hike through the jagged peaks of Wall Street. -- Stan Sewitch, "Fastest lemmings in the West", San Diego Daily Transcript, May 2010 PASSIONATE Here are two examples of potential use: Ex 1.: It was pleasure to listen to his passionate speech. Ex 2.: She has a passionate interest in contemporary history.

polyonymous
\pah-lee-AH-nuh-mus\
adjective

Meaning
: having or known by various names

Example Sentence
Common epithets of Shiva, the polyonymous Hindu god of destruction and regeneration, are Shambhu, Shankara, Mahadeva, and Mahesha.

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"Polyonymous" comes to us from Greek. The "poly-" part means "many," and the "-onymous" part derives from the Greek word "onoma" or "onyma," meaning "name" — so a reasonable translation of "polyonymous" is, in fact, "having many names." There are a number of other descendants of "onoma" or "onyma" in English, including "anonymous" ("having no name"), "pseudonym" ("false name"), "eponym" (someone who lends their name to something, or a word that comes from someone’s name), and "patronymic" (a name taken from one's father). Even "name" itself is derived from the same ancient word that gave rise to Greek "onyma," making it a distant cousin of all these name-related words.

juggernaut \JUHG-er-nawt\, noun: 1. Any large, overpowering, destructive force. 2. Something, such as a belief or institution, that elicits blind and destructive devotion. 3. An idol of Krishna, at Puri in Orissa, India, annually drawn on an enormous cart under whose wheels devotees are said to have thrown themselves to be crushed. It is a pity that every time this economic juggernaut encounters successful international competition in manufacturing, it resorts to bullying against its own consumers' welfare and that of the working poor worldwide. -- Zhang Xiang, "Going toe to toe with the bully", Xinhua It sounds like a kamikaze mission: an upstart with a meager number of users and no capital squaring off against Facebook, a social networking juggernaut with more than 400 million members and a $15 billion valuation. -- Jenna Wortham, "Rivals Seize on Troubles of Facebook", New York Times, May 2010 Juggernaut is a borrowing from Hindi with dramatic roots. The Hindu source Jagannath, is a name of the divinity Krishna, literally "lord of the world." Reputably, Jagannath also refers to an idol of Krishna, at Puri in Orissa, India, annually drawn on an enormous cart under whose wheels devotees are said to have thrown themselves to be crushed.

argy-bargy
\ahr-jee-BAHR-jee\
noun

Meaning
chiefly British : a lively discussion : argument, dispute

Example Sentence
After much argy-bargy, Paul and Hugh finally came up with a plan that satisfied them both.

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"Argy-bargy" and its slightly older variant "argle-bargle" have been a part of British English since the second half of the 19th century. "Argy" and "argle" evolved in certain English and Scottish dialects as variant forms of "argue." As far as we can tell, "bargy" and "bargle" never existed as

independent words; they only came to life with the compounds as singsong reduplications of "argy" and "argle." Some other words that can be used for a dispute in English are "squabble," "contretemps," and "donnybrook."

figurant (noun) A member of a ballet company who does not perform solos. (noun) A stage performer who has no speaking part. (noun) One who dances at the opera, not singly, but in groups or figures; an accessory character on the stage, who figures in its scenes, but has nothing to say; hence, one who figures in any scene, without taking a prominent part. Figurant comes from the French word figurer, to represent. Example: "The deceased, who is never mentioned by name, appears as a mere figurant, or rather an onlooker." - The Catholic Encyclopedia

THUNDER Here are two examples of potential use: Ex 1.: Have you heard the thunder? The storm is coming! Ex 2.: My dog is afraid of the noise of thunders, so it sits under the table every time there's a storm. kowtow \KOU-TOU\, verb: 1. To act in a subservient manner. 2. To kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in expression of deep respect, worship, or submission, as formerly done in China. noun: 1. An act of servile deference. The administration would kowtow to student activists by agreeing to meet with them and behave as if their demands merited serious consideration. -- Debra J. Saunders, "Starving for attention at UC Berkeley", SFGate, May 2010 She didn't kowtow to color, she didn't kowtow to power, she didn't kowtow to men. She was very, very strong. -- Naila Francis, "Raw & Revealing", The Intelligencer, May 2010 Kowtow is from the Mandarin k'o-t'ou, the custom of touching the ground with the forehead to show respect or submission, literally "knock the head."

edify

\ED-uh-fye\
verb

Meaning
: to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge : uplift; also : enlighten, inform

Example Sentence
"There's nothing like a film festival for renewing your faith in the medium, in the possibilities of movies to surprise, delight and edify us." (Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 1, 2010)

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The Latin noun "aedes," meaning "house" or "temple," is the root of "aedificare," a verb meaning "to erect a house." Generations of speakers built on that meaning, and by the Late Latin period, the verb had gained the figurative sense of "to instruct or improve spiritually." The word eventually passed through Anglo-French before Middle English speakers adopted it as "edify" during the 14th century. Two of its early meanings, "to build" and "to establish," are now considered archaic; the only current sense of "edify" is essentially the same as that figurative meaning in Late Latin, "to instruct and improve in moral and religious matters."

----------------------festoon \fe-STOON\, verb: 1. To adorn with hanging chains or strands of any material. 2. Dentistry. To reproduce natural gum patterns around the teeth or a denture. noun: 1. A string or chain of flowers, foliage, ribbon, etc., suspended in a curve between two points. 2. A decorative representation of this, as in architectural work or on pottery. 3. A fabric suspended, draped, and bound at intervals to form graceful loops or scalloped folds. 4. Dentistry. The garlandlike area of the gums surrounding the necks of the teeth. Its medium green leaves are perfect backdrops for the large orb-shaped white flowers blushed with pink that festoon the tree in May and June. -- Leslie Cox, "Leaf beetles don't give snowball a chance in ...", Comox Valley Record For nearly half a mile along both sides of a secondary road near Prattville, Alabama, you can see thousands of signs, crosses, wrecked cars, and mailboxes festooned with barbed wire. -- Mark Sceurman, Mark Moran, Matt Lake, "Rice's Miracle Cross Garden", Weird U.S. The ODDyssey Continues: Your Travel Guide to America's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets A festoon is "a string or chain of flowers, foliage, ribbon, etc., suspended in a curve between two points." Modern usage has expanded the definition of the verb form to mean

"to fill or cover", but dictionaries tend to maintain the narrower scope. Festoon derives from the Italian feston, "decoration for a feast." ODD Here are two examples of potential use: Ex 1.: I don't understand his odd behaviour. Ex 2.: 1,3,5,7 (…) are odd numbers. indemnity \in-DEM-ni-tee\, noun: 1. Protection or security against damage or loss. 2. Compensation for damage or loss sustained. 3. Something paid by way of such compensation. 4. Legal exemption from penalties attaching to unconstitutional or illegal actions, granted to public officers and other persons. But he suddenly got up, and after a mad burst of laughter, he cried: "An indemnity! Holy Virgin, an indemnity! Don't you realize that I want to give her everything, the spring, the carnations, the house, and all the Soubeyran inheritance, the lands, the house, the treasure, my name, and my life?" -- Marcel Pagnol, Jean de Florette "Reconciliation is not simply a question of indemnity or amnesty and letting bygones be bygones," Omar said. "If the wounds of the past are to be healed... disclosure of the truth and its acknowledgment are essential." -- "Mandela Will Grant Amnesty For Some Political Crimes", Jet, 1994. One of the roots of indemnity, the Middle English damnum, "loss", relates to the modern verb damn.
portemonnaie (noun) A pocket-book; especially, a small book or leather pouch with clasps, for holding money. Portemonnaie comes from French words meaning 'carry' and 'money'. Example: "Mrs. Leroy rose, and, going to her bureau, drew an ivory portemonnaie from a small upper drawer; from this she extracted a two-dollar bill, and gave it to Frank." - The Telegraph Boy, by Horatio Alger

guttersnipe
\GUTT-er-snype\
noun

Meaning
1: a homeless vagabond and especially an outcast boy or girl in the streets of a city *2: a person of the lowest moral or economic station

Example Sentence
"Class is the great British reality, and the more books I wrote the more [Evelyn Waugh] termed me an unregenerable guttersnipe." (Anthony Burgess, The Wilson Quarterly, Spring 1991)

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“Unfurl yourselves under my banner, noble savages, illustrious guttersnipes,” wrote Mark Twain sometime around 1869. Twain was among the first writers to use "guttersnipe" for a young hoodlum or street urchin. In doing so, he was following a trend among writers of the time to associate "gutter" (a low area at the side of a road) with a low station in life. Other writers in the late 19th century used "guttersnipe" more literally as a name for certain kinds of snipes, or birds with long thin beaks that live in wet areas. "Gutter-bird" was another term that was used at that time for both birds and disreputable persons. And even "snipe" itself has a history as a term of opprobrium; it was used as such during Shakespeare’s day.

oscitant \OS-i-tuhnt\, adjective: 1. Yawning, as with drowsiness; gaping. 2. Drowsy or inattentive. 3. Dull, lazy, or negligent. The sauntering, supine, and oscitant gentleman, by his birth and great possessions, exempt from labor and exercise, therefore is entitled to diseases. -- Anonymous, Gentleman's magazine and monthly American review, Volume 5 In the suite, I asked Miss Stone what was the worst question that reporters would ask her. She gave me an oscitant gaze and said, "They ask me how I got my break." -- Chris Curtis, The Turning Point Oscitant derives from the Latin oscitare, "to gape or yawn."
stammel (noun) A kind of woolen cloth, of a red color: red linsey-woolsey. (noun) The color of stammel: a red inferior in brilliancy to scarlet. (noun) A large, clumsy horse. Stammel is probably an alteration of a Latin word meaning 'consisting of threads'. Example: "The governor of the town sent me a goat, and I sent him in return three yards of stammel cloth, one piece of blue calico, a stocked musket, a musket-barrel, and two sword blades." - A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, by Robert Kerr

WITTY Here are two examples of potential use: Ex 1.: He's a witty speaker. I can't stop laughing when he's telling his anecdotes. Ex 2.: They always make biting remarks to me, but I never take offence at them, because they are rather witty, not abusive.

asperity
\uh-SPAIR-uh-tee\
noun

Meaning
1 : roughness *2 : harshness of manner or of temper

Example Sentence
When asked to make a contribution, Roger glared and said with asperity,"I gave at the office."

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"Asperity" has had a rough history. It came to Modern English through Middle English (where it was spelled "asprete") by way of the Anglo-French ("asprete"), and ultimately derives from the Latin word "asper," which means "rough." Not only is "asper" the source of "asperity," but it also underlies the English word "exasperate" (in fact, you can see "asper" nestled in the midst of that word). Although it is far less common than "asperity" and "exasperate," the word "asper" itself is still occasionally used in English, too — it functions as a synonym of "harsh," "bitter," or "stern."

nimbus
PRONUNCIATION:

(NIM-buhs)
MEANING:

plural: nimbi or nimbuses

noun: 1. A rain cloud. 2. A halo or aura around the head of a person depicted in a piece of art.
ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin nimbus (cloud). Ultimately from the Indo-European root nebh- (cloud) that is also the source of nebula, nephometer (a device used in measuring the amount of cloud cover), and Sanskrit nabh (sky).
USAGE:

"The works take their cue from the perspective view one might see out an airplane window but become a curious exercise in painterly flatness, the white nimbuses butting up along the faint horizon." Eric Banks; Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstraction; The Washington Post; Feb 20, 2010. hegira \he-JAY-ruh\, noun: 1. A journey to a more desirable or congenial place. 2. The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution a.d. 622: regarded as the beginning of the Muslim Era. I do not mean to suggest a back-to-the-future hegira to a mythical golden age of wise and benevolent institutions, canonical disciplines, and noble professions but rather a

reinvigoration of our disciplines, institutions, and professions around what we do not know about how we should think. -- Michael Joyce, "Interspace: Our Commonly Valued Unknowing", Academic Commons With a sublime indifference to popular superstition, or rather because they did not think of it till all their arrangements were completed, the Misses Leaf had accomplished their grand hegira on a Friday. Consequently, their first day at No. 15 was Sunday. -- Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, Mistress and maid, Volume 1 Hegira, whether referring to the event in the history of Islam or a general sense of the word, comes from the Arabic hajara, "to depart."
sferics (noun) The study of atmospheres and of all their phenomena; meteorology. Sferics is a shortened form of 'atmospherics'. Example: "Through a specially developed tweeter beam the high tone sound wave is projected to the ceiling inside the black cube where it reflects as sound figures and low red electromagnetic waves (as 'whistlers' and 'cracklers'), sferics and red luminous flashes." - we make money not art

waterloo
\waw-ter-LOO\
noun

Meaning
: a decisive or final defeat or setback

Example Sentence
The senatorial candidate's misrepresentation of his military service could prove to be his waterloo.

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The Battle of Waterloo, which occurred on June 18, 1815, has given its name to the very notion of final defeat. Why? Maybe because it ended one of the most spectacular military careers in history (Napoleon's), as well as 23 years of recurrent conflict between France and the rest of Europe. In addition, it was Napoleon's second "final defeat." He was defeated and exiled in 1814, but he escaped his confinement, returned to France, and was restored to power for three months before meeting defeat at the hands of the forces allied under the Duke of Wellington near the Belgian village of Waterloo. The word "waterloo" first appeared in casual use the following year, 1816.

TO FAINT Here are two examples of potential use:

Ex 1.: Many people fainted in the yesterday's heat. Ex 2.: She fainted after she heard the terrible news about her son's death. amok \uh-MUHK\, adjective: 1. In or into a jumbled or confused state. 2. In or into an uncontrolled state or a state of extreme activity. 3. In a frenzy to do violence or kill. noun: 1. A psychic disturbance characterized by depression followed by a manic urge to murder. There's a legend that when the Lumiere brothers - pioneers of motion pictures - showed their film of an approaching train in 1896, the audience ran amok in terror. -- Claire O'Neill, "Autochromes: The First Flash Of Color", NPR With fiscal affairs amok, North Dakota higher education is experiencing its third major scandal since statehood. -- Lloyd Omdahl, "Omdahl: Restraint the best recipe", Inforum Amok enters English from the Malay amuk, "attacking furiously." The word was adopted into Portugese as amouco.

auspicious
\aw-SPISH-us\
adjective

Meaning
*1 : promising success : favorable 2 : fortunate, prosperous

Example Sentence
The young pitcher made an auspicious debut with eight strikeouts in his first major-league game.

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"Auspicious" comes from Latin "auspex," which literally means "bird seer" (from the words "avis," meaning "bird," and "specere," meaning "to look"). In ancient Rome, these "bird seers" were priests, or augurs, who studied the flight and feeding patterns of birds, then delivered prophecies based on their observations. The right combination of bird behavior indicated favorable conditions, but the wrong patterns spelled trouble. The English noun "auspice," which originally referred to this practice of observing birds to discover omens, also comes from Latin "auspex." Today, the plural form "auspices" is often used with the meaning "kindly patronage and guidance."