Word of the day

[Richard Ruck]

Happy Monday, everyone!


gonzo

• adjective - informal, chiefly N. Amer.

1. relating to or denoting journalism of an exaggerated, subjective, and fictionalized style.

2. bizarre or crazy: 'the woman was either gonzo or stoned'.

— origin 1970s : perhaps from Italian gonzo ‘foolish’ or Spanish ganso ‘goose, fool’.

[J.R.]

Happy Monday, everyone!


gonzo

• adjective - informal, chiefly N. Amer.

1. relating to or denoting journalism of an exaggerated, subjective, and fictionalized style.

2. bizarre or crazy: 'the woman was either gonzo or stoned'.

— origin 1970s : perhaps from Italian gonzo ‘foolish’ or Spanish ganso ‘goose, fool’.

.... and star of 'The Muppet Show' ?

[Angela Woodford]

gonzo

• adjective - informal, chiefly N. Amer.

1. relating to or denoting journalism of an exaggerated, subjective, and fictionalized style.

2. bizarre or crazy: 'the woman was either gonzo or stoned'.

— origin 1970s : perhaps from Italian gonzo ‘foolish’ or Spanish ganso ‘goose, fool’.

Here's the word in action. I've just powered into the bathroom and found the battered face-down copy of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". (This is one of the two books my son has ever read). The blurb on the back says

"ace Gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson's savage dissection of the American Dream.."

Until yesterday I wouldn't have known the word! Thank you RR!

Munch

[Richard Ruck]

geostrophic

adjective- Meteorology & Oceanography relating to or denoting the component of a wind or current that arises from a balance between pressure gradients and coriolis forces.

— origin early 20th cent. : from geo- ‘of the earth’ + Greek strophe ‘a turning’ (from strephein ‘to turn’).

No, I didn't know what a coriolis force is, either!

Explanation here: http://www.windpower.org/en/tour/wres/coriolis.htm

[englishangel]

geostrophic

adjective- Meteorology & Oceanography relating to or denoting the component of a wind or current that arises from a balance between pressure gradients and coriolis forces.

— origin early 20th cent. : from geo- ‘of the earth’ + Greek strophe ‘a turning’ (from strephein ‘to turn’).

No, I didn't know what a coriolis force is, either!

Explanation here: http://www.windpower.org/en/tour/wres/coriolis.htm

I did, but then my husband was a chemical engineer and delighted in swirling his whisky round in a glass to show me.

[cj]

Coriolis - what a lovely word/name. And a description generously supplied by RR from the Danish Wind Association (tee hee - cue JR and jokes about baked beans). I saw one of my favourite words today at the doctors. Phlebotomist. There is so much to like about it. Firstly the opportunity for an exaggerated rolling around of the tongue in the first syllable and then an accommodating botom (sic). Brilliant.

[J.R.]

Isn't it someone who takes blood from fleas ?

[cj]

Isn't it someone who takes blood from fleas ?

*groan*

[Richard Ruck]

Archaeology today........

Magdalenian

• adjective (Archaeology) - relating to or denoting the final Palaeolithic culture in Europe, following the Solutrean and dated to about 17,000–11,500 years ago. It is characterized by a range of bone and horn tools, and by highly developed cave art.

• [as noun] (the Magdalenian) - the Magdalenian culture or period.

— origin late 19th cent. : from French Magdalénien ‘from La Madeleine’, a site of this culture in the Dordogne, France.

[Richard Ruck]

taffy

• noun (pl. taffies) [mass noun]

1. N. Amer. a sweet similar to toffee, made from brown sugar or treacle, boiled with butter and pulled until glossy.

2. US informal insincere flattery.

— origin early 19th cent. : earlier form of toffee, ultimate origin unknown.

The OED people seem to have forgotten the obvious one here!

[J.R.]

Nothing to do with sheep or leeks, then ?

[englishangel]

taffy

• noun (pl. taffies) [mass noun]

1. N. Amer. a sweet similar to toffee, made from brown sugar or treacle, boiled with butter and pulled until glossy.

2. US informal insincere flattery.

— origin early 19th cent. : earlier form of toffee, ultimate origin unknown.

The OED people seem to have forgotten the obvious one here!

There is also salt-water taffy which is similar to Edinburgh rock.

[Richard Ruck]

hocus

• verb (hocusses, hocussing, hocussed or hocuses, hocusing, hocused) [with obj.] archaic
1. deceive (someone).
2. stupefy (someone) with drugs, typically for a criminal purpose.

— origin late 17th cent.: from an obsolete noun hocus ‘trickery’, from hocus-pocus.

[J.R.]

hocus

• verb (hocusses, hocussing, hocussed or hocuses, hocusing, hocused) [with obj.] archaic
1. deceive (someone).
2. stupefy (someone) with drugs, typically for a criminal purpose.

— origin late 17th cent.: from an obsolete noun hocus ‘trickery’, from hocus-pocus.

... and I thought it was the fairy with a sexy twin sister named Pocus !

[Richard Ruck]

tass

• noun Scottish archaic - a cup or small goblet.
• a small draught of an alcoholic drink.

— origin late 15th cent. : from Old French tasse ‘cup’, via Arabic from Persian tast ‘bowl’.