Word of the Week
luminary \LOO-muh-nair-ee\, noun:
1. Any body that gives light, especially one of the heavenly bodies.
2. A person of eminence or brilliant achievement.
May 02, 2006
April 25, 2006
Word of the Week
re·mem·brance 
( P ) Pronunciation Key (r
-m
m
br
ns)
n.
( P ) Pronunciation Key (r-mmbrns)n.
-
- The act or process of remembering.
- The state of being remembered: holds him in fond rememberance.
- Something serving to celebrate or honor the memory of a person or event; a memorial.
- The length of time over which one's memory extends.
- Something remembered; a reminiscence.
- A souvenir.
- A greeting or token expressive of affection.
April 18, 2006
Word of the Week
expeditious \ek-spuh-DISH-uhs\, adjective:
Characterized by or acting with speed and efficiency.
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April 11, 2006
Word of the Week
rusticate \RUHS-tih-kayt\, intransitive verb:
1. To go into or reside in the country; to pursue a rustic life.
transitive verb:
1. To require or compel to reside in the country; to banish or send away temporarily.
2. (Chiefly British). To suspend from school or college.
3. To build with usually rough-surfaced masonry blocks having beveled or rebated edges producing pronounced joints.
4. To lend a rustic character to; to cause to become rustic.
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April 06, 2006
Merriam-Webster Online
Daily Crossword from Merriam-Webster On-line:
Ready for a classic crossword challenge? The Daily Crossword plays like the real deal with enhanced features including the ability to save and print your puzzle. Try it today and come back for a new themed puzzle tomorrow!
April 04, 2006
Word of the Week
Dictionary.com Word of the Day
brummagem \BRUHM-uh-juhm\, adjective:
Cheap and showy, tawdry; also, spurious, counterfeit.
March 30, 2006
For All Intensive Purposes This is an Eggcorn
Do you think that mighty oaks come from tiny "eggcorns" rather than "acorns"? Perhaps you believe you're "floundering" around when really you are "foundering". Or maybe you have problems "honing in" on the pronunciation of certain words and phrases, such as "homing in". The Eggcorn database could be the resource you need. This linguistic resource contains more than five hundred examples of commonly misspelled or misused expressions. You will be able to eliminate "one fowl swoop" in "one fell swoop". 
[composed and posted with BlogJet]
March 23, 2006
Does Your English Cut the Mustard?
No big surprise on the spelling. That's why we have spell checkers. ;)
Technorati Tags: Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, Vocabulary, Quiz, Test
Your English Skills: |
| Grammar: 100% |
| Punctuation: 100% |
| Spelling: 60% |
| Vocabulary: 100% |
Technorati Tags: Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, Vocabulary, Quiz, Test
March 21, 2006
Word of the Week
indelible: Dictionary.com Word of the Day. indelible [Dictionary.com Word of the Day]
Technorati Tags: Words
Technorati Tags: Words
March 14, 2006
Word of the Week
legerdemain —Sleight of hand [Dictionary.com Word of the Day]
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February 28, 2006
Word of the Week
CONFIRMATION The completion of the process of initiation into full church membership, including the first reception of the Eucharist.
February 21, 2006
Word of the Week
emulate
• EM-yuh-layt • (verb): to strive to equal or excel : imitate
Example sentence:
The cover song tries to emulate the raw vitality of the original recording, but falls far short of the mark.
Did you know?
If imitation really is "the sincerest flattery," in the words of Charles Caleb Colton, then past speakers of English clearly had a great admiration for the Latin language. The verb "emulate" joined the ranks of Latin-derived English terms in 1582. It comes from "aemulus," a Latin term for "rivaling" or "envious." Around the same time came the adjectives "emulate" and "emulous," meaning "striving to emulate" or sometimes "jealous." But "emulous" is rare these days, and the adjective "emulate" is obsolete. The latter had a brief moment of glory, however, when the unmatchable Shakespeare used it in Hamlet:
Our last king,
Whose image even but now appear'd to us,
Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway,
Thereto prick'd on by a most emulate pride,
Dar'd to the combat. . . .
[Word of the Day]
February 14, 2006
Word of the Week
Love
Etymology
Noun
| Singular love |
Plural loves |
- (uncountable) An intense feeling of affection towards another.
- (uncountable) An initimate sexual interest or fascination towards something or someone.
- (uncountable) Romantic feelings.
- (uncountable) An underlying sense of unity or sameness.
- (countable) The subject of one's romantic interest.
- (countable) A person one loves.
- She was my first and only love.
- (countable) A darling or sweetheart.
- (colloquial) A term of address, regardless of feelings.
- Hello love, how can I help you?
- (in tennis) Zero. (from French l'œuf - the egg, referring to the shape of zero)
- One's desire that another be happy.
Synonyms
Antonyms
- (strong affection): hate, hatred; malice, spite
- (absence of love): indifference
February 07, 2006
Powerpoint Tips: Ten Don'ts for Slides
- Don't use a gradient template with any type of image, for example, with an image of a building, when you are showing charts and graphs. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to read words and see charts superimposed over the images.
- Don't make your whole presentation a series of builds.
- Don't use so many colors that the presentation carries no consistency.
- Don't use so many different models and diagrams that your audience never has an opportunity to fix one or two models in their minds.
- Don't include so many words that you don't have anything to say besides what is written on the slides.
- Don't use photos that take up too much memory for the size of your computer. Your computer will take a long time to bring them up on the screen.
- Don't use a black background.
- Don't use sounds unless they are relevant to your topic.
- Don't put so many numbers on a chart that your audience can't figure out the point of the chart.
- Don't include so many slides that you know you will be short of time even before you start the presentation.
Technorati Tags:Computer Tips, Powerpoint Tips, Presentations, Layout
Word of the Week
1 : forcible restraint or restriction
*2 : compulsion by threat; specifically : unlawful constraint
Example sentence:
The suspect made a confession, but later, in court, his lawyer claimed that he had made it under duress.
Did you know?
"Duress" is a word of hardy stock. It has been a part of the English language since the 14th century, and has a number of long-lived relatives. "Duress" itself came into Middle English through the Middle French "duresce" (meaning "hardness" or "severity"), which stems from the Latin "durus," meaning "hard." Some obvious relatives of this robust root are "durable," "endure" and "obdurate" (meaning "unyielding" or "hardened in feelings"). Some others are "dour" (meaning "harsh," "unyielding," or "gloomy") and "during." Some think the Latin word "durus" is related to the Sanskrit "daru," which means "wood."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
January 31, 2006
January 24, 2006
Oxford English Dictionary metrotome, n.
Metrotome (n.) Surg. Now hist.
A cutting instrument used in uterine surgery, esp. to incise the cervix; a hysterotome.
1857 R. G. MAYNE Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) 694/2 Metrotome, name given to an instrument for performing operations on the uterus. 1861 Med. Times June 573 Front and Profile View of Dr. Coghlan's Probe-pointed Metratome [sic]. 1885 H. M. JONES Pract. Man. Dis. Women (ed. 2) iv. 82 Greenhalgh's metrotome is shown. But I have the same objection to it as to all metrotomes constructed on a similar principle. 1895 Catal. Surg. Instruments (Arnold & Sons) p. xxxii/1 (Index), Metrotomes. 1967 Med. Jrnl. Austral. 11 Nov. 887/1 The hysterotome, called also metrotome or uterotome, was an instrument designed to incise the cervix uteri of certain patients complaining of dysmenorrh{oe}a and sterility.
January 23, 2006
A Collection of Lists
Even if you haven't read The Book of Lists
, you should at least check out Rebecca's List of her Lists:
* Prayer List for Your Church
* Three Books of Enduring Influence
* Rough Draft to Final Copy
* What to Do with a Reluctant Reader
* What to Do with a Reluctant Reader, the Repeat
* As You Wish
* Historic Documents: Various Statements of Faith
* Potty Training Absolutes
* The Words We Love
* What to Do When Someone You Know Dies
* Vexing Vocabulary
* The Ways Christians Can Influence Others
* List It!
, you should at least check out Rebecca's List of her Lists:* Prayer List for Your Church
* Three Books of Enduring Influence
* Rough Draft to Final Copy
* What to Do with a Reluctant Reader
* What to Do with a Reluctant Reader, the Repeat
* As You Wish
* Historic Documents: Various Statements of Faith
* Potty Training Absolutes
* The Words We Love
* What to Do When Someone You Know Dies
* Vexing Vocabulary
* The Ways Christians Can Influence Others
* List It!
January 17, 2006
Word of the Week
CANTATA – A composite musical form that may include an organ/orchestral prelude, an overture, arias, duets, and choruses.
January 10, 2006
Word of the Week
integrity
Pronunciation: in-'te-gr&-tE
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English integrite, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French integrité, from Latin integritat-, integritas, from integr-, integer entire
1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : INCORRUPTIBILITY
2 : an unimpaired condition : SOUNDNESS
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : COMPLETENESS
synonym see HONESTY
January 03, 2006
Word of the Week
phantasmagoric
DEFINITION: (adjective) Characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtapositions. SYNONYMS: surrealistic. USAGE: The phantasmagoric imagery, with melting clocks and unreal landscapes, is what attracts many to Salvador Dali's work.
From the Free On-line Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia