“Ponente” means: ‘In the western Mediterranean: a westerly wind; the west wind’(OED). Chelsea is neither in the Med nor did it see any wind today – westerly or otherwise. In fact, it was a beautiful, sunny day and so it…
DelJune 9, 2014
"Discubiture" means 'A reclining posture assumed when dining.'(OED). Reclining in the sun enjoying a Cornetto and not the peeled grapes or boar's head that would probably suit discubiture far better than an ice-cream. I think the demise of the lectus…
DelJune 8, 2014
A relaxing day and although this should have metagrobolized me, it didn't, for today's puzzle was disappointingly easy. "Metagrobolize" means: 'To puzzle, mystify, confound', (OED). Day #158 of a 365 project, where the daily pic is informed by the OED word…
DelJune 7, 2014
Although this obviously wasn't taken on a rock or a cliff, I reckon any plant that can survive in the concrete foundation of a telephone box should be considered as "rupestral" ('Of vegetation: that grows on rocks or cliffs. Also:…
DelJune 6, 2014
"Odyssey": ‘(The name of) one of two great hexametric epic poems of ancient Greece traditionally attributed to Homer (the other being the Iliad), which describes the ten years' wanderings of Odysseus (Ulysses) on his way home to Ithaca after the…
DelJune 5, 2014
Today's word was "Arthurian" meaning 'Of, relating to, or characteristic of the legendary British king Arthur, his court, his knights, or the romances in which these figure.’ (OED). Subject selection was not a difficult choice! Lots more Arthurian stuff on…
DelJune 4, 2014
So there were probably lots of potential finds for today's word, which is "Robin Hood" ('A legendary English outlaw, popular from medieval times, who, according to tradition, stole from the rich to give to the poor. Hence allusively: an outlaw…
DelJune 3, 2014
Ok, so "hero' should have been really easy, but of several definitions available, the OED chose:'Classical Mythol. and Ancient Greek Hist. A man (or occas. a woman) of superhuman strength, courage, or ability, favoured by the gods; esp. one regarded…
DelJune 2, 2014
You would think that spending the afternoon wandering around the leafy suburbs of Wimbledon would provide plenty of photo opps for "runcation" ('The action of an act of weeding. Also occas.: the action of rooting', OED), but it appears the…
DelJune 1, 2014
For the youngsters amongst you, this is how news was communicated before Facebook - just as public, just as humiliating and just as much "yada yada" ("indicating (usually dismissively) that further details are predictable or evident from what has preceded:…
DelMay 31, 2014