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130514 Moidered

I was somewhat moidered by this little heart on the pavement. ("Moider" - ' To confuse, perplex, bewilder; to exhaust, overcome, stupefy; (occas.) to pester', OED). I was actually moidered by quite a number of things today, but it was…
Del
May 13, 2014
zBlog Archives

120514 Pink crime scenes are not putative

The idea that a crime scene cannot be decked out in pink is "putative"  ('That is commonly believed to be such; reputed, supposed; imagined; postulated, hypothetical.', OED), as evidenced by these pink cones and ribbons.  Admittedly the whole putative concept…
Del
May 12, 2014
zBlog Archives

110514 Motherese spoken here

I didn't realise that it was Mother's Day in the US today, but that would explain the word of the day being "Motherese", which is 'A simplified form of language used (esp. by mothers) in speaking to babies and young…
Del
May 11, 2014
zBlog Archives

100514 Nul Points for the Porsche Driver

On Eurovision day, the OED has chosen "Nul points" meaning 'No points, as scored in the Eurovision Song Contest. Hence (allusively and humorously): no points scored in any context, esp. as a hypothetical mark awarded for a failure or dismal…
Del
May 10, 2014
zBlog Archives

090514 The Lalique is pateriform

"Pateriform" 'Having the shape of a shallow bowl' (OED). I'm not sure whether a shallow bowl that has the shape of a shallow bowl counts as being pateriform or whether the adjective only applies to non bowls. It does seem…
Del
May 9, 2014
zBlog Archives

080514 From the philosophasters

I spent most of the day with such lovely people, and not a philosophaster amongst them ('A person who engages in shallow or pretentious philosophising; a pseudo-philosopher', OED). As I passed this gateway, the thought occurred to me that those…
Del
May 8, 2014
zBlog Archives

070514 Bit of a nipor …

It's all a bit full on at BL Towers at the mo, so not much time for snapping! Anyway, today's word was "nipor" meaning: ‘The smell given off by animal substances, esp. of a fatty or greasy nature, when cooked…
Del
May 7, 2014
zBlog Archives

060514 Still s(miling)

There was little chance of me doing any "miling" today ('The action of running a mile (as an athletic event)', OED) or any other day, come to that - although I'll happily walk for miles. Neither did I do any…
Del
May 6, 2014
zBlog Archives

050514 An abandoned emoji

I did think that today's blog was going to have to be a series of punctuation marks, such as ':-)' or ':-(' or ':-S' or even ';-)' in order to depict today's word, which is 'emoji": 'A small digital image…
Del
May 5, 2014
zBlog Archives

040514 Being babblative

Not my finest photographic moment, but I have a good excuse. I've been snapping away for Bleeding London, and owing to other pressures, I haven't really done anything with the pix, so I thought it was high time that I…
Del
May 4, 2014
zBlog Archives

030514 Flightseeing

"Flightseeing" is: 'Sightseeing from an aircraft. Also: an instance of this'(OED). Well sometimes, I'm just in the wrong time and place to properly fulfil the requirement of the word of the day, and today was one such occasion. In anticipation…
Del
May 3, 2014
zBlog Archives

020514 Nocuous substances, seedlings and snakes

Today's word ("Nocuous" meaning: 'Noxious, hurtful; venomous, poisonous',(OED)) prompted the start of a list: Words with a suffix that are in common usage, and yet without the suffix are less frequently used. A quick google on 'nocuous' returns 110,000 uses…
Del
May 2, 2014
zBlog Archives

010514 Onolatry

Finding evidence of "onolatry" ('Worship of the donkey or ass. Also in extended use: excessive admiration for or devotion to foolishness or a foolish thing', OED.) was tough. I found a couple of possible contenders: a graffito that is too…
Del
May 1, 2014
zBlog Archives

300414 Moue of the Mercedes

Ok, so a pouting girl would have been more apposite, but I just liked the idea that these Mercedes had reached this intimate state as a result of one of them making a 'puckering moue'. "Moue" is the word of…
Del
April 30, 2014
zBlog Archives

290414 Always lowbelled by these

"Lowbell" means 'To scare or bewilder (a person)' (OED). Any correspondence from HM Revenue & Customs invariably does both. Day #119 of a 365 project, where the daily pic is informed by the OED word of the day.
Del
April 29, 2014
zBlog Archives

280414 A skinkling frock

I think today's word will become an oft-used one - I love it! "Skinkling" (or skunking as the spellchecker prefers) means 'Gleaming, glistening, sparkling; (also) showy'(OED). I'd like to say the kitchen is skinkling, but a pic of the chaos…
Del
April 28, 2014
zBlog Archives

270414 Nozzer Shortage in SW3

I thought I was going to be able to kill three birds with one stone today:  the word of the day, which was “nozzer” (‘A new recruit, a novice sailor’, OED); something to do with water for Bleeding London and…
Del
April 27, 2014
zBlog Archives

260414 Malestream Cucumbers

Today’s word of the day is “malestream”, which means:  ‘In feminist use: the male-dominated mainstream of society’ (OED).  Looking at the citations, it has a political connotation and so something political was called for.  With the European Parliament elections only…
Del
April 26, 2014
zBlog Archives

250414 The Cravateer’s on Holiday

And back to the urban environment. As we’ve been relaxing for a few days, MisterMac has given his “cravateer” (‘A person employed to tie cravats or neckties’, OED) the week off. So to fulfil today’s word of the day, a…
Del
April 25, 2014
zBlog Archives

240414 No mubble fubbles for us!

Continuing our wine journey, today’s recommendations are Leth’s Goldener Muskatellar Klassik and Iby’s Blaufränkisch Klassik. With another evening of al-fresco dining (well at least until the heavens suddenly opened between the main course and dessert), there was no room at…
Del
April 24, 2014