"Sadhu" means: 'In India: a holy man, a sage' (OED). As we're not in India, but rather Pimlico, genuine Sadhus were a little thin on the ground. However, we have our own holy man - at least in Bleeding London…
DelMay 15, 2014
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…
DelMay 13, 2014
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…
DelMay 12, 2014
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…
DelMay 11, 2014
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…
DelMay 10, 2014
"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…
DelMay 9, 2014
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…
DelMay 8, 2014
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…
DelMay 7, 2014
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…
DelMay 6, 2014
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…
DelMay 5, 2014
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…
DelMay 4, 2014
"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…
DelMay 3, 2014
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…
DelMay 2, 2014
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…
DelMay 1, 2014
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…
DelApril 30, 2014
"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.
DelApril 29, 2014
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…
DelApril 28, 2014
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…
DelApril 27, 2014
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…
DelApril 26, 2014