Word Of The Day

[The Bedlington Terrier]

"The mildly drinking Terrier was middle aged and a not very successful Lancashire financier with ****age children when he absquatulated to Fuerteventura to become a very serious drinker and sun seeker indeed!"

[Altobelli]

PRE-EMPT verb (pri-empt)

verb

(1) take action in order to prevent (an anticipated event) happening; forestall.
"the government pre-empted a coup attempt"synonyms: forestall, prevent;

(2) acquire or appropriate (something) in advance.
"many tables were already pre-empted by family parties"synonyms: commandeer, take possession of, occupy, seize, ARROGATE.

Origin

mid 19th century: back-formation from pre-emption.

[Altobelli]

ARROGATE verb

verb

(1) To claim unwarrantably or presumptuously; assume or appropriate to oneself without right: to arrogate the right to make decisions.

Origin

1530-40; < Latin.

[Altobelli]

COMPORTMENT noun

noun
1. personal bearing or conduct; demeanor; behavior.

Quotes
Miss Baker and Miss Inglis had founded the school back in 1911, in the words of the charter, "to educate girls in the humanities and sciences and to cultivate in them a love of learning, a modest comportment, an amiable grace, and an interest in civic duty above all."
--*Jeffrey Eugenides,*Middle***, 2002

Scooby-Doo is not a dog. Granted, he does have the comportment and vocal characteristic of a canine, but this is, in fact, the tragic consequence of a botched elective surgery that Scooby underwent at the hands of his friend Shaggy, who was briefly enrolled in a plastic-surgery program at a medical school that he no longer attends.
--*Colin Stokes,*"The Truth About Hello Kitty," The New Yorker, August 29, 2014


Origin

Comportment came to English from Middle French in the late 1500s. The word comport ultimately derives from the Latin verb comportāre “to transport.”

[Altobelli]

ANTHOPHILOUS adjective

adjective
1. attracted by or living among flowers.
2. feeding on flowers, as certain insects. Also, anthophagous.

Quotes

For you: anthophilous, lover of flowers, / green roses, chrysanthemums, lilies; retrophilia / philocaly, philomath, sarcophilous--all this love, / of the past, of beautify, of knowledge, of flesh ...
--*Reginald Dwayne Betts,*"For you: anthophilous, lover of flowers," Poetry, September 2011

... we are probably justified in concentrating our attention on adaptation to the needs and preferences of flower-visiting (anthophilous) animals that may be effective pollinators.
--*Herbert G. Baker and Irene Baker,*"Studies of Nectar-Constitution and Pollinator-Plant Coevolution," Coevolution of Animals and Plants, 1975


Origin

The first half of anthophilous comes from the Greek noun ánthos “flower,” which is related to Sanskrit ándha- “the soma plant” (still unidentified). The element -phil comes from Greek phílos “friend, friendly, dear.” It also means “one’s own, own” and for that reason may be a loan word into Greek from Lydian (an Anatolian language spoken in the ancient kingdom of Lydia, in modern western Turkey, whose last king was Croesus) bilis “his.” The Greek and Lydian words come from the Proto-Indo-European root bhilo-, bhili- “harmonious, suitable, friendly.” Anthophilous entered English in the 19th century.

[outwoodclaret]

Floccinaucinihilipilification Noun

The action or habit of estimating something as worthless.

Example

a politician's promises maybe?

[Altobelli]

ORT noun (awrt)

noun
1. a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. Usually, orts.

Quotes

... the poor thought that the rich were entirely in the right of it to lead a jolly life; besides, their feasting caused a multiplication of orts, which were the heirlooms of the poor.
--*George Eliot,*Silas Marner, 1861

Gulls still followed the brig on the chance that some orts would be thrown overboard by the cook, but the noon meal had been no more than what the Highlanders called a strupak and the Americans called a lick and a smell.
--*Elisabeth Ogilvie,*The World of Jennie G., 1986


Origin

Ort entered English in the 1400s. Low German ort and early Dutch oorete are cognates.

[alfinyalcabo]

Terrorist...Meaning
The lowest of the low and scum of the earth who kills innocent people

[Altobelli]

Terrorist...Meaning
The lowest of the low and scum of the earth who kills innocent people

[Altobelli]

THROTTLEBOTTOM noun (throt-l-bot-uh m)

noun
1. (sometimes lowercase) a harmless incompetent in public office.

Quotes

If there was one function that any vice president, even a Throttlebottom, could be expected to perform it was to represent the president and the country at funerals of notables abroad.
--*Carl Solberg,*Hubert Humphrey: A Biography, 1984

His excess of humility on being thrust from the job of Throttlebottom to the job of chief executive was a purely temporary phenomenon.
--*John Chamberlain,*"Washington in June," Life, June 11, 1945


Origin

The term Throttlebottom was formed after the character Alexander Throttlebottom in the musical comedy Of Thee I Sing (1932).