avivamagnolia

avivamagnolia has adopted no words, looked up 0 words, created 1 list, listed 1084 words, written 260 comments, added 0 tags, and loved 39 words.

Comments by avivamagnolia

avivamagnolia commented on the word bindle-punk

See bindle-stiff

April 23, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word zetetic

=A skeptical seeker of knowledge; proceeding by inquiry; a search or investigation.
=A zetetic is thus a sort of intellectual agnostic who, while seeking greater truths, is always wary of falsehood.
=A term originally used to refer to Pyrrhonists, a group of ancient Greek skeptics, it has come to mean both the process of inquiry and one who so proceeds.
=From the Greek zetetikos, from zeteein to seek

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word redroot

A name of several plants having red roots, as the new Jersey tea (see under Tea), the gromwell, the bloodroot, and the Lachnanthes tinctoria, an endogenous plant found in sandy swamps from Rhode Island to Florida.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word redshank

1. A common Old World limicoline bird (Totanus calidris), having the legs and feet pale red. The spotted redshank (T. Fuscus) is larger, and has orange-red legs. Called also redshanks, redleg, and clee. The fieldfare.
2. A bare-legged person; a contemptuous appellation formerly given to the Scotch Highlanders, in allusion to their bare legs.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mummery

=A ridiculous, hypocritical, or pretentious ceremony or performance
=A performance by mummers
=Etymology: Middle French momerie, from momer
=Date: circa 1530

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mumbo jumbo

=A masked figure among Mandingo peoples of western Africa
=An object of superstitious homage and fear
=A complicated often ritualistic observance with elaborate trappings
=Complicated activity or language usually intended to obscure and confuse
=Unnecessarily involved and incomprehensible language : gibberish
=Language, behavior, or beliefs based on superstition

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word callaloo

~A soup or stew made with greens, onions, and crabmeat or pork
~The edible young green leaves of taro (dasheen, common to Trinidad and Tobago
~Caribbean Callaloo Stew
~Caribbean English, perhaps ultimately of African origin; akin to Caribbean Spanish: calalú, callaloo (greens and dish), Brazilian Portuguese: carurú, Haitian Creole: kalalou, okra

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sunchoke

~ Jerusalem artichoke is a tuberous-rooted perennial (Helianthus tuberosus) of the family Asteraceae (aster aster).
~ Native to North America, where it was early cultivated by the indigenous inhabitants.
~ In this context, the name Jerusalem is a corruption of girasole turning toward the sun, the Italian name for sunflower, or for any plant of the genus Helianthus of the family Asteraceae (aster family).
~ The edible tubers are somewhat potatolike, but the carbohydrate present is inulin rather than starch, and the flavor resembles that of artichokes.
~ Jerusalem artichoke is more favored as a food plant in Europe (where it was introduced in 1616) and China than in North America, where it is most frequently grown as stock feed.
~ The inulin is valuable also as a source of fructose for diabetics.
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia®

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word flummery

~ empty talk or compliments.
~ sweet dish made with beaten eggs and sugar.
~ a soft jelly or porridge made with flour or meal.
~also, mummery, mumbo jumbo
— ORIGIN Welsh llymru.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word razzleberry pie

~Razzleberry is a pie made with raspberries and blackberries. It is very popular and is the most common (and sometimes the only) flavor of pie made without added sugar.
~Reference is made to razzleberry (dressing) in the 1962 Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word blaff

~A stew of fish or pork with berries, lime, onion, garlic, and spices, from Trinidad, Tobago, Martinique, and other areas of the Caribbean.
Recipe for Blaff

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word avgolemono

~ A soup or sauce made with chicken stock, egg yolks, and lemon juice
~ Modern Greek augolemono, from augo egg + lemoni lemon

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word ingenio

~Spanish for ingenuity, talent.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word imparlibidinous

Inequality of sexual desire between two people. A state of affairs we know all too well. "The two of us were were imparlibinous, which finally led to our divorce last year."

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word limerance

limerance – the initial exhilarating rush of falling in love; the state of "being in love".
Limerance, unlike 'infatuation', does not carry the connotation of emotional immaturity.
In contrast to "loving someone", limerance implies obsessive thinking about the limerent object and acute longing for reciprocation.
Coined by Dorothy Tennov in her book Love and Limerance (1979; recently reprinted). It will be interesting to see if this word enters the vernacular.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word lilyturf

li⋅ri⋅o⋅pe . Pronounced luh-rahy-uh-pee
Any of several plants belonging to the genus Liriope, of the lily family, having tufted, grasslike leaves and clusters of small bluish or white flowers. Also called liriope and mondo grass.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word liriope

li⋅ri⋅o⋅pe . Pronounced luh-rahy-uh-pee
Any of several plants belonging to the genus Liriope, of the lily family, having tufted, grasslike leaves and clusters of small bluish or white flowers. Also called lilyturf.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word bullpucky

~I can still hear my Dad's voice saying "bullpucky" when I started crying after he said, "We're shipping you back to your mother!"

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word jeezum crow

~Vermont expression for "Jesus Christ!"

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word jeezum

~Vermont expression for "Jesus!"

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word yapness

“I was feeling a pang of yapness yesterday, so I boarded a zabra and sailed into the ondoyant yair. Hoping to dap for oquassa, I baited a hamular with some tyroma that was fucoid. Soon I caught a gorgeous oquassa with a kype and a healthy amount of milt. It smelled like qiviut but it sure cured my yapness!�?
~from the blog Sandbox

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word firefanged

~Injured by fire; firefanged is said of manure which has lost its goodness and acquired an ashy hue due to heat generated by decomposition.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word liripoop

Also, liripipion, liripion, LL. liripipium. Said to be corrupted from L. cleri ephippium, literally, the clergy's caparison.]
1. A pendent part of the old clerical tippet; afterwards, a tippet; a scarf; worn also by doctors, learned men, and so on.
2. Acuteness; smartness; also, a smart trick or stratagem.
3. A silly person.
4. A silly, empty creature; an old dotard.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word clinchpoop

~A lout, jerk, clod, boor, slob, boob, fathead, sap
~A musical band called Clinchpoop
Throughout its explosively short 12 month lifespan, Clinchpoop produced 3 standalone records. Since then, no label has stepped forward to carry on the band's albums since OEO's untimely demise at the turn of the century. Just as 1000s have been moved to tears by the pale beauty of "The Sloth Song," thousands more have experienced the encaged fury of "Turn That Frown Upside Down" or the anti-establishment battle cry of "Clip Clop." This was a group with legitimate range, with the ability to go from sunshiny highs to grimy, bitter lows. This was a relationship that ended far too soon. This was Clinchpoop.

Clinchpoop, the Once Viable Band
"Only a clinchpoop could scan these pages without a feeling of awe at the undiscovered boundaries of the English tongue!" Leslie Hanscom in Newsday ...
~From
Only a Clinchpoop Could
_________________________________________________________

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word poltroon

Base; vile; contemptible; cowardly. French poltron, from Italian poltrone: an idle fellow, sluggard, coward. poltro: idle, lazy. An arrant coward; a dastard; a craven; a mean-spirited wretch.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sphallolalia

~ Ha ha! Look at this ...! Sphallolalia, Illustrated
~ "If you read Gary Farber, you already know he was "engaged in apodyopsis after sadly and involuntarily being colposinquanonic, which resulted in exsibilation, but also to sphallolalia<." And a lot of other things." ~From the Peevish ...I'm Just Saying Blog
~From the Greek sphallo, make to fall + -lalia, chatter
____________________________________________________

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word paleocontact

Ancient astronaut theories or paleocontact are various proposals that intelligent extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth and that this contact is linked to the origins or development of human cultures, technologies and/or religions.
Some of these theories suggest that deities from most — if not all — religions are actually extraterrestrial beings, and their technologies were taken as evidence of their divine status.1 2
Ancient astronaut theories have limited support within the scientific community, and have garnered little — if any — attention in peer-reviewed studies from scientific journals. These theories have been popularized, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century, by writers Erich von Däniken, Zecharia Sitchin and Robert K.G. Temple. ~Wikipedia

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word thummim

תּוּמִי�? (Thummim) (pronounced "two-meen") is widely considered to be derived from the consonantal root תּמִ�? (t-m-m), meaning faultless, while �?וּרִי�? (Urim) has traditionally been taken to derive from a root meaning lights; these derivations are reflected in the Neqqudot of the masoretic text.
In consequence, Urim and Thummim has traditionally been translated as lights and perfections (by Theodotion, for example), or, by taking the phrase allegorically, as meaning revelation and truth, or doctrine and truth (it appears in this form in the Vulgate, in the writing of Jerome, and in the Hexapla)3.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word eusocial

Eusociality (Greek eu: "good" + "social") is a term used for the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification. The term "eusocial" was introduced in 1966 by Suzanne Batra1 and given a more definitive meaning by E. O. Wilson.2 It was originally defined to include those organisms (originally, only invertebrates) that had certain features:3 4
1. Reproductive division of labor (with or without sterile castes)
2. Overlapping generations
3. Cooperative care of young
The lower levels of social organization, presociality, were classified using different terms, including presocial, subsocial, semisocial, parasocial and quasisocial. ~Wikipedia

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word hypnopompic

A hypnopompic state (or hypnopomp) is the state of consciousness leading out of sleep, a term coined by the spiritualist Frederick Myers. Its twin is the hypnagogic state at sleep onset; though often conflated, the two states are not identical. The hypnagogic state is rational waking cognition trying to make sense of non-linear images and associations; the hypnopompic state is emotional and credulous dreaming cognition trying to make sense of real world stolidity. They have a different phenomenological character. Depressed frontal lobe function in the first few minutes after waking – known as "sleep inertia" – causes slowed reaction time and impaired short-term memory. Sleepers often wake confused, or speak without making sense, a phenomenon the psychologist Peter McKeller calls "hypnopompic speech." ~Wikipedia

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word acalculia

~Loss of a previously possessed ability to engage in arithmetic calculation

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word huckleberry

Gullible Gulls, Huckleberry, Jumbi, Wooden Nickels, Realtors, and Calling a Spade a Spade
Dear Evan: I recently ran into the phrase "I'm your huckleberry" in a story about the Old West. Looking up the term in a dictionary, I found that in slang it meant "special man for the job" around 1880, but is now considered archaic...
...According to the Dictionary of American Regional English, "huckleberry" meant, as you've discovered, "the desired or suitable person" for a task, or just an all-around nice person or even "sweetheart."
But "huckleberry" could also mean "a small amount or distance" or even "a negligible thing or person." In fact, Twain himself used the word in this less than flattering sense in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" in 1889.
As a handy metaphor for something very small, the huckleberry also appeared in phrases such as "to bet a huckleberry to a persimmon" (a very small bet) and "a huckleberry above a persimmon" (a very small amount). But, though small, huckleberries could be special, too, as in the phrase "the only huckleberry on the bush," signifying something unique.
Ironically, amid all this evidence of turn-of-the-century huckleberry madness, we find evidence that the humble huckleberry actually got its name from a simple mistake. Early American colonists, upon encountering the native American berry, misidentified it as the European blueberry known as the "hurtleberry," by which name it was called until, through generations of slightly sloppy pronunciation, it became known as the "huckleberry."

Huckleberry, from The Word Detective

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word huckleberry

(Science: botany) The edible black or dark blue fruit of several species of the American genus Gaylussacia, shrubs nearly related to the blueberries (Vaccinium), and formerly confused with them. The commonest huckelberry comes from g. Resinosa.
The shrub that bears the berries.
Synonym: whortleberry. Squaw huckleberry. See Deeberry.

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word flixweed

Flixweed (sometimes Fluxweed) (Sisymbrium sophia) is a member of the mustard family. It reproduces by seeds. It was once given to patients suffering from dysentery and called by ancient herbalists Sophia Chirugorum, "The Wisdom of Surgeons," on account of its healing properties. In Germany it is called the Sophienkraut and associated with Saint Sophia of Rome, who was invoked against late frosts. ~Wikipedia
Flixweed (Photograph)

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word kabbalah

Accent is on the 3rd syllable: kab bal AH . From the Hebrew "to receive;" literally, "the received or traditional lore."
Kabbalah: Esoteric Judaism

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word jehosaphat

Jehoshaphat (alternately spelled Jehosaphat, Josaphat, or Yehoshafat) (Hebrew: יְהוֹשָ�?פָט, Standard Yəhošafat Tiberian Yəhôš�?p̄�?ṭ ; " Jehovah is the judge") was the successor of Asa, king of Judah. This king is not connected with the Valley of Jehosaphat, where, according to Joel 3:2, the God of Israel will gather all nations for judgment.
"Jehoshaphat took heed to organize the administration of justice on a solid foundation, and was an honest worshiper of Yhwh" (Yahweh). He appears to be an exemplar of the "theory worked out in Chronicles that pious monarchs have always been the mightiest and most prosperous." ~The Jewish Encyclopedia

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word zooids

~ Living things that have (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently
~ Distinct individuals forming a colonial animal such as a bryozoan or hydrozoan

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word floptical

Floptical refers to a type ofdisk drive that combines magnetic and optical technologies to store large amounts of data on media similar to 3½-inch floppy disks. The name is a portmanteau of the words 'floppy' and 'optical'.
It refers specifically to one brand of drive, but is also used more generically to refer to any system using similar techniques.
The original floptical technology was introduced late in 1991 by Insite Peripherals, a venture funded company set up by Jim Adkisson, one of the key engineers behind the original 5¼-inch floppy disk drive development at Shugart Associates in 1976. The main shareholders were Maxell, Iomega and 3M. ~Wikipedia

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word poncey

~Ostentatious, snobbish, effeminate

January 19, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word lethologica

~ As a term in the fields of psychology and neurology, lethologica refers to a temporary inability to remember a proper noun or name.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word slounge

~ To go idling about, to go seeking for a dinner, to go sorning, lounging about and coming into the house of a friend or acquaintance at or near dinner time, as if accidentally.
~ Apparently a corruption of the Gaelic slugair, a glutton; sluganach, a voracious person, and slugan, the gullet. ~A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch, by Charles Mackay

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sloomy

~ Lethargic, sleepy, slumbering, sleeping deeply
~sloom, a deep sleep
~ Sloom evolved into the English slumber
~ Sloom is from the Flemish sluimeren, to sleep; sluimerig, sleepy.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sloom

~ A deep sleep
~ Evolved into the English slumber
~ From the Flemish sluimeren, to sleep; sluimerig, sleepy.
~ Sloomy, lethargic

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sliddery

~ Slippery; from slide
~ unstable, changeable in thought or purpose, not to be depended upon.
~ "There's a sliddery stane afore the ha' door. (It is sometimes dangerous to visit great houses.)
Scots Proverbs, by Allan Ramsay

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word slanky

~ Slimy.
~ "Twa slanky stanes seemed his spule banes." ~Border Minstrelsy: The Water Kelpie
~ From A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch by Charles Mackay

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word skybald

From A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch by Charles Mackay:
"Skybald, apparently the same as the English skewbald and piebald, terms to designate a horse of two colours, marked as cows and oxen usually are...in Scotland, skybald signifies a base, mean fellow, a worthless person...it is also applied to a man in rags and tatters...Locke, the celebrated English metaphysician, uses piebald in a similar sense, "a piebald livery of coarse patches." In Yorkshire...skeyl'd signifies parti-coloured, which is apparently from the same Gaelic root as sky and skew.".
* Thanks for the tip on searching Google Books, reesetee and slumry! *

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word langrel

~ A kind of shot formerly used at sea for tearing sails and rigging. It consisted of bolts, nails, and other pieces of iron fastened together or inclosed in a canister.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word realia

~ Realia is a term used in library science and education to refer to certain real-life objects.
~ In education, realia include objects used by educators to improve students' understanding of other cultures and real life situations. A teacher of a foreign language often employs realia to strengthen students' associations between words for everyday objects and the objects themselves.
~ In library classification systems, realia are objects such as coins, tools, and textiles that do not easily fit into the orderly categories of printed material. Wikipedia

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word oögamy

~ Also spelled oogamy
~ Reproduction in which a small motile male sex cell fuses with a large immobile female sex cell, as happens (for example) when a sperm fuses with an egg
~ o·og·a·mous adjective

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word oogamy

~ Also spelled oögamy
~ Reproduction in which a small motile male sex cell fuses with a large immobile female sex cell, as happens (for example) when a sperm fuses with an egg
~ o·og·a·mous adjective

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word oocyte

~ A cell from which an egg develops.
~ The developing female gamete before completion and release.
~ The female germ cells in stages between the prophase of the 1st maturation division, and the completion of the 2nd maturation division.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word ooidal

~ Shaped like an egg
~ See oogonia, oocyte

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word oolemma

~Plasma membrane of the oocyte.
~Origin: G. Oon, egg, + lemma, sheath

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word oogonium

~ Primitive differentiated female gamete which gives rise to oocytes. Singular of oogonia.
~ An immature ovum. It is a female gametogonium.
~ Oogonia are formed in large numbers by mitosis early in fetal life from primordial germ cells, which are present in the fetus between weeks 4 and 8. Oogonia are present in the fetus between weeks 5 and 30.
~ Oogonia are also the female reproductive structures in certain thallophytes, and are usually rounded cells or sacs containing one or more oospheres.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word oocytes

~ Immature female reproductive cell prior to fertilization; derived from an oogonium.
~ It is a primary oocyte prior to completion of the first maturation division, and a secondary oocyte in the period between the first and second maturation divisions.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word oogonia

~ Primitive differentiated female gametes which give rise to oocytes. Plural of oogonium.
~ Immature ova (singular: ovum). It is a female gametogonia (singular: gametogonium).
~ They are formed in large numbers by mitosis early in fetal life from primordial germ cells, which are present in the fetus between weeks 4 and 8. Oogonia are present in the fetus between weeks 5 and 30.
~ Oogonia are also the female reproductive structures in certain thallophytes, and are usually rounded cells or sacs containing one or more oospheres.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word eutaxy

~(n.) Good or established order or arrangement.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word jurassic

~ The Jurassic period or formation; called also the Jura.
~ Of the age of the middle Mesozoic, including (as divided in England and Europe) the Lias, Oolite, and Wealden; named from certain rocks of the Jura mountains.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word oolite

~ A variety of limestone, consisting of small round grains, resembling the roe of a fish.
~ Rock composed of small concretions, usually of calcium carbonate, containing a nucleus and clearly defined concentric shells.

~ Oolite sometimes constitutes extensive beds, as in the European Jurassic. In the British Isles oolitic limestone is characteristic of the middle and upper Jurassic
~ Origin: German ~ An egg.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word quipu

Quipu, khipu, or quipo (sometimes called talking knots) were recording devices used in the Inca Empire and its predecessor societies in the Andean region. A quipu usually consisted of colored spun and plied thread or strings from llama or alpaca hair. It also consisted of cotton cords with numeric and other values encoded by knots in a base ten positional system. Quipus may have just a few or up to 2,000 cords.
Quipu is the Spanish spelling and the most common spelling in English. Khipu (pronounced ˈkʰipu) is the word for "knot" in Cusco Quechua (the native Inca language; the kh is an aspirated k. In most Quechua varieties, the term is kipu. (Wikipedia)

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word quipo

Quipu or khipu (sometimes called talking knots) were recording devices used in the Inca Empire and its predecessor societies in the Andean region. A quipu usually consisted of colored spun and plied thread or strings from llama or alpaca hair. It also consisted of cotton cords with numeric and other values encoded by knots in a base ten positional system. Quipus may have just a few or up to 2,000 cords.
Quipu is the Spanish spelling and the most common spelling in English. Khipu (pronounced ˈkʰipu) is the word for "knot" in Cusco Quechua (the native Inca language; the kh is an aspirated k. In most Quechua varieties, the term is kipu. (Wikipedia)

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word cockatiel

~ A small, rather atypical cockatoo with a distinctive pointed yellow crest. Also called quarrion, quarry hen, and weero.
~ From Wiradhuri guwarrayiŋ.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word weero

~ (Western Australia) A cockatiel, or Nymphicus hollandicus.
~ a small, rather atypical cockatoo with a distinctive pointed yellow crest
~ From wiru, a word found in several north-western Australian Aboriginal languages.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word quarrion

~ A cockatiel, or Nymphicus hollandicus. Also, see weero.
~ Cockatiel: A small, rather atypical cockatoo with a distinctive pointed yellow crest.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word natto

Natt�? (�?��?��?��?� or �?豆, Natt�?) is a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans, popular especially for breakfast. As a rich source of protein, natt�? and the soybean paste miso formed a vital source of nutrition in feudal Japan. For some, natt�? can be an acquired taste due to its powerful smell, strong flavor, and sticky consistency. In Japan natt�? is most popular in the eastern regions, including Kant�?, T�?hoku, and Hokkaido.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word huitlacoche

Called Corn smut in the U.S., it's a disease of maize caused by the pathogenic plant fungus Ustilago maydis. U. maydis causes smut disease on maize (Zea mays) and teosinte (Euchlena mexicana). Although it can infect any part of the plant it usually enters the ovaries and replaces the normal kernels of the cobs with large distorted tumors analogous to mushrooms. These tumors, or "galls", are made up of much-enlarged cells of the infected plant, fungal threads, and blue-black spores. The spores give the cob a burned, scorched appearance. The name Ustilago comes from the Latin word ustilare (to burn).
Considered a pest in most of the United States, smut feeds off the corn plant and decreases the yield. Usually smut-infected crops are destroyed. Some farmers may also choose to prepare corn silage out of the smutted corn. However, in Mexico corn smut is called huitlacoche (IPA: wit͡ɬakot͡ɕe, sometimes spelled cuitlacoche), a Nahuatl word reportedly meaning raven's excrement. It is considered a delicacy, even being preserved and sold for a higher price than corn. For culinary use, the galls are harvested while still immature — fully mature galls are dry and almost entirely spore-filled. The immature galls, gathered two to three weeks after an ear of corn is infected, still retain moisture and, when cooked, have a flavor described as mushroom-like, sweet, savory, woody, and earthy. Flavor compounds include sotolon and vanillin, as well as the sugar glucose.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word pilliwinks

Gory Detail:
The thumbscrew, or pilliwinks, is a torture instrument which was used in medieval Europe. It is a simple vise, sometimes with protruding studs on the interior surfaces. The victim's thumbs or fingers were placed in the vise and slowly crushed. The thumbscrew was also applied to crush prisoners' toes, while larger, heavier devices based on the same design principle were applied to destroy knees and elbows.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word kleptocracy

~ a political regime whose members make flagrantly dishonest use of their official position for personal gain
Related Forms:
* kleptocrat klep′·to·crat′ (-tə krat′) noun
* kleptocratic klep′·to·crat′ic adjective
Usage Examples
* Lord Black accused of running a "corporate kleptocracy."

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word vibrissa

~ tactile bristle such as cat's whisker; bristly hair

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word vibraslap

~ modern percussion instrument with rod and ball; made by Latin Percussion (LP)

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word unununium

Pronounced "oon-oon-oon-e-um," which stands for 111, Unununium is the former name of Roentgenium (atomic number 111).

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word pickthank

~ pickthank – a sycophant, a yes-man (one who would steal your gratitude and pick a thank)
"Our term 'yes-man' seem like weak watered ale, compared with Shakespeare's catalog of lusty terms for this unpleasant person."
Some carry-tale, some please-man, some slight zany,
Some mumble-news, some trencher-knight, some Dick
– Love's Labour's Lost, Act 5, Scene 2

Yet such extenuation let me beg,
As, in reproof of many tales devised,
Which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear,_By smiling pickthanks and base news-mongers,
– King Henry IV, Part I, Act 3, Scene 2

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word metabolomics

Metabolomics is the "systematic study of the unique chemical fingerprints that specific cellular processes leave behind" - specifically, the study of their small-molecule metabolite profiles.1 The metabolome represents the collection of all metabolites in a biological organism, which are the end products of its gene expression. Thus, while mRNA gene expression data and proteomic analyses do not tell the whole story of what might be happening in a cell, metabolic profiling can give an instantaneous snapshot of the physiology of that cell. One of the challenges of systems biology and functional genomics is to integrate proteomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic information to give a more complete picture of living organisms.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word amplexus

– the mating embrace of a toad or a frog
– or, as Chained Bear said with great powers of observation, one could use the term froggy-style

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word neoclexis

~ practice of selecting a partner based on intelligence and character without regard for physical attractiveness

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sphallolallia

~ Sphallolalia is flirtatious talk that never leads to amorous action
~ Correct spelling is sphallolalia. Silly me.
~ Ha ha! Sphallolalia, Illustrated
~ "If you read Gary Farber, you already know he was "engaged in apodyopsis after sadly and involuntarily being b>colposinquanonic, which resulted in exsibilation, but also to sphallolalia<." And a lot of other things." ~From the Peevish ...I'm Just Saying Blog

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word asphalia

n. - emphatic guaranteeing of what one is saying, as by assuring others, wagering about the truth of something

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word azulejo

n. - brightly colored tile of Near East, Spain and Holland.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word meshugana

Yiddish: a crazy person.
Also, me⋅shug⋅ga⋅na, me⋅shug⋅ge⋅ner /məˈʃʊgənər/ muh-shoog-uh-ner
Origin:1880–85; < Yiddish meshugener, equiv. to meshuga meshuga + epenthetic n + -er -er

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word rixatrix

The crime of speaking her mind is punishable by public shaming. A crime called “Communis
Rixatrix�?
(note the Latin feminine is used here as only women can be charged with this crime).
The translation of Communis Rixatrix is “the common scold.�?
According to Jacob’s Law Dictionary, a common scold is a “troublesome and angry woman, who,
by her brawling and wrangling amongst her neighbours, breaks the public peace.�?
The punishment for the speaking of one’s mind was to be publicly ducked, that is, to be placed on
a ‘ducking stool’ and plunged into a nearby body of cold water in the presence of her whole
community. The last time a woman was indicted as a common scold in the United States was in
1971.
A woman named Marion Dunlevy was arrested, fingerprinted, and indicted as a common scold
after engaging in an argument with two of her male neighbours over a parked car. The case was
thrown out but “Communis Rixatrix�? was still on the books in the United States in 1994
~University of Regina Lecture, Psychology of Women Class, Copyright of Shauna Born

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word rixatrix

~a nasty, quarrelsome old woman, usually with a tendency to natter and scold

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word seeksorrow

~ masochist

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sebastomania

~ religious insanity!

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word scrivello

~ elephant's tusk

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word scriniary

~ keeper of archives

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word schizocarp

n. - compound fruit splitting into several one-seeded ones. schizocarpic, schizocarpous, adj. schizogenesis, schizogony, n. reproduction by division. schizoid, adj. pertaining to, like or suffering from schizophrenia. schizophrenia, n. mental disorder with 'splitting' of personality and separation from environment. schizophyte n., plant reproducing only by multiple fission. schizothymia, n. schizophrenia- like mental disorder. schizotrichia, n. splitting of hair.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word glottogonic

~ of, like or pertaining to the origins of language
~ a linguistics term for the study of the putative origin of language

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word guttatim

Quoting from a book on homeopathic diagnosis and remedies:
BLADDER; URINATION; retarded; press; long pressing, after, urine passes guttatim

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word guttatim

Quoting from a book on homeopathic diagnosis and remedies:
BLADDER; URINATION; retarded; press; long pressing, after, urine passes guttatim

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word guttatim

Quoting from a book on homeopathic diagnosis and remedies:
BLADDER; URINATION; retarded; press; long pressing, after, urine passes guttatim

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word guttatim

Quoting from a book on homeopathic diagnosis and remedies:
BLADDER; URINATION; retarded; press; long pressing, after, urine passes guttatim

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sardonyx

S'ARDONYX, n. L. sardonyches, from Gr. from Sardis, a city of Asia Minor, and a nail; so named, according to Pliny, from the resemblance of its color to the flesh under the nail.
A silicious stone or gem, nearly allied to carnelian. Its color is a reddish yellow, or nearly orange. We are informed that the yellow or orange colored agate, with an undulating surface, is now often called sardonyx.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word jasponyx

~ The purest horn-colored onyx, with beautiful green zones, composed of genuine matter of the finest jaspers

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sardonyx

~ A variety of onyx consisting of sard and white chalcedony in alternate layers

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sarmassation

~ erotic squeezing, kneading, or caressing of female tissues and organs.
Origin: G. Sarx, flesh, + masso, to knead

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sarmassation

~ love play
~ see: sarmassophobe

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sarmassophobe

~ one who dislikes love play, or sarmassation

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word satispassion

~ satisfactory suffering, according to theologists

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word salmagundi

~ highly-seasoned mixed dish of meat, eggs, etc.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word myringa

~ ear drum.
~ myringitis, inflammation of the myringa

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word tlön

Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius is a short story by the 20th century Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. The story was first published in the Argentine journal Sur, May 1940. The "postscript" dated 1947 is intended to be anachronistic, set seven years in the future. The first English-language translation of the story was published in 1961.
In the story, an encyclopedia article about a mysterious country called Uqbar is the first indication of Orbis Tertius, a massive conspiracy of intellectuals to imagine (and thereby create) a world: Tlön. Relatively long for Borges (approximately 5,600 words), the story is a work of speculative fiction. One of the major themes of "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" is that ideas ultimately manifest themselves in the physical world and the story is generally viewed as a parabolic discussion of Berkeleian idealism — and to some degree as a protest against totalitarianism.
"Tlön, Uqbar..." has the structure of a detective fiction set in a world going mad. Although the story is quite short, it makes allusions to many leading intellectual figures both in Argentina and in the world at large, and takes up a number of themes more typical of a novel of ideas. Most of the ideas engaged are in the areas of language, epistemology, and literary criticism. (Wikipedia)

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word yoctosecond

~ Abbr. ys or ysec
~ One septillionth (10-24) of a second

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word abacaxi

~ pineapple, common name for one member of and for the Bromeliaceae, a family of chiefly epiphytic herbs and small shrubs native to the American tropics and subtropics. The spiny leaves of various species of the genus Ananas yield a hard fiber called gravata in South America and piña, or pineapple cloth, in the Philippines. A. sativa is the cultivated pineapple. The fruit, whose spiny skin is yellowish brown when ripe, is sweet and juicy; it is topped by a distinctive rosette of green leaves. It is grown throughout warmer regions. Thailand, the Philippines, and Brazil are the largest producers of canned pineapple. A compound derived from pineapple, branelain, is used as an anti-inflammatory. Species of Ananas, Tillsandia, and other genera are sometimes cultivated as ornamentals. Spanish moss Spanish moss, fibrous grayish-green epiphyte (Tillandsia usneoides) that hangs on trees of tropical America and the Southern states, also called Florida, southern, or long moss.
Many epiphytic bromeliads, growing in moist tropical American forests, have become highly modified for retaining water between rainfalls. The pineapple family is classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta (măg'n�?lē�?f`ətə)
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia® Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mojo

Mojo Alert!
Want to see what a "mojo" looks like? Here's one variety:
Red Mojo Bag
Want to know more about "mojo" and its expression in the blues? Check this out:
LuckyMojo : Best Website on "Mojo" You're Ever Gonna Find!
How about the botanical remedies, spells, charms, and talismans related to this concept of "mojo?" Here's a great, annotated, illustrated list of herbs: MojoCat Herbs : Working the Mojo... Botanically, Medicinally : Rootwork Tools
How about a PhD thesis called Christio-Conjure in Voodoo Dreams, Baby of The Family, The Salt Eaters, Mama Day, and Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo
Take a look at my bookmarks (tagged "mojo," "women's mojo," and so on) posted on ma.gnolia.com:
Mojo Mania!
For more detail on its African and diasporic origins, here’s a worthy article: Conjure Craft: Hoodoo, Rootwork and Conjuring for the 21st Century
A quote from the article listed above:
“Hoodoo and Candomble are primarily healing traditions involved with herbs, plants, roots, trees, animals, magnets, minerals, and natural waters combined with magical amulets, chants, ceremonies, rituals, and handmade power objects, which empower the practitioner to take control of his or her own fate rather than placing power in the hands of deities or religious leaders like priests or priestesses. Hoodoo and Candomble are distinctly American (North and South); therefore, they are multicultural and reflect strong links between various indigenous groups, the Judeo-Christianity of the dominant cultures, and West African magical and medicinal herbalism of the Yoruba, Fon, Ewe, and others.�?
All my ma.gnolia.com tags, which I love to look at:
mojo hand, root bag, mojobag, rootbag, mojohand, toby, ~♥�?♥~, wanga, gris-gris, hoodoo, amulet, woman's mojo, women, hoodoo woman, female, mojuba, west africa, west african, prayer bag, bag of spells, spells, love spells, praise, homage, divination, nation sack, jack, jack bag, jack ball, gree-gree, gri-gri, fetish, fetishes, charm, charms, charm bag, oanga, conjure, conjuring, conjuration, conjure work, conjure woman, laying tricks, spellcasting, root work, rootwork, conjure hand, lucky hand, lucky mojo, trick bag, jomo, nation bag, memphis, tennessee, lucky hand root, orchid, orchid root, gamblers, gambling luck, tricks, luck, red, red flannel, love, green, green flannel, money, coins, love mojo, money mojo, white, white flannel, babies, baby mojo, blessing, baby blessing, blue, blue flannel, home, home mojo, obeah, leather, west indian, protection, purification, protect, purify, killing the hand, taboo, love drawing, magical protection, semen, condition oil, piss, silver dime, lodestone, fast luck oil, love me oil, van van oil, john the conqueror root, salt, fingernails, hair, pubic hair, nail clippings, dice, five-finger grass, bat heart, alligator tooth, badger tooth, rabbit foot, alligator foot, black cat bone, follow me boy oil, reconciliation oil, peaceful home oil, angelica root, balm of gilead, flax seeds, rosebuds, lavender, basil, wishing beans, red ink, catseye shell, plastic skull, five finger grass, jinx removing oil, stop evil oil, uncrossing oil, nails, rat bone, broken chain, broken ring, miniature dagger, pyrite, gravel root, roots, herbs, buds, flowers, leaves, feathers, tokens, stones, papers, notes, carvings, talismans, amulets, seals, parchments, 1920s, 1930s, mojo brand oil, lucky brown, articles, essays, stores, catalogs, shopping, lyrics, portals, theory, webring

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mojo

Mojo (pronounced ˈmoʊdʒoʊ ) is a term commonly encountered in the African-American folk belief called hoodoo. A mojo is a type of magic charm, often of red flannel cloth and tied with a drawstring, containing botanical, zoological, and/or mineral curios, petition papers, and the like. It is typically worn under clothing.
Types of mojos
Mojos are made for all sorts of purposes, many of them documented in blues music:
* In "Spider's Nest Blues" by Hattie Hart and the Memphis Jug Band, Hart wants to go to New Orleans to get her toby (mojo) "fixed" because she is "having so much trouble" -- the mojo is protective and its power is wearing off, as witnessed by the "bad luck" she is having.
* In "Mojo Hand" by Lightnin' Hopkins, the singer complains about a woman who is "always raising sand" (causing arguments and fights) and he wants to get a mojo hand so that the women will "come under his command" -- in other words, he wants to rule, control, and dominate a woman instead of being the target of her bickering...or at least influence her to be more subdued.
* In "Louisiana Hoo Doo Blues" by Ma Rainey, the mojo is protective of an established love relationship and the singer is going to Louisiana to get a mojo hand because she's "gotta stop these women from taking my man."
* In "Little Queen of Spades" by Robert Johnson, the woman has a mojo and uses it to gamble at cards and win, and the mojo explains her otherwise inexplicable winning streak: "everybody says she's got a mojo, 'cause she's been using that stuff".
* In "Hoodoo Hoodoo" by Sonny Boy Williamson I, the mojo is used to break up a love triangle: "I'm goin' down into Louisiana and buy me another mojo hand, all because I got to break up my baby from lovin' this other man."
* In "Mojo Boogie" by J. B. Lenoir, the narrator is given a jack (mojo) by his aunt but doesn't know how to use it: "I got one jack, sure is crazy / My aunt forgot to teach me, just how to operate it / I went to a night club, I was squeezing it tight / I believe that's the cause of them people's start to fight ." The mojo in this case causes people to quarrel.
* In "Hoodoo Lady Blues" by Arthur Crudup, the mojo is again protective of a relationship by causing a break-up with an outside lover. The narrator asks, "please give me a hoodoo hand; I wanna hoodoo this woman of mine, I believe she's got another man." As with Lightnin' Hopkins, what bothers the man is not sexual, rather it is the woman's argumentativeness: "Now, she squabbles all night long, she won't let me sleep / Lord, I wonder what in the world this woman done done to me."
* In "Crossroads" by Walter Hill, Willie Brown gives a mojo, "the Louisiana voodoo charm", to Eugene Martone (Macchio).
* In "Scarey Day Blues," "Talkin' to Myself," and "Ticket Agent Blues" all by Blind Willie McTell -- a woman has "got a mojo and she's tryin' to keep it hid." The hidden mojo is a metaphor for her hidden genitals and the male singer says that he's "got something to find that mojo with." The bag or purse-like mojo symbolizes female genitalia, and in this very sexualized sense, mojos are more often associated with women than with men. Preston Foster's "I've got my mojo working but it just don't work on you" was not intended as a song for Muddy Waters, and the first recording of that song was by a woman, Ann Cole.
* Interestingly, it seems "mojo" could imply all its meanings at the same time. This is exemplified in "Take Your Hands Off My Mojo," by Leola B. Wilson and Wesley Wilson recorded in New York on February 17, 1932. 1
* In "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" Fat Bastard steals Austin's mojo.
* In "L.A. Woman" by the Doors, mojo is rising, just before "riding, riding." "Mr. Mojo Risin'" is an anagram for Jim Morrison and it came about because during the 1960s, Morrison apparently heard the word "mojo" on a recording by the Mississippi-born Chicago-style blues singer Muddy Waters, one of whose most popular songs was, "I Got My Mojo Working." 2
~ Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojo

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mojo

1 a magic charm or spell. 2 supernatural power or luck.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word suzerainty

1 a sovereign or state having some control over another state that is internally autonomous. 2 a feudal overlord.
~ The dominion of a suzerain, a ruler of a dependent state; overlordship.
~ A suzerain was a superior feudal lord to whom fealty is due; or a dominant state controlling the foreign relations of a vassal state but allowing it sovereign authority in its internal affairs.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word aimcrier

~ an applauder, encourager; the person who cries "Aim!" to the archer

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mutatis mutandis

~ a phrase meaning: (1) ...the necessary changes having been made, or (2) ...the relevant differences having been considered

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mutatis mutandis

Using "mutatis mutandis" in a sentence:
"We can in fact only define a weed, mutatis mutandis, in terms of the well-known definition of dirt—as matter out of place. What we call a weed is in fact merely a plant growing where we do not want it."
—E.J. Salisbury, The Living Garden, 1935
'One thing that I do remember about the Pyrrhic dance is that it was danced in armour.'
'I am happy to hear you say so, sir,' said the young man with a smile... 'for it strengthens my point, since we do the same. To be sure, we admit the degeneration that has taken place since Hector and Lysander and we have reduced our equipment in due proportion; but mutatis mutandis, we still drill, or dance, in armour.'
—Pat O'Brian, The Commodore, p 219

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mutatis mutandis

"that having been changed which had to be changed" or more commonly, "with the necessary changes"
Function: adverb
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin
Date: 15th century
Mutatis Mutandis is the alma mater of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Charles Xavier and the X-Men recognize that mutants are part of nature, and that they might serve a positive role in society. The world of Mutatis Mutandis is a world where mutants and humans live together. The problems that arise in this world are universal; they include the feelings of being outcast for differences, the fear of the unknown, xenophobia.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word muscovado

~ unrefined sugar; turbinado sugar

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word muckna

Muckna, or Makhna in Hindu, which comes from the Sanskrit matkuna, 'a bug, flea, a beardless man, an elephant without tusks'.
c. 1780 - "An elephant born with left tooth only is reckoned sacred; with black spots in the mouth unlucky, and not saleable; the mukna or elephant born without teeth is thought the best."Shakespeare uses the the word as 'a cock without spurs.'

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word muckna

~ a naturally tuskless male elephant
~ spurless cock

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word moxa

Moxa and Moxibustion

The actual Chinese character for acupuncture, translated literally, means "acupuncture-moxibustion." The purpose of moxibustion, as with most forms of traditional Chinese medicine, is to strengthen the blood, stimulate the flow of qi, and maintain general health.
Mugwort () has a long history of use in folk medicine. Research has shown that it acts as an emmenagogue that is, an agent that increases blood circulation to the pelvic area and uterus and stimulates menstruation. This could explain its use in treatingbreech birth and menstrual cramps.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word moxa

Moxibustion (Chinese: �?�; pinyin: jiǔ) is an oriental medicine therapy utilizing moxa, or the herb known as "mugwort, "Artemesia vulgaris," and "ai ye."
It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, and Mongolia.
Suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or process it further into a stick that resembles a (non-smokable) cigar. They can use it indirectly, with acupuncture needles, or sometimes burn it on a patient's skin.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word bangerang

Hmmmm. Weird buncha definitions.
First, I discovered that it referred to the Yorta Yorta language and people (Wikipedia redirected me to "Yorta Yorta" from "bangerang," without explanation.)
The Yorta Yorta people are indigenous Australians who traditionally lived around the the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day northeast Victoria.
Yorta Yorta Family Groups include the Bangerang, Kailtheban, Wollithiga, Moira, Ulupna, Kwat Kwat, Yalaba Yalaba and Nguaria-iiliam-wurrung clans. Their language is referred to generally as the Yorta Yorta language.
Then, Urban Dictionary told me that it was an expletive from the movie Hook, meaning great or killer. In colloquial use, one might say: "That Orangina I got at Whole Foods is bangerang, let me tell you!"
Urban Dictionary offered further elaboration:
The word bangarang is actually Jamaican slang and is defined as a hubbub, uproar, disorder, or disturbance. Used often in the movie "Hook" by the lost boys. For example:
"Yo, that meal was bangerang!"
"Bangerang Peter!"
"Oh word, that chick looks bangerang tonight."
"We're gonna make a bangerang of a party up in here!"
In a major departure, Urban Dictionary also claimed that bangerang referred to a South Amboy football play in which there are 3 players each exceeding 250 pounds in the backfield and run the ball up the middle. For example: "Bouch, Pat, and Dave ran the Bangerang against Keansburg and decimated them."
Moving even further afield, another submission to Urban Dictionary made a dubious claim:
Bangerang refers to when you get into some kind of trouble a week or more after intercourse. The trouble must be a direct cause of having the aforementioned sex. Karma is possible explanation. For example: "No one at this party will sleep with me cause I had sex with a horse on youtube, what a goddamn bangerang."

But the one I like best?
Killer fucking hot sauce.
Steps for use:
1. Buy one or twelve bottles of Bangerang.
2. Put Bangerang on everything.
3. Order more Bangerang.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word ganglia

Yup, johnmperry was right. It's the plural of "ganglion." Sometimes pluralized as "ganglions." :)

1. cluster of nerve cells: a structure that contains a dense cluster of nerve cells; any concentrated mass of nerve cells outside the brain or spine, serving as the source of nerve impulses
2. swelling on joint or tendon: a harmless swelling similar to a cyst that forms on a joint or tendon
3. any place where activity, industry, learning, or collaborative effort is concentrated; a hub
From the Late 17th century. Greek: gagglion meaning "tumor, nerve bundle"

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word gnarly

~ Something (or someone) both obscure and hairy.
"Yow! - the tuned assembler implementation of BitBlt is really gnarly!"
~ From a similar but less specific usage in surfer slang.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word marlish

~ easygoing :~))

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word maremma

~ Fertile, marshy land near the sea; refers to Italy
~ Latin: maritimus. See: maritime
Maremma (mära-m`mä), coastal area in Tuscany, central Italy, along the Tyrrhenian Sea and extending E to the Apennines. A flourishing region in Etruscan and early Roman times, it became marshy and was largely abandoned in the Middle Ages because of malaria. Reclamation was begun (19th cent.) by the grand dukes of Tuscany and was continued in the 20th cent. by the Italian government. There are now wide fertile areas, rich borax mines, and good hunting grounds; cattle and a noted breed of horses are raised. Cities include Piombino (a port) and Grosetto (an inland agricultural center).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia® Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word maremma

~marsh, miasma
~maremmatic

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word jambool

~ plum-like tree of Java with fruit used as astringent and drug. jambool, jambul

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word jambolan

~ plum-like tree of Java with fruit used as astringent and drug. jambool, jambul

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word fetch light

For more on this subject, click on Hedgewytchery, okay?

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word fetch-light

"Through the portals of the stone stile you now glimpse a hovering sphere of soft light, glowing in the mist beyond without casting any shadows. You look deeply at it's color as it bobs beyond the stile.. As you gaze deeply into the ball of light you catch a glimpse of an animal, a shape or a bird. Beyond the stone stile your Fetch-light trembles and hovers over the ground, shining softly in the dark, enticing you further on the journey to the other side..." ~ Nigel Jackson, Call of the Horned Piper

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word fetch light

"Through the portals of the stone stile you now glimpse a hovering sphere of soft light, glowing in the mist beyond without casting any shadows. You look deeply at it's color as it bobs beyond the stile.. As you gaze deeply into the ball of light you catch a glimpse of an animal, a shape or a bird. Beyond the stone stile your Fetch-light trembles and hovers over the ground, shining softly in the dark, enticing you further on the journey to the other side..." ~ Nigel Jackson, Call of the Horned Piper

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word veela

~ The Vila, Wila, Wili, or Veela are the Slavic versions of nymphs, who have power over storms, which they delight in sending down on lonely travelers. They live in meadows, ponds, oceans, trees, and clouds (cf. Leimakids, Limnades, Oceanids, Dryads, Nephele). They can appear as swans, horses, wolves, or beautiful women.
In Polish mythology, the Wiła (pronounced /'viwa/) and Serbian mythology Vila (pronounced /'ʋila/) are believed to be female fairy-like spirits who live in the wilderness and sometimes clouds. They were believed to be the spirits of women who had been frivolous in their lifetimes and now floated between here and the afterlife. They sometimes appear as the swans, snakes, horses, falcons, or wolves that they can shapeshift into but usually appear as beautiful maidens, naked or dressed in white with long flowing hair.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word jacinthe

~ orange-colored variety of the gem hyacinth

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word remplissage

~ filling or padding used in music and literature

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word tagolog

~ member of a people native to the Philippines, largely
inhabiting central Luzon (around and including Manila)
~ the language of the Tagalog (on which Filipino is based)
~ official language of the Philippines

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word tagalog

SEE: Tagolog

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word tagolog

SEE: Tagalog

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word panguinea

~Card game similar to rummy, employing several decks.
~Also called pangingi, panginky, panginny, panguinea, and panguingue.
~In the Tagolog language, it's pangguinggui.
~Panguingue is a colloquial term collected in the Northwest USA, California, and Arkansas.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word panginky

~Card game similar to rummy, employing several decks.
~Also called pangingi, panginky, panginny, panguinea, and panguingue.
~In the Tagolog language, it's pangguinggui.
~Panguingue is a colloquial term collected in the Northwest USA, California, and Arkansas.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word pangingi

~Card game similar to rummy, employing several decks.
~Also called pangingi, panginky, panginny, panguinea, and panguingue.
~In the Tagolog language, it's pangguinggui.
~Panguingue is a colloquial term collected in the Northwest USA, California, and Arkansas.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word panginny

~Card game similar to rummy, employing several decks.
~Also called pangingi, panginky, panginny, panguinea, and panguingue.
~In the Tagolog language, it's pangguinggui.
~Panguingue is a colloquial term collected in the Northwest USA, California, and Arkansas.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word pangguinggui

~Card game similar to rummy, employing several decks.
~Also called pangingi, panginky, panginny, panguinea, and panguingue.
~In the Tagolog language, it's pangguinggui.
~Panguingue is a colloquial term collected in the Northwest USA, California, and Arkansas.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mollemock

Any one of several species of large pelagic petrels and fulmars, as Fulmarus glacialis, of the North Atlantic, and several species of aestrelata, of the Southern Ocean. See Fulmar.
Alternative forms: mollymawk, malmock, mollemock, mallemocke
Origin: Sw. Mallemucke the stormy petrel

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mollemoke

Any one of several species of large pelagic petrels and fulmars, as Fulmarus glacialis, of the North Atlantic, and several species of aestrelata, of the Southern Ocean. See Fulmar.
Alternative forms: mollymawk, malmock, mollemock, mallemocke
Origin: Sw. Mallemucke the stormy petrel

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word moloch

All blessings in Hebrew are directed toward adonai elohenu melech ha'olam, which means "Lord, our God, King of the Universe." The Jewish Progressive Circloids changed this to chayim ba'olam, meaning "living beings of the universe." I agree that the "King of the Universe" phrase is a trifle archaic. On the other hand, pronouncing reverence only for "living beings" reflects a view of the universe that Einstein, for one, would have found excessively narrow and perhaps a little dopey. Is there more holiness to be found in gnats than in galaxies?
One Guy's 'Take' on "Adonai Elohenu Melech Ha’Olam" by the blogger of "Ralphmag", or The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word moloch

1. The fire god of the Ammonites in Canaan, to whom human sacrifices were offered; Molech. Also applied figuratively.
2. A spiny Australian lizard (Moloch horridus). The horns on the head and numerous spines on the body give it a most formidable appearance.
Origin: Hebrew "melech," meaning "king"
In the Friday night Shabbat (sabbath) prayer, reference is made to "melech ha'olam," or "king of the world."

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mollymawk

Any one of several species of large pelagic petrels and fulmars, as Fulmarus glacialis, of the North Atlantic, and several species of aestrelata, of the Southern Ocean. See Fulmar.
Alternative forms: mollymawk, malmock, mollemock, mallemocke
Origin: Sw. Mallemucke the stormy petrel

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word tambreet

~mollingong, mullingong, or mallangong, and duck mole:
~a small aquatic mammal of Australia, having webbed feet and a bill resembling that of a duck (Ornithorhynchus anatinus).
~belongs the subclass Monotremata and is remarkable for laying eggs like a bird or reptile
~called also: duckbill, platypus, tambreet, and water mole

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mullingong

~mollingong, mullingong, or mallangong, and duck mole:
~a small aquatic mammal of Australia, having webbed feet and a bill resembling that of a duck (Ornithorhynchus anatinus).
~belongs the subclass Monotremata and is remarkable for laying eggs like a bird or reptile
~called also: duckbill, platypus, tambreet, and water mole

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mollingong

~mollingong, mullingong, or mallangong, and duck mole:
~a small aquatic mammal of Australia, having webbed feet and a bill resembling that of a duck (Ornithorhynchus anatinus).
~belongs the subclass Monotremata and is remarkable for laying eggs like a bird or reptile
~called also: duckbill, platypus, tambreet, and water mole

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mollusque

Portrait of a Mollusque from France
Patina pellucida, Photographed in All Their Glory!
Regarding the word's origins and semantic development:
French: Mollusque. Latin: Mollusca. A kind of soft nut with a thin shell. Molluscus: soft. Mollis: soft. See: mollify.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mollusque

Curious little overview on a small mollusk collection, curated by a Dr. Ivanov at Moscow University's Zoological Museum:

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mollusque

Hypothetical Ancestral Mollusque (or Mollusk

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word martinizing

~anyone remember "1-Hour Martinizing" signs at the dry cleaners?

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word remontado

~someone who has fled to the mountains; a person who has renounced civilization

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word zaddik

~virtuous person
~the Zaddik is the charismatic leader in Hasidism, also known as the Rebbe in order to distinguish him from the Rabbi in the conventional sense. This spelling of the word in English is now the usual form but a more correct transliteration would be tzaddik, meaning "righteous man."

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word zaddik

~virtuous person
~sometimes spelled "tzadik"

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word rectrix

~defined as a "female ruler," oddly enough, by one of those "worthless words" websites...can't find it now

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word rejectamenta

~rejected things; excrement

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word kwyjibo

~nonsense word from the television series The Simpsons, made up by Bart Simpson during a game of Scrabble; when Homer asks Bart what a kwyjibo is, Bart replies, "A big, dumb, balding North American ape. With no chin." Marge chimes in, "..and a short temper".
~from Wikipedia

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word jussive

~issuing a command, expressing a command

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word oomancy

~divination using eggs
~from "oophoron," meaning "ovary"

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word oophoron

~ovary

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word kippleization

~the tendency of the universe towards decaying entropic trash
~from kipple, coined by Philip K. Dick in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
~the collection of useless bits of trash we wallow in; all the paper and junk that is not recycled; decaying entropic trash

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word kippleization

~the tendency of the universe towards decaying entropic trash

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word retrophilia

"Cecilia is a total retrophiliac. Did you see all those 'Twiggy' and 'Jean Shrimpton' posters in her bathroom?"

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word thujone

~chief constituent of cedar leaf oil; a stimulant similar to camphor
~ssynonym: absinthol, tanacetol, tanacetone, thujol, thuyol, thuyone
~C10H16O

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word frontogenesis

~creation of a weather front by meeting of air currents

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word fringilliform

~resembling a finch

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mycorrhiza

~mycorrhiza fungi form highly branched, interconnected networks that invade the roots of plants in order to obtain a supply of carbohydrate.
~etymology: < myco- + Gr rhiza, root

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word dervish

The history of the whirling dervishes begins with Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi(1200-1275).
After Rumi's death, his son, Sultan Valad, founded the Mevlevi Order, sometimes known as the Whirling Dervishes.
The Sema dance, the sacred Sufi practice of whirling or meditative turning, has been passed down for over seven hundred years, as have the music, zikr (sacred chanting), poetry, and the etiquette of this tradition.
Women and men alike were in the Order and whirled together for three hundred years after Rumi's death. Finally, after more than four hundred years in which were separated in worship, men and women are again participating in the Sema together.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word entactogen

The terms empathogen and entactogen are different terms used to describe a class of psychoactive drugs that produce distinctive emotional and social effects similar to those of MDMA ("ecstasy").
The term "empathogen" was coined in 1983 by Ralph Metzner to denote chemical agents inducing feelings of empathy.
"Entactogen" was coined by David E. Nichols as an alternative to "empathogen", attempting to avoid the potential for improper association of the latter with negative connotations related to the Greek root "pathos" (suffering).

The word "entactogen" is derived from the roots "en" (Greek: within), "tactus" (Latin: touch) and "gen" (Greek: produce) (Nichols 1986: 308).
Neither term is dominant in usage, and, despite their difference in connotation, are essentially interchangeable, as they refer to precisely the same chemicals.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word empathogen

The terms empathogen and entactogen are different terms used to describe a class of psychoactive drugs that produce distinctive emotional and social effects similar to those of MDMA ("ecstasy").
The term "empathogen" was coined in 1983 by Ralph Metzner to denote chemical agents inducing feelings of empathy.
"Entactogen" was coined by David E. Nichols as an alternative to "empathogen", attempting to avoid the potential for improper association of the latter with negative connotations related to the Greek root "pathos" (suffering).

The word "entactogen" is derived from the roots "en" (Greek: within), "tactus" (Latin: touch) and "gen" (Greek: produce) (Nichols 1986: 308).
Neither term is dominant in usage, and, despite their difference in connotation, are essentially interchangeable, as they refer to precisely the same chemicals.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word treacle.sleep

~somnolent state induced by the ingestion of narcotics

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word mycorrhiza

~an intimate symbiotic association of the mycelium of certain fungi with the root cells of some vascular plants, as certain orchids

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word sweet cicely

Botanical Name: Myrrhis odorata

Synonyms---British Myrrh. Anise. Great (Sweet) Chervil. Sweet Chervil. Smooth Cicely. Sweet Bracken. Sweet-fern. Sweet-Cus. Sweet-Humlock. Sweets. The Roman Plant. Shepherd's Needle. Smoother Cicely. Cow Chervil.
Parts Used---The whole plant and seeds.
Habitat---Mountain pastures from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus. In Britain, in the hilly districts of Wales, northern England and Scotland.
Description---The name Myrrhis odorata is derived from the Greek word for perfume, because of its myrrh-like smell.
Medicinal Action and Uses---Aromatic, stomachic, carminative and expectorant. Useful in coughs and flatulence, and as a gentle stimulant for debilitated stomachs. The fresh root may be eaten freely or used in infusion with brandy or water. A valuable tonic for girls from 15 to 18 years of age. The roots are antiseptic, and a decoction is used for the bites of vipers and mad dogs The distilled water is said to be diuretic, and helpful in pleurisy, and the essence to be aphrodisiac. The decoction of roots in wine is also said to be effective for consumption, in morning and evening doses of 4 to 8 OZ., while the balsam and ointment cure green wounds, stinking ulcers, and ease the pain of gout.
From "A Modern Herbal" by Mrs. M. Grieve

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word dopaminergic

A synapse is dopaminergic if it uses dopamine as its neurotransmitter. A substance is dopaminergic if it is capable of stimulating dopamine receptors in a dopaminergic synapse.
Dopaminergic nootropics include dopamine precursors and cofactors, agonists, MAOIs, and dopamine reuptake inhibitors:
* L-dopa - Prescription drug. Precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine. Parkinson disease treatment.
* Phenylalanine (requires Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C) - Essential amino acid. Precursor to dopamine, stimulant, sleep reducer.
* Theanine - Found in tea. Increases serotonin, GABA and dopamine levels in the brain. Increases alpha-wave based alert relaxation.
* Tyrosine (requires Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C) - Amino acid. Precursor to dopamine, anti-depressant, sleep reducer.
* Vitamin C- improves cardiovascular elasticity and integrity, membrane stabilizer and major anti-oxidant (protects brain cells and prevents brain cell death), cofactor in the production of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin.
* Vitamin B6 - co-factor used by the body to produce dopamine.
* Yohimbine - boosts dopamine levels through an unknown mechanism. Sometimes used as an aphrodisiac. Poses health risks: it is a neuro-paralytic which slows down breathing and induces acidosis, some symptoms of which are malaise, nausea, and vomiting. Contraindicated for users of megadoses of acidic vitamins or nutrients.citation needed
* MAOIs such as Selegiline which inhibits MAO-B (an enzyme that breaks down dopamine) thus raising dopamine by partially inhibiting its breakdown. (In large doses it also inhibits MAO-A)
* Tolcapone - Inhibits COMT (an enzyme that breaks down the neurotransmitters dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine) and increases performance in tasks depending on working memory in individuals with a certain phenotype.
* Buproprion - atypical antidepressant, dopamine reuptake inhibitor.
* Dopamine agonists such as pergolide

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word zoetrope

mechanical toy offering visual illusion: a mechanical toy consisting of a slotted drum that, when whirled, makes objects within the drum give the illusion of continuous motion
mid-19th century. Greek z�?ē "life" + tropē "turn"

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word solfatara

~from the Italian solfo (sulphur)

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word solfatara

~vent in a volcano through which sulfur-rich gases and steam escape, leaving bright yellow sulfur deposits

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word ayahuasca

~various names for "ayahuasca"
* "caapi", "cipó," "hoasca" or "daime" in Brazil
* "yagé" or "yajé" (both pronounced �?aˈhe) in Colombia; popularized in English by the beat generation writers William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg in The Yage Letters. The name yajé is also mentioned in an X-files episode.
* "ayahuasca" or "ayawaska" ("vine of the dead" or "vine of souls": in Quechua, aya means "spirit," "ancestor," or "dead person," while waska means "vine" or "rope") in Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, and to a lesser extent in Brazil. The spelling ayahuasca is the hispanicized version of the name; many Quechua or Aymara speakers would prefer the spelling ayawaska. The name is properly that of the plant B. caapi, one of the primary sources of beta-carbolines for the brew.
* "natem" amongst the indigenous Shuar people of Peru.
* "Grandmother"
A

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word ayahuasca

Ayahuasca (pronounced ajaˈwaska in the Quechua language) is any of various psychoactive infusions or decoctions prepared from the Banisteriopsis spp. vine, usually mixed with the leaves of the Psychotria bush. It was first described academically in the early 1950's by the late Harvard ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes who found it employed for divinatory and healing purposes by Amerindians of Amazonian Colombia.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word fumarole

~hole in a volcanic area from which hot smoke and gases escape.
~rom the Italian fumarola, from Late Latin fmriolum, smoke hole, diminutive of Latin fmrium, smoke chamber, from fmus, smoke.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word rauwolfia

RAUWOLFIA ROOT (Rauwolfia serpentina)
Latin: Rauwolfia serpentina
Sanskrit: Sarpaghandha
African: Numerous (R. vomitoria species)
Chinese: Lu fu mu (various species)
English: Rauwolfia / Indian snakeroot
WHAT IT DOES: Rauwolfia root is bitter in taste and cooling in action. It lowers blood pressure, tranquilizes the mind, and promotes sleep.
RATING: Red, due to safety issues.
SAFETY ISSUES: Use only under the guidance of a trained physician or herbalist in proper dosage. Do not use in pregnancy, breastfeeding, or depression. May exacerbate symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. Do not combine with alcohol, barbiturates (Pfeifer et al., 1976), SSRIs, blood-pressure lowering agents such as beta-blockers, unless under guidance.
STARTING DOSAGE:
• Tincture (standardized to 1.0% w/v total alkaloids): two to 12 drops three times per day
Rauwolfia is a reliable blood pressure lowering and tranquilizing agent when used properly. It is used in traditional medicine in India, China, Africa and many other countries. In India and Nepal, it is a common treatment for hypertension and insomnia. Ghandhi took it frequently at night for its calming actions. It warrants a red rating because of its ability to cause severe reactions in overdose, including trembling and collapse. Reserpine, the chief alkaloid in rauwolfia root, seems to be the component responsible for its blood pressure lowering activity. Doctors began using reserpine-based hypertension medicines in the 1950's, but they went out of favor because of the side effects, chiefly depression (Weiss, 1988). Consequently, rauwolfia can only be acquired from a licensed health care professional.
During the scientific controversy in the 1950's surrounding the question of whether reserpine by itself was superior to the whole rauwolfia root, an Indian physician named Dr. Vakil reviewed all 151 studies available at the time. He came to the conclusion that the combined action of the whole root improves tolerance and reduces the risk of side effects that occur with the use of isolated alkaloids (reported in Weiss, 1988).
In collaboration with Western doctors, I have used a rauwolfia tincture safely to treat dozens of mild to moderate hypertension patients. We combine 30-50% of a standardized whole root tincture with other mild herbal tinctures known to lower blood pressure, such as linden flowers and mistletoe. In mild cases, we start with two drops three times per day and perform regular blood pressure checks, instructing the patient to increase the dosage until the blood pressure normalizes or they reach the limit in dosage. Patients marvel at how effectively they can control their pressure drop by drop and control the dosage to manage day-to-day variations - especially important in patients with stress related hypertesnion. We stop dosing at well below the levels where side effects usually develop. If it does not sufficiently lower the patient’s pressure, the doctors will prescribe mild Western medication at a lower-than-normal dosage. This combination treatment will often work.
Rauwolfia root is not curative. Following traditional Ayurvedic procedure, once we have controlled the blood pressure we employ other herbal agents and lifestyle changes to resolve the underlying problems, especially hawthorn. Blood pressure increases are often the result of plaques in the vessels, reduced kidney function and concomitant retention of fluids, and diet errors.
Research Highlights
• The mechanism of action of rauwolfia root differs from most other blood-pressure lowering agents, acting on the central nervous system. This may explain why it works when other medicines fail (Weiss, 1988, Shibuya and Sato, 1985).
• In doses higher than those used for hypertension, rauwolfia alkaloids cause a depletion of norepinephrine, resulting in a tranquilizing effect. Very high doses can cause a loss of coordination (reported in Huang, 1999).
• Many patients who take medication to control hypertension still have problems with balance, due to difficulties in circulatory regulation. Upon examination of blood-pressure lowering agents available up to 1980, researchers discovered that only Rauwolfia alkaloids and clonidin do not have an undesirable influence on balance (Teichmann and Vogel , 1980).
• In a Chinese study on 200 patients with moderate hypertension, rauwolfia alkaloids lowered blood pressure was reduced by as much as 30-40% with minimal side effects (reported in Huang, 1999).
• Rauwolfia root has proven highly effective (89%) in cases of chronic hives (reported in Huang, 1999).
• The pharmacological effects of resperpine were formerly cause for concern that it might promote breast cancer. However, in epidemiological studies, rauwolfia alkaloids did not increase the risk of breast cancer (Shapiro et al., 1984, von Poser et al., 1990).
• Rauwolfia root has occasionally proven effective in cases of malnutrition that were unresponsive to high protein or high-energy diets (reported in Huang, 1999).
The Tillitson Institute of Natural Health (One Earth Herbs)
Article by the Tillitson Institute of Natural Health, One Earth Herbs

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word rauwolfia

Photo of Rauwolfia serpentina

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word rauwolfia

Rauwolfia serpentina, or 'snakeroot' is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae.
It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it has the name shégēn mù (Chinese: 蛇根木) or yìndù shémù (Chinese: �?�度蛇木).
The extract of the plant has also been used for millennia in India — it was reported that Mahatma Gandhi took it as a tranquilizer during his lifetime.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word altamel

~obsolete, slang term for a verbal or lump account, without particulars, such as is commonly produced at bawdy-houses, spunging-houses, &c.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word rauwolfia

~tropical tree or shrub used as source of various drugs, especially reserpine.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word ranunculaceous

~pertaining to, or similar to, buttercups; belonging to buttercup family of plants. ranunculus, n. (pl. - li ) buttercup, especially cultivated.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word hippogriff

~fabulous winged animal, half horse and half griffin.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word hippogriff

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a hippogriff is a magical beast based upon the hippogriff of various mythologies. It is part eagle and part horse, and sometimes regarded as part griffon and part horse (indeed, in mythology a hippogriff is the offspring of a griffon and a mare). Depictions of the hippogriff vary; sometimes they are shown as a horse with the forequarters of a giant eagle, and sometimes as a horse with wings, an eagle's head, a mane and tail of feathers, and feathered lower legs.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word cryptogamic

~old botany term for a plant with no true flowers or seeds, such as a fern, moss, liverwort, lichen, or alga.

~from Greek kruptos ‘hidden’ + gamos ‘marriage’ (because the means of reproduction was not apparent).

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word psychonaut

A psychonaut (from the Greek ψυχονα�?της, meaning literally a sailor of the mind/soul) is a person who experiences intentionally induced altered states of consciousness in an attempt to investigate his or her mind, and possibly address spiritual questions, through direct experience.

January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word felsenmeer

felsenmeer: flat arctic area covered with angular boulders

January 17, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word fissilingua

~with forked or cloven tongue

January 17, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word quellio

Spanish ruffian

January 17, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word windlestraw

Somebody who is regarded as lacking in strength of character ( archaic or literary )

January 17, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word windlestraw

windlestrawwinlestrae.

January 17, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word windlestraw

Etymology: Middle English *windelstraw, from Old English windelstrēaw, from windel- (akin to Middle English windel caulking material) + strēaw straw
Date: Before 12th century

January 17, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word aryballos

Photo of an Aryballos

January 17, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word aryballos

An aryballos (Greek: α�?�?βαλλος) was a small spherical or globular flask with a narrow neck used in Ancient Greece. It was used to contain perfume or oil, and is often depicted in vase paintings as being used by athletes bathing. In these depictions, the vessel is sometimes attached by a strap to the athlete's wrist, or is hung by this strap from a peg on the wall.

January 17, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word aryballos

~an oil jar, characterized by a spherical body, flat-rimmed mouth, and often a single handle extending from the lip to the shoulder of the jar, used chiefly for fragrant ointments. Cf. alabastron, askos, lekythos.

January 17, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word zamazingo

Turkish "placeholder" word, used similarly to the English words "gadget" and "gizmo," or "thingamajig" and "whatchamacallit."

January 17, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word thought showers

Coined by a British city council because the synonym “brainstorming�? was said to be offensive to epileptics.

January 17, 2009

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Comments for avivamagnolia

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bilby commented on the user avivamagnolia

*knock, knock*

January 19, 2009
reesetee commented on the user avivamagnolia

Doesn't seem to be helping. I tried at acersecomic too. I don't believe that aviva is reading any other postings at all, are you, A?
Well, sooner or later it may come to that. *sigh*

January 19, 2009
chained_bear commented on the user avivamagnolia

For the love of pete, avivam., PLEASE read these comments, and the ones on a bunch of your words. I tried sending you a Facebook message and looking for you on Twitter to let you know, to no avail.

January 19, 2009
chained_bear commented on the user avivamagnolia

Hi avivamagnolia,
I second rolig's comments. I think on many of the pages you have placed these comments, you have forgotten to "close" the bold type, making the rest of the entire page appear bold. It would be much appreciated if you could refrain from using bold except on special occasions, or at the very least, edit those comments and close the bold type.
You also might consider that for words that are spelling variations, not repeating the same definition on that page as a comment, but at most posting a simple "also spelled xyz." As I believe sionnach pointed out, all the comments that are entered on this site go scrolling by on the front page—it's the main way people seem to keep track of conversations—so while it's great to see your many contributions, the repetitive nature is a bit galling after a while.
Welcome to Wordie! I hope you stick around.

January 19, 2009
rolig commented on the user avivamagnolia

Hi, Avivamagnolia! Welcome to Wordie.
I'm impressed already by your energy and enthusiasm at adding words. I don't know if you realize it, however, but a few people have been offering you suggestions, for example, on the word meshugana. Basically, they are pointing out (and I agree) that you really don't have to copy and paste (or retype) dictionary definitions in the comment box, since there is already a row of icon-links to various English dictionaries right beneath the word itself. Also, next to the word, there is a feed from Wordnet providing definitions, though these, alas, are sometimes strangely written (hence many of us call this Weirdnet). Of course, if your word is very strange and unlikely to be found in one of these dictionaries, then a definition is most welcome, though speaking for myself, I usually prefer personal comments or observations about words, or paraphrases of dictionary definitions. But everyone discovers over time what works best for her or him with Wordie.
Also I am wondering why you put so many of your definition-comments in bold? It's a bit annoying (both on the home page where the comments appear to everyone and on the word page), so I am wondering if you have a good reason for it.
A lot of people when they first come to Wordie have questions, so feel free to ask me or anyone of the other more active Wordies. Also, you can find answers and discussions about some Wordie issues at the word faq.
Please continue having fun with Wordie! By the way, you've got a wonderful name!

January 18, 2009