Collecting Big Words

from the Latin verb "garrire," which means  "to chatter" or "to babble" Merriam-Webster Online The Word of the Day for May 30, 2008 is: garrulous • \GAIR-uh-lus\ • adjective 1 : pointlessly or annoyingly talkative *2 : wordy Example Sentence: With a few judicious revisions, a good editor can often transform garrulous writing into elegant prose. Did you know? English has many adjectives that share the meaning "given to talk" or "talking." "Talkative" may imply a readiness to talk or a disposition to enjoy conversation, while "loquacious" suggests the power of expressing oneself articulately, fluently, or glibly. "Voluble" suggests a free, easy, and unending talkativeness, and "garrulous" implies talkativeness that is dull, rambling, or tedious. "Garrulous," by the way, derives from the Latin verb "garrire," which means (no surprise here) "to chatter" or "t...

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Word of the Day for Wednesday, May 21, 2008 boulevardier \boo-luh-var-DYAY; bul-uh-\, noun : 1. A frequenter of city boulevards, especially in Paris. 2. A sophisticated, worldly, and socially active man; a man who frequents fashionable places; a man-about-town. Oswald, whose idea of excitement is breakfasting with a penguin, is a boulevardier : Hat cocked precariously on his head, he saunters out into the sunny city. -- Tom Gliatto, "Tube", People , July 22, 2002 Bratton had been running about town, having his picture taken in trendy restaurants, seeking and getting headlines -- a regular gay boulevardier from the Roaring Twenties. -- Sydney H. Schanberg, "Cops' D.C. Spree Calls for Outside Watchdog", Newsday , May 30, 1995 The "Night Mayor of New York" was, Mitgang writes, "a hometown boy, part Kilkenny sentimentalist, part Greenwich Village boulevardier ." -- David Walton, "Go Fight City Hall", New York Times , Ja...

Image: Potemkin Village Facade Auckland Word of the Day for Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Potemkin village \puh-TEM(P)-kin\, noun : An impressive facade or display that hides an undesirable fact or state; a false front. When will the West have the guts to call Russia what it really is: a semi-totalitarian state with Potemkin village -style democratic institutions and a fascist-capitalist economy? -- "Western Investors Defend a Potemkin Village", Moscow Times , January 9, 2004 It's a lie, a huge Potemkin village designed to give North Korea the appearance of modernity. -- Kevin Sullivan, "Borderline Absurdity", Washington Post , January 11, 1998 Unless U.S. imperial overstretch is acknowledged and corrected, the United States may someday soon find that it has become a Potemkin village superpower -- with a facade of military strength concealing a core of economic weakness. -- Christopher Layne, "Why the Gulf War Was Not in the National Interest", ...

"Abject" is an adjective that describes a condition of extreme hopelessness, degradation, or misery. It can also refer to something contemptible or despicable. Etymology: The word "abject" comes from the Latin word "abiectus," where "ab-" means "away from" and "iacere" means "to throw." In English, it has been used since the late 16th century to convey a sense of being cast off or thrown away in a figurative sense. Sample Sentences: After losing his job, he fell into abject poverty and struggled to meet even his basic needs. The defeated army retreated in abject humiliation, their morale shattered. She lived in an abject state of fear, constantly looking over her shoulder. The abandoned puppy looked up at them with abject sadness, longing for love and care. The dictator's regime subjected its citizens to abject oppression, denying them their basic rights. His abject apology couldn't erase the damage h...

Dictionary.com/Word of the Day Archive/odium Word of the Day Archive Saturday June 4, 2005 odium \OH-dee-uhm\, noun: 1. Intense hatred or dislike; loathing; abhorrence. 2. The state or fact of being intensely hated as the result of some despicable action. 3. Disgrace or discredit attaching to something hated or repugnant. At the back of the Tyn Church, we were told about the young Jesuit whose harshness earned him the odium of his congregation. -- Will Cohu, "High spirits and gloomy spectres", Sunday Telegraph, May 16, 1999 The point here is that, for all its efforts at avoiding offence, new Labour has still managed to attract the odium of the paper that regards itself as the voice of Middle England. -- "Will Mr Brown hang for a sheep or a lamb?", New Statesman, December 2, 2002 But this brought forth nothing but odium on his head, so much so that he had to backtrack soon afterwards. -- Andrew Stephen, "A nation left unprotected", New Statesman, November...