defenestrate

tr.v.
To throw out of a window


Wow. What a cool word. A high sounding transitive verb for a very base impulse.

sic

Thus; so. Used to indicate that a quoted passage, especially one containing an error or unconventional spelling, has been retained in its original form or written intentionally.

From:
an email from someone I used to work with:
"... their UK design centre (sic) that produces ..."

This is one of those words that can really demonstrate your intelectual cachet.
(I'm glad I make myself laugh...)

enervate

tr.v

(dictionary.com)

1. To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of: “the luxury which enervates and destroys nations” (Henry David Thoreau). See Synonyms at deplete.

I am a reformed misuser of this word, so was quick to catch its misuse on one of this mornings NPR segments.

A Catholic priest was discussing how the decline in the number of priests could have increased his workload, but it allowed him to involve his parishinors with lay preaching and other duties "...involving and enervating them." I surely hope this spreading of duties is actually energizing his flock.

supercilious

adj.

Feeling or showing haughty disdain. See Synonyms at proud.


I almost misused this word today when documenting one of the software classes I had written. The word I was actually looking for was 'superflous'.

"Though it might seem superflous, this class fits in with the general architecture and does less harm by being here than if it weren't written at all."

hagiographer

hag·i·og·ra·phy
n. pl. hag·i·og·ra·phies

1. Biography of saints.
2. A worshipful or idealizing biography.



seen on slashdot:
..."I should become Steve Jobs' Hagiographer. All these religious metaphors and analogies spring to mind unbidden! I guess I am a cult member. =)"
Link

mensch

(n.) One who does good deeds: He is a real mensch, the kind of guy you can always count on.
www.factmonster.com/spot/yiddish1.html

From:
Google has offered to host Wikipedia -- what a bunch of mensches those googloids are!

quiddity

dictionary.com:
n. pl. quid·di·ties

1. The real nature of a thing; the essence.
2. A hairsplitting distinction; a quibble


From: The Epicure's Lament, Kate Christensen, p 2

"There it lies, and has lain all my life, always changing, always there, in all its mercurial quiddity.

The lascivious pleasure I derive from phrases such as 'mercurial quiddity' might be all that prevents me from flinging myself downstairs to beat my brother..."

My commentary:
This was the point in reading this book, yes at page 2, where I decided I was realy going to need a plan to mark these words for later review.

lacuna, miasma

lacuna
dictionary.com:
n. pl. la·cu·nae (-n) or la·cu·nas

1. An empty space or a missing part; a gap: “self-centered in opinion, with curious lacunae of astounding ignorance” (Frank Norris).
2. Anatomy. A cavity, space, or depression, especially in a bone, containing cartilage or bone cells.

miasma
dictionary.com:
n. pl. mi·as·mas or mi·as·ma·ta (-m-t)

1. A noxious atmosphere or influence: “The family affection, the family expectations, seemed to permeate the atmosphere... like a coiling miasma” (Louis Auchincloss).
2.
1. A poisonous atmosphere formerly thought to rise from swamps and putrid matter and cause disease.
2. A thick vaporous atmosphere or emanation: wreathed in a miasma of cigarette smoke.



From: The Epicure's Lament, Kate Christensen, p 8

"I stopped writing once again after that last sentence, and stared off into space for... a lacuna, a miasma, a hiatus, an unwieldy string of vowel's worth of time"

coruscating

dictionary.com:
cor·us·cate
intr.v. cor·us·cat·ed, cor·us·cat·ing, cor·us·cates

1. To give forth flashes of light; sparkle and glitter: diamonds coruscating in the candlelight.
2. To exhibit sparkling virtuosity: a flutist whose music coruscated throughout the concert hall.



From: The Epicur's Lament, Kate Christensen, p 29

"Octobe 14- I awoke just now, shattered from a pain-spiked dream, to a windy, leaf-blown, coruscating autumn day, sunlight embelishing charcoal clouds and glinting off the cold steel-dark river..."

faux-bois, trompe l'oeil

faux-bois
Literal french translation: fake wood
My paraphrase: A traditional french painting style for painting false wood grain onto walls or furniture. [link]

trompe l'oeils
dictionary.com:
n. pl. trompe l'oeils (loi)
1. A style of painting that gives an illusion of photographic reality.
2. A painting or effect created in this style.


From: The Epicure's Lament, Kate Christensen, p41
On my tower's first floor is the octagonal library, whose upper walls and ceiling glow with intricate trope-l'oeil faux-bois plaster, underneath which are walnut shelves that rise from floor to crown molding and hold crammed-together rows of priceless leather-bound boks..."

a conflagration of pretentious words

I can't decide how much I like The Epicure's Lament, by Kate Christensen, the book I'm currently reading. It's a slow, careful read full of subtle emotions, lewd desires, and chock a block with twenty five cent words.

From my posts to come, see if you agree that this could be described as a conflagration of pretentious words.

hoi polloi

From WordNet (r) 2.0 :

hoi polloi
n : the common people generally; "separate the warriors from the
mass"; "power to the people" [syn: multitude, masses,
mass, people]


Taken From:
Why Wikipedia Must Jettison Its Anti-Elitism || kuro5hin.org: "Otherwise, there will be no article at all, a very amateurish-sounding article, or an article that looks like it might once have been pretty good, but which has been hacked to bits by hoi polloi. (Am I sounding elitist enough for you yet? Just wait.) "