dulosis

This is the enslavement of ants by ants.

Who knew?

aginate

To sell small things.

windlestraw

A tall, thin, unhealthy looking person.

viajou na maionese

Here's a good foreign expression for today.

It is a Portuguese phrase meaning to live in a dream world. Literally translated, it says to travel in mayonnaise.

pig's whisper

A stage whisper, a whisper that is meant to be heard.

quagswag

This is an obsolete word meaning to shake back and forth.

Like what I will do to the guy who invented poison ivy...if I ever find him.

curculionidous

Pertaining to weevils.

Because, well, you really need to use a word like that every day.

spanghew

[This is a good one.]

An obscure word meaning to cause a frog or toad to fly into the air. Apparently, usually in a violent manner, such as from the end of a stick.

shamming-Abraham

This is an old phrase used by sailors and soldiers. It meant to fake an illness or injury.

I got a new book...

It's called X-Treme Latin (Beard 2004). It has many useful phrases. The following you can use when someone cuts you off in traffic: Ubi didicisti gubernare currum? In fuga ab Hunnis? Translation: Where did you learn to drive? Fleeing from the Huns?

Or this one for the Trekkers out there: Resistere irritum est. Praeparate vos ad translationem. Translation (as if it was necessary): Resistance is futile. Prepare to be assimilated.

cumber-ground

This is a person who is useless and just takes up space.

A certain celebrity inmate comes to mind. OH! That was just mean. How can I live with myself?

rimbombo

Here's a rare word for a booming roar. To rimbomb means to echo or resound.

to make causey-webs

To neglect one's work and be idle in the streets.

I will spend the day tomorrow making causey-webs.

snirtle

This is an obsolete word meaning to try to suppress one's laughter.

Must come from the sound of that snort through the nose.

mencolek

Who hasn't done this to their sibling in the back seat while on a road trip??

This is an Indonesian word meaning to tease someone by lightly touching them with one finger.

Stop touching me!!!

machicolation

This is the opening in a wall that allowed for defense against attackers by dropping rocks, molten lead, fire, hot oil, etc. The word was also used for the act of using the opening for its intended purpose.

imbriferous

Means rainy, bringing rain, carrying rain.

I wish there were some imbriferous clouds coming our way. No such luck...

nod-crafty

The ability to nod with an air of great wisdom.

tingo

I found a new book that I will occasionally use for the word of the day. The words from this book, The Meaning of Tingo (Jacot de Boinod 2005) are not obsolete, rather they are interesting words from around the world.

Let's start with the word from the title: tingo is a Pascuense word (language of Easter Island) that means "to take all the objects one desires from the house of a friend, one at a time, by borrowing them."

They must have gypsies living there.

myomancy

Divination using mice.

Because, well, that's the first method I would think of.

cuniculous

I can't imagine why this adjective is obsolete. It means full of rabbits.

If I had a nickel for every time I needed such an adjective...

fiant

This obsolete word was used especially to describe badgers and foxes; it means to cast excrement.

I didn't realize that badgers and foxes practiced such activity enough to warrant their own word.

infrendiate

To gnash the teeth.

cephaleonomancy

Divination by a broiled ass's head.

Sounds as good a way as any.

quockerwodger

This is a wooden toy that has strings to jerk the limbs around. It is also slang for a politician whose strings are pulled by someone else.

arse up with care

A bit of slang today. This phrase is applied as an adjective or adverb to a thorough mess, chaos, a real bungle.

quanked

To be completely overpowered by fatigue.

I missed my blog post yesterday because I was quanked.

moliminous

This is an obsolete adjective that means laborious, taking great effort.

Moliminous describes my experience with AT&T internet tech support this evening. Hour and a half on the phone and the problem remains unsolved. And according to the tech, unsolvable. The tech's final analysis? "It must be your computer."

Whatever.