roving
A roving, says Wikipedia, is “a long and narrow bundle of fibre [...] usually used to spin woollen yarn.” I'm sure y'all fibre-arts people knew that already, but I hadn't...
Archive for New-to-me Words
bondoon
I was reading Suzanne Brockmann's novel The Defiant Hero, and I came across this phrase: as they crossed the roof on their bondoons. I had no idea what bondoons were....
SIPDIS and NOFORN
Just came across a couple of terms I hadn't encountered before in an article about leaked US diplomatic memos: SIPDIS (applied to items for DIStribution on SIPRNet, the Secret Internet...
fracking
I turned on the radio during Talk of the Nation's Science Friday yesterday, in the middle of a segment about natural gas in water. At one point (starting at 13:52...
Molon labe
Just happened across the Greek phrase "Μολων λαβε" (not sure how to get the accent marks to appear in HTML), often transliterated "molon labe." Apparently it was King Leonidas's response...
theophory
Sometime around the beginning of March, I came across the word theophory, which Wikipedia says is "the practice of embedding the name of a god or a deity in, usually,...
manugrapher
According to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, a manugrapher's job is to trace and paint advertising material, including lettering. Which is pretty much what one might expect from the roots...
inanition
MW10 says that inanition is (among other definitions) "the exhausted condition that results from lack of food and water." Useful word! Seems like the adjective form should be "inane" (as...
terroir
According to Wikipedia, "terroir" is "the special characteristics that geography bestow[s] upon particular varieties" of wine, coffee, and tea, based on "the assumption that the land [where] the grapes [or...
quango
Turns out that quango, also spelled qango, is an acronym for "quasi non-governmental organization" or "quasi-autonomous NGO." Looks like the term is fairly common in the UK and elsewhere, but...