craton
A "craton" is a part of the Earth's crust that's particularly old and stable. They're apparently often found at the heart of a continent or ocean. I don't know that...
Archive for New-to-me Words
tiktaalik
Scientific American reports on a new fossil that bridges the gap between fish and four-limbed land creatures. It's thought to have lived primarily in shallow streams. The creature has been...
Taoiseach
According to Wikipedia, the Taoiseach (pronounced something like /ti Sax/) is "the head of government of the Republic of Ireland and the leader of the Irish cabinet." Basically the Prime...
pogonip
There's a park area in Santa Cruz called Pogonip, but it turns out the word itself refers to "a dense winter fog containing ice particles," making it another in a...
rusk
A rusk is hard crisp bread, possibly sliced. Encountered in a submitted story....
spoddy
According to The Free Dictionary, "spod" is British slang for someone "who spends an inordinate amount of time exchanging remarks in computer chatrooms or participating in discussions in newsgroups or...
double-dome
A "double-dome" is an intellectual. I encountered the term in the first episode of Rocky & Bullwinkle, from 1959 or 1960, but it dates back to 1938. I can see...
parky
She gets fleetingly, gigglingly nude in a rooftop Jacuzzi, but given that we are in London, not California, this just looked a bit parky to me. --Guardian review of...
epideictic
According to Webster's 1913, epideictic means "Serving to show forth, explain, or exhibit;--applied by the Greeks to a kind of oratory, which, by full amplification, seeks to persuade." (There are...
chamade
A "chamade" is, according to Webster's 1913, "A signal made for a parley by beat of a drum." But that's not all! No, indeed! For MW3 and Webster's 1828 add...