Collective Nouns

I'm really enjoying stumbing across words and collective nouns on the internet and thought I'd share some more! These ones are from here. Enjoy :)

Number 1 of 60 of the world's happiest facts

1. A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance.

List found here!

I've been reeeeeeaaaaaading: http://blog.art21.org/2013/01/28/careful-not-to-touch/

docent

noun

1. (in certain US and European universities and colleges) a member of the teaching staff immediately below professorial rank.

2. a person who acts as a guide, typically on a voluntary basis, in a museum, art gallery, or zoo.

Origin: late 19th century: via German from Latin docent 'teaching', from docere 'teach'

somatic

adjective

relating to the body, especially as distinct from the mind

Biology relating to the soma.

Origin: late 18th century: from Greek sōmatikos, from sōma 'body'

somnambulism

noun

[mass noun]

sleepwalking

somnambulant adj; somnambulantly adv; somnambulist n; somnambulistic adj; somnambulistically adv

Origin: late 18th century: from French somnambulisme, from Latin somnus 'sleep' + ambulare 'to walk'

Reading about the war

strafe

verb

[with object]

attack repeatedly with bombs or machine-gun fire from low-flying aircraft.

noun

an attack from low-flying aircraft.

Origin: early 20th century: humorous adaptation of the German First World War catchphrase Gott strafr England 'may God punish England'

Someone give me a job already please

Taken from Mentalfloss

7 Common Words With Little-Known Relatives

Arika Okrent

When some words have hit the big time, they've left clunky related words behind.

1. EXHAUST/INHAUST

While "exhaust," from the Latin for "draw out of," was first attested in 1540 and went on to a great career in the English vocabulary, "inhaust," with the meaning "draw into," was attested in 1547 (something about a "flye inhausted into a mannes throte sodenly") but soon became obsolete.

 2. OMNISCIENT/NESCIENT

You know about "omniscient," which comes from the Latin for "all knowing," but did you know there was a counterpart meaning "not knowing"? You can now consider yourself more-scient!

 3. RESUSCITATE/EXSUSCITATE

"Exsuscitate" was around in the 1500s, as was "resuscitate," but where "resuscitate" was for the act of bringing someone back from the dead, "exsuscitate" was for the less impressive act of rousing or waking someone up from sleep. It didn't stick, and it doesn't look likely to be resuscitated.

 4. PRELIMINARY/POSTLIMINARY

"Postliminary" has a technical use in international law, where it refers to the "right of postliminy" (stuff taken in war gets returned), but it's also been used sporadically since the early 19th century as the opposite of "preliminary."

5. INCANTATION/EXCANTATION

If your incantation turns out to be a magic spell that somehow gets you in a jam, it might be good to be able to perform an excantation to get yourself out of it. Too bad the word, attested in 1580, is now obsolete.

6. INCRIMINATION/CONCRIMINATION

It wouldn't be fun to be the subject of an incrimination, but it might be a little more fun to be part of a concrimination with your friends, meaning "a joint accusation." The word shows up in a 1656 dictionary, but we have no evidence that anyone ever used it.

7. INAUGURATE/EXAUGURATE

Back in 1600 the word "inaugurate" was used to describe a ceremonial act of consecration or induction into office, but there was also the word "exaugurate" meaning, according to the OED, "To cancel the inauguration of; to unhallow, make profane."

Read the full text here: http://mentalfloss.com/article/48593/7-common-words-little-known-relatives#ixzz2JJOeFD1l 
--brought to you by mental_floss! 

These words are all courtesy of Word Dynamo  

bezoar

noun

1. a small stony concretion which may be found in the stomachs of certain animals, especially ruminants, and which was once used as an antidote for various ailments.

2. a wild goat with flat scimitar-shaped horns, found from Greece to Pakistan. The ancestor of the domestic goat, it was the best-known source of bezoars.

Origin: late 15th century (in the general sense 'stone of concretion'): from French bezoard, based on Arabic bāzahr,bādizahr, from Persian pādzahr 'antidote'.

flibbertigibbet

noun

a frivolous, flighty, or excessively talkative person.

Origin: late Middle English: probably imitative of idle chatter.

gobo

noun

1. a dark plate or screen to shield a lens from light.

a) theatre a partial screen used in front of a spotlight to project a shape

b) a shield used to mask a microphone from extraneous noise.

Origin: 1930s, perhaps of go between.

ort

noun

(usually orts) archaic or dialect

a scrap or remainder of food from a meal.

Origin: late Middle English: from Middle Low German orte 'food remains', originally a compound of which the second element is related to 'eat'.

quincunx

noun (quincunxes)

1. an arrangement of five objects with four at the corners of a square or rectangle and the fifth at its centre, used for the five on a dice or playing card, and in planting trees.

2. [mass noun] Astrology an aspect of 150°, equivalent to five zodiacal signs.

Origin: mid 17th century: from Latin, literally 'five twelfths', from quinique 'five' + uncia 'twelfth'.

slumgullion

noun

cheap or insubstantial stew.

Origin: late 19th century: probably an invented word.

These are from here.

12 Enjoyable Names for Relatively Common Things 

1. box tent : the plastic table-like item found in pizza boxes
2. jamais vu : that feeling of seeing something for the first time, even though there’s nothing new about it
3. paresthesia : that tingling sensation when your foot falls asleep
4. grawlix : the string of typographical symbols comic strips use to indicate profanity (“$%@!”)
5. caruncula : the small, triangular pink bump on the inside corner of each eye
6. badinage : another word for playful banter
7. rhumba : a group of rattlesnakes
8. dringle : to waste time by being lazy
9. agraffe : the wire cage that keeps the cork in a bottle of champagne
10. wings : those back flaps on a bra
11. rasher : a single slice of bacon
12. purlicue : the web between your thumb and forefinger

From Briar!

Barbe a papa means candy floss in French but literally translates as dad's beard.

Oh and I learnt the greatest word the other day in one of the classes, no idea how we got on to it but the word for bow tie is noeud papillon which literally translates as knotted butterfly.

alacrity

noun

[mass noun]

brisk and cheerful readiness.

Origin: late Middle English: from Latin alacritas, from alacer 'brick'

Another Dictionary For You

Here

word

a compact weapon of many varieties, each comprising sharp edges and barbs, with an entirely inadequate grip.

paean

noun

1. a song of praise or triumph

2. a creative work expressing enthusiastic praise

Origin: late 16th century: via Latin from Greek paian 'hymn of thanksgiving to Apollo' (invoked by the name Paian, originally the Homeric name for the physician of the gods).

canoodle

verb

informal

kiss and cuddle amorously

Origin: mid 19th century (originally US): of unknown origin

bellicose

adj.

demonstrating aggression and a willingness to fight

Origin: Late Middle English: from Latin  bellicosus 'warlike', from bellum 'war'

parse

verb

[with object]

1. resolve (a sentence) into its component parts and describe their syntactic roles

2. computing analyse (a string or text) into logical syntactic components

noun
computing

an act of parsing a string or a text

Origin: Mid 16th century: perhaps from Middle English pars 'parts of speech', from Old French pars 'parts' (influenced by Latin pars 'part')

Put your knowledge to the test

Play!

I just happened across a fantastic site called the Grandiloquent Dictionary which has some real humdingers! 

carker - 

 A mischievieous child or brat

mimp - 

  To speak in a prissy manner, usually with pursed lips

kalling -

  Fortunetelling based on what variety of cabbage a blindfolded person picks

I really like the last one :)

Check it out-

Click me!

schlep 

(also schlepp)

informal

verb

[with object]

haul or carry (something heavy or awkward)

noun

 a tedious or difficult journey

Origin: early 20th century (as verb): from Yiddish schlepn 'drag', from Middle High German sleppen

assuage

verb

[with object]

1. make (an unpleasant feeling) less intense:

2. satisfy (an appetite or desire)

Origin: Middle English: from Old French assouagier, asouagier, based on Latin ad- 'to' (expressing change) + suavis 'sweet'

de·scry/diˈskrī/

Verb:

Catch sight of.

doffedpast participle, past tense of doff (Verb)

Verb:

Remove (an item of clothing): "he doffed his tie and jacket". Tip (one's hat) as a greeting or token of respect.

hoosegow

noun

A prison.

Origin: early 20th century: via Latin American Spanish from Spanish juzgado 'tribunal', from Latin judicaturn 'something judged, neuter part participle of judicare

jettison

verb

[with object]

1. throw or drop (something) from an aircraft or ship

2. abandon or discard (someone or something no longer wanted)

Origin: late Middle English (as a noun denoting the throwing of goods overboard to lighten a ship in distress): from Old French getaison, from Latin jactatio(n-), from jactare 'to throw'. The verb dates from the mid 19th century

Found my way back.

Took me so long to remember my passwords and get back here,
But i'm back!
and I have some guest contributions from my parents who i'm staying with.
Here goes

Rod (Dad) gives us

tintinnabulation- tinkling of bells
(extremely fun to say)

and Margy (mum) provides

chatoyancy - Having a changeable luster.

and mine from the old dictionary at home is

cottonocracy- the magnates of the cotton trade
as in "this aint no democracy it's a cottonocracy."

This will be good when i'm in France as I don't want to forget English while i'm speaking French all the time.
Also I might be your foreign correspondent and contribute some French words if I find some winners!
bye for now. will keep up better from now.