Science, writing, and science writing. Thanks for visiting.
Jamie Zvirzdin
  • Bio
  • Publications
  • Store
    • Individual Workshops
    • Buy a Coffee for Jamie!
  • Contact

Reading the Scrabble Dictionary: Week 27

7/16/2014

0 Comments

 
This week: all sorts of fools, raging elephants, violent ways to lynch people (hint: involves burning tires), words not to use, and turnips.
⚛ Units of the Week
    Mutchkin: a Scottish unit of liquid measure
    Muton: a unit of nucleic acid
    Myriad: a very large number
    Naira: a monetary unit of Nigeria
    Nakfa: a monetary unit of Eritrea
    Nanogram: a unit of mass and weight
    Nanowatt: a unit of power
    Negatron/negaton: an electron
    Nephron: an excretory unit of a kidney
    Neuron: the basic cellular unit of the nervous system
    Neutrino: a subatomic particle
    Neutron: a subatomic particle
    Newton: a unit of force
    Ngultrum: a monetary unit of Bhutan
    Ngwee: a monetary unit of Zambia

!!! Unexpected Words of the Week
    Musth: a state of frenzy occurring in male elephants (because you really ought to stay out of their way when testosterone surges happen—from Urdu and Persian mast, meaning raving mad, drunk.)
    Myiasis: infestation of human tissue by fly maggots (because I know you wanted to know this)
    Nabe: a neighborhood movie theater
    Nachas: pride in another's accomplishments
    Naff: to fool around
    Nairu: the lowest rate of unemployment at which there is no inflation (Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment)
    Naris: a nostril
    Nastic: pertaining to an automatic response of plants
    Nates: the buttocks
    Naumachy: a mock sea battle (apparently a Roman thing, but the peeps in the 1600s loved the idea)
    Nazify: to cause to be like a nazi (first used in the Times, 1933)
    Neatnik: a compulsively neat person
    Nebbish: a meek person
    Neck: to kiss and caress the neck in lovemaking (First of this use: 1825. Growing up and hearing church leaders preach against “necking,” I thought necking was where two people touched necks in a very awkward manner, like ostriches or something. I would have been even more confused had I known that the primary definition of “to neck” is “To strike on the neck, esp. so as to stun or kill; to kill by pulling or wringing the neck.” Another more popular use was to swallow or gulp down, which seems vampiric in this context.)
    Necklace: to kill by placing a gasoline-filled tire around the neck and setting it on fire (um, wow. Apparently this happened a few times in the ’80s and ’90s in South Africa. A form of lynching.)
    Neddy: a donkey
    Neep: a turnip
    Negroid: member of the black race (usage discouraged!!)
    Nellie: an effeminate male (usage also discouraged!!)
    Neoteric: a modern author (first used by the no-longer neoterics of 1577)
    Nepenthe: a drug that induces forgetfulness
    Nerts: used to express defiance (OED: “Representing a humorous pronunciation of the plural of nut.” OED differs and says nerts means “crazy” or expresses annoyance or incredulity.)
    Netizen: a frequent user of the Internet (OED: first use 1984, from Michael Hauben’s net.citizen)
    Netop: friend; companion (pidgin Algonquian of southern New England. Noticed that OED uses “American Indian” instead of “Native American.” Slightly surprised.)
    Nictate: to wink (Don’t confuse with micturate)
    Nidering: a coward
    Nidget: an idiot
    Niellist: one that niellos (decorates with a black metallic substance, because duh, everybody's doing it)
    Nilgai: a large antelope (antelope sighting! Most popular animal in the OSPD!)
    Nimrod: a hunter
    Ninny: a fool
    Nitwit: a stupid person
    Nixy: an undeliverable piece of mail
    Noddy: a fool (lots of fools this week)
    Noma: a severe inflammation of the mouth
    Nombril: a point on a heraldic shield (I’ve learned a lot about heraldry . . . )
    Nonwar: a war that is not officially declared (but is nevertheless a war and thus not a nonwar . . . :P)
    Nosh: to eat snacks between meals
    Nostrum: a medicine of one's own invention (use at your own risk)

♡ Favorite Words of the Week
    Nabobery: the state of being a nabob (one who becomes rich and prominent)
    Nacre: the pearly internal layer of certain shells
    Nadir: a point on the celestial sphere
    Napiform: shaped like a turnip
    Nebula: a cloud-like interstellar mass
    Newspeak: a deliberately ambiguous language
    Niveous: resembling snow
    Nonfarm: not pertaining to the farm
(Pages 365–378)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Jamie Zvirzdin's

    Writing Blog

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Bennington College
    Book Reviews
    Downloads
    Foreign Service
    Poetry
    Published
    Science
    Word Fun

    Blog Roll

    Archives

    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012


© Jamie Zvirzdin 2021. All Rights Reserved