[identity profile] simplyn2deep.livejournal.com
Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018

Oblique (adjective, adverb, verb, noun)
o·blique [uh-bleek, oh-bleek; Military uh-blahyk, oh-blahyk]


adjective
1. neither perpendicular nor parallel to a given line or surface; slanting; sloping.
2. (of a solid) not having the axis perpendicular to the plane of the base.
would you believe there are MORE definitions behind the cut?! )
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[personal profile] med_cat
This word was kindly provided by [livejournal.com profile] prettygoodword
~~
omnifarious
(om-nuh-FAIR-ee-uhs) - adj., of all forms, varieties, or kinds; exceedingly varied.


As in the omnifarious interests of a polymath, or the omnifarious colors of a mixed-up chameleon:

Chameleon with too many colors
Thanks, !

First used in 1653, adopted from Latin omnifārius, derivative of omnifāriam, on all sides, from omni-, all + -fāriam, adverbian suffix.

---L.
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[personal profile] med_cat

ostensible

adjective os·ten·si·ble \ ä-ˈsten(t)-sə-bəl , ə- \

Definition:

1 : intended for display : open to view
2 : being such in appearance : plausible rather than demonstrably true or real

  • the ostensible purpose for the trip

Examples

  1. That intelligence and those facts, of course, all pertained to Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, the war's ostensible casus belli, which we now know did not exist. —Frank RichNew York Review6 Apr. 2006

  2. To listen again to "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"—probably the most relentlessly cheerful song ever written on the ostensible theme of misery—is at once to admire its delicately judged textures and Swiss-watch precision … —Geoffrey O'BrienNew York Review of Books15 Dec. 2005

  3. Its ostensible subject is America's murderous gun culture. Its real subject, of course, is the ravenous ego of its director-star, Michael Moore. —Scott BergTime14 July 2003

  4. It's a snarky, glory-thieving place, the world of big-bucks political fund raising. Ostensible grownups can be reduced to screaming toddlers over who gets the credit for bringing in a major donor's gift … —Viveca NovakTime14 June 1999

  5. the ostensible reason for the meeting turned out to be a trick to get him to the surprise party


Read more... )
[identity profile] ersatz-read.livejournal.com

orenda  /ˈɔːrɛndə/, noun
Spiritual energy

Wikipedia.defines it as "spiritual power inherent in people and their environment".

This site calls orenda "a mystical force present in all people that empowers them to affect the world, or to effect change in their own lives".

If you try to google 'orenda iroquois', you will get pictures of a Canadian turbojet engine (below pic is from Wikipedia).

Etymology: Iroquois




[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
orris (AWR-ris, OR-ris) - n., any of several irises (especially Iris germanica and I. pallida) with a fragrant root; said root as used in perfumes or a favoring in gin, orrisroot.


Also, a lace or braid made of gold or silver much used in the 18th century but not so much today, either the stuff or the word. The flower name has been used since at least the 15th century, and appears to be an alteration of iris (from Latin, from Greek iris, rainbow) though no one can explain why or how it was altered. (The pimped-out braiding is from Old French orfreis, from Latin auriphrygium, Phrygian gold, to which I say ooooo-kay then.)

A sample of I. pallida to brighten your day:

Thanks, WikiMedia!

A sample usage:

A delectable, creamy blend of vanilla, heliotrope, and orris, which is like a layer of dark-golden nougat.

---L.
[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
shambolic (sham-BAWL-ik) - adj., (UK) completely disorganized, chaotic.


The quality of being in a shambles -- literally, as this is British slang from the years around 1970 was derived from shambles with a mock-learned suffix (possibly on the pattern of symbolic). Shambles itself dates back to Old English, where it was a borrowing from Latin diminutive of scamnum, bench. There was, as you can see, some evolution of meaning in there. And for a further evolution in meaning, a bonus word:


omnishambles - n., a situation that is bad or mismanaged in every way.


Coined by a script-writer for the TV show The Thick of It in 2009 from Latin omni-, all + shambles. The difference between "The transportation system is shambolic" and "The transportation system is a complete omnishambles" is that in the former you at least have a good chance of arriving at your destination, however late.

---L.
[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
ossicone (AWS-i-kohn) - n., the horn-like protuberances on the head of a giraffe.


As well as male okapi and the extinct relatives of both. Ossicones are not antlers or horns, in that they are not made of bone or horn but rather ossified ("bonelike") cartilage, and they remain covered in skin and fur.


Thanks, flickr:sutefanni!

Coined from Latin roots os, bone (or rather its combining form ossi-) + cōnus, cone (originally, apex of a helmet). Also, though I'm sure you don't need me to point this out, it's a lovely word to say. Ossicones!

---L.
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[personal profile] med_cat
obfuscate, v. ob·fus·cate \ ˈäb-fə-ˌskāt ; äb-ˈfə-ˌskāt , əb- \

transitive verb
1 a :to throw into shadow :darken
b :to make obscure

obfuscate the issue

officials who … continue to obscure and obfuscate what happened —Mary Carroll

2 :confuse

obfuscate the reader

intransitive verb
:to be evasive, unclear, or confusing

The suspect often obfuscated during the interrogation.

First Known Use: 1536

Examples:

Behind the scenes, another drama is unfolding. Airlines not only obfuscate their prices on their own sites. They also refuse to share their fee information with third parties who could repurpose the information to offer apples-to-apples comparisons. Online travel agencies are understandably unhappy with that arrangement. ("As airline revenue from extra fees increases, so does consumer ire", Travel section, The Washington Post, Nov. 2, 2017)

(this is the article that gave me the idea to post this word :))

Politicians keep obfuscating the issues.

Their explanations only serve to obfuscate and confuse.

His character — obfuscating, unrepentant, defensive, rather unintelligent — is enough for one exhibit and should be treated in its own right.

andrew koenig, National Review, "Eichmann Revisited," 9 Sep. 2017
All of which served to confuse and obfuscate the transport mechanisms for information and ideas on Facebook.

alexis c. madrigal, The Atlantic, "What Facebook Did to American Democracy," 12 Oct. 2017
In the event that the target is tricked into double-clicking on an icon promising to unlock the document contents, however, obfuscated JavaScript copies malicious code into two separate files stored in two separate directories.

dan goodin, Ars Technica, "Fileless malware targeting US restaurants went undetected by most AV," 14 June 2017

Try to Understand the Roots of obfuscate

To obfuscate something means to make it so that it isn't clear or transparent, much like dirty water makes it hard to see to the bottom of a pond. The verb shares its ob- root (meaning "over, completely") with obscure, another word that can refer to the act of concealing something or making it more difficult to see or understand. The rest of obfuscate comes from Latin fuscus, which means "dark brown" and is distantly related to our word dusk.

Origin and Etymology
Late Latin obfuscatus, past participle of obfuscare, from Latin ob- in the way + fuscus dark brown

Synonyms
becloud, befog, blur, cloud, fog, muddy, confuse
[identity profile] ersatz-read.livejournal.com
oxter (ˈɒkstə), noun

The armpit

Dictionaries say this word is in use in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Etymology:  from Old English oxta, related to Latin axilla (think 'axil' - the angle between leaf and stem).
[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
obelus (OB-uh-luhs) - n., the typographical symbol ÷ (division sign); the typographical symbol † (dagger).


The former more correctly, which originally was used to mark suspect passages in manuscripts, but now almost entirely for division (though in some languages it's sometimes used for a number range). The latter is now mostly used for an alternate footnote marker, but there's a host of other specialized usages. Both derive from the same medieval scribal symbol, and comes from the diminutive of the Greek for a spit (or other sharpened stick).

---L.
[identity profile] ersatz-read.livejournal.com
ordure (ôr′jər), noun

1. excrement, dung
2. something regarded as being morally offensive

Etymology:  from old French ord, filthy, which came from Latin horridus, frightful.  Think 'horrid'.

For some reason, I keep thinking 'ordure' is related to 'odor'.  It isn't.  But when I think of the word, I think of "the odor of excrement"...which at any rate gets me to the right visceral reaction to go with the word's actual meaning.
[identity profile] ersatz-read.livejournal.com
octothorpe (ŏk′tə-thôrp′) noun

Another term for the pound symbol or hash sign (#).

Etymology:  coined in the 1960s by researchers at Bell Labs.

Watchers of @Midnight know that the show has a recurring bit called "hashtag wars".
Last week they did a retro 80s episode - complete with dial-up sounds - and replaced "hashtag wars" with "pound sign wars", a.k.a. "octothorpe wars".
(Rather than texting your contributions to the night's theme, you could fax them.)
For us old-timers, it was an amusing episode.
[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
Sorry for late: was laid flat yesterday with a sinus infection. Antibiotics are your friend, however, so I can at least post about:


orlop (AWR-lop) - n., (Naut.) (of a wooden ship with four or more decks) the lowest deck, above the hold.


Which is usually the fourth deck down from the main deck -- any more decks, and the ship gets top-heavy. The orlop was usually where the cables were stored -- it wasn't a good place for crew quarters as it was below the water line, and definitely couldn't hold canon because same.


Orlop deck shown in red (thanks Wikimedia~!)

Origin? Well, like a lot of nautical terms, we're not really sure: it could be from the "overlooping" of the cables, or an alternate form of "overlap" as in the boards covering the hold below it, or from Dutch/Middle Low German overloop/overlōp, a running over/extend. Your guess is as good as mine, here.

Still he prowled about the after orlop deck, and talked at large of his anxiety for the contents of the bullion-room.

---L.
[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
obvolute (OB-vuh-loot) - adj., rolled or turned in; (Botany) (of a leaf or petal) having an edge that overlaps one neighbor and another overlapped another.


The implication for that second meaning being that all the leaves or petals are doing that -- so like a cardboard box where each flap is on top of one neighbor and under the other. In botany, can especially refer to when there is only two leafs so overlapped. This is, obviously, something that happens more in a bud than a flower. Adopted around 1750 from Latin obvolūtus, past participle of obvolvere, to cover by wrapping up (as in a burrito? I have to wonder), from ob-, on/over/against + volvere, to turn/roll (yes, as in Volvo the car).

She overlapped the obvolute dominoes in an circle.

---L.
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[personal profile] med_cat
Ophidophobia, n. : fear of snakes

See this Mark Trail cartoon for an excellent illustration and a fascinating zoological fact!
[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
ogdoad (OG-doh-ad) - n., a group of eight.


Better known in English as an octet, which is closely related (more on that anon). In this form, it is often used specifically to refer to a group of eight creation gods worshiped* around Hermopolis during the Old Egyptian Kingdom (dynasties 3-6, running roughly 2686-2134 BCE in the standard dating). This ogdoad comprised four male-female pairs: Nu and Naunet represented the primordial water, Amon and Amaunet represented air and hidden powers, Kuk and Kauket represented darkness and obscurity, and Huh and Hauhet represented eternity. Yes, those are just masculine/feminine forms of the same name -- the members of each pair are otherwise indistinguishable to us.

The word arrived around 1620 via Latin from Greek ogdoás, a group of eight, derivative (using the feminine suffix -as denoting descent from or connection with) of ógdoos, eighth, from oktō, eight -- octet having being derived directly from oktō, without the intervening Greek declension.


* Why the heck is it worshiped and not worshipped? Was the English language drunk when it swiped that word?


---L.
[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
orology (aw-ROL-uh-jee or oh-ROL-uh-jee) - n., the study of mountains.


Particularly the study of mountain formation, but also the branch of physical geography that deals with mountains -- and indeed, orography is the more common term for it (though that said, Wikipedia redirects the term to "mountain research"). But I prefer this one because it has the adjectival form orological. Coined in the late 18th century by traveller and historian John Talbot Dillon from Greek roots óros, mountain + -ology.

She plans to combine majors in physical geography and geology and become an orologist.

---L.
[identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
ossifrage (OS-uh-frij) - n., the lammergeier or bearded vulture; (arch.) the osprey.


The name comes from Latin ossifraga, vulture, feminine of ossifragus, bone-breaker, from os, bone + frangere, to break. The Romans used this for the lammergeier (lit. "lamb-vulture" in German), a large Old World vulture that swallows and digests bones and was believed to break them by dropping them from aloft to get at the marrow. For unknown reasons, in France and England, the word was initially transferred to the osprey, possibly because of the sound, but this is now obsolete usage. So which one does the King James Bible mean in the list of non-kosher birds in Lev 11:13-19 (and the nearly identical passage in Deu 14:12-19):
And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, and the vulture, and the kite after his kind; every raven after his kind; and the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.
-- the vulture, given osprey is separately listed.

(Note that a contemporary Jewish translation of this passage starts "the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture; the kite, falcons of every variety ... ")

---L.
[identity profile] theidolhands.livejournal.com
o·le·o [oʊˈliˈoʊ]:
origin: (1884) from Latin; ole(um) = Oleic (acid).

noun
A British word for margarine; a product containing or associated with oil.

The French invented margarine in 1869, created from vegetable oil, unlike butter made from the butterfat in cow's milk. The advantage of oleo being its greatly increased shelf life. Oleo is also used in various pharmaceuticals, soaps, and aerosol products.

In recent years, the food products has become controversial as "transfats" (or partially hydrogenated oils) such as margarine have proven to have potentially cancerous side effects when ingested, thus resulting in its removal from many manufactured goods. Although, according to this article by Mother Jones, these products still commonly contain large quantities of oleo: canned frosting, crackers and microwave popcorn, pre-packaged pie, frozen pizza, margarine, coffee creamer. Oleic acid, from which oleo/margarine is concocted, is naturally odorless and colorless. In fact, if you go back toward WWII, you'd find a small food coloring packet that one was expected to mix in oneself! *For that appetizing yellow-orange color!

Lastly, a disgusting fact to share at parties (or with your little brother as he chows into breakfast), insects actually emit oleic acid when dead in order to signal the others to come and remove the bodies.

Sentence: "Her hair and smile were as slick and greasy as a plate of melted oleo."


1954 Vintage OLEOMARGARINE Magazine Advertisement

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[personal profile] med_cat
omphaloskepsis
noun om·pha·lo·skep·sis \ˌäm(p)-fə-lō-ˈskep-səs\

1. contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation;

2. navel–gazing: the activity of thinking too much or too deeply about yourself, your experiences, your feelings, etc.;  useless or excessive self-contemplation

Etymology:

New Latin, from Greek omphalos + skepsis examination

(many thanks to [livejournal.com profile] browngirl for reminding me of this word :))

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