Word of the Day!

Apophenia - noun

Similar to pareidolia, apophenia is the tendancy for people to see connections or meaningful patterns between random and/or unrelated things, whether they are objects, visuals or ideas.

I scheduled posts for the LJ community as I'm a little busy this month--DW doesn't have scheduling, so my posts here may be out of sync for a bit!

Zaouli

This is a topic where I will defer to Wikipedia's expertise:

Zaouli or Zawli is a traditional dance of the Guro people (who speak the Guro language) of central Ivory Coast. The Zaouli mask, used in the dance, was created in the 1950s, reportedly inspired by a girl named "Djela Lou Zaouli" (meaning "Zaouli, daughter of Djela").

By Zenman - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Iatrogenesis

Iatrogenesis, (adjective iatrogenic) refers to any condition resulting from adverse effects of medical treatment. This could be misdiagnosis, error, or negligence. Adverse effects from medication is also included in this definition.

The word is derived (of course!) from two Greek words, iatros (ἰατρός, "healer") and genesis (γένεσις, "origin").

Pavlova - noun.

I sense a theme happening--today's word is another dessert, pavlova. One of those words often mentioned, but never really defined, a pavlova is a baked meringue topped with fruit and whipped cream. It has a fascinating history as it is a 20th century invention, named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.

By Hazel Fowler - Own work, Public Domain, Link

Amauti - noun.

An amauti, or ᐊᒪᐅᑎ is a traditional Inuit parka for women with a pouch for carrying and nurturing infants.

By Ansgar Walk - photo taken by Ansgar Walk, CC BY 2.5, Link

Inosculation - noun.

Occasionally, I see a word and screencap it to check its cromulence or veracity of the claim. In this case, inosculation is a real word referring to the grafting or braiding of stems or tree trunks. Whether encouraged or accidental, the woody stems fuse together.

By Rosser1954 Roger Griffith - Own work, Public Domain, Link

Sisu

This is a word where I defer to Wikipedia as I'm not Finnish.

Sisu is a Finnish word variously translated as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience,[1] and hardiness.[2] It is held by Finns to express their national character. It is generally considered[by whom?] not to have a single-word literal equivalent in English (tenacity, grit, resilience, and hardiness are much the same things, but do not necessarily imply stoicism or bravery).

Can anyone out there in journal-land elaborate?

Natron - noun.

Natron is a naturally forming compound once popularly used for mummification and as a cleaning product. It had many ancient household uses, such as a water softener, insecticide and even as a smokeless fuel when combined with castor oil. You may be wondering what this amazing product is made of! The scientific name is sodium carbonate decahydrate--a kind of soda ash.

Natron is usually white but can appear yellow or greyish when mixed with impurities. The name comes from the place where it was once mined, Wadi El Natrun, in Northern Egypt.

By Stefan Thüngen - Own work, Public Domain, Link

Shirp - verb.

Have you ever dreamt of a word? Funnily enough last week I found myself dreaming about using LJ to post a Wednesday Word and it was...shirp.

Upon awakening, I Googled and was disppointed to find SHIRP was an acronym for a University of Saskatchewan journal program.

But a little more sleuthing and it turns out shirp is a real word, from Scots. It means to either shrink or shrivel, or have a shrunken and shrivelled appearance.

I wonder what other words my subsconscious will cough up :-)

Scurrifunge

Is scurrifunge a legitimate word? That's up for debate, but we can all agree that during this holiday week, many of us will be running around the house scurrifunging (or scurryfunging) in a frantic effort to tidy up before guests and family arrive!

via GIPHY