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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").


Cizaouli.jpg
By Zenman - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link


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Invigilator - noun.

An invigilator is someone who supervises exams in-person or online. Most people probably know this role as a proctor, but invigilator was a new synonym for me!
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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").
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Furzkanone - noun.

Another scatalogical pick from my husband, furzkanone is a humourous word when you want to call someone a...fart cannon :-D



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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.


Pavlova dessert.JPG
By Hazel Fowler - Own work, Public Domain, Link


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Borma - noun

Borma is a tasty Mediterranean and Middle Eastern treat! There are regional variations (and names, of course!), but they all contain chopped nuts like pistachios and cashews, rolled up into a tube and covered with honey or sugar syrup.

You've probably seen them in baklava assortments and there's many recipes out there if you care to try making them at home.
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Amauti - noun.

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


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


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Zeppole - noun.

Zeppoles, pronounced zeh·puh·lee, is a classic Italian donut or dessert. Some look like simple donut holes while others are giant cream puffs. Your mileage may vary, but here's a recipe you can try at home.
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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.


Husband and Wife trees - detail.JPG
By Rosser1954 Roger Griffith - Own work, Public Domain, Link


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Truculent - noun.

A word we may see more of these days, truculent and truculence refer to a person, policy, or event being aggressively hostile, cruel or extremely harsh.
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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?
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Heimscheißer

Today's word is courtesy of my husband, who always enjoys a scatalogical joke. Literally meaning "home pooper", it has a few definitions:


  • Someone who prefers to poop at home--and I can't really blame people for doing that ;-D

  • Someone who doesn't venture much past their home or town--they've never travelled far or abroad

  • Someone who still lives at home with their parents into adulthood

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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.


Emi Koussi crater natron.jpg
By Stefan Thüngen - Own work, Public Domain, Link


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Kainite - noun.

Kainite, sometimes spelled kainit, is a naturally occuring sulfate mineral found in only a few places worldwide. It's used in fertilizer and as a source of magnesium and potassium compounds.


Kainite - Grube Brefeld, Tarthun, Sta�furt, Sachsen-Anhalt.jpg
By Thomas Witzke - http://tw.strahlen.org/typloc/kainit.html, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, Link


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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 :-)
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Viral rhinitis

Your Wednesday Wordsmith has been down since the beginning of the new year with a cold, so it's fitting my first word of 2025 is viral rhinitis, the "actual" name for the common cold.

No one should be surprised that rhinitis is derived from the Greek word for rhino, but did you know there are many different kinds of rhinitis? Stuffy and runny noses, sneezes and even post-nasal drip can be caused by allergens, infections or anything else that inflames your nasal mucous membranes.
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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


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I've been a little MIA, so here's a Friday bonus post.

JOMO

In the past few years people became acquainted with abbreviations like FOMO (fear of missing out) or YOLO (you only live once) but perhaps less frequently used is JOMO - joy of missing out.

JOMO first originated in a 2012 blog post by Anil Dash. 2012 seems like forever ago--but it's a thoughtful phrase to remember now and then to get offline and touch grass :-)
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Spudger - noun.

Ah, the spudger just another whatsis and doohickey for an IT person's junk drawer! It's a tool used for opening and replacing small components such as batteries, without damaging parts. Allegedly, the origin of the name is spuddle, a Middle English word for "short knife".


Spudgers.jpg
By Michael Anderson - Own work, Public Domain, Link


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Recrudescence - noun.

The return of an undesirable circumstance or person.

From Merriam-Webster:

Recrudescence comes from the Latin verb recrudescere, meaning “to become raw again” (used, for example, of wounds). Ultimately, it can be traced back to the Latin word crudus, meaning “raw” (If you suspect that crude also comes from crudus, you are correct; another well-known descendant is cruel). In its literal, medical sense, recrudescence refers to a renewed outbreak of a disease. In extended use, it most often describes the return of an undesirable condition, such as a war or a plague, or the return of an undesirable idea.
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