Word of the Day!

Puquios - noun.

In this high-tech world, it's easy to forget that people have always had high-tech solutions to their problems, even if they seem low-tech today. And, you have to admit, poquios are also an artistic solution. The word stems from the Quechua word, pukyu, which means spring, water well, or source. The poquios is an ancient below-ground aqueduct system which allows the movement of water over long distances without much evaporation loss. They're often found in Chile and Peru and the link below will tell you more about how their mystery was uncovered.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-ancient-peruvian-mystery-solved-from-space

By PsamatheM - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Note: I didn't see a tag for ancient Peruvians, so I chose aboriginal and Indigenous people in the meantime.

Calamansi - noun

Cooking shows can be educational in more ways than one and recently I learned about an amazing citrus fruit that I'd love to try. It sounded so magical! The fruit is the calamansi, a hybrid citrus fruit created from a kumquat and a mandarin orange, even though it looks like a small lime. It's featured in traditional Filipino cuisine and mostly cultivated in the Philippines too.

Also known as a calamondin, Philippine lime, or Philippine lemon, it sounds like it provides a nice tropical accent.

By Obsidian Soul - Own work, CC0, Link

Sleying - verb

Here's another artsy word from the world of weaving. I was reminded of it while re-reading some old LJ entries. Sleying is the term for pulling warp threads through the reed on a weaving loom during the dressing processing. Warp threads are the vertical threads on a loom while weft refers to the horizontal ones. Sleying means you are close to beginning to weave. Warp threads are hooked with a tool and pulled through holes on the reed. A reed is a long horizontal bar with many vertical bars across it, creating slots. It's a very onesie twosie process, as you can watch here:

Dissemble - verb

I learned about dissemble in the most technological way possible--I meant disassemble, but a fat finger made a typo without spell check catching it. Or maybe spell check was just trying to be automagically helpful!

Dissemble is an obsolete word first recorded in the Middle Ages. It means to feign truth or give false or misleading appearances or information. For example, a corrupt politician might dissemble their financial incompetence.

Ramracketting - verb

Ramracketting is a forgotten word for Christmas gambols, although it may mean to somersault in some places.

My source for this word, other than Internet trivia lists, is Joseph Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary, which you can access online.

May your holidays be ramracketting and fun!

Zonked - adjective

Zonked out is what I'll be when my school semester ends next week. Zonked first appeared in the 1940s and 50s and is of unclear origin, although one source noted it may be a combination of "zzzz" for sleep and "conked out". Zonked may be associated with the stupefying effects of drug or alcohol use, but not necessarily. It can mean exhausted and tired along with strung-out or wasted.

Fartlek - noun

Fartlek, meaning "speed play" in Swedish, is a training technique for runners. Periods of strenuous and intense activity alternate with periods of less intense activity. Casual runners may know this as "run a minute, walk a minute" while building stamina. Fartlek training is generally less structured than traditional interval training methods.

Nîcîwâkan - noun.

Nîcîwâkan is a Cree word for friend.

To hear the pronunciation along with four other Cree words, watch the video below!