Word of the Day!

Definition - to flourish a sword in sword dancing so as to produce a whistling sound

Sword dances - traditional folk dances featuring men and swords - have a long and glorious history. These days, you can see (and hear) whiffling in the circular "guerrilla" dances of Turkey and the Balkans and in the Balkan "rusalia" fertility dance. In case you were wondering, the trademark "Wiffle Ball" omits the h.

The word whiffler, although closely resembling whiffle, is fairly distinct. It has meanings such as “a person who frequently changes opinions or course,” and “a person who uses shifts and evasions in argument”; the origin of this whiffler is from an obsolete word for “battle-ax,” wifle.

From Ten Bizarre Words

Tergiversate - v. [tur-ji-ver-seyt]

Definition: to change repeatedly one's attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.

History: This unique word holds an honor that very few words can claim: it was named the 2011 Word of the Year by Dictionary.com. Why? According to the website, this weird word rose to fame “because it described so much of the world around us. Editors at Dictionary.com saw the stock market, political groups, and public opinion go through a roller coaster of change throughout 2011.”

You can find the others in this list here

Groke — (v) an old Scots term meaning to look at somebody while they’re eating in the hope that they’ll give you some of their food.

So, I'm guessing that this is something that dogs have down pat...

and not to be confessed with Grok, which means to idolize to all ends (my definition, not the official one as it was pointed out to me) - I grok Spock.

This and many more can be found here

Fudgel — (v) Pretending to work when you’re not actually doing anything at all.

The perfect word for a Monday.

Bogglish - To be uncertain, doubtful or a wee bit skittish about something,

I'm a little bogglish about using this word, the truth be known...

Oneirocritical - An adjective to describe a person who is an expert at dream interpretations.

The more I play on this community, the more I am surprised.

Typhlobasia - Kissing with the eyes closed.

And as God as my witness, I didn't know there was a word for this. I wonder if there's one for kissing with your eyes open...

Mamaguy (W. Indian) - to try to deceive someone by flattering them or telling them lies.

As much fun as it would be to cry "April Fools" about this, it's a real word from the Oxford Dictionary.

I'm guessing that this is the sort of person so many celebrities and politicians surround themselves with in order to feel better about themselves.

Dextrosinistral - A left-handed person trained to use the right hand; from the Latin dexter, meaning right, and sinister, meaning left.

My father was dextrosinistral, something that left him with a bad stutter when he was a child. at one point, his left hand was nearly broken to keep him from using it. Go freaking figure...

but I love saying it. It also sort of sounds what's going to happen to Britain later this month

Relexification - Replacing a word (or phrase) in one language with a word (or phrase) in another language that corresponds to it.