luftmensch \LOOFT-mensh ("OO" as in "foot")\ noun : an impractical contemplative person having no definite business or income
Example sentence: "The son ...," wrote American author Irving Howe, "is leaving to be a luftmensch -- a starving poet, a painter without pictures, a radical leader without followers."
Did you know? Are you someone who always seems to have your head in the clouds? Do you have trouble getting down to the lowly business of earning a living? If so, you may deserve to be labeled a "luftmensch." That airy appellation is an adaptation of the Yiddish "luftmentsh," which breaks down into "luft" (a Germanic root that can be tied linguistically to the English words "loft" and "lofty"), meaning "air," plus "mentsh," meaning "human being." "Luftmensch" was first introduced to English prose in 1907, when Israel Zangwill wrote "The word 'Luftmensch' flew into Barstein's mind. Nehemiah was not an earth-man .... He was an air-man, floating on facile wings."
quietus \kwye-EE-tus\ noun 1 : final settlement (as of a debt) *2 : removal from activity; especially : death 3 : something that quiets or represses
Example sentence: "This book is also about the death of Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria, a quietus that for reasons not satisfactorily explained has been placed a year later than it actually occurred." (Ruth Rendell, _The New York Times Book Review_, April 6, 1986)
Did you know? In the early 1500s, English speakers adopted the Medieval Latin phrase "quietus est" (literally "he is quit") as the name for the writ of discharge exempting a baron or knight from payment of a knight's fee to the king. The expression was later shortened to "quietus" and applied to the termination of any debt. William Shakespeare was the first to use "quietus" as a metaphor for the termination of life: "For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, ...When he himself might his quietus make / With a bare bodkin?" (_Hamlet_). The third meaning, which is more influenced by "quiet" than "quit," appeared in the 19th century. It sometimes occurs in the phrase "put the quietus on" (as in, "The bad news put the quietus on their celebration").
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Nathan didn't even have the imagination to be a luftmensch -- he was always swinging from one obsession to another, filling his brain with whatever random pamphlet he'd been given at the bus stop or on campus. He was, well, a true loofamensch.
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cantankerous \kan-TANG-kruss\ adjective : difficult or irritating to deal with
Example sentence: Philip was always cantankerous in the morning, given to snapping and snarling until he'd had his first cup of coffee and a soothing hot shower.
Did you know? It's irritating, but we're not absolutely sure where "cantankerous" comes from. Most etymologists think it probably derived from the Middle English word "contack" (or "contek"), which meant "contention" or "strife." Their idea is that "cantankerous" may have started out as "contackerous," but it was later modified as a result of association or confusion with "rancorous" (meaning "spiteful") and "cankerous" (which refers to something that spreads corruption of the mind or spirit). Considering that a cantankerous person generally has the spite associated with "contack" and "rancor," and the noxious and sometimes painful effects of a "canker," that theory seems plausible. What we can say with conviction is that "cantankerous" has been used in English since the late 1700s.
de minimis \dee-MIH-nih-miss\ adjective : lacking significance or importance : so minor as to merit disregard
Example sentence: "The likelihood that I'm going to win the lottery is de minimis," said the struggling young law student, "so I don't expect to be buying that luxury yacht I've got my eye on anytime soon."
Did you know? Proponents of readable prose over jargon and legalese might argue that the last thing 20th-century American jurisprudence needed was another Latin term. Yet here we have a legal term that entered English only around 1950. Perhaps we should clarify: the legal doctrine of "de minimis non curat lex" ("the law does not concern itself with trifling matters") has been around for awhile, but use of "de minimis" on its own is relatively recent. At first, the shortened phrase was simply used to refer to the legal doctrine itself ("the de minimis rule"). Then it came to be used more broadly as an adjective ("de minimis contacts with the defendant"). Finally, "de minimis" leaked out of the courtroom and into the world at large.
mercurial \mer-KYUR-ee-ul\ adjective *1 : characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood 2 : of, relating to, containing, or caused by mercury
Example sentence: Paul's mercurial moods made him extremely difficult to work with because even the most innocuous event could provoke a fit of violent temper.
Did you know? The Roman god Mercury ("Mercurius" in Latin) was the messenger and herald of the gods and also the god of merchants and thieves. (His counterpart in Greek mythology is Hermes.) He was noted for his eloquence, swiftness, and cunning, and the Romans named what appeared to them to be the fastest-moving planet in his honor. The Latin adjective derived from his name, "mercurialis," meaning "of or relating to Mercury," was borrowed into English in the 14th century as "mercurial." Although the adjective initially meant "born under the planet Mercury," it came to mean also "having qualities of eloquence, ingenuity, or thievishness attributed to the god Mercury or the influence of the planet Mercury," and then "unpredictably changeable."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
twee \TWEE\ adjective chiefly British : affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint
Example sentence: Thatched-roof birdhouses with posies in the windows are a bit too twee for Annalese, who doesn't go in much for cutesiness.
Did you know? Most adults wouldn't be caught dead saying, "Oh, look at the tweet 'ittle birdie!" (at least not to anyone over the age of three), but they probably wouldn't be averse to saying, "He went fishing with his dad," "She works as a nanny," or "Hey, buddy, how's it going?" Anyone who uses "dad," "nanny," or "buddy" owes a debt to "baby talk," a term used for both the childish speech adults adopt when addressing youngsters and for the speech of small children who are just learning to talk. "Twee" also originated in baby talk, as an alteration of "sweet." In the early 1900s, it was a term of affection, but nowadays British speakers and writers, and, increasingly, Americans as well, use "twee" for things that have passed beyond agreeable and into the realm of cloying.
sensibility \sen-suh-BIH-luh-tee\ noun 1 : ability to receive sensations : sensitiveness *2 : the emotion or feeling of which a person is capable 3 : refined or excessive sensitiveness in emotion and taste
Example sentence: Instead of going to the van Gogh exhibit, Dan went fishing and gratified his artistic sensibilities by the gleam of a trout at the end of his hook.
Did you know? From Latin "sentire" ("to feel"), the meanings of "sensibility" run the gamut from mere sensation of the sense organs to excessive sentimentality. In between is a capacity for delicate appreciation, a sense often pluralized. In Jane Austen's books, "sensibility," a word much appreciated by the novelist, is mostly an admirable quality she attributed to or found lacking in her characters: "He had ... a sensibility to what was amiable and lovely" (of Mr. Elliot in _Persuasion_). In _Sense and Sensibility_, however, Austen starts out by ascribing to Marianne sensibleness, on the one hand, but an "excess of sensibility" on the other: "her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation . . . she was everything but prudent."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
macadam \muh-KAD-um\ noun : a roadway or pavement of small closely packed broken stone
Example sentence: We left the old city with much regret, passing from its quaint cobblestones to lumpy macadam, leaving our vacation behind and returning reluctantly to the workaday world.
Did you know? In 1783, inventor John Loudon McAdam returned to his native Scotland after amassing a fortune in New York. He was promptly made road trustee for his district and quickly set his inventiveness to remedying the terrible condition of local roads. After numerous experiments, he created a new inexpensive but durable road surfacing material made of bits of stone that became compressed into a solid mass as traffic passed over them. His invention revolutionized road construction and transportation, and engineers and the public alike honored him by using his name (respelled "macadam") as a generic term for the material or pavement made from it. He is further immortalized in the verb "macadamize," which names the process of installing macadam on a road.
malinger \muh-LING-gur\ verb : to pretend or exaggerate incapacity or illness (as to avoid duty or work)
Example sentence: When Kim called in sick on yet another beautiful summer day, her boss began to suspect she was malingering.
Did you know? Do you know someone who always seems to develop an ailment when there's work to be done? Someone who merits an Academy Award for his or her superb simulation of symptoms? Then you know a malingerer. The verb "malinger" comes from the French word "malingre," meaning "sickly," and one who malingers feigns illness. In its earliest uses in the 19th century, "malinger" usually referred to a soldier or sailor pretending to be sick or insane to shirk duty. Later, psychologists began using "malingering" as a clinical term to describe the feigning of illness in avoidance of a duty or for personal gain. Today, "malinger" is used in just about any context in which someone fakes sickness or injury to get out of an undesirable task.
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My sensibilities were offended by the malingerer whimpering on the macadam. That little tap from my car couldn't possibly have broken her leg.
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skulk \SKULK\ verb *1 : to move in a stealthy or furtive manner 2 a : to hide or conceal something (as oneself) often out of cowardice or fear or with sinister intent b _chiefly British_ : malinger
Example sentence: "I sometimes met with hounds in my path prowling about the woods, which would skulk out of my way, as if afraid, and stand silent amid the bushes till I had passed." (Henry David Thoreau, _Walden_)
Did you know? Here's one for the word-puzzle lovers. Can you name three things that the word "skulk" has in common with all of these other words: booth, brink, cog, flit, give, kid, meek, scab, seem, skull, snub, and wing? If you noticed that all of the terms on that list have just one syllable, then you've got the first (easy) similarity, but the next two are likely to prove a little harder to guess. Give up? All of the words listed above are of Scandinavian origin and all were first recorded in English in the 13th century. As for "skulk," its closest Scandinavian relative is Norwegian dialect "skulka," which means "to lie in wait" or "lurk."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
pidgin \PIH-jun\ noun : a simplified speech used for communication between people with different languages
Example sentence: Creole, which is now spoken in parts of southern Louisiana, originated as a pidgin spoken between French-speaking colonists and African slaves.
Did you know? The history of "pidgin" begins about the early 19th century in the South China city of Guangzhou. Chinese merchants interacting with English speakers on the docks in this port sometimes pronounced the word "business" as "bigeon." By the century's end, "bigeon" had degenerated into "pigeon" and finally "pidgin," which then appropriately became the descriptor of the unique communication necessitated when people who speak different languages meet. Pidgins generally consist of a small vocabulary (Chinese Pidgin English has only 700 words), but some have grown to become the native language of a group. Examples include Sea Island Creole spoken in South Carolina's Sea Islands; Haitian Creole; and Louisiana Creole. The alteration of "bigeon" to "pigeon" also gave us "pigeon," meaning "an object of special concern" or "accepted business or interest."
posted
Hey! I knew that one! And who said high school education is useless? Well... yeah, that pretty much is useless education. So nevermind.
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bright-line \BRYTE-lyne\ adjective : providing an unambiguous criterion or guideline especially in law
Example sentence: While there is no bright-line rule, cost spreads of more than five percent are considered excessive for certain municipal bonds.
Did you know? In the first half of the 20th century, courts began referring to a "bright line" that could or could not be drawn to make clear-cut distinctions between legal issues, such as a bright line to distinguish negligence from nonnegligence. Early users may have been influenced by the term "bright line," used by physicists to refer to the distinct color lines in the light spectrum. Before that, judges were content with wording that was more prosaic, such as "line of demarcation." In the second half of the 20th century, we began using "bright-line" as an adjective. Nonlegal types looking for unambiguous distinctions in other walks of life took a shine to "bright-line" sometime in the 1980s.
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Try as they might, Congress couldn't come up with a bright-line between soft money and undue influence in political campaigns.
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Example sentence: Before going in for his appendectomy, Uncle George jokingly wondered aloud how much blood he'd have left after the old sawbones had sewn him back up.
Did you know? "Sawbones" first cut its teeth in Charles Dickens's 1837 novel The _Pickwick Papers_, when Sam Weller said to Mr. Pickwick, "Don't you know what a sawbones is, sir? . . . I thought everybody know'd as a sawbones was a surgeon." By the late 19th century, the word had also been used by authors such as H. G. Wells and Mark Twain and was well established in English. 19th-century surgeons used saws to perform amputations, and the word "sawbones" was associated with unskillful hacking. Mercifully, medical technology has improved dramatically since then (the surgical saws used in procedures today are a far cry from the primitive tools of yesteryear), but the word "sawbones" is still used, often in a humorous context.
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And in the last days the sawbones will put down their instruments of carnage and take to chasing a small white sphere, and, lo, their frustration will breed like maggots upon an festering wound, and this shall be to the retribution of all the rightous who have suffered indignities and grievances at their clumsy hands.
-- The 3rd Book of the Apocrypha of Bob 27:9
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oligopsony \ah-luh-GAHP-suh-nee\ noun : a market situation in which each of a few buyers exerts a disproportionate influence on the market
Example sentence: Fewer than 10 automakers worldwide dominate the industry, forcing suppliers into an oligopsony where the buyers can dictate prices.
Did you know? You're probably familiar with the word "monopoly," but you may not recognize its conceptual and linguistic relative, the much rarer "oligopsony." Both "monopoly" and "oligopsony" are ultimately from Greek, although "monopoly" passed through Latin before being adopted into English. "Monopoly" comes from the Greek prefix "mono-" (which means "one") and "polein" ("to sell"), while "oligopsony" derives from the combining form "olig-" ("few") and the Greek noun "opsonia" ("the purchase of victuals"), which is ultimately from the combination of "opson" ("food") and "oneisthai" ("to buy"). It makes sense, then, that "oligopsony" refers to a "buyers' market" in which the seller is subjected to the potential demands of a limited pool of buyers. Another related word is "monopsony," used for a more extreme oligopsony in which there is only a single buyer.
propitiate \proh-PIH-shee-ayt\ verb : to gain or regain the favor or goodwill of : appease, conciliate
Example sentence: The locals invited some of the tourists to participate in a traditional ceremony in which offerings were made to propitiate the region's deities.
Did you know? Like its synonym "appease," "propitiate" means "to ease the anger or disturbance of," but there are subtle differences between the two terms as well. "Appease" usually implies quieting insistent demands by making concessions, whereas "propitiate" tends to suggest averting the anger or malevolence of a superior being. In fact, "propitiate" often occurs -- as in our example sentence -- in contexts involving deities, spirits, or other preternatural forces. You might "appease" your hunger, but to speak more colorfully, you could "propitiate the gods of hunger."
: one who is extremely or excessively fond of shopping
Example sentence: Susie is such a shopaholic that her friends refuse to set foot in a mall with her on the day of a big sale.
Did you know?
The word "alcoholic" refers to someone who has a serious medical condition. "Shopaholic," on the other hand, is a rather playful word that usually suggests mere excess rather than true addiction. "Shopaholic" first appeared in print in 1983. It was formed on the model of "alcoholic," which was itself created many years earlier by combining "alcohol" with "-ic," meaning "of or relating to." People evidently saw a parallel between someone addicted to alcohol and someone "addicted" to shopping. This is not the first time "alcoholic" has spawned a spinoff word "shopaholic" was preceded by "workaholic" and "chocoholic," both of which first turned up in 1968.
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Tami discovered she was a serious shopaholic when she awoke early one morning and found herself sleep-dialing QVC.
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quorum • \KWOR-um\ • noun 1 : a select group *2 : the number (as a majority) of officers or members of a body that when duly assembled is legally competent to transact business
Example sentence: The committee lacked a quorum that day, and so was unable to vote on any issues.
Did you know? "Quorum" was introduced into Modern English in the early 17th century by way of Middle English, where it referred to a group of justices of the peace. From there, the English term can be traced back to the Latin "quorum," meaning "of whom," which is itself the genitive plural of "qui," meaning "who." At one time, the Latin "quorum" was used in the wording of the commission issued to justices of the peace in England. In English, "quorum" initially referred to the number of justices of the peace who had to be present to constitute a legally sufficient bench. That sense is now rare, but it's not surprising that "quorum" has come to mean both "a select group" and "the minimum people required in order to conduct business."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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posted
Psychotherapy never worked for Bob because his many personalities could never pull together a quorum.
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flounce \FLOWNSS ("OW" as in "cow")\ verb 1 *a: to move with exaggerated jerky or bouncy motions; also: to move so as to draw attention to oneself b: to go with sudden determination 2 : flounder, struggle
Example sentence: The host of the party looked like she was dancing as she flounced about in an effort to greet each of the guests.
Did you know? Despite its rhyming connection with "bounce," the history behind "flounce" is not entirely certain. Its first recorded use as a verb in English occurred in 1542. Some scholars believe it is related to the Norwegian verb "flunsa" (meaning "to hurry" or "to work briskly") and the Swedish "flunsa" ("to fall with a splash" or "to plunge"). The connection is uncertain, however, because the "flunsa" verbs did not appear in their respective languages until the 18th century, long after "flounce" surfaced in English. A second distinct sense of "flounce," referring to a strip or ruffle of fabric attached on one edge, did not appear in English until the 18th century. This "flounce" derives from the Middle English "frouncen" ("to curl").
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
ahimsa \uh-HIM-sah\ noun : the Hindu and Buddhist doctrine of refraining from harming any living being
Example sentence: Mahatma Gandhi directed his followers to adhere to the principles of ahimsa, insisting that even people fighting for their rights need to honor life and do no harm.
Did you know? "Ahimsa" has been part of the English language since at least 1875, but the word didn't gain popularity in the English- speaking world until the first half of the 20th century, when it was recognized as an important component of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. "Ahimsa" comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "noninjury," and Gandhi's policy of nonviolent protest played a crucial role in the political and social changes that eventually led to India's independence from Britain in 1947.
skirl \SKURL\ verb *intransitive; of a bagpipe : to emit the high shrill tone of the chanter; also : to give forth music transitive : to play (music) on the bagpipe
Example sentence: The bagpipes skirled, the bodhran drummed, the tartans swirled, and the Summer 2003 Highland Games were ushered in!
Did you know? Not every musical instrument is honored with its very own verb. But then, not every musical instrument emits a sound that quite matches that of a bagpipe. Depending on your ear, you might think bagpipes "give forth music," or you might be more apt to say they "shriek." If you are of the latter opinion, your thinking aligns with the earliest sense of "skirl" -- "to shriek." Beginning around 1400, that early sense was used of screeching maids, winds, and the like. Scottish poet Robert Sempill first used it for bagpipes in the mid-1600s. The meaning of "skirl" has shifted over time, however, and these days you can use the verb without causing offense to bagpipers and bagpipe enthusiasts.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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The wee bairn skirled so loud and long, he almost convinced his parents to abandon their dedication to ahimsa.
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panache \puh-NASH\ noun 1 : an ornamental tuft (as of feathers) especially on a helmet *2 : dash or flamboyance in style and action
Example sentence: Edmond leaped onto the table with the panache of a musketeer, and shouted, "Quiet down!" to the unruly crowd.
Did you know? Few can match the panache of French poet and soldier Cyrano de Bergerac. In his dying moments, he declared that the one thing left to him was his panache, and that assertion at once demonstrates the meaning of the word and draws upon its history. "Panache" derives via Middle French from the Late Latin "pinnaculum," meaning "small wing" or "gable," a root that also gave English the word "pinnacle." In both French and English, "panache" originally referred to a showy, feathery plume on a hat or helmet; its dashing figurative sense developed from the verve and swagger of one bold enough to wear such an adornment in public. When the dying Cyrano turned his huge nose heavenward and spoke of his panache, his nose became the literal and figurative pinnacle of a multifaceted pun.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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The crowd did not, in fact, quiet down and a brawl ensued which left one young man with a broken collarbone and several of Cardinal Richlieu's guardsmen with rather large bruises. Shortly after this rash act, Edmond was knifed too death in a brothel and the panache was returned to its rightful owner a middle-aged muskateer by the name of Henri. As a reward to the comrades-in-arms who recovered his helmet plume, Henri gave them a cask of port. Unfortunately, they decided to drink it all in one sitting and as a result missed their guard duties. This allowed an English spy to infilitrate the apartments of the Comte de Angelou and steal a long look at a sheaf of papers documenting a plot to poison the queen of Portugal with a specially prepared torte that had a yummy but deadly chocolate cream filling. For reasons that aren't quite clear, the English decided to share this information with the Portugese. The plot was foiled and the would-be poisoner was executed.
And now you know the rest of the story. If it weren't for a little panache, a poisonous batch of ganache would have changed the course of history.
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Zal...and if they tried again, it would either be their just desserts, or a retorte.
The Word of the Day for August 17 is:
tankini \tang-KEE-nee\ noun : a woman's two-piece swimsuit consisting of bikini briefs and a tank top
Example sentence: After a morning of soaking up the sun by the pool, Ella threw on a skirt that matched the flowery top of her tankini and lunched at the resort's restaurant.
Did you know? The two-piece swimsuit we call the bikini made its debut on Paris runways in 1946. The word "bikini" comes from "Bikini atoll," the name of one of the Marshall Islands in the western Pacific, where atomic-bomb tests were performed in 1946. One theory of the coinage is that the effect achieved by a scantily clad woman appearing in public may be compared to the effect of an A-bomb blast. Another possible explanation is that the bikini leaves its wearer nearly bare, the way the bomb tests stripped Bikini atoll. In 1985, the tankini began appearing on beaches in the U.S., and the word "bikini" was combined with "tank" to create its appropriate name.
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Bob, you need to use all the word-of-the-days from all of the previous days in one post, going back to the first post! Now get started!!!! Posts: 1466 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I think it far more likely that we'll see OSC and PapaMoose modeling tankinis at the next Endercon than that I'll use all the prior words in one post. Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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waitron \WAY-trahn\ noun : a person who waits tables (as in a restaurant) : waitperson
Example sentence: "You waitrons better start picking up these orders before they get cold!" yelled the head chef across the busy restaurant kitchen.
Did you know? Gender-neutral language has become an increasingly common phenomenon in English over the past several decades. Nowadays, it seems natural to hear conversations laced with terms like "mail carrier," "firefighter," "police officer," and "waitron." It's easy to see how the first three terms came about, but the origin of "waitron," which first appeared in print in 1980, is less straightforward. "Waitron" is probably a blend of "waiter/waitress" and "-tron," a suffix that seems to allude to the machinelike impersonality of waiting tables. Despite this hint of disparagement, "waitron" quickly gained popularity. Its gender-neutrality makes it a convenient substitute for "waiter" or "waitress."
profligate • \PRAH-flih-gut\ • adjective 1 : completely given up to dissipation and licentiousness *2 : wildly extravagant : prodigal
Example sentence: Each political party tried to paint the other side as profligate wasters of the taxpayers’ money.
Did you know? When a royal record keeper reported the "profligation of the knights" 477 years ago, he didn’t mean the knights were wildly indulging in excesses; he meant they were thoroughly defeated in battle. There’s nothing etymologically extreme there; the Latin verb "profligare," which is the root of both "profligate" and the much rarer "profligation" (meaning "ruin"), means "to strike down," "to destroy, ruin," or "to overwhelm." When the adjective "profligate" first appeared in print in English in the 1500s, it meant "overthrown" or "overwhelmed." By 1647 it had acquired its "abandoned or given over to vice" sense, and by 1779 it was being used with the meaning "wildly extravagant."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
chasten \CHAY-sun\ verb 1 : to correct by punishment or suffering : discipline *2 : to cause to be more humble or restrained : subdue
Example sentence: The humiliation of having to ask his parents for help chastened Jim, but made him wiser about spending his money.
Did you know? If you say you would _castigate_ or _chastise_ someone in order to _chasten_ them, you demonstrate a good knowledge of the origin of "chasten" -- all three verbs derive from the Latin verb "castigare," meaning "to punish." The verb trio share an initial sense of "to subject to severe and often physical punishment," but all three are now as likely to refer to a verbal dressing-down as a physical lesson. "Chasten" (which arrived in English via the Anglo-French "chastier") can also be used to mean "to prune (as a work of art) of excess, pretense, or falsity." This led to the more general sense of "to make more subdued," although the humility can be imposed by a humiliating situation as easily as by a strict taskmaster.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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3. And the Almighty Bob looked down on Hatrack and was asorrowed for the Jatraqueros had turned from their profligate ways and become serious and sedate, expounding mightily on diverse subjects. So he caused the word to be sent abroad that if the Jatraqueros did not increase the fluff quotient that the Lord Bob would chasten them and deprive them of his presence and move to a double-wide in the wastelands of Texas and bless them no more with his presence, and shower them no more with amusements.
4. And the Jatraqueros wailed and gnashed their keyboards. And there was much frantic instant messaging. For they had come to rely on Bob to interpret their dreams and visions and to uncover their personalities. And while the new graemlins were amusing, they were like unto pale flickerings when compared to the all-powerful luminosity of the lava lamp that is the Lord Bob.
-- a fragment from the Lamentations of Bob, chapter 2.
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posted
I don't know. My scholarship has focused more on Bobo-Jatraquerian relations. I do know that theologians have been disputing for centuries over whether puns emanate from Bob and thus are part of the actual essence of Bob or if instead they reflect the dual nature of Bob and are thus merely a manifestation of his Bobness.
I don't have much of an opinion on the subject, but in general I do believe that the humor of Bob is both spiritual and physical. The gnostics would have you believe that Bob exists only as a humorous presence, but it seems clear to me that Bob's physical presence was quite real (see for instance my recent article entitled "Bob and Weave: What the recent Jal-Alai documents reveal about the nature of Bob").
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rutilant \ROO-tuh-lunt\ adjective : having a reddish glow
Example sentence: Embarrassed by the surprise party we sprung on her, Joyce held up her hands in an effort to hide her rutilant face.
Did you know? "Rutilant," which first appeared in English late in the 15th century, is used in English today to describe anything with a reddish or fiery glow, such as a sunset or flushed skin. It derives from the Latin "rutilus," meaning "ruddy," which is probably related to the Latin "ruber," meaning "red." "Ruber" itself is a direct ancestor of our word "rubella" (a disease named for the reddish color one's skin turns when afflicted with the condition) and "rubric" (which, among other things, can refer to a book or manuscript heading that is done or underlined in red). "Ruber" is also a distant relative of several English words for things that bear a reddish tone (including "russet," "rust," and "ruby") and even of the word "red" itself.
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