Word Of The Week: Kerfluffle

Main Entry: ker·fuf·fle

Pronunciation: \kər-ˈfə-fəl\

Function: noun

Etymology: alteration of carfuffle, from Scots car- (probably from Scottish Gaelic cearr wrong, awkward) + fuffle to become disheveled
Date: 1946

chiefly British : disturbance, fuss

Word Of The Week: Depravity

I just watched a movie preview for the new Sherlock Holmes movies, which looks pretty good. Anyhow, they used the word depravity, which I think is my new substitute for debauchery. Classier, I think - it implies more of a choice taken than random behavior. However, that is clearly not part of the definition as you can see below......

de·prav·i·ty
Pronunciation:
\di-ˈpra-və-tē also -ˈprā-\
Function:
noun
Date:
1641

1 : a corrupt act or practice
2 : the quality or state of being depraved

Word Of The Week: Curbulence

I cannot remember the origins of this word in my vocabulary, but it works very well.

Curbulence: The act of hitting the curb with your car when you are pulling in, or out, or cutting it too close to the curb.

Example Usage: When doing a terrible job parallel parking and someone is in my car, and I hit the curb I say " Oops, there is a little curbulence, I hope you have your seat belt fastened".

Word Of The Week: Malarkey

Imagine a world where you can call someone on their bullsh*t, by saying something witty like - "Enough of this malarkey!"

Main Entry: ma·lar·key
Variant(s): also ma·lar·ky \mə-ˈlär-kē\
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1929
1. insincere or foolish talk

Word Of The Week: Mercurial

As I mentioned, I saw Adventureland today, and I was a little thrilled by the high level of vocabulary. Indeed, I was reminded that back in the day that teenagers did indeed use slang, but all in all the language used as daily colloquialisms were of a much higher quality.

They were talking about the fickleness of women and called them mercurial. Fantastic.....

Pronunciation: \(ˌ)mər-ˈkyu̇r-ē-əl\
Function: adjective

Date: 14th century

1 : of, relating to, or born under the planet Mercury
2 : having qualities of eloquence, ingenuity, or thievishness attributed to the god Mercury or to the influence of the planet Mercury
3 : characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood mercurial temper> 4 : of, relating to, containing, or caused by mercury

synonyms see inconstant

Word Of The Week: Rascal

A colleague of mine, who just had a baby, described the little cutie (who had more hair than I ever will) as a "nocturnal rascal". It was such a lovely description, and I could feel love and appreciation he had for this cute tiny man who was creating havoc because he simply would not sleep!

Main Entry: ras·cal

Pronunciation: \ˈras-kəl\

Function: noun

Etymology:

Middle English rascaile foot soldiers, commoners, worthless person, from Anglo-French rascaille, from Old French dialect (Norman & Picard) *rasquer to scrape, clean off, from Vulgar Latin *rasicare

Date: 15th century

1. One that is playfully mischievous.
2. An unscrupulous, dishonest person; a scoundrel.

Word Of The Week: Bawdy

I was listening to The Current when a song by this very weird/entertaining/ruckus band called Gogol Bordello came on. My cousin, had told me about this mix of Eastern European craziness that hails from the Lower East Side of NYC. The announcer at the end of the song called it bawdy. Which was the exact right word.

bawdy

Main Entry:¹bawdy

Pronunciation: \ˈbȯ-dē\

Function: adjective

Inflected Form(s):

bawd·i·er; bawd·i·est

Etymology: bawd

Date: 1513

1 : obscene , lewd
2 : boisterously or humorously indecent

Here is their video for "It Was Not A Crime"


Gogol and company will be in the Tundra in May, and if I were not going to be out of town, I would check them out for sure, my guess is it would an event to remember.

Word Of The Week: Mischief

I am adding a new feature this week: The Word Of The Week. Every week there is some word that I either hear often or out of the blue that reminds me I can be a better and more interesting communicator. This is not about big words, it is about the right words.

This week's word is mischief. For context, at work this week I heard this word a lot! Yes, at work, at a enormous multinational behemoth corporation. I am working on a project that has ramifications about how people could potentially behave and therefore could incite mischief, which for a massive corporation could be a real problem. But, the word is also good for just getting into a little bit of trouble - but when you read the actual definition from Websters, it is much more malicious than that - who knew???

From Websters:
Main Entry:
mis·chief Listen to the pronunciation of mischief
Pronunciation:
\ˈmis-chəf, ˈmish-\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English meschief, from Anglo-French, misfortune, hardship, from Old French meschever to come out badly, mes- + chief head, end — more at chief
Date:
14th century

1: a specific injury or damage attributed to a particular agent
2: a cause or source of harm, evil, or irritation ; especially : a person who causes mischief3 a: action that annoys or irritates b: the quality or state of being mischievous : mischievousness

From Dictionary.com
mis⋅chief
   /ˈmɪstʃɪf/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [mis-chif] Show IPA
–noun
1. conduct or activity that playfully causes petty annoyance.
2. a tendency or disposition to tease, vex, or annoy.
3. a vexatious or annoying action.
4. harm or trouble, esp. as a result of an agent or cause.
5. an injury or evil caused by a person or other agent or cause.
6. a cause or source of harm, evil, or annoyance.
7. the devil.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME meschef <>