mendacious adj. untruthful2 + 2 = 5 is a mendacious statement...it is also an amazing song by Radiohead.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJWRYa7weo]This "untrue" statement is also found in Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky, one of my favorite books which I have not read in a very long while.I admit that twice two makes four is an excellent thing, but if we are to give everything its due, twice two makes five is sometimes a very charming thing too.I think I must have written several college essays on this quote. We spend most of our lives striving for honesty and truth in our lives and yet when we break its confines we enter a new realm of creativity and invention. Yet in Orwell's 1984, 2+2 = 5 is a statement used by the state to oppress its people.Something to think on for the day...
oik
oik n. an uncouth or obnoxious personWow. I can't believe the dictionary gave me this word today. It's Saint Patrick's Day! In America, it means you get drunk, wear green and pretend you're Irish. In Ireland...er...you drink Guinness and have a farm parade. We spent St. Patrick's Day in Ireland a few years ago and it was actually quite pleasant and devoid of oiks. It was like a religious holiday for the Irish and as we were there on a weekday, it was a day off. We went to a parade in Cashel but it was mostly tractors, farm animals and children. We had ice cream and Guinness and the world was blissful. Unfortunately there was no traditional Irish music, just Black Eyed Peas and a late night dance party...which was disappointing.The world could do with a few less oiks these days. They seem to turn up everywhere...television, Whole Foods, on trains with "F*** Me, I'm Irish" t-shirts" and on the road in cars. I think someone needs to form a Coalition Against Oiks. I encounter them everyday and have to bite my tongue.Well anyway, today I have avoided the oiks. My husband's birthday is today so he is in the city while my son and I avoid the crowds and drunken masses. This word reminds me of a chant from old Girl Scout Camp days. Change the oi oi oi to oik oik oik....[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrjZi7WIAOw]
contumacious
contumacious adj. stubbornly or wilfully disobedient to authority
When I was in kindergarten, I bit a fellow classmate because she grabbed the rotary telephone I was playing with out of my hands. I spent the week in the corner during recess. Later on, I slapped a girl because she made fun of a picture I had drawn of myself and said it looked like a bumblebee (we had to wear blue and plaid jumper uniforms), more recess in the corner. During one of my times in the corner, I peeled apart a construction paper advent wreath that was hanging on the wall - double time in the corner. And so on.I have always been stubborn and don't obey much of anything well. I was not a well behaved child in kindergarten most likely because I had not attended preschool instead spending the first 4 years of my life at home playing outside like an animal with the neighbors the way a healthy child should. So when I arrived at kindergarten I was forced to learn to obey authority or at least pretend to.Although my contumacious ways were tamed by the first grade, they never really went way. Probably because most of the time the authority I am supposed to be obeying is unqualified, dictatorial or has other objectives in mind other than my well being. Just because someone is named an "authority" does not mean that they can wield power over someone else. It reminds me of the constitutional peasants from Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvKIWjnEPNY]Perhaps my personality is the reason why this movie is still one of my all time favorites and this scene is one of the most memorable...or it could be the usage of the phrase "moistened bitch." Happy Friday!
nard
nard n. the Himalayan spikenardWikipedia's description:Spikenard (Nardostachys grandiflora or Nardostachys jatamansi; also called nard, nardin, and muskroot ) is a flowering plant of the Valerian family that grows in the Himalayas of China, also found growing in the northern region of India andNepal. The plant grows to about 1 m in height and has pink, bell-shaped flowers. It is found in the altitude of about 3000–5000 meters. Spikenard rhizomes (underground stems) can be crushed and distilled into an intensely aromatic amber-colored essential oil, which is very thick in consistency. Nard oil is used as a perfume, an incense, a sedative, and anherbal medicine said to fight insomnia, birth difficulties, and other minor ailments.[1]Lavender (genus Lavandula) was also known by the ancient Greeks as naardus, nard, after the Syrian city Naarda.The scent of Spikenard attracts cats, a strange phenomenon in itself.I am at a loss as to what I should write about this one. The most interesting thing about this plant is that it attracts cats and can be used as a component in catnip. I'm a dog person. I've never had a cat, only dogs. I will admit that cats are way smarter than dogs, as judging by the 3 cats that sit on my back deck and taunt my dog everyday. Stella (my dog) goes to the same window everyday and barks as if this was something new although it happened the day before. The cats seem to get enjoyment out of it because she's behind a door and they know she can't get to them.However, I am looking for unconditional love from my pets, not intellect. Cat's seem to have their own ideas and agendas. They wander around out of doors on their own and are more independent than dogs. They have their own lives and adventures. I respect cats. If I had a great childhood, I might want a cat...but I need the love of a dog.I'm not going to argue about whether cat people are better than dog people...or vice versa. I think they are just different types of people. There are a prevalence of cat videos and photos all over the web...more so than dog videos and I have frequently wondered why. I think it might be because cats exhibit more human qualities than dogs. Most of the videos and photos of dogs show them being goofy or stupid or with babies. Cat videos show more curiosity, vindictiveness, calculation...hence the adjective "catty." Cats are more female while dogs are more masculine...there may be some personality analysis behind your preference, but I'm not qualified for this.This word also brings to mind the TV Show, the Office...which I can no longer watch because Steve Carell is gone. I don't like Andy running the Office and I find it unfunny and trying too hard, which is something the old Office never had to do...but Andy's nickname is 'Nard Dog, so it's an interesting allusion to my mental wanderings.
In conclusion (and having nothing to do with the plant definition of this word) cats are smarter than dogs, but dogs are more loving and loyal...and The Office was way better with Steve Carell despite the combination of Nard and Dog in Andy's nickname...well, I can't say I haven't made a new word association, albeit random.
brinkmanship
brinkmanship n. the pursuit of a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stoppingI did a little more research on this word since at first I was thinking of Evil Knevil and various examples of pushing oneself to the brink of physical safety. However, Wikipedia clarified it for me as having a more political context, one of the best examples being the Cold War. So here's a little short animation that I find apropos...[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIGk9qu2_iM]The best and most famous example is the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember when I was younger discussing this with my parents and how insane everyone was thinking that an attack on the country was near.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W50RNAbmy3M]Since I associate so many things with music, a good musical tag for this term is "99 Luftballoons" which is awesome in English or German...[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdiUyMmVQ7E&feature=fvst]Or even as sung by Homer (my personal favorite).[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mA4CkK_Deo]
midland
midland n. the middle part of a country
"It's middle earth, you dumb ass...not midland earth," she said with a mocking grin."But technically shouldn't Tolkien have called it Midland Earth since it was in the middle of the country? Isn't that really what he meant?," I said trying to sound intelligent having never read any Tolkien."No, not at all. Tolkien used the term Middle Earth as a reflection of time in the earths history, not a physical place on the earth. If he meant the midland of earth it would have been somewhere in the Atlantic...the nearest country being Ghana", she said matter-of-factly. "To clarify, the midland of North America would be Nebraska or Kansas, roughly.""Also the "midland" of nowhere," I laughed. She smirked and giggled slightly with her face quickly returning to a serious expression underneath her horn rimmed glasses and ruddy face. We went on pulling out the lawn and staring down.It was an unusual March. I say unusual because the seasons seemed to have mixed themselves up and instead of Lion marching in, the Lamb lounged in the unseasonable 70 degree heat. Short sleeves and flip flops abounded as we enjoyed the uncanny weather that hinted at the splendor the Spring and Summer had in store. School was out early for conferences and we sat on my front lawn tearing out the grass my father had toiled so hard to cultivate yet remained patchy nonetheless.I never pretended to be smart nor did I want to be. If I could really be anything it would have been athletic or popular, by no means smart. Smart was for people like Agnes with her library of dog eared Tolkien stories and coke bottle glasses. I could have been smart. I had the genes...I just always strove for the unattainable...the intangible quality that I had no chance of attaining. So at the age of 12, I achieved a profound level of mediocrity striving to be something special. If mediocrity was a country, I most certainly would have been it's midland...
My Triumphant Return to Literacy
As I grow older it seems t
hat my vocabulary and mastery of the English language grows younger. I increasingly find myself unable to speak intelligently or searching for words. Maybe this is due to too little reading and too much mindless television. Nonetheless, I came up with an idea to help me return to literacy.The other day when I was walking past the library and listening to my iPod too loudly, I reminisced back to my college days as an English major and immediately remembered the OED. It was the gold standard of dictionaries for all references in college. Merriam Webster was just not up to snuff. Yet somehow I don't own an OED...possibly because it is huge, possibly because the web has taken over the literary universe. So the idea for this blog was born. Today I am venturing out to the Barnes and Noble to purchase an OED of my own (OED stands for Oxford English Dictionary) and each day flip randomly with my eyes closed through the pages to pick out a word for the day. I have discovered that you cannot access the OED online without paying $30 a month for and you can't randomly find a word either. Buying the book is cheaper and I want my son to someday know what the original OED looked like.Now here's the big idea. Instead of just taking note of the word and memorizing it uselessly, or simply writing it down, I am going to force myself to use the word in a creative way on this blog. The idea is to create a short work of fiction with the word or perhaps even find a photo or video illustrating the word to help burn it into my memory. I am going to attempt to do this everyday for as long as I can...until I am less illiterate. Hence, OED a Day. Technically, it should be Word a Day or OED Word a Day. OED a day just had more pizzazz.I don't really care who reads the blog...it's really for my own edification. However, if you want to read my posts and learn a word a day, by all means, join me. Even write your own examples or pieces that you come up with. Stay tuned for my first word!