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Akeelah and the Bee
May 15, 2006, 09:35
wordcrafterAkeelah and the Bee
Have you seen the current movie
Akeelah and the Bee, which I highly recommend? It follows the contestants in an extremely stressful, demanding competition, but not the sort of sport you would think of: the U.S. national spelling bee.
This week we'll look at words from this year's bee. Each day I'll give you the phonetic pronunciation, so that you can try your hand at spelling the word; the link given will reveal the actual spelling to you.
'plεksjŏŏę(r) – a plaiting or interweaving
[ε–dr
ess; ŏŏ–f
oot; ę–
anoth
er (schwa)]
An intruding rose has stolen a nest among the ~s of the vine.
– J. P. Kennedy (credit OED for quote)
May 15, 2006, 11:53
Dianthusquote:
Originally posted by wordcrafter:
Have you seen the current movie
Akeelah and the Bee, which I highly recommend? It follows the contestants in an extremely stressful, demanding competition, but not the sort of sport you would think of: the U.S. national spelling bee.
This week we'll look at words from this year's bee. Each day I'll give you the phonetic pronunciation, so that you can try your hand at spelling the word; the link given will reveal the actual spelling to you.
'plεksjŏŏę(r) – a plaiting or interweaving
[ε–dr
ess; ŏŏ–f
oot; ę–
anoth
er (schwa)]
An intruding rose has stolen a nest among the ~s of the vine.
– J. P. Kennedy (credit OED for quote)
I've never even
heard of the word, but I'll have a go. How about "pleks-jouer"?
May 16, 2006, 06:18
wordcrafterIf you have serendipity, what does one call the thing you find?
truvαy – a lucky find; a windfall; something interesting, amusing, or beneficial discovered by chance
[u–g
oose; α–p
alm; st
art]
My dear, you are a perfect ~.
– Thackery, Vanity Fair
Spelling of yesterday's word:
plexure – a plaiting or interweaving
May 16, 2006, 09:13
Dianthusquote:
Originally posted by wordcrafter:
If you have serendipity, what does one call the thing you find?
truvαy – a lucky find; a windfall; something interesting, amusing, or beneficial discovered by chance
[u–g
oose; α–p
alm; st
art]
My dear, you are a perfect ~.
– Thackery, Vanity Fair
Spelling of yesterday's word:
plexure – a plaiting or interweaving
I should have realised it had an X in the middle
. Ah well.
I'll try and do better with the next one. How about Trouvais?
May 17, 2006, 06:39
wordcrafter missib'l – (of liquids) capable of being mixed together, in any proportion (In other words, like alcohol and water; not like oil and water.) The opposite is
im~.
Germany today is an uneasy vessel containing two im~ substances. When East met West four years ago, the two were at totally different stages of development. As a result, unification has proved to be a "collision under one roof."
– Thomas Kielinger, National Review, Oct. 24, 1994
(Yesterday's word:
trouvaille – a lucky find; a windfall)
May 17, 2006, 09:07
Dianthusquote:
Originally posted by wordcrafter:
missib'l – (of liquids) capable of being mixed together, in any proportion (In other words, like alcohol and water; not like oil and water.) The opposite is
im~.
Germany today is an uneasy vessel containing two im~ substances. When East met West four years ago, the two were at totally different stages of development. As a result, unification has proved to be a "collision under one roof."
– Thomas Kielinger, National Review, Oct. 24, 1994
(Yesterday's word:
trouvaille – a lucky find; a windfall)
I'm not doing too well with these am I
. Ah well. I'll try this one - Miscible.
May 18, 2006, 06:28
wordcrafter răsh' ē ŏs' * nāt' (rash ee OS uh nayt) – to reason methodically and logically
[*=schwa] [More often used in its
–tion form.]
Yet though I could never have been a scientist, I had scientific as well as imaginative impulses, and I loved ~ation.
– C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life
For such a superhuman being, ~ation was too tawdry and ordinary a matter. A Duce did not reason; he inspired
– R. J. B. Bosworth, Mussolini's Italy: Life Under the Fascist Dictatorship, 1915-1945
(Yesterday's word:
miscible – (of liquids) capable of being mixed together. Yesterday's word and today's are from the movie, not from the actual bee.)
May 18, 2006, 08:47
Dianthusquote:
Originally posted by wordcrafter:
răsh' ē ŏs' * nāt' (rash ee OS uh nayt) – to reason methodically and logically
[*=schwa] [More often used in its
–tion form.]
Yet though I could never have been a scientist, I had scientific as well as imaginative impulses, and I loved ~ation.
– C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life
For such a superhuman being, ~ation was too tawdry and ordinary a matter. A Duce did not reason; he inspired
– R. J. B. Bosworth, Mussolini's Italy: Life Under the Fascist Dictatorship, 1915-1945
(Yesterday's word:
miscible – (of liquids) capable of being mixed together. Yesterday's word and today's are from the movie, not from the actual bee.)
YAYYYY!!! I got yesterday's
!
OK - boosted by the confidence gained in that one, I'll try Ratiocinate.
May 19, 2006, 06:27
wordcrafter tĕ-REET – cylindrical (but typically with slight taper at the ends) and smooth
[from Latin for 'rounded'. Used of fleshy leaves, as in orchids, or other plant parts; a
picture is worth a thousand words.]
Some leaves are ~, that is, pencil-like and round in cross-section …
– Alec Pridgeon, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids
(Yesterday's word:
ratiocinate – to reason methodically and logically)
May 19, 2006, 09:29
DianthusYAYYYYY!!! Another one correct
! Actually, I'll come clean - I knew that one
!
I'll have a complete blind guess at today's. How about Tayrete?
May 20, 2006, 07:40
wordcrafter gr* VEE *l*nt – having a rank smell
[*=schwa]
Butter, as in all hot climates, is utterly vile: I should prefer the gr*-VEE-*l*nt palm-oil.
– Richard Francis Burton, Wanderings in West Africa
(Yesterday's word:
terete – cylindrical (with tapering ends) and smooth)
May 20, 2006, 12:34
Dianthusquote:
Originally posted by wordcrafter:
gr* VEE *l*nt – having a rank smell
Back to square one again as they say
.
Ok, how about "gravelant"?
May 21, 2006, 07:45
wordcrafterToday's hard-to-spell word pertains to words, specifically to verbs. Click link for spelling.
seemεl-fæk-tiv – of a verb: expressing the sudden and single occurrence of an action, e.g.
cough; sneeze; glimpse; flash; tap[ε=dr
ess; æ=tr
ap, b
ath (U.S.)]
seemεl-fæk-tivs are punctual events which have no result state.
– Robert D. Van Valin, Jr., Exploring the Syntax-Semantics Interface
Yesterday's word:
graveolent – having a rank smell)
May 21, 2006, 10:08
Dianthusquote:
Originally posted by wordcrafter:
Today's hard-to-spell word pertains to words, specifically to verbs. Click link for spelling.
seemεl-fæk-tiv – of a verb: expressing the sudden and single occurrence of an action, e.g.
cough; sneeze; glimpse; flash; tap[ε=dr
ess; æ=tr
ap, b
ath (U.S.)]
seemεl-fæk-tivs are punctual events which have no result state.
– Robert D. Van Valin, Jr., Exploring the Syntax-Semantics Interface
Yesterday's word:
graveolent – having a rank smell)
Ah, so
that's what
graveolens means in botanical terms!!!
Ah well. I've got TWO right so far, so let's try this latest one. Since it pertains to events happening at the same time, I'll try Simulfactive.
May 21, 2006, 11:01
zmježdGraveolent from Latin
gravis 'heavy' and
olens 'smelling'. Cf. saying: pecunia non olet. (Money doesn't stink.) From Suetonius
Twelve Caesars. Supposed to have been said by Vespasian to his son Titus. The emperor had levied a urine tax on public latrines in Rome, and was criticized for this by his son. He held up a coin and pointed out that it didn't smell.
—Ceci n'est pas un seing.