jejune

A totally foreign word to me

Definition of jejune:

adj.

1. “Not interesting; dull: ‘and there pour forth jejune words and useless empty phrases’ (Anthony Trollope). Synonym: insipid. 2. Lacking maturity; childish: surprised by their jejune responses to our problems. Synonyms: adolescent, juvenile, puerile. 3. Lacking in nutrition: a jejune diet. Synonym: insubstantial” (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
1/31/08 NYT online op-ed piece, “Seeing Red Over Hillary” by Maureen Dowd.

“…Why had it taken so long for Obama to push back against Hillary? ‘He respected her as a senator,’ the adviser replied. ‘He even defended her privately when she cried, saying that no one knows how hard these campaigns are.’ But Obama’s outrage makes him seem a little jejune. He is surely the only person in the country who was surprised when the Clintons teamed up to dissemble and smear when confronted with an impediment to their ambitions…”

My two cents:
Moon, spoon– jejune??? Wow. I had no idea…

As for the subject matter of Dowd’s op-ed piece, I’m pleading no comment. Almost. I am already tiring of the political slicing and dicing in this election year and it’s only January. Lying ahead are 9 more months of campaign rhetoric, impossible promises and endless media yakking. Make no mistake: this is an historic election. It marks the first time the Democratic party will be choosing either a woman or an African American male as their presidential candidate. This should be an exciting time, and yet I’m feeling more and more dispirited and cynical about politics and the state of our country and the world these days. I wonder if the popular vote really matters anyway, since it’s the Electoral College that got George W. Bush elected when all was said and done. Somebody help me with that one, will ya? And as for those politicians hoping to seduce us for our vote: promising the moon is, if you ask me, pretty jejune. Gag me with a spoon.

flagrante delicto

feels vaguely familiar – but isn’t, really!

Definition of flagrante delicto: (flə-grăn'tē dĭ-lĭk'tō) Latin
adv. “1. In the very act of committing an offense; red-handed. 2. In the act of having sex. 3. Literally while the crime is blazing. Caught red-handed, in the very act of a crime.” (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
1/26/08 Washington Post online article by Michael O’Sullivan, “Man vs. Beast: An Intimate Look” originally published Friday, January 18, 2008; Page WE39.

“...Let's get right to the point: 'Julie Comnick: According to Their Kind' is about the act of procreation. But the artist is less interested in sex than in politics. At once coolly clinical and subtly disturbing, the show features 20 works but centers on seven pictures of animals coupling. Of the pandas, zebras, macaques, elephants, giraffes, flamingos and lions caught in flagrante delicto, none looks especially happy -- with the possible exception of the pandas, who are just too darn cuddly to ever look miserable...”

My two cents:
The phrase in question – flagrante delicto - really peaked my curiosity. I’m neither Latin scholar nor lawyer, but I was able to assume some correct measure of meaning from the context alone. However, given that the article is about art portraying animals having sex, one might also wonder if this phrase were actual Latin or a delightfully literate pun. I mean, with “flagrant” attached to another word suggestively close to “delectable / delicious,” who could blame me for tittering just a bit? Turns out it’s bona fide Latin legalese, but I still think it’s clever and “punny.” Is that a crime? So sue me.

comity

a completely foreign word to me

Definition of comity:

1. "An atmosphere of social harmony. 2. The principle by which the courts of one jurisdiction may accede or give effect to the laws or decisions of another. 3. Comity is the courtesy one jurisdiction gives by enforcing the laws of another jurisdiction. Comity is granted out of respect, deference, or friendship, rather than as an obligation.” (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
1/22/08 NYT article, "In Matters Big and Small, Crossing Giuliani Had Price" by Michael Powell and Russ Buettner. This is one of a series of articles appearing in "The Long Run," a political column about the lives and careers of contenders for the 2008 Republican and Democratic presidential nominations.

“...The Citizens Budget Commission has driven mayors of various ideological stripes to distraction since it was founded in 1932. The business-backed group bird-dogs the city’s fiscal management with an unsparing eye. But its analysts are fonts of creative thinking, and Mr. Giuliani asked Raymond Horton, the group’s president, to serve on his transition committee in 1993.That comity was long gone by the autumn of 1997, when Mr. Giuliani faced re-election...”

My two cents:
Election years certainly provide plenty of political fodder for columnists and a feast for hungry voters seeking the truth. This NYT article was particularly juicy -- and it gave me a terrible, aching heartburn. But I'm not sorry. Disturbing as the news is about Rudy Giuliani's vengeful, mafioso-like tactics as mayor of New York (woh, he did wha-a-at??!!), it is also validation for those who have wondered about the "too good to be true" persona he has cultivated as a post-911 cult hero, and now a presidential candidate. Granted, running a city like New York must require true grit, nerves of steel, and a firm hand. And granted, he has charisma. I heard him deliver a fabulous post-911 motivational speech at my husband's professional veterinary convention. The guy has that "it" factor, hands down. But what he apparently doesn't have is a very good record in the political ethics department. This article serves up some of the dirty tricks Giuliani has dished out in his service to the public, and the menu isn't pretty. Go read it yourself, and see what you think. I'm not looking for perfection, nor am I naive in my expectations of any candidate. But the base, mean-spirited governing style Mr. Giuliani has demonstrated in the past -- and now brings to the presidential table -- is fairly rotten, and wholly distasteful. After reading this enlightening article, I'll be thinking more critically about Giuliani's "hero/good guy" persona. That's just something I can no longer swallow.

semiotic

All too familiar word / all too elusive understanding of the meaning

Definition of semiotics or semiology: n.
1. "the theory and study of signs and symbols, especially as elements of language or other systems of communication, and comprising semantics, syntactics, and pragmatics." (answers.com)

2. "discipline deriving from the American logician C. S. Peirce and the French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. It has come to mean generally the study of any cultural product (e.g., a text) as a formal system of signs. Saussure's key notion of the arbitrary nature of the sign means that the relation of words to things is not natural but conventional; thus a language is essentially a self-contained system of signs, wherein each element is meaningless by itself and meaningful only by its differentiation from the other elements. This linguistic model has influenced recent literary criticism, leading away from the study of an author's biography or a work's social setting and toward the internal structure of the text itself (see structuralism). Semiotics is not limited to linguistics, however, since virtually anything (e.g., gesture, clothing, toys) can function as a sign." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
1/15/08 NYT review, “Candidate Clinton Scrutinized by Women” by Michiko Kakutani, concerning a new book, Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary - Reflections by Women Writers.

“...In the end, this volume of reflections corroborates Mrs. Clinton’s own long-ago observation that she is “a Rorschach test” for voters. It also suggests that like three other famous blondes (Marilyn, Madonna and Princess Di), she’s in danger of being turned into one of those indeterminate semiotic texts academics love to deconstruct, made to signify everything from the aging of boomer dreams to the future of feminism, even as her every gesture and inflection is sifted, measured and weighed, and her actual résumé and record are increasingly shoved to the side.”

My two cents:
Ms. Kakutani calls the book “an intriguing but highly uneven anthology of reflections about Mrs. Clinton by a spectrum of well-known female writers.” I'll take her word. Right now I'm too obsessed with one little word in her review to care about the book. Somebody help me.

I have a block, I guess, about this word, semiotic(s). Actually, there's no guessing about it. I have a block about this word. Period. And it ticks me off. How many times can a person run across a word and still refuse to totally understand it? I’m an intelligent woman. I can read and understand a definition. I have read the definition for semiotic(s) – multiple times. On one level, I get it. Totally. That would be the same level at which I understand nuclear physics and the fact that I need to go on a diet. It’s an impermanent, catch-and-release level, like dealing with a slippery trout: engage, disengage, and it's over -- erase, erase, erase. I’d really like to take this word to the next level, however; to bond with it; to invite it in to be a part of my inner furnishings until it becomes frayed and worn from use, like my husband’s armchair in the den. Maybe then it – we - will be so comfortable it won’t ever leave. Yeah, wish me luck with that. In the meantime, here's your sign.

slue

Familiar word / surprise meaning!

Definition of slue:
v. tr - 1. "To turn (something) on an axis; rotate: slued the swivel chair around; sluing the boom of a crane. 2. To turn sharply; veer: braked and slued the car around." (anwers.com)

n.- 1. "A large amount or number; a lot: a slew (also slue) of unpaid bills. 2. A depression or hollow usually filled with deep mud or mire. 3. A stagnant swamp, marsh, bog, or pond, especially as part of a bayou, inlet, or backwater (also slough) 4. A state of deep despair or moral degradation." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
1/14/08 – Atlanta Journal and Constitution crossword (from the L.A. Times). The clue: “Turn on an axis.” The answer: “slue.”

My two cents:
Today's puzzle was not altogether difficult - although a simple little 4-letter word at 70-ACROSS totally stumped me. I had to fill in all of its intersecting words in order to come up with it. Well, how about that. I’ve NEVER heard this word used this way – that is, “turning on an axis or rotating”... Huh.

Would it be accurate to say Linda Blair slued her head around and around in The Exorcist? How about refining a certain familiar, crude rejoinder by saying, “Hey Joe. Why don’t you sit on it and slue!” Wonder what would happen if I ask the gas station guys to change my oil and slue my tires?

I feel so edified.

cabal

familiar word / vague understanding of the meaning

Definition of cabal: kə-băl', -bäl'
n: "A conspiratorial group of plotters or intriguers: 'Espionage is quite precisely it—a cabal of powerful men, working secretly' (Frank Conroy). A secret scheme or plot." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
1/14/08 - NYT article, "The Uses of the Humanities, Part Two" by Stanley Fish in his "Think Again" opinion column.

"...Some who posted put forward a negative reason for supporting the teaching the humanities. They say things like, 'if only the cabal running our government...had known a bit of history, we might not be in Iraq..."

My two cents:
Kinda like that age-old, iconic Charlie Feathers country classic, "I Forgot to Remember to Forget," this is one of those words I just keep forgetting to remember to remember. What an awesome word, cabal. I must remember it!

In his column/blog, Stanley Fish talks about the humanities, and his life's work as a humanist, that being "someone employed in a college to teach literary, philosophical and historical texts. ... The satisfaction is partly self-satisfaction – it is like solving a puzzle – but the greater satisfaction is the opportunity to marvel at what a few people are able to do with the language we all use." Well, say Hallelujah. I'm all over that. But Professor Fish is not only brilliant, he's feisty as hell. To read Fish's article is to hear not only about the validity of the humanities, but moreover, a plucky, well-argued debate over the deep, intrinsic value of/justification for humanistic studies.

hagiography

familiar word / vague understanding of the meaning

Definition of hagiography:
n. "a biography that idealizes or idolizes the person. Also a biography of saints." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
1/9/08 – NYT online article, "The Legacy of a Pragmatic Custodian of Human Civilization" by Michael Kimmelman.

“...Announcing his retirement, the Met has produced a hagiographic press statement noting the rise in attendance (3.5 million in 1977, 4.6 million now), and the various new wings and internal reconfigurations that have caused the museum nearly to double in size under him. But attendance is a dispiriting measure of success. Any old Monet show will inflate the numbers without necessarily adding to the sum total of human understanding…”

My two cents:
I’ve been reading Michael Kimmelman’s superb art reviews for years. I can always rely on Kimmelman to keep me on my toes, and he doesn’t fail this time in his article on retiring Metropolitan Museum director and demigod Phillipe de Montebello (who, incidentally, was the speaker at my graduation last year from art school). Kimmelman’s use of the word, “hagiographic” gave me pause here. I had one of those tip-of-the-tongue - or dare I say senior - moments. Dammit I know this word – but I don’t know this word!! It occurs to me after looking it up that I first learned it during a college class in which we studied religions and saints. Hello. Biography of saints! But what an “aha” moment Kimmelman’s article provided when he used “hagiographic” as an adjective relative to Montebello’s worshipful press statement. Duh, I wish I’d thought of it.

gephyrophobia

Never heard this one before!

Definition of gephyrophobia:
n. "Fear of bridges." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
1/8/08 – NYT online article, "To Gephyrophobiacs, Bridges are a Terror" by Lisa Foderaro.

“...The Verrazano-Narrows bridge has been called a study in grace. For Jan Steers, it was a study in terror. Even thinking about driving across the 4,260-foot suspension span made her start to feel dizzy, made her heart race, her breath tightening into short rapid gasps. Mrs. Steers, 47, suffered from a little-known disorder called gephyrophobia, a fear of bridges. And she had the misfortune of living in a region with 26 major bridges, whose heights and spans could turn an afternoon car ride into a rolling trip through a haunted house...”

My two cents:
OK, maybe this one isn't fair. We could all go for days (or longer) playing with phobia words we've never heard. But this article about how bridge phobic folks manage their commutes was interesting and heart rending. I couldn’t help putting this one in the list.

eponymous

familiar word / vague understanding of the meaning

Definition of eponymous:
adj. "giving one's name to a tribe, place, etc: Romulus, the eponymous founder of Rome." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
1/1/08 – Happy New Year! Today's NYT online style mag, TMagazine, had this untitled article by Alex Hawgood.

“...For her new line, Chloë Sevigny for Opening Ceremony, sold at the eponymous downtown boutique and other hip spots, the actress drew upon her “completely awkward and dorky” junior-high years. “I wanted this collection to embody that spirit of being young,” she says. This meant cropped blazers, Liberty-print grunge dresses, even a motorcycle cap made from recycled cassette tapes. “My friend told me that the whole collection was a pretty accurate self-portrait,” she says. “I wasn’t sure if he meant it as an insult or a compliment...”

My two cents:
This article is about a new line of clothing by a “famous” actress who barely blips on my radar, but then I’m an unhip, old fart now and that’s ok by me. I don’t know why I even gave this article my time, but that’s not a mystery to be solved here. Anyway, I was kind of surfing/scanning through this fluffy copy and actually found something redeeming: a wonderful word that continues to elude my lexicon. Maybe I’ll slip it into a conversation this year. About - or even with - an actress. Or not.

sang-froid

familiar word / vague understanding of the meaning

Definition of sang-froid:
n. "Coolness and composure, especially in trying circumstances. (Old French & Latin: sang=blood; froid=cold)." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
12/11/07 – NYT movie review of Juno: "Seeking Mr. and Mrs. Right for a Baby on the Way" by A.O Scott, published Dec. 5, 2007.

“...Juno MacGuff, the title character of Jason Reitman's new film, is 16 and pregnant, but "Juno"could not be further from the kind of hand-wringing, moralizing melodrama that such a condition might suggest. Juno, played by the poised, frighteningly talented Ellen Page, is too odd and too smart to be either a case study or the object of leering disapproval. She assesses her problem, and weighs her response to it, with disconcerting sang-froid...”

My two cents:
Just the other day I heard an interview on NPR with the director and screen-writer of the movie, Juno. I listened at first from a curious, art-imitates-life angle. After all, our son’s love-child is due on Saturday. And the young, sardonic female screen writer reminded me of an art school classmate – each possessing a brilliant, rebel mind and a talent for writing, as well as a colorful past as a stripper. Both the movie itself, and its makers, sounded smart, clever, and -- fascinating. This review calls it a “critic’s pick” so this is one film I have to see, if not on the big screen then via Netflix at the very least.

amanuensis

Woh. You have GOT to be kidding.

Definition of amanuensis:
n. "a Latin word adopted in various languages, including English, for certain persons performing a function by hand, either writing down the words of another or performing manual labour. The term is derived from a Latin expression which may be literally translated as 'manual labourer'." (answers.c0m)

Where I ran across it:
12/1/07 – NYT movie review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: "Body Unwilling, A Mind Takes Flight" by A.O Scott, published Nov. 30, 2007.

“…And yet he also shows astonishing formal control. The movie begins claustrophobically, as we see the blurry bustle of the hospital room from Jean-Dominique’s hazy, panicked perspective. Faces loom suddenly and awkwardly into view, while his captive consciousness writhes in its cage, trying to make contact with the world outside.

After a while it does, with the help of a speech therapist (the marvelously sensitive Marie-Josée Croze) who patiently teaches Jean-Dominique to turn his left eyelid into a means of communication. She sits beside him, reciting the alphabet and stopping when he blinks, piecing together words and sentences from his signals. Later an amanuensis (Anne Consigny) takes her place, and together she and Jean-Dominique compose the compact, lyrical book that will become Mr. Schnabel’s expansive, passionate film. Their attention also introduces both the patient and the audience to an intense, nonsexual intimacy that is itself a form of love...”

My two cents:
This film by Julian Schnabel (oh god, I must’ve seen Basquiat at least 6 times in art school) is the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a French fashion magazine editor and the author of the international best seller on which The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is based. He suffers a massive stroke and with it, a rare condition called “locked-in syndrome,” in which he is imprisoned in a totally paralyzed body but with a completely intact mind. Horrors. Still, I really want to see this movie. They don't show incredibly artful movies like this in the theaters in my small town. No, this is one I'll be driving to Atlanta to see.

The Fury

familiar word / vague understanding of the meaning

Definition of Furies:
Greek & Roman Mythology. "The three terrible winged goddesses with serpentine hair, Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, who pursue and punish doers of unavenged crimes." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
11/05/07 - NYT online editorial "Gift of Gall" by Maureen Dowd published Nov 4, 2007.

“…When pundettes tut-tut that playing the victim is not what a feminist should do; they forget that Hillary is not a feminist. If she were merely some clichéd version of a women’s rights advocate, she never could have so effortlessly blown off Marian Wright Edelman and Lani Guinier when Bill first got in, or played the Fury with Bill’s cupcakes during the campaign…”

My two cents:
It's a lusty, tongue-in-cheek article Dowd writes following Hillary Clinton’s showing in the latest presidential debate. I gotta hand it to her - Dowd, not Hillary (let's not go there, OK?). Dowd deftly injects a mythological reference that is such a quick and clever zing in the midst of so many I could easily have missed it. It stopped me because 1) I was simply fascinated by her craftiness and 2) I realized I was quite frankly rusty on The Furies and needed to refresh.

Nota Bene: "Once a Clinton crony, in 1997, Marian Wright Edelman criticized President Clinton for his welfare reform package by warning it could lead to record numbers of uninsured children, increased child abuse, and rising firearms deaths. Lani Guinier's moment in the history of American government was guaranteed when President Bill Clinton nominated her to the Justice Department's top civil rights post in 1993--and then later withdrew her nomination, bowing to a hailstorm of controversy." (answers.com)

erstwhile

familiar word / vague understanding of the meaning

Definition of erstwhile:
adv. "In the past; at a former time; formerly.
adj. Former: our erstwhile companions." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
From the same Dick Cavett article as "argot" (see previous post).

“...The 'Imus incident’ burned so brightly way back when, knocking big stories from front pages. It seems so long ago…Among the erstwhile Imus program’s virtues was that it provided a welcome relief from political correctness..."

My two cents:
The word erstwhile reminded me that while I am totally familiar with the word, I am embarrassingly vague over its usage. The first step is admitting the problem.

argot

a completely foreign word to me!

Definition of argot:
n. "A specialized vocabulary or set of idioms used by a particular group: thieves' argot." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
11/03/07 – NY Times article published 11/02/07 titled "Hail the Conquered Hero" by Dick Cavett.

“…Imus and his supporting cast were remarkably up on the latest slang, rap talk and inside argot of the music world, the sports world, the street and all minorities. They knew everybody’s trash talk. Hearing it helped the listener feel hip, too. Or at least hep. But there lay the snare that entangled Imus…”

My two cents:
I simply love Dick Cavett’s vocabulary. I can’t recall if he’s Yale or Harvard, but the literary references in his language are always those of an extremely well-educated writer. His article concerns the debacle resulting from Don Imus’ unfortunate “nappy-headed ho” commentary on his talk radio show a while back. After reading Cavett’s sentence, “The joke hit the fan and Yeats’s 'the worst' filled themselves with passionate intensity,” I headed for the internet to look up the Yeats reference. Turns out, Yeats wrote a very famous poem titled, “The Second Coming” (how did I miss this in my college education? Chalk it up to art school vs. Harvard). Apparently, certain lines are famous and quoted a lot, among them: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”

And while I’m at it, the following sentence contained no foreign words, but I loved it enough to mention it here anyway: “Wee embers were fanned into an inferno by skilled flame-fanners and the professionally offended.” Professionally offended. That’s genius.

But I digress. As for the topic at hand, “argot,” it's a new one for me and I'm pleased and proud to learn it. As they say in the south, "Bless my heart."

tocsin

a totally foreign word to me

Definition of tocsin (tŏk'sĭn):
n. "An alarm sounded on a bell. A bell used to sound an alarm. A warning; an omen." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
10/16/07 – NY Times online article published October 14, 2007 titled "Nine Lives: What Cats Know About War" byJohn F. Burns.

“…That is when I heard it: the cry of an abandoned kitten, somewhere out in the darkness, calling for its mother somewhere inside the compound. By an animal lover’s anthropomorphic logic, those desperate calls, three nights running, had come to seem more than the appeal of a tiny creature doomed to a cold and lonely death. Deep in the winter night, they seemed like a dismal tocsin for all who suffer in a time of war...”

My two cents:
The Times bureau chief is a cat lover who writes about the burgeoning cat population in their compound in Baghdad and the ethics of feeding strays during war.

obfuscation

familiar word / vague understanding of the meaning

Definitions of obfuscation:
1: "confusion resulting from failure to understand.
Synonyms: bewilderment, puzzlement, befuddlement, mystification, bafflement, bemusement." (answers.com)

2: "the activity of obscuring people's understanding, leaving them baffled or bewildered. Synonym: mystification." (answers.com)

3: "darkening or obscuring the sight of something." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
10/13/07 – NY Times online opinion column: "Questions You Should Never Ask a Writer" by Doris Lessing.

“…Yes, I know the obfuscations of academia did not begin with Communism — as Swift, for one, tells us — but the pedantries and verbosity of Communism had their roots in German academia. And now that has become a kind of mildew blighting the whole world. It is one of the paradoxes of our time that ideas capable of transforming our societies, full of insights about how the human animal actually behaves and thinks, are often presented in unreadable language…"

My two cents:

The article is a re-print of a 1992 article written by Lessing, who has just received the 2007 Nobel prize in literature. Without a doubt this august Nobel prize winner deserves our literary respect, but just an observation on my part: anybody who uses the words "pedantries" and "verbosity" in the same sentence ought not to throw too many stones about the "obfuscations of academia"... :>)

acrimony

familiar word / vague understanding of the meaning

Definition of acrimony: "bitterness and resentment, especially in speech, attitude, or tone." (answers.com)

Where I ran across it:
9/16/ 07 NY Times Sunday Arts online article "Is It Art Yet? And Who Decides?" by Roberta Smith.

“…I refer to Mass MoCA’s decision to exhibit “Training Ground for Democracy,” an immense but incomplete work of installation art, despite strenuous opposition from Christoph Büchel, the Swiss artist who conceived it and oversaw its construction until his relationship with the museum dissolved in acrimony early this year. By opening this show without his assent, the museum has broken faith with the artist, the public and art itself…”

My two cents:
The article concerns artist Christoph Büchel’s acrimonious (look ma, I'm using it in a sentence) relationship with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.