|
Post by Chris on Jun 11, 2007 14:40:58 GMT -5
Aw, damn it, I've gone all quiescent with this thread again. It was that stupid headache; I had it for like four days. I was totally out of it.
I'm so gonna be on my game today.
quiescent \kwy-ES-uhnt; kwee-\, adjective: Being in a state of repose; at rest; still; inactive.
The solution, Dr. Wilmut discovered, was to, in effect, put the DNA from the adult cell to sleep, making it quiescent by depriving the adult cell of nutrients. -- Gina Kolata, "Scientist Reports First Cloning Ever of Adult Mammal", New York Times, February 23, 1997
A vicious but localized Sino-Japanese war raged around the Shanghai region through much of 1932. The conflict then settled into a quiescent phase for several years. -- David M. Kennedy, "The Horror", The Atlantic, April 1998
Have we had our day and are we . . . just carrying on after the manner of the aged, quiescent, devitalized, uncreative, desiring peace and sleep above all else? -- Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India
Quiescent derives from the present participle of Latin quiescere, to rest, from quies, rest.
Quiescent would be an eerily apt description of my sex life. That's part of why I find release in sexually harassing Ethan.
|
|
|
Post by Chris on Jun 12, 2007 21:15:50 GMT -5
Have you ever been fulminated by your parents? It reeks. My mom fulminates me at least once a week. I can hardly blame her; why shouldn't she use me to alleviate her stress? I'm the one who's the cause of most of it anyway. If fulminating me will keep her happy, I just have to grin and bear it (most of the time).
What? No, fulminate doesn't mean something dirty! You perv!
Today's word, courtesy of Dictionary.com: fulminate
fulminate \FUL-muh-nayt\, intransitive verb: 1. To issue or utter verbal attacks or censures authoritatively or menacingly. 2. To explode; to detonate.
transitive verb: 1. To utter or send out with denunciations or censures. 2. To cause to explode.
This mass culture--global, immediate, accessible, buoyant, with shared heroes, models, and goals--is immensely intoxicating. Ayatollahs fulminate against it; dictators censor it; mandarins try to slam the door on it. -- Lawrence M. Friedman, The Horizontal Society
He lets others fulminate on his behalf while he maintains his gentlemanly demeanor. -- Richard Sandomir, "Cablevision's Dolan Makes the Deal Only When He's Ready", New York Times, December 6, 1998
Everyone wants to be young, beautiful and rich. I don't say that scornfully: there are worse things to want to be. But that's why, for example, people don't begrudge Kate Moss how much she earns for a day's work but will fulminate over the take-home pay of some fat, old Water Board exec. -- Nigella Lawson, "Never mind the size, just feel the price", The Observer, September 3, 2000
Fulminate comes from Latin fulminare, "to strike with lightning," from fulmen, fulmin-, "a thunderbolt."
Get used to that word, Ethan, because I'm gonna fulminate you until you ovulate out of sheer sexual terror!
Still not dirty!
|
|
|
Post by Chris on Jun 13, 2007 16:58:05 GMT -5
You know why I can't seem to keep this thread up? It's because my desire to keep it fun and aloof contravenes my ineptitude at being creative on a whim. I have to find a way to be able to keep it fresh at the snap of a finger.
Well, there's always plagiarism.
Today's word, courtesy of Dictionary.com: contravene
contravene \kon-truh-VEEN\, transitive verb: 1. To act or be counter to; to violate. 2. To oppose in argument; to contradict.
In 1620 most people considered the likelihood of reversing the seasons inside a building impossible, and many deemed it sacrilege, an attempt to contravene the natural order, to twist the configuration of the world established by God. -- Tom Shachtman, Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold
Anorexics, for example, clearly contravene our evolutionary dictate to eat. -- Jerry A. Coyne, "Of Vice and Men", The New Republic, April 3, 2000
Contravene comes from Late Latin contravenire, "to oppose," from Latin contra-, "against" + venire, "to come."
I constantly contravene everything my mom says for no apparent reason.
Hmm. Perhaps I was ... born in a law firm?
|
|