Antipathy - how mad are you?

Today's word is ANTIPATHY (courtesy of Elevate).

The game was using the word to equal "hate". 

I thought ANTIPATHY was more ambivalent. (In fact, I may have thought the word WAS "ambivalent".) So we are going to see what the dictionaries have to say.

www.Dictionary.com     n. 1) a natural, basic, or habitual repugnance; aversion. 2) an instinctive contrariety or opposition of feeling.

www.Merriam-Webster.com n. (simple) a strong feeling of dislike.

www.TheFreeDictionary.com n. 1)extreme dislike; aversion or repugnance. 3) inherent incompatibility or inability to mix

They seem to agree there is some hatred involved - or at least, extreme dislike. I find it interesting that there is a sense that the discord comes from the nature of the two (objects, people, elements, etc.); that it is a behavior or response that is settled in so far it feels like it comes from the soul. 

So, I was wrong - and I was right, later, upon realizing I was thinking "ambivalent" when reading ANTIPATHY. Yay for dictionaries!

She was unaccustomed to the feeling of antipathy; ambivalence was her more usual response for people and things she disliked.

Imped- uous (Impede vs Impetuous)

IMPEDE: v. to retard in movement or progress by means of obstacles or hindrances; obstruct; hinder
   origin Latin - impedire - to snare the feet


IMPETUOUS:  adj. 1)of, relating to, or characterized by sudden or rash action, emotion; impulsive.   2)having great impetus; moving with great force; violent.  
     origin (sort of) Latin - impetitus / impetere - to attack

Definitions from dictionary.reference.com

I thought impetuous meant something like "embodying the act of impeding." But it's not. (that would be "impedingly").

The T and D make a world of difference!

(I don't know if I have any basis for my expectation. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head.)


I was impeded in my impetuous rush to claim knowledge.

Cunning

I use the program Elevate (on my phone) for my morning exercises. I enjoy it enough to have purchased the subscription. And I haven't tried others, really, so I don't know how it compares.

But I am having an issue with a vocabulary exercise it offered today - a word is provided, and we're supposed to choose a picture with which to match it.

The word given was CUNNING, and the picture I was supposed to match it to was of a person with his fingers crossed behind his back.

To me, that is not CUNNING, that is deceitful. That is lying.

CUNNING does have a sly quality, yes. And may even have a  morally ambiguous feel (those morals are in the heart of the doer - who knows what moral statutes any person follows?) But to me CUNNING does not indicate outright deceit, it indicates a game of wits, and word play and loop holes. 

One does not have to be dishonest to be CUNNING.

The definition, as provided by....

Pause for a moment of crisis. I can't find my big dictionary. My physical one. The one I love to flip through just to touch all the words on the thin paper. How could I have given it away?! What was I thinking?!!  Breathing. Breathing.

...merriam-webster.com (full definition)

   1. dexterous or crafty in the use of special resources (as skill or knowledge) or in attaining an end

   2. displaying keen insight

   3. characterized by wiliness and trickery

   4. prettily appealing

   

...merriam-webster.com (simple definition)

 * getting what is wanted in a clever and often deceptive way

Huh. Well, I guess I just personally don't think there is anything clever about lying. Though I'll be honest, I don't know how the full definitions boil down to "deception". Oh. Perhaps "trickery". 

Hmm. A new word to think about. The difference, if there is one, between "deception" and "trickery".

What a CUNNING way to get me to expand my vocabulary horizons!

Clishmaclaver

Yes, that's what I said, CLISHMACLAVER. Word of the day from Dictionary.com

It sounds too cool not to just immediately put it in my Word Blog.

But, before I get carried away by the awesome highland heft of this word, I should probably find out what Dictionary.com says it really means...

noun - 1. Scot (ha!) gossip; idle or foolish talk

And, according to the Origin section also on Dictionary.com
Clishmaclaver is a combination of "clish-clash" and "claver", both of which mean "gossip."


So, in essence, CLISHMACLAVER means gossipy goss-goss-gossip.

Hmm. Well. I must type that CLISHMACLAVER doesn't feel like "foolish talk". I mean, foolish talk would be... hmm...
 I don't know if I ever would consider any talk to be foolish. I may not be able to understand it, or I may not beliEve it, but that doesn't make it foolish.

But, idle talk. Okay. Idle talk. I've done that. Words exchanged just to be saying something. Talk to while away the time.

And yes, I can hear how CLISHMACLAVER could sound like a mish mash of words - like the sound of a pub, or a group of people waiting for a show to start. And I like that image - for it has the "uumph" I feel in the word CLISHMACLAVER.

CLISHMACLAVER (and if you're like me, you hear it in a Scottish accent.) A gaggle of big brawny gossip. Fun!

I hope you have a great day!
-Lila

Fugacious

12/11 - Word of the Day & Definition from www.Dictionary.com

Adj: lasting but a short time; fleeting.

Fleeting, transitory

Botany - falling or fading early

"Fugacious" isn't a word I would even think.

It doesn't really sound pretty. It doesn't sound like what it means.

To me, "fugacious" sounds like a short fall. A quick end. As opposed to the more melodious feel of fleeting, or fading - "fugacious" is a big, fat, plump splat.

Or a smell. 

The definition says "for a short time".  So I suppose the "fug" factor works in its favor.

 But it still reads like a short (and gratefully fleeting) smell.

Yup, probably not a word I would EVER use. Until now.

Her exploration of this unusual word was fugacious.

Welcome

Goodness - There's already 10 page views on this, and I haven't even posted anything yet!

So, a quick welcome to the Logophile section of my blogs / websites. It is here I am going to celebrate my love of words, and share some of my gripes about the English language.

I am not a grammar nazi - as many an English teacher and post reader can attest. I would say I am a word Bender - because I think are words are beautiful and complex  and strange and i could spend my life just celebrating all the various shades of meaning of the words I know, which are many, but not all.

But this page is going to be a while in the creating. It will grow and change, and hopefully become a thing of beauty.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope to see you again soon.

-Lila