Scattered Wits: Today

Four hundred and ninety years ago on this date Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Cool New Vocab Words

I love learning new words. I hope writing them down here will help me remember them and satisfy my desire to share my newest word with everyone.
wyvern - a winged two-legged dragon with a barbed tail
mulct - extract money from someone by fine or taxation; deprive someone of money or possessions by fraudulent means
persiflage - light and slightly contemptuous mockery of banter
anfractuous - sinuous or circuitous
perfervid - intense and impassioned
fulsome - complimentary or flattering to an excessive degree
doyen - the most respected or prominent person in a particular field
apposite - apt in the circumstances or in relation to something
opprobrium - harsh criticism or censure
coterie - a small group of people with shared interests or tastes, esepcially one that is exclusive of other people
thaumaturge - a worker of wonders and performer of miracles; a magician
cynosure - a person or thing that is the center of attention or admiration
patois - the dialect of the common people of a region, differing in various respects from the standard language of the rest of the country
mage - a magician or learned person
samizdat - the clandestine copying and distribution of literature banned by the state, esp. formerly in the communist countries of eastern Europe
proclitic - a word pronounced with so little emphasis that it is shortened and forms part of the following word, for example you in y'all

Scattered Wits

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Today

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