Attune

Attune


To have a harmonious relationship.

To have a responsive relationship.

"When two people are attuned, ... they finish each others sentences."


"A good business is attuned to its customers."

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Phlegmatic

Phlegmatic
<fleg-mat-tik>

Not easily excited to action or passion; cold; dull; sluggish; heavy; as a phlegmatic person.

"He is a phlegmatic person.  He is bored by everything."



Insouciant
<in-so-see-an>

Careless; heedless; indifferent; unconcerned

"Your Insouciant attitude makes me think you don't care about it."

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Canvass

v. t. [imp. & p. p. canvassed p. pr. & vb. n. Canvassing.] [OF. Canabasser to examine curiously, to search or sift out; properly, to sift through canvas. See Canvas, n.] 1. To sift; to strain; to examine thoroughly; to scrutinize; as to canvass the votes cast at an election; to canvass a district with reference to its probable vote. “I have made careful search on all hands, and canvassed the matter with all possible diligence.
Woodward.” 2. To examine by discussion; to debate. “An opinion that we are likely soon to canvass.
Sir W. Hamilton.” 3. To go through, with personal solicitation or public addresses; as to canvass a district for votes; to canvass a city for subscriptions.


Can´vass, v. i. To search thoroughly; to engage in solicitation by traversing a district; as to canvass for subscriptions or for votes; to canvass for a book, a publisher, or in behalf of a charity; — commonly followed by for.


Can´vass, n. 1. Close inspection; careful review for verification; as a canvass of votes. Bacon. 2. Examination in the way of discussion or debate. 3. Search; exploration; solicitation; systematic effort to obtain votes, subscribers, etc. “No previous canvass was made for me.
Burke.”

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Cabal

Cabal
A number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in church or state by intrigue; a secret association composed of a few designing persons.

A junto. It so happend, by a whimsical coincidence, that in 1671 the cabinet consisted of five persons, the initial letters of whose names made up the word cabal.

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Abstruse

Abstruse

Hard to understand. Difficult to comprehend.

Remote from apprehension.

Confusing. Recondite.

Esoteric.

<ab-stroose>

"Math is abstruse to me."

 

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Expostulate

Expostulate

To reason earnestly with a person on some impropriety of their conduct.   "We expostulate with our erring friends."


To reason earnestly with a person on some impropriety of his conduct, representing the wrong he has done or intends, and urging him to make redress or to desist; to remonstrate; — followed by with.

“Men expostulate with erring friends; they bring accusations against enemies who have done them a wrong.” Jowett

syn. — To remonstrate; reason.

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Extol

Extol 

To elevate by praise; to eulogize; to praise; to magnify; as to extol virtue; to extol an act or a person. 

"What have I done for you, that you extol me so?"

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Argot

argot
A specialized vocabulary or set of idioms used by a particular group.

Lol belongs to the argot of internet chatters.

Secret words known only by the group. BFF

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Sanguine

Sanguine Anticipating the best. Confident; full of hope; as sanguine of success. Warm; ardent; lively; confident; hopeful. Anticipating the best; not despondent; confident;

Cavalcade

Cavalcade
A procession of persons on horseback; a formal, pompous march of horsemen by way of parade.

"He brought back war-worn cavalcade to the city."

< kav-al-kayd >

 

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Epistle

Epistle

Anything sent by a messenger, message, letter, fr. to send to, tell by letter or message.

A writing directed or sent to a person or persons; a written communication; a letter; applied usually to formal, didactic, or elegant letters.
"A madman’s epistles are no gospels." Shak.

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limitation

You drink imitation lemonade.
You then drink a limitation.

What are you drinking?

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You are drinking less.

Limitation means to set a limit on something.

A limit is a fix point you will stop at.

So... you are drinking less imitation lemonade...
... since you now have a set amount that you will stop at.

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"To know one’s own limitations, to know the reach and limits of one’s abilities." - A. R. Wallace.

 

When does incense ...
... incense you?

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When you don't like the way it smells.

Incense means to make extremely angry; infuriate; to make someone very mad.

Incense also is a wood or gum, that is burned to produce a pleasant odor.

How does one word have two opposite meanings?

How did they invent that one?

I am incensed!

 Talk about Limitation here...

 

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Elixir

Elixir

n.
1. (Med.) A tincture with more than one base; a compound tincture or medicine, composed of various substances, held in solution by alcohol in some form.
2. (Alchemy) An imaginary liquor capable of transmuting metals into gold; also one for producing life indefinitely; as elixir vitae, or the elixir of life.
3. The refined spirit; the quintessence.
"The elixir of worldly delights." -  South.

4. Any cordial or substance which invigorates.
"The grand elixir, to support the spirits of human nature." - Addison.

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Commodious

You sit on something commodious...

... what are you sitting on?

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Something large with a lot of space.
Commodious means roomy and spacious.

Do you feel more splenetic when the day is splendid?

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No. You feel less splenetic.
Splenetic means gloomy or sullen.
A splendid day makes you happier...
... since splendid means wonderful or great.
Sunny days are splendid.

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Affable

You say I am affable...

... because I tell you a fable.

Am I laughable... or do you like me.

(answer below)

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You like me. Affable means polite and friendly. An affable person is a likeable one.

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Bulwark

Hard work is a bulwark against poverty.

Bulwark: To defend against or protect from.

Memory Trick: Bull Walk - A bull is tough.

 

Bulwark

To protect or guard.

A raincoat is a bulwark against the rain.


n.
1. (Fort.) A rampart; a fortification; a bastion or outwork.
2. That which secures against an enemy, or defends from attack; any means of defense or protection.
"The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defense,  the floating bulwark of our island." ~ Blackstone.
 3. pl. (Naut.) The sides of a ship above the upper deck.

v. t.
To fortify with, or as with, a rampart or wall; to secure by fortification; to protect.

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Inure

I inure you to sit when I ring a bell...

... you are not a dog... what are you?

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A diner.  I ring the bell when it's dinner time...
... so you've learned to come and sit at the dinner table when you hear it ring.




Inure

v. t.

To apply in use; to train; to discipline; to use or accustom till use gives little or no pain or inconvenience; to harden; to habituate; to practice habitually.

´To inure our prompt obedience.´ Milton.

"He did inure them to speak little." ~ Sir T. North.

"Inured and exercised in learning." ~ Robynson (More’s Utopia).

"The poor, inured to drudgery and distress." Cowper.

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Compunction

Your write an email and your compunction is good.
You ask me to proof your email before you send it.

Why do I say "You have a lot of punctuation errors!"
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Because you probably do!

Compunction means a feeling of regret for one's actions.

It has nothing to do with punctuation.

So you wrote a great "I'm sorry" email.. but it has errors in it.

Compunction
- A picking of heart; poignant grief proceeding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain; the sting of conscience.

"He acknowledged his disloyalty to the team, with expressions of great compunction."

"He felt great compunction after cheating at checkers."

 

 

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Pariah

Pariah 
<par-rye-ya>

There is a pariah on stage giving a speech.
It is an open air concert and you are wearing a brimless cap.
Why does everyone leave?

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A pariah is someone that no one likes.

Pariah
An outcast; one despised by society.

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Upbraid

Your dog's hair is very long and you upbraid your dog.

Why does your dog not want to go for a walk with you?
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Upbraid means to scold or blame.
Now you're dog is sulking...
... be nice to your doggy!

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© 2011 Englishionary,  Carruthers

Inveigh

Inveigh
<in-vay>

You will inveigh against him in the meeting because you are right and he is wrong.

To declaim or rail (against some person or thing); to utter censorious and bitter language; to attack with harsh criticism or reproach, either spoken or written; to use invectives;  - - with against; as to inveigh against character, conduct, manners, customs, morals, a law, an abuse.

"All men inveighed against him; all men, except court vassals, opposed him." ~ Milton.

"The artificial life against which we inveighed." ~ Hawthorne.

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Brook

You brook a brook.

Did you enjoy your swim?
(see down)
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No. Brook means to tolerate or endure.
Of course.. brook means also a small stream or river.

So you endured a small stream.

It probably was too cold.







Brook    

1. A natural stream of water smaller than a river or creek.
“Empires itself, as doth an inland brook Into the main of waters. Shak.”


2. To bear; to endure; to put up with; to tolerate; as young men can not brook restraint.

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Chary

If someone is a chary person...

... do they give to charity?

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No. Chary means to be a spendthrift or frugal.
It also means to be cautious and not reckless.
So... they do not give away money.

 

Chary

a. [AS. cearig careful, fr. cearu care. See Care.] Careful; wary; cautious; not rash, reckless, or spendthrift; saving; frugal.

“His rising reputation made him more chary of his fame." Jeffrey.

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Didactic

Didactic

A didactic story teaches the reader a lesson.

"The Three Little Pigs is a didactic story."

...It teaches the reader to prepare for the future by working hard.

Said as: dy-dak-tik

Didactic means used for teaching

1. Intended to instruct.
2. Morally instructive.
3. Inclined to teach or moralize excessively.

Didactic plays, for instance, teach the audience through the use of a moral or a theme.

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Accretion

Accretion

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ah-kre-shun
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To gradually grow something from small parts.

A beach is the result of accretion of sand from the ocean.

1. The act of increasing by natural growth; esp. the increase of organic bodies by the internal accession of parts; organic growth.

2. The act of increasing, or the matter added, by an accession of parts externally; an extraneous addition; as an accretion of earth.

"A mineral - augments not by grown, but by accretion." Owen.

"To strip off all the subordinate parts of his as a later accretion."  Sir G. C. Lewis.

3.. Concretion; coherence of separate particles; as the accretion of particles so as to form a solid mass.

4. A growing together of parts naturally separate, as of the fingers toes.

5. (Law)
 (a) The adhering of property to something else, by which the owner of one thing becomes possessed of a right to another; generally, gain of land by the washing up of sand or sail from the sea or a river, or by a gradual recession of the water from the usual watermark.
(b) Gain to an heir or legatee, failure of a coheir to the same succession, or a co- legatee of the same thing, to take his share. Wharton. Kent.

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Attenuate

Attenuate

v. t. To make thin, smaller.
1. To make thin or slender, as by mechanical or chemical action upon inanimate objects, or by the effects of starvation, disease, etc., upon living bodies.

2. To make thin or less consistent; to render less viscid or dense; to rarefy.

3. To lessen the amount, force, or value of; to make less complex; to weaken.

“To undersell our rivals … has led the manufacturer to … attenuate his processes, in the allotment of tasks, to an extreme point." I. Taylor.

“We may reject and reject till we attenuate history into sapless meagerness."
Sir F. Palgrave.

At•ten´u•ate, v. i. To become thin, slender, or fine; to grow less; to lessen.

“The attention attenuates as its sphere contracts." Coleridge.

1. Made thin or slender.
2. Made thin or less viscid; rarefied.

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Ambrosial

ambrosial

am-bro-she-al

Extremely pleasing to taste



Ambrosial

Consisting of, or partaking of the nature of, ambrosia; delighting the taste or smell; delicious.
"Ambrosial food."
´Ambrosial fragrance.´ Milton.

Divinely excellent or beautiful.

´Shakes his ambrosial curls.´ Pope.

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You write a poem that is two pages long.
You and ask me to add an erratum...
Why do I refuse?
(answer below)

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An erratum is an error or mistake in writing or printing.
So why would I add that?

Erratum

n.; pl. Errata (#). [L., fr. errare, erratum, to wander, err. See Err.]
An error or mistake in writing or printing.

 “A single erratum may knock out the brains of a whole passage.” Cowper.

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Quotidian

(kwo•tid´i•an), a.  See Quota, Deity.] Occurring or returning daily; as a quotidian fever.

Quo•tid´i•an (kwo•tid´i•an), n. Anything returning daily; especially (Med.), an intermittent fever or ague which returns every day. Milton.

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Quaff

Remember life is irksome
you struggle every day
but each hour will sum
what you learn upon the way...

you'll never be a mendicant
if you will believe
life will never leave you scant
if you struggle to achieve

for that truly is pivotal
for it's all in your power
there is no end to the tale
of the blooming of your flower

for with each breath... you will quaff
all life has yet to call
remember that each time time you laugh
you decide it all

irksome - tiresome
mendicant - a beggar
pivotal - of great importance
quaff - to drink in - to think about

 

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Espy

v. t. 
 
1. To catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes; to discover, as a distant object partly concealed, or not obvious to notice; to see at a glance; to discern unexpectedly; to spy; as to espy land; to espy a man in a crowd. “As one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, … he espied his money.” Gen. xlii. 27. “
A goodly vessel did I then espy
Come like a giant from a haven broad.” Wordsworth.  

2. To inspect narrowly; to examine and keep watch upon; to watch; to observe. “He sends angels to espy us in all our ways.” Jer. Taylor. Syn. — To discern; discover; detect; descry; spy.

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Belligerent

I tell you: "You're an intelligent and belligerent gentleman."

Why don't I care to know you?
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Belligerent means a person or  nation who wages war...
... so you probably scare me



Belligerent
<be-lidge-er-rant>

a.  1. Waging war; carrying on war.
´Belligerent powers.´ ~ E. Everett.
2. Pertaining, or tending, to war; of or relating to belligerents; as a belligerent tone; belligerent rights.

n. A nation or state recognized as carrying on war; a person engaged in warfare.

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Paraphrase

Paraphrase

A translation of words for the purpose of making them clearer.
Paraphrase means to reword something to clarify it.

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Para in Latin means "beside of"
Phrase in Latin means "to speak"

Para phrase = beside of speak

An example:

Ben Franklin said: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."

I will paraphrase that and say: "Go to bed early, it’s good for you."

Paraphrase

n. (par´a-fraz), n. to say the same thing in other words;

A restatement of a text, passage, or work, expressing the meaning of the original in another form, generally for the sake of its clearer and fuller exposition; a setting forth the signification of a text in other and ampler terms; a free translation or rendering; — opposed to "metaphrase".

In paraphrase, or translation with latitude, the author’s words are not so strictly followed as his sense.

v. t. To express, interpret, or translate with latitude; to give the meaning of a passage in other language.

"We are put to construe and paraphrase our own words."  ~ Stillingfleet

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Apostate

Apostate

A person who abandons long-held religious or political convictions

1.  One who has forsaken the faith, principles, or party, to which he before adhered; esp., one who has forsaken his religion for another; a pervert; a renegade.
2.  One who, after having received sacred orders, renounces his clerical profession.


Apostasy  comes from the Greek word apostasia - which means, a defection or revolt, from.



apo means , "away, apart",
stasis means  "stand", "standing"

It has a pejorative implication in everyday use and is considered a negative thing to call a person.

It call also mean other things... such as referring to someone no longer on a  sports team.

People do not call themselves "apostate" since is has a bad meaning.

Apostates are usually shunned by their former group.

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Blandish

You blandish me.
A lot.
Do I feel bland?

(answer below)

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No. Blandish means to make someone feel better with good words.   So... I feel grand.

Blandish
1. To flatter with kind words or affectionate actions; to caress; to cajole.
2. To make agreeable and enticing.

......

We go bird watching at a park.
A duck quacks loudly. 
You run toward towards an egress.
... why do I laugh at you?
(answer below)

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Egress means an exit.  So... you got scared by a quacking duck and ran away.  Which of course... amuses me.

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Assail

We are in a boat with an assail and the sun is bright.


The wind is blowing pretty fast to the north.


There is a reef ahead... why don't we see it?
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Assail means to attack violently.
We are probably to busy fighting to look for reefs.
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Pronounced: <ah-sale>
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I bake some bread.
I say: "You probably don't want some because you already look like you're aloof."
Do you go on a diet or eat my bread?
(answer below)

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You correct me and say "I like bread.  I am not indifferent to it" ... then you eat some.
Aloof means reserved, indifferent or uninterested.
Were you thinking of a loaf?
 

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Castigate

You take your dog to the vet and castigate him.

Why does he never forgive you?.
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Probably because you scolded him in front of the other dogs.
Castigate means to to chastise and correct a bad behavior with a punishment.

Castigate
<cast-tee-gayt> 
v. t. [imp. & p. p. Castigated; p. pr. & vb. n. Castigating.] [L. castigatus, p. p. of castigare to correct, punish; castus pure, chaste + agere to move, drive. See Caste, and cf. Chasten.]  

1. To punish by stripes; to chastise by blows; to chasten; also to chastise verbally; to reprove; to criticise severely.  
2. To emend; to correct. [Obs.]

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Ascetic

If your aesthetics are ascetic...

...would you be a Spartan or a Roman?
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A Spartan!

ascetic means:
Practicing self-denial.  To be austere or stark.
<ah-set-tik>

aesthetic means:
Of or concerning the appreciation of beauty or good taste.
<ah-stet-ik>

The Spartans did not care about fancy or beautiful things...
... so much so... the phrase "Spartan lifestyle" means to live with very little of life's pleasures.

Of course... the Roman's were lavish and decadent.

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Amortize

Amortize

Means:  To end a debt by setting aside money.
Trick:  No more ties when you end an amortize.

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<ah-mor-ties>

1. To pay off a mortgage by installment payments
2. To write off an expenditure for office equipment by prorating over a period of time.
3. In computer science, amortized analysis is a method of analyzing algorithms that considers the entire sequence of operations of the program.

 

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Gainsay

Gainsay
<gane-say>

To contradict; to deny; to controvert; to dispute; to forbid.

Gainsay the need to water your lawn on a day that it is raining.

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Equanimity

Equanimity
<ek-kwa-nim-et-tee>

Calmness of temperament

n.  Evenness of mind; that calm temper or firmness of mind which is not easily elated or depressed; patience; calmness; composure; as to bear misfortunes with equanimity.

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Euphonious

You tell me you won the lottery and you want to share it with me...
... I say "You're words are euphonious.
Do you still share it with me?
(ans below)

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Yes.  Euphonious means pleasant sounding or pleasant sounding words.

So... I liked what you said.

 ..............

  I email you:
I will sell you my phone cheap. It is a phoney.
You email back:
As long as it is not a phony... I will buy it.
Did you get a good deal?
(ans below)



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No.  Phoney and phony both mean the same thing - fake.

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You tell me... "All day... pachyderms knock into my tachometer."
I ask you "How big was the hippopotamus?"
Since a pachyderm can be an elephant, a rhinoceros, or a hippopotamus...
How did I guess right?
(ans below)

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A tachometer measures water flow...
Hippos live in the water.

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