These are words that have caught my attention — usually because someone with a more extensive (or esoteric) vocabulary used it, and did so with such flair that it gave me cause to actually look it up in the dictionary.
| avocation | callipygian | schumpeterian | vocation | ||||
| bien pensant | causistry | seriatim |
| Word | Date | Inspired by | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| avocation | Feb 3, 2009 | FDR Jean Edward Smith |
avocation |ˌavəˈkā sh ən|
noun a hobby or minor occupation. \ Derivatives- avocational |- sh ənl| adjective ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin avocatio(n-), from avocare ‘call away,’ from ab- ‘from’ + vocare ‘to call.’ See also: |
| bien pensant | Dec 9, 2009 | The Register — 4-Dec-2009 Who owns science? Manchester Manifesto can't answer |
bien pensant |ˌbye n pä n ˈsä n |
adjective right-thinking; orthodox. noun ( bien-pensant) a right-thinking or orthodox person. ORIGIN French, from bien ‘well’ + pensant, present participle of penser ‘think.’ |
| callipygian | Dec 1, 2008 | Girl Genius Online |
callipygian |ˌkaləˈpijēən| (also callipygean)
adjective having well-shaped buttocks. DERIVATIVES callipygous |-ˈpīgəs| |ˈˈkøləˈˈpɪdʒiəs| |ˈkalɪˈpɪdʒəs| |ˈkalɪˈpʌɪdʒəs| adjective ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from Greek kallipūgos (used to describe a famous statue of Venus), from kallos ‘beauty’ + pūgē ‘buttocks,’ + -ian . |
| causistry | Aug 31, 2009 | LAW and REVOLUTION The Formation of the Western Legal tradition Harold J. Berman |
casuistry |ˈka zh (ə)wəstrē|
noun the use of clever but unsound reasoning, esp. in relation to moral questions; sophistry. the resolving of moral problems by the application of theoretical rules to particular instances. |
| schumpeterian | Dec 9, 2009 | The Register — 4-Dec-2009 Who owns science? Manchester Manifesto can't answer |
Creative destruction? Various
See also: |
| seriatim | Feb 3, 2009 | FDR Jean Edward Smith |
seriatim |ˌsi(ə)rēˈātəm; -ˈatəm|
adverb formal taking one subject after another in regular order; point by point : it is proposed to deal with these matters seriatim. ORIGIN late 15th cent.: from medieval Latin, from Latin series, on the pattern of Latin gradatim and literatim. |
| vocation | Feb 3, 2009 | FDR Jean Edward Smith |
vocation |vōˈkā sh ən|
noun a strong feeling of suitability for a particular career or occupation : not all of us have a vocation to be nurses or doctors.
ORIGIN late Middle English : from Old French, or from Latin vocatio(n-), from vocare ‘to call.’ See also: |