I consider it one of the great accomplishments of my life so far that I was able to keep a fish – by the peculiar name of Spark Plug – alive for several years. Well, to be fair, I must give credit where due: for his first several years he was under the expert auspices of one Eleanor Bors (now a famous scientist, cellist, and avid fish owner). He had been with me since June of 2007, and he was my nearly constant companion during our all too short time together. Sadly, last night, after battling infection for several months, dear Spark Plug passed on. He was 5 years old. He had no known living relatives.

We can take solace during this difficult time in the knowledge that Spark (as I called him, affectionately) led a full and wondrous life, survived multiple illnesses – as well as being sat upon – bore the untimely death of his loving brother Exhaust Pipe, and endured many strenuous moves, to name just a few of his myriad accomplishments. Spark Plug’s tale is one filled with excitement, travel, loyal friends, love, swimming, and above it all, food flakes. He possessed a truly rare zest for life, and he will be sorely missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

It is with a heavy heart, but a fond memory that I dedicate today’s WOD to Spark Plug (2004-2009).  May he rest in peace: Transcendent.

Transcendent, a lofty adjective, means surpassing ordinary limits, being truly superior to others, even elevating beyond what is otherwise considered normal human capacity.  It also has specific Theological and Philosophical uses. In Theology: (referring to a deity) it means transcending the universe, time, and all creation, or what have you.  In Philosophy, it means not realizable in human experience (you may have heard the term ‘transcendental.’ I have not). Finally, there is a ‘transcendental function’ in mathematics, but this is a discussion for another site (one I would consider reading). It is pronounced tran-sen-duhnt.

Deep Blue Usage: Spark Plug the goldfish possessed such saprobic prowess, such interminable resolve and yet such unrivaled humility that there were those who boldly declared he was a transcendent specimen, not merely exceeding, but redefining what we all once believed the limits of goldfish to be.

I leave you with this, Spark’s last known portrait, taken a few weeks ago while he was on an evening swim around his castle, one of his preferred activities.

-Eric

It’s been a while, and I must confess that I have grown weary of Ronald and Henrietta.  I fear their short-lived happiness is nearing its untimely conclusion.

With that delightful thought in mind, I present today’s long-awaited WOD:  Contusion.

Contusion is a noun.  More specifically, it is a region of injured tissue or skin in which blood capillaries have been ruptured; a bruise, if you will.  And I hope you will not!  HA!  It’s from Latin, or French, or Middle English.  Take your pick.  More importantly, contusion is derived from the verb contuse which is not a nice thing to do to someone you enjoy.

One for the money; Two for the show; Three to get ready; and Usage to go: What appeared at first to be nothing more than a mild contusion on Henrietta’s upper thigh turned out to be a rather unfortunate thrombosis, to which she succumbed with much anguish and grousing over the course of about 3 weeks, and due to which Ronald felt the need to procure and then discharge a Smith and Wesson revolver into his then-grieving brain, which would cause much more damage than a bruise and leave him largely brain dead, a burden to his friends, family and wishers well for the remainder of his days.

A fitting end to a ridiculous story.

Stay tuned for new, fresh and potentially spunky antics!

-Eric

It’s nice of you to drop by. I hope you enjoyed all the change this past week. Obama’s pretty cool, and so is today’s WOD: Oleaginous.

Oleaginous is a French word derived from Latin. It’s pronounced oh-lee-aj-uh-nuhs. An adjective, it means – literally – of, covered with, or exuding oil. Figuratively, it means overly aggrandizing or complementary (much like a presidential candidate during a debate). See if you can determine which definition I used in the Usage!

If you like it then you should’ve put a Usage on it: Even though Ronald really did appreciate Henrietta’s efforts to repent, in his ever-childish disposition, he launched into an oleaginous diatribe full of blatantly exaggerated flattery and compliments, sending her out of the kitchen and into a cloudburst of potentially endless tears.

Poor Henrietta. What are they going to DO?

Love as always (to most, not all – I am nothing if not exclusive),

-Erock

As someone who has only recently turned the corner to middle-age, I thought it a good time to demonstrate my newfound maturity with a somewhat self-deprecating observation:

Here at Word O’ Day, we tend to favor lengthier words, and while I won’t go into the many possible reasons for this oversight, it is important to realize that the assumption that only long, complicated words are worthy of exploitation is simply baseless. It is with this realization, along with a timely suggestion from my father, that I bring you today’s elegantly compact WOD: Sapid.

Sapid, a word composed of a mere five letters, is an adjective that means having a strong, flavorful, even mouth-watering taste. While it is largely used to refer to food and drink, it can also describe speech or writing that is enjoyable, interesting, and pleasant to the mind. One example is this delightful site. It is pronounced sap-id, and has a Latin root.

Fool me Once, Shame on Usage: Ronald was no buffoon, and while he knew that Henrietta’s extravagant cooking was intended to further distract him from her despicable behavior, his mounting resolve was no match for the sapid fixings she presented to him, and so her efforts again delayed what Ronald now viewed as an inevitable confrontation.

It just never stops with these two!

Love to most,

-Eric

Today’s WOD is, as usual, incredible. Those of you lucky enough to know and interact with me on a regular basis should probably have heard this several trillion times by now, but the fact that its repetition has not diminished its luster in the least only emphasizes its considerable fortitude. Yikes, so here it is: Portmanteau.

Portmanteau, a Spanish word (I’m just kidding, it’s really quite French), is a noun meaning one of two things: 1) a word formed by joining two other words and combining their meanings. This is my preferred definition, and to help, I have provided some examples here. Brunch, smog, motel, and my personal favorite, disastrophe (while it is admittedly not a “real” word, it should be), are all portmanteau words (except for disastrophe, which, as I noted previously, is not a word). 2) A large travel case that hinges open into two compartments (boring). If you don’t know already, it’s pronounced pohrt-man-toh.

Deep in the Hundred Acre Usage:  Henrietta, regretting her malapropos vulgarity with Ronald, decided that the best way to distract him was to challenge him to think of a proper word that could also be a portmanteau constructed of two obscenities, to which Ronald responded, after a time, ”Shuck.”

Happy New Year! Also it seems relevant to wish everyone a belated Chrismukkah.

Yours,

-Eric

From Guest WOD Blogger Corina:

Today’s WOD, which is entirely inappropriate for Christmas Eve, is houghmagandy.

Houghmagandy is a noun pronounced with a guttural gh, and it means adulterous sexual intercourse, but can also simply mean fornication.

This scintillating word comes from the Scots language. “Hough” is the hollow place behind human knees, but can also refer to a part of the thigh, or a hollow in general. The second part of the word is supposedly a corruption of “canty.” “Cant” means lively, and derives from the Latin “cantus,” which means edge. Lively thighs, eh?Nabokov fans may recognize this word from Pale Fire, which is a fantastic novel (fantastic meaning terrific, as opposed to: of, or relating to, unicorns and dragons).

She’ll be coming ’round the usage when she comes: After an impassioned and slightly tipsy debate with Ronald as to whether or not fellatio can be counted as houghmagandy, Henrietta unwittingly revealed more about her past than she intended, leaving Ronald to question how well he really knew his beloved.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Thanks Corina!

Contumely is a noun from Old French, pronounced one of three ways: kon-too-muh-lee, kuhn-too-muh-lee, or for you rebels out there, kon-tuhm-lee.  It means an insulting, insolent or otherwise reproachful act, expression, or treatment, often arising from arrogance or ignorance.

The Sound of Usage:  Henrietta’s open disregard for the traditions of the church was widely perceived as impudent contumely, but it left a very different impression on Ronald, further endearing her to his ever more obstreperous persona.

Enjoy that one.  It’s a gem.

-Eerrrric

For those of you who read this (I cherish your dedication), I apologize for my lack of updates for the past several weeks. I had been in Columbus, OH with nary a free moment to blog, or really do anything except work my ass off for President-elect Obama. I feel honored to have worked for his campaign and to have participated in something which has truly made me proud to be an American.

Moving on from my personal achievement, albeit a considerable one, today’s Word O’ Day reflects my exuberance at what has occurred:  Wassail.

President Wordbama: As the dawn approached, countless jubilant compatriots caroused ceaselessly as the joyous wassail conveyed the magnitude of this truly monumental moment to the rest of the world.

I believe it’s time for another round. Today’s WOD is sure to wow, and is rapidly becoming one of my favorites: Impecunious.

Impecunious, an adjective derived from a Latin word for wealth, means lacking in money. My perception of this particular word is that it indicates a state of being penniless, whereas a word like destitute would describe the trait of being poor. Thus, you could be impecunious one day and have pockets full of cash the next, but without a major change in your net worth.

A Warn of Wording: “You know, Ronald, an impecunious mooch does not a considerate companion make,” Henrietta teased, reaching thriftily for her wallet.

Well I guess Ronald’s in the dog house tonight.

Rocks,

-Eric

Please enjoy Words O’ Day at your leisure!

Today’s WOD, a real whammy of a doozy, if I do say so myself, should more than make up for the lack of WODs in the past couple of weeks: Sciolism.

Sciolism, a noun pronounced sahy-uh-liz-uhm, is from Latin and means a pretentiously artificial or superficial level of knowledge.

Satisfy Your Usage: “In today’s world of feminism and progressive social advancement, it’s, like, of the utmost importance to be able to please your man in a myriad of (sic) ways,” Janessica declared fervently, armed with a resounding sciolism once only thought achievable in made-for-TV movies starring Keri Russell.

Boycott Cosmo!

Love,

-Eric