word of the day: gormless

The word of the day is gormless:

Etymology:  < gaum, dial. < gome n.² notice, understanding + -less suffix.

orig. dial.

Wanting sense, or discernment. (OED)

"Of the Old and New People of Willesden I speak; I have been chosen to speak for them, though they did not choose me and must wonder what gives me the right. I could say, “Because I was born at the crossroads of Willesden, Kilburn, and Queen’s Park!” But the reply would be swift and damning: “Oh, don’t be foolish, many people were born right there; it doesn’t mean anything at all. We are not one people and no one can speak for us. It’s all a lot of nonsense. We see you standing on the balcony, overlooking the Embassy of Cambodia, in your dressing gown, staring into the chestnut trees, looking gormless. The real reason you speak in this way is because you can’t think of anything better to do.”"

 - Zadie Smith, "The Embassy of Cambodia", 11 & 18 February 2013 The New Yorker

word of the day: schvartse

The word of the day is schvartze:

Etymology:  Yiddish, < shvarts black: compare swart adj. and n.

slang (depreciative).

A black person; spec. (in the U.S., with the ending -a or -e) a black maid. (OED)

"He goes on a few dates with a cute barista named Olivia.  She has this staggering Afro that she keeps kerchiefed down while she's at work.  Scott tells his sister all about her, redacting only two facts from his account: first, that they are not a serious couple; second, that while Olivia is half black she is also half Jewish.  On her mother's side, no less.  Olivia wasn't bat-mitzvahed, but she spits fire if she sees a 'Free Palestine' patch on a backpack.  She wants to take one of those birthright trips to Israel to explore her roots.  She encourages Scott to take one, too, but stops short of suggesting that they go together.  Scott makes his sister understand that Olivia is the first significant girl after Ellen, and so Priscilla tells their mother, and now it's a family scandal.  These poor narrow-minded, well-meaning Long Island racists!  All this tribal madness about bloodlines, purity - obsessions that have never worked out especially well for Jews.  Unless you count the six thousand years of survival (that's what Olivia would say), but then what about, for example, Tay-Sachs?  Anyway, he calls home more often.  The perplexed suffering in his mother's voice is not unwelcome.  He's pretty sure shvartseh is the only Yiddish word his father knows."

 - Justin Taylor, "After Ellen", 13 & 20 The New Yorker

word of the day: mujerón

The word of the day is mujerón:


A stout woman; a matron.  (spanishdict.com)

"On the T, you swear you see your ex in the rush-hour mix and for a second your knees buckle, but it turns out to be just another Latina mujerón in a tailored suit."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: whip

The word of the day is whip:

When the steering wheel was first put into use in automobiles, it was called the "whip". The whip is what you used to control the horses on a stagecoach, hence the analogy. Many years later, various hip hop artists noticed that the Mercedes-Benz logo resembled a steering wheel. They then proceeded to use the old term "whip" to describe any Mercedes-Benz vehicle. The term has now been generalized to classify any expensive automobile.  (Urban Dictionary)

"You get pulled over by the cops three weekends in a row.  One time, they sit you out on the curb and you watch as all the other whips sail past, passengers ogling you as they go."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: stenosis

The word of the day is stenosis:

< Greek στένωσις narrowing, < στενοῦν to narrow, < στενός narrow.(Show Less)

Pathol.

The contraction or stricture of a passage, duct or canal.  (OED)

"The numbness in your arms and legs increases.  You return to your doctors and they send you over to a neurologist, who sends you out for an MRI.  Looks like you have stenosis all down your spine, the doctor reports, impressed."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: lapidary

The word of the day is lapidary:

< Latin lapidārius, < lapid-, lapis stone.

 A. adj. 

1. Concerned with stones. rare. 

2.a. Of an inscription, etc.: Engraved on stone, esp. monumental stones. 

b. Of style, etc.: Characteristic of or suitable for monumental inscriptions.(OED)

"The boy is staring at you with lapidary intensity."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: carajito

The word of the day is carajito:

Kid, small child. (Latin American) (spanishdict.com)

"Elvis, Jr., watches you with considerable gravitas.  He is a piercingly cute carajito."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: pica pollo

The word of the day is pica pollo:

Deep fried chicken. (Dominicancooking.com)

"You invite them all to sit down, order more beer and some bad pica pollo."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: prima

The word of the day is prima:

Female cousin. (spanishdict.com)

"Of course they all have a sister or a prima they want you to meet."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: colmado

The word of the day is colmado:

grocer's (shop). (spanishdict.com)

"Takes him less than five seconds to talk you into ordering a couple of grandes and a bottle of Brugal from the nearby colmado."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: negocio

The word of the day is negocio:

business. (spanishdict.com)

"The happy couple leave you with the family and Elvis, Jr., while they visit various negocios to settle accounts and to pick up some necessities."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: hijo

The word of the day is hijo:

son. (spanishdict.com)

"Elvis picks up the boy.  Mi hijo, he sings.  Mi hijo."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: campesina

The word of the day is campesina:

rural, country (del campo); peasant (en el pasado, en países pobres). (spanishdict.com)

"So the padrino finally decides to visit, she declaims in one of those loud ronca campesina voices."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: ronca

The word of the day is ronca:

Hoarse (persona), husky, having a rough voice. (spanishdict.com)

"So the padrino finally decides to visit, she declaims in one of those loud ronca campesina voices."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: padrino

The word of the day is padrino:

1. godfather (de bautismo); best man (de boda)

• padrinos -> godparents (padrino y madrina)

2. second (en duelos, torneos)

3. patron (protector) (spanishdict.com)

"So the padrino finally decides to visit, she declaims in one of those loud ronca campesina voices."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: abrazo

The word of the day is abrazo:

embrace, hug (spanishdict.com)

"She is no older than twenty-one, twenty-two, with an irresistible Georgina Duluc smile, and when she sees you she gives you a huge abrazo."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: motoconcho

The word of the day is motoconcho:

A small motorccycle, usually about a 110cc, used for cheap taxi service, in the Dominican Republic. It is not unusual to see one with up to five or six people one, all at the same time. They are also sometimes used instead of a pickup truck, etc., for moving large items, such as washing machines. (Urban Dictionary)

"You have to leave the rental jípeta on the last bit of paved road and jump on the back of two motoconchos with all the luggage balanced on your backs.  Nobody stares, because those ain't real loads you're carrying: You've seen a single moto carry a family of five and their pig."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

Word of the day: jípeta

The word of the day is jípeta:

A "jipeta" is the equivalent to an SUV (Ford Explorer, Lincoln Navigator, Toyota Landcruiser) in the Dominican Republic. (wordreference.com)

"You have to leave the rental jípeta on the last bit of paved road and jump on the back of two motoconchos with all the luggage balanced on your backs."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: chawl

The word of the day is chawl:

< Marathi chāl a row of rooms let for lodgings, < Sanskrit shālā house, hall.

An Indian lodging-house. (OED)

"You've been to the Nadalands a couple of times before; shit, your family came up out of those spaces.  Squatter chawls where there are no roads, no lights, no running water, no grid, no anything, where everybody's slapdash house is on top of everybody else's, where it's all mud and shanties and motos and grind and thin, smiling motherfuckers everywhere, like falling of the rim of civilization."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: kalbi

The word of the day is kalbi:


Korean ribs (Food Network)


"Afterward, you head out alone to a Korean joint and gorge on kalbi until you're ready to burst."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012