word of the day: fantod

The word of the day is fantod:

Etymology:  ? An unmeaning formation suggested by fantastic adj. and n., fantasy n., etc.: compare fantigue. 

A crotchety way of acting; a fad. (OED)

"I do care about them, but what they don't know, and I would never have the heart to tell them, is that the idea of their no longer being a married couple bothers me not at all.  My only fear is that, separate, no one else would have them, that I'd get stuck with them one at a time or have to watch them wither away in solitude.  These scenarios give me the fantods.  Am I selfish?  Yes and no.  I'm a bachelor and hope someday to be an old bachelor."

 - Thomas McGuane, "Weight Watchers", 4 November 2013 The New Yorker

word of the day: bentonite

The phrase of the day is bentonite:

Min.

A clay found in the Fort Benton strata of the Cretaceous of Wyoming. Also, any of several clayey deposits containing montmorillonite which have various practical applications. (OED)

"The doctor who'd hired me wanted a marshy spot behind the house excavated for a pond, and I had my Nicaraguan, Angel, out there with a backhoe, trying to find the spring down in the mud so that we could plumb it and spread some bentonite to keep the water from running out."

 - Thomas McGuane, "Weight Watchers", 4 November 2013 The New Yorker

phrase of the day: hang the moon

The phrase of the day is hang the moon:

(idiomatic, US) To place the moon in the sky: used as an example of a superlative act attributed to someone viewed with uncritical or excessive awe, reverence or infatuation. (Wiktionary)


"He and my mother had been a glamorous couple early in their marriage; good looks, combined with assertive tastemaking, had put them on top in our shabby little city.  Then I came along, and Mother thought I'd hung the moon.  In Dad's view, I put an end to the big romance."

 - Thomas McGuane, "Weight Watchers", 4 November 2013 The New Yorker