expand my vocabulary

I had to shelve this for a couple of weeks, off and on, while I moved, but I think the dust has begun to settle, and I’m back at this.

Today’s WOTDs are:
aplenstock: a strong, iron-pointed staff used by mountain climbers
bombilla: lightbulb
sibzamini: potato

One thought has begun to preoccupy me, that my daily routines have begun to take up WAY too much time. I may have to divide the morning routine into parts and do some in the am, some at lunchtime, some after work (when I find a job), some before bed, etc. I’m sure I can make the best of this.

I’ve been puzzling over how to go back later and review the vocabulary words I’ve been collecting since last December, and I’m realizing that pulling the words into smaller groups for review is a good way to go.

This time, I picked out any word which describes the shape of something:
cuculate: hood-shaped
cernuous: bending downward
vittate: striped lengthwise
lineament: distinctive feature or outline
lunulate: crescent-shaped
ensiform: sword-shaped
repand: having a wavy margin
pensile: hanging
bisulcate: having two grooves, as cloven hoofs
limbate: having a distinctive border or edging

I can use the words in a sentence, and if I have trouble remembering some, I’ll try mnemonics or visualization.

I used the word “imbricate” in a sentence the other day. Whoop!

A rampike is an upright, dead tree, especially one that has no branches and is blackened from fire. I’ve heard of snags, but rampike is a Canadian word, so it won’t be used here in Texas all that much. Except that now I’ll use it!

A huggermugger is a confusion, a muddle, a jumble. What a great word!

Sordor is wretchedness or squalor; sordidness. It’s pronounced like “order” with an s.

This is what you call those puppet shows in which the outlines of the puppets are projected by light onto a wall or screen.

pronounced: /guh LAN tee/

I love knowing the name for that and just had to share.

An osculum is one hole in a sponge; oscula is the plural form.

As in: “Water gushed from the oscula of the meatloaf-sized block of yellow, synthetic sponge Jim was using to wash his car.”

A woolhat is the name given a person who owns or works a small farm, or it may also mean a person who is unsophisticated or conservative.

Analects are collected literary excerpts or passages.

A CYA moment: here’s the citation of the dictionary I’m using, just in case there’s a copyright issue here.

Webster’s New World Dictionary of American English, Third College Edition (Hardcover). Neufeldt, Victoria, Ed. in Ch.; Guralnik, David B., Ed. in Ch. Emer.. Webster’s New World: Cleveland & New York, 1988.