RKNet Blog... Thing

Ok so admittedly it isn’t going to be quite that big, but it does give me an opportunity to use the first WTK vocabulary term: brobdingnagian.
This originates from the Jonathan Swift novel, Gulliver’s Travels. The term was coined as a reference to the city in which Gulliver visits where everything is just huge. This reference isn’t perhaps as deviously amusing as smirking and using air quotes when you call an idea “a modest proposal” but still good for earning brownie points with the literary set.

The next word is one that anyone can probably find an application for: quidnunc. Sure, it sounds obscure, almost technical, like it ought to be something you forgot when it came time for your biology exam on the parts of an insect. Trust me, this one will apply to you. The word comes from the latin for “what’s new?”, and is meant as a derogatory term for that slime who always asks how you’re doing because they are looking for something to spread around the office behind your back. I just did some poking around for this relatively obscure term, and there was a paperback poetry book released just this year with the title of Quidnunc. It doesn’t have any reviews yet, but then again, how many people deliberately collect new poetry? (No really, I’d love to meet someone who collects new poetry.)

Our third entry in this enlightening vocabulary cavalcade brings to mind the Theremin and its haunting warble: hemidemisemiquaver. Technically this is a 1/64th note. I discovered one tab for Led Zeppelin’s epic Immigrant Song that shows the use of the hemidemisemiquaver. I also saw some inconclusive references to Hendrix, King Crimson, and Dreamtheater. I’d expect that kind of lightning finger work from any of the guitarists in that roster. Do any of your favorite songs incorporate the whip-smart hot licks of the hemidemisemiquaver? Would you know if they did? Because ~I~ sure never learned to read music. Maybe I was just too truculent when the idea of joining band came up?

The last word for this edition of WTK sums up in one term why I generally don’t talk politics: mugwumpery. It sounds like a term out of a popular children’s set of novels which I won’t bother naming since you’ve likely already guessed which, but it’s roots are pure American politics. It was coined in the 1880s to describe people who bailed on the Republican party in response to the party’s nomination of James G. Blaine, who was apparently a totally corrupt nogoodnik. Harsh. Nowadays, however, the term mugwump is used to describe someone who either can’t make up their mind about an issue, or chooses to remain neutral on a controversial issue. Or a spineless, waffling ne’er-do-well, in other words. Just like me! :D

Stay tuned for more exciting trips to big word land. Until then, use your words, and keep they heads ringin’.

Now here is a bit I haven’t done in quite some time! The Words To Know series had all but died. Tonight I feel like shaking the dust off, brushing away the cobwebs, and putting WTK to work once more. I’ve decided to go easy on the old girl, by featuring two terms, and peppering the descriptions with other delightful terms to incorporate into your vernacular. On we go!

Our first featured term is: Adroit - This is a handy way to turn a shocked and braindead exclamation of “Whoa! Skills!” into a pithy bon mot. For example, when watching Sonny Chiba in the film The Street Fighter, one might be able to say something like “That was the most adroit instance of someone’s testicles being pulled off I think I’ve ever witnessed!” Not-work-safe clip below for those who may not have had the good fortune to see the whole film. (Which, by the way, I strongly recomend to anyone.)

Our second word for the day is: Obstreperous. Obstreperous is a fantastic word to use to describe someone’s putrescent offspring who have decided that it would be a fantastic time to start various types of boisterous carrying on (running, yelling, messing with others’ belongings, etc.) when you have just been sealed onto a several-hour flight. It certainly passes over in polite conversation a lot more readily than simply turning to your seat mate to comment that the plane’s younger passengers are in fact “little fucking assholes” who should, in fact, have a rigorous application of chloroform applied to them posthaste. To make such a comment could be considered maladroit - the opposite of our first featured word - due to its utter lack of tact. The child pictured below, though adorable, may be one of these children whom the label of “obstreperous” applies.

Or perhaps these three might be more prone to various hijinks.

Hope you enjoyed this edition of WTK as much as I did! (If you did, won’t you show some comment love?)