defalcate
verb
embezzle (funds with which one has been entrusted)
OāBrien does it again
defalcate
verb
embezzle (funds with which one has been entrusted)
OāBrien does it again
Benignant
adjective
Peremptory
Expecting to be obeyed immediately and without any questions
catafalque (noun)
1: an ornamental structure sometimes used in funerals for the lying in state of the body
2: a pall-covered coffin-shaped structure used at requiem masses celebrated after burial
Knew what this was but never the word, thanks Niall Mac Coitirās book about birds in Irish folklore and myth which included the story about a robin perching on Queen Mary IIās catalfaque and also Thy Catalfaque
also read the theory about robinsā red breasts containing the fires of hell, so they keep a drop of water at all times to alleviate the suffering of the damned. This is both really sweet and metal as fuck.
Cudgel
A short, thick stick used as a weapon.
But used in the following phrases:
cudgel oneās brains
(To think hard about a problem)
take up the cudgels
(Start to defend someone or something strongly)
Psychopomp
A spirit, deity, person who guides the souls of the dead to the afterlife
From the Greek psychopompos, literally āguide of soulsā. Have a feeling I recently picked this up from Angela Carter too but had forgotten all about it, then as I lay in bed last night it just popped in there, then I thought of that painting of Paddington guiding Liz into the beyond and learned that Paddington as psychopomp is a whole internet thing.
Itās a wild word and I thought it worthy of the compendium
Vituperative
Using, containing, or marked by harshly critical or irate language, often with ranting or railing.
Used to really despise Boris Johnson for using words that basically didnāt exist and had really straightforward commonly used alternatives, and the implication that doing this has anything to do with intelligence. See also making references to classical mythology.
Definition no. 3 not really pulling itās weight there if you ask me
Dendrite
1. a short branched extension of a nerve cell, along which impulses received from other cells at synapses are transmitted to the cell body.
2. a crystal or crystalline mass with a branching treelike structure
As used to describe these gorgeous fossilised plants in paving flags
Never heard this term before. Quite like it.
You never fail to amaze me
Never heard the phrase āits cracking flagsā? When itās mega sunny?
Whixh reminds me, I used the term āflaggyā in a poem about rocks recently to describe a sort of brittlenessā¦which isnāt quite correct (itās more sturdy splitting than that). Anyway, i really like it and need to start using it more.
"Splitting or tending to split into layers of suitable thickness for use as flagstones; specif. descriptive of a sedimentary rock that splits into layers"
Terms I would use:
Flagstones
Paving slabs
Possibly flags, but in a more D&D sort of setting
Pavers in Aus.
Never heard paving slabs and flagstones combined in that manner
skeuomorph /ĖskjuĖÉ(Ź)mÉĖf/
noun
an object or feature which imitates the design of a similar artefact made from another material.
āthe pottery box with a square lid is a skeuomorph of a twilled basketry containerā
(Computing) an element of a graphical user interface which mimics a physical object.
ānote-taking apps offer skeuomorphs of yellow legal pads, squared paper, ring binders, etc.ā
see also: the āsave iconā is a skeuomorph of a floppy disk.
Got the morbs
No corbs before morbs
Thatās great, Iāve never heard it before either, sounds like modern slang
Oh the kids will get hold of it soon enough and itāll be all morbinā this and morb vibes that.