WoW: Euphroe
EUPHROE - eyed, wooden slat used to support a sail or awning [Dutch juffrouw maiden, a corruption of Jungfrau in German] A general awning warning if a storm is dawning: reinforce thy euphroes!
WoW: Fachidiot
FACHIDIOT [German] - an expert in one field, but ignoramus in other; one-track specialist [Literally subject-fool] Brainstorming among diverse thinkers will avoid the blinkered pitfalls of the fachidiot.
WoW: Flype
FLYPE - a fold or flap (of cloth); a knot rotated 180 degrees (in knot theory); to turn a sock or stocking inside-out in order to put it on [Middle English flipen - linked to Icelandic, flipi - the lip of a horse]
WoW: Kaohame
KAOHAME [kay-oh-HARM-may] - funfair installation where patrons can place their faces within a novelty portrait [Literally Japanase, 'insert-face]. Elsewhere, the kaohame is known as a stand-in, a cutout board, a comic foreground or a hollow-gram!
WoW: Angel's Share
ANGEL'S SHARE - portion of wine (or distilled spirit) lost to evaporation during the aging spell within oak barrels [Translation of the French term, a part des anges, abiding by the notion of the spirit world taking its spirited levy] Cognac distillers allow for the angel's share within any vintage release.
WoW: Rangpur
RANGPUR - tart variety of mandarin [From Rangpur, a region of Bangladesh] A popular alternative to limes, the rangpur lends a welcome zing to gin.
Wow: Pareto Principle
PARETO PRINCIPLE - ergonomic rule claiming 80% of the output often derives from 20% of the input; the 80/20 rule [Named in honour of Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto] In retail, the Pareto principle asserts that 80% of sales stem 20% of clients
WoW: Aboardage
ABOARDAGE - side-on collision between two vessels, often with one at slight angle [From aboard, plus -age] Slack moorage leads to likely aboardage.
WoW: Famulus
FAMULUS - a sorceror's assistant [Latin: servant] In Fantasia, Mickey Mouse plays the famulus of a magical animator named Yen Sid.
WoW: Plowter
PLOWTER - to play in mud; to slosh through puddles; to potter about [Scottish, of origin unknown] Childhood is your prime time for a quality plowter.
WoW: Morbidezza
MORBIDEZZA [maw-bid-DAIRTZ- sensuous representation of flesh tones in a painting; an extreme delicacy or softness [Via Italian, literally: softness] Botticelli was noted for the morbidezza of his Venus.
WoW: Rhamphoid
RHAMPHOID [ram-FOYD] - beak-like or beak-related; regarding a cusp in trigonometry [From Greek, rhámphos - beak] Toucans boast rhamphoid iridescence.
WoW: Wergild
WERGILD [whirr-GUILD] - the price set on a man's life (during both Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law codes), where the sum us to be paid as compensation by his slayer [From Old English wer - man, plus gield tribute] To be clear, the gala cost of $200 per head is the evening's cost, not each guest's wergild.
WoW: Heisenbug
HEISENBUG - slang for an IT glitch that mutates, giving varying results, or vanishes when you try to isolate it. [Pun based on Werner Heisenberg, founder of the uncertainty principle] On top of heisenbugs, coders also talk of hindenbugs (bugs with disastrous consequences) and higgs-bugsons (minuscule program flaws).
WoW: Etrier
ETRIER [air-TREE-ay] - portable rope ladder of webbed loops used by mountain climbers [French: stirrup] Ascending alps via etrier may cause dissent.
WoW: Variorum
VARIORUM [vair-ee-OR-rum] - a publication or manuscript containing multiple notes from diverse scholars; adjective - owning disparate inputs [Derived from Latin phrase: ēditiō cum notīs variōrum - 'edition with the notes of various commentators'] Coriolanus is a variorum among many other original Shakespeare texts, laden with the marginalia of many directors and scholars.
WoW: Omakase
OMAKASE [om-ah-kar-say] - style (or option) of Japanese dining where the diner entrusts the chef to select each dish; chef's choice [Literally 'it's up to you'] Omakase is a shrewd strategy with non-English menus.
WoW: Endorheic
ENDORHEIC [end-aw-RAY-ic] of a basin or lake with no outflow, only losing water via seepage or evaporation [From Greek, endo- inside, plus rheo, to gush or stream.] Puddles are typically endorheic.
WoW: Zellige
ZELLIGE [zair-LIG-guh] - Moroccan-style tilework of enamelled terracotta chips embedded within plaster [From Arabic, zillīj (زليج), linked to zalaja (زَلَجَ): to slide, alluding to the tiles' smooth surface.] Zellige is more commonly dubbed Moroccan mosaic.
WoW: Pengci
PENGCI [pehn-SHEE] - a scam involving inferior, fragile products, placed where they may be easily damaged, drawing exorbitant costs of compensation. [Cantonese literally: touching-porcelain] When pengci is in play, a street vendor might pull $100 from a patsy for one broken piece of trashy crockery.
Recent Comments