Author Topic: Darkstorme's Word of the Day (Read 5459 times)

darkstorme · « **Reply #200 on:** February 28, 2011, 04:28:11 am »

(I'll catch up soon, I promise!)

Atrocity

An atrocity (ah-traw-sih-tee) is a particularly cruel, vicious, heinous or monstrous act.

The atrocity of a given act or behaviour is a measure of its monstrousness.

Usage:

Behind the disarming smile, Hal was a fiend. There was no evil scheme he wouldn't concoct; no atrocity he wouldn't commit.
The cultists had the village at their mercy for nearly a week; when the Aeridinite rescue party arrived, the atrocity of the cultists' actions left the clerics at a loss for words.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #201 on:** March 01, 2011, 03:49:59 am »

A description of that which Corathites inflict on their victims...

Excruciating

If something is excruciating (ek-screw-shee-ay-ting) it is painful to the extreme, agonizing - unbearably painful. This can be figurative pain, rather than literal pain, but if it is, it's so intense as to be almost physical.

It can also describe something that is incredibly intense (pain or otherwise) - for example, describing something in "excruciating detail".

To excruciate is to torture. In real life, the word derives from the Latin, "cruciare" - literally, to crucify. So, being tied to a cross, hoisted up into the air and suffering a slow death while having your arms dislocated could be described as excruciating torment.

Usage:

Sion had thought he'd been prepared for being caught by his own kind after his exile to the Deep. Now, his throat raw from screaming, and the tendrils of the scourge burning another excruciating line down his back, he was no longer so sure.
Jenna stilled her breath and tried to make no sound as the heavy tread of the monster rattled the door of the small hut. The footsteps paused, and Jenna had a moment of excruciating terror as she envisioned the heavy head turning, smelling her on the air - but then they restarted, and receded.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #202 on:** March 02, 2011, 03:31:51 am »

And yet another activity they might choose to engage in:

Exsanguinate

This may seem somewhat familiar, and it should be - it derives from the same root. Sang, again, is from the latin for blood. "ex", in this case, means "remove".

To exsanguinate (ecks-ang-gwinn-ate) something (or someone, all you budding Corathites!) then, is to drain blood from its (their) body.

The process is called exsanguination.

It should also be noted that the process isn't solely confined to the realm of torturers, murderers and sociopathic serial killers. Butchers regularly exsanguinate animals before they're made up into cuts of meat.

Usage:

The first step in creating a viable mummy is exanguinating the body. This can be tedious and messy, but has an advantage over your everyday zombie in that the process greatly retards (or avoids altogether) the problem of putrefaction.
The village healer couldn't understand it. The young woman was showing all the signs of substantial blood loss - but she showed no wounds by which this exsanguination could have been accomplished. Just two very neat puncture marks on her neck.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #203 on:** March 04, 2011, 03:56:56 am »

To wrap up Corath...

Unhallowed

Just the kind of ground for evil folk to walk on. So much so, in fact, there's a spell for it.

A location or object that is unhallowed (un-hahl-load) ranges from simply not at all sacred to the opposite of hallowed - that is, desecrated, profane, and downright evil.

Usage:

The clearing was unhallowed land - few plants grew there, and those that did were twisted and unnaturally warped.
Those who stepped into the unhallowed temple felt a chill wash over them, a stain soaking through their very soul.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #204 on:** March 05, 2011, 04:43:29 am »

And now, to start Deliar on his merry way...

Happenstance

A happenstance (hah-pen-stance) is a coincidence that seems too convenient or elaborate to not have been the work of some other agency. It is, nonetheless, simple coincidence. Or, to put it another way, luck.

Generally, this is a coincidence with a positive outcome, rather than a negative.

Usage:

It was sheer happenstance that the adventurers were all in the tavern when the sailor rushed in out of the rain.
The front lines were so confused that when two arbalests fired at once, it was happenstance, rather than coordination.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #205 on:** March 08, 2011, 03:58:32 am »

And continuing with Deliar:

Haggle

To haggle (hag-gull), at least in the context of Deliar, is to argue and bargain over a price or settlement.

It can also mean to cut roughly, or hack. In real life, this eventually led to its other meaning - as hagglers would cut away at the proposed price of an item.

A haggle is an argument over a price.

Usage:

Storold haggled with the merchant over the price of the spell components.
Halflings are famously capable hagglers.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #206 on:** March 09, 2011, 03:48:37 am »

Lucky I thought of this one...

Fortuitous

A fortuitous (for-tew-ih-tuss) event is one that comes about by fortunate chance.

As an adverb, fortuitously describes an action that was previously taken that turned out to be advantageous or lucky.

Usage:

Elohanna grimaced as the fire elementals hauled themselves out of the lava stream. Well, fortuitously, she'd brought along a few dozen scrolls of Cone of Cold. Time for some impromptu lava sculptures.
It really was fortuitous that the Housemanns were out of town, Kell thought, as he let himself in through the upstairs window.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #207 on:** March 10, 2011, 03:59:25 am »

A drastically underused word in our setting:

Wares

Someone's wares (rhymes with "hairs") are the goods or services they have for sale. Can be (and often is) used to describe certain Xeenite services in a circuitous sort of fashion.

Usage:

"Pardon me, miss", the halfling said, "But I run the general store. Could I perhaps interest you in some of my wares?"
A lad named Twist, he found a lass, a trav'lin' twixt the fairs.

Said Twist, eyeing the pies she bore, "Let me taste your wares!"
The lass, no fool, replied to Twist - "Show me first your true!"
Said Twist, drawn dagger in his hand, "Well, this will have to do."[/I]
[/list]

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darkstorme · « **Reply #208 on:** March 11, 2011, 04:05:40 am »

Yet another term to describe those things that happen to Lucky Coins...

Propitious

Events or circumstances that favour a beneficial outcome, or that suggest upcoming good fortune, are propitious (pro-pih-shuss),

Kindly actions can be similarly described.

Usage:

Propitious winds hurried the ship along its trade route, shaving days off the trip.
In a propitious turn of events, the roof of the cavern halted in its collapse for a few minutes, allowing the party to escape before falling in entirely.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #209 on:** March 14, 2011, 04:39:20 am »

Some may focus on Deliar's domains of money and wealth, but neglect generosity, harmony, and family. Happily, there is a word for these people.

Skinflint

A skinflint (skin-flint - not much to that, really) is an individual who is miserly, unwilling to spend money, a penny-pincher... basically, Ebeneezer Scrooge or Scrooge McDuck, but not necessarily as nasty as the former. A skinflint might be the type who would walk across town rather than spend money on a bus ticket.

Usage:

Griff eyed the paltry few coins the pawn shop owner had given him for the wands and scrolls he had come across. What a skinflint.
Jebediah Stone in Vehl was well-known as a skinflint. He did, however, start heating his clerks' offices when it was pointed out that the time they took warming their ink until it unfroze was actually costing him more than the heating would.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #210 on:** March 15, 2011, 02:17:12 am »

And to round out Deliar (not that the little halfling needs any more rounding - Prunilla keeps him well-stuffed!)...

Dicker

To dicker (dih-ker) is to bargain, barter or deal.

A dicker is an act of bargaining.

Usage:

The two halflings dickered amiably for twenty minutes before the bargain was struck.
"I'll just be a moment - gonna have a bit of a dicker, eh?" The dwarf grinned and vanished into the crowd in the tavern.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #211 on:** March 17, 2011, 04:09:20 am »

And now a few non-topic ones while I prepare for next week:

Profligate

(Full disclosure - David Suzuki used it in a lecture the other day, and I thought, "That would make a great word of the day!" So now it is.)

An action (or action subject) which is profligate (proff-lih-git or proff-lih-gate, speaker's choice) is recklessly extravagant, wasteful, and/or immoral.

A profligate is an individual who commits such actions regularly.

Usage:

The halfling's profligate spending in the merchant districts of Vehl was likely to come back to haunt him sooner, rather than later.
Sallaron's profligate behaviour as a young adventurer earned him quite the reputation.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #212 on:** March 18, 2011, 03:26:53 am »

Courtesy of a co-worker...

Witter

To witter (wit-tur) is to chatter or babble on for unnecessary length, pointlessly, and/or about some trivial topic.

Witter, as a noun, means pointless chatter.

(Which, if you think about it, means that "twitter" may be more apt a name than anyone thought!)

Usage:

Half the Angels waited impatiently while the elves wittered among themselves.
The pilgrim emerged from his temporary quarters in the Temple of Deliar into the morning witter as the merchants set up their shops.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #213 on:** March 19, 2011, 06:02:13 am »

Given the weather outside tonight...

Dismal

Something that is dismal (diz-mull) is prone to cause gloom or depression; it's dreary. It can also be characterized by particular ineptitude, or a lack of merit, which of itself can also cause gloom or depression. (Imagine a teacher in a class of dismal students. They'd be gloomy too.)

Usage:

The weather in Palden Lake is always dismal, but on that fateful night, there was a storm brewing. The wind howled with a vengeance, and the rain pelted down like frigid bullets.
No one ever mentions Argali's dismal attempt at taking up ballroom dancing. As it turns out, swinging a double-headed axe doesn't translate well to swinging your partner. Or, at least, not in a way that doesn't result in them screaming and flailing about. And then there were the caterers...

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darkstorme · « **Reply #214 on:** March 20, 2011, 07:12:53 am »

A common misconception...

Bated

To bate (bayt) something is to reduce its force and intensity, or restrain it. To be waiting with bated breath, therefore, is to be waiting eagerly/apprehensively and breathing quietly/holding one's breath while so doing.

The verb is based on the same root as "abate", but split off from its sibling word while still in Old English.

Should not be confused with "bait". "Baited breath" would simply smell fishy. *grins*

It can also be used to describe a procedure used to soften leather in tanning, after liming the leather.

Usage:

As the undead monstrosity stomped towards their hiding place, the children waited with bated breath to see if their ploy had worked.
Timulty's summoned gust of wind bated the worst of the gale howling down on them, rushing forward to cancel it out.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #215 on:** March 21, 2011, 04:08:51 am »

In the realms of mixed-up words:

Complement

This poor word gets mixed up with compliment all the time, but the two mean very different things.

A complement (comm-pleh-ment) can be a large number of things:

Something (or someone) that completes something or makes it whole. So if two people are chosen for a team because their strengths complement one another, it means that where one has a weakness, the other is strong, and the reverse.
The number of items required to make up a whole set. So a ship's complement is the full crew required to run it. A shelf with a full complement of books is full.
In art, a complementary colour is the colour that is (in pigments) comprised of all the primary colours that do not go into making up its complement. (In light, complementary colours mixed together make white.)
In music, a complementary interval is the interval that needs to be added to an interval to make it a full octave. For example, a perfect fourth is the complement of a perfect fifth. (In C major, C-G is a perfect fifth, G-C is a perfect fourth.)
In math, a complementary angle is whatever angle needs to be added to an acute angle to make it ninety degrees.

Usage:

The captain called on the quartermaster. "Have we received our full complement of supplies? We're due to head for the front in three days."
Zarianna straightened, adjusting the necklace. The golden chain was the perfect complement to the ruby fabric of her tunic.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #216 on:** March 22, 2011, 03:57:24 am »

Starting off Dorand...

Hone

A hone (rhymes with "moan") is a fine-grained whetstone or sharpening tool.

To hone something is to sharpen it with a hone or whetstone - or simply to put an edge on it or improve its edge. It can also mean to use a rotating abrasive tool to enlarge a bore hole to a precise size. (It can also be used metaphorically, putting an "edge" on a non-physical object, like hunger.)

Finally, to hone without an object means to moan or yearn.

Usage:

The axe blade had been honed until its edge was razor-sharp.
Lana Poetr's wit was honed by years growing up as one of many siblings.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #217 on:** March 23, 2011, 04:29:21 am »

Not just for losing anymore...

Temper

A temper (temm-purr) can be a word describing a person's composure - that is, to lose one's temper is to become angry or excited. It can also indicate an inclination towards anger, if one is said to possess a temper.

It can also be a tone or state of being that is characteristic to something or someone.

A temper can also be a material (metal or otherwise) which is mixed with another material (usually metal) to alter the properties of the latter. Which is what Dorand would be most interested in, of course, and brings us to the verb form of the word.

To temper a material can mean to add a temper to it to change its properties - this can be both literal and figurative (for example, tempering a lecture with praise). It can also be a process of hardening or softening metal (or glass) by a process of repeated heating and cooling.

Because of this, it's often used to describe the strengthening of individuals' characteristics or organizations - for example, a battalion tempered by combat.

Usage:

Connor placed the flask of tempered glass on the flame and watched as the amber liquid came to a boil.
Jennara sought always to see that justice was tempered by mercy.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #218 on:** March 24, 2011, 03:16:57 am »

Where Dorand and Ilsare intersect:

Luthier

A luthier (loo-tee-er) is, as the name implies, a maker of lutes. But that's not all! A luthier is a maker of stringed instruments in general - violins, viols, violas, celli, basses, guitars, harps... the luthier makes them all.

A repairman who specializes in stringed instruments can also bear the name.

Usage:

"What a lovely place you have here, Andrew!" gushed the ingenue, looking about the richly-appointed bedroom. "Thank you, my dear. Please, take a seat. Now, where did I put my..." A strangely tuneful crunch as the barmaid sat down told him where his violin had gone. Time for a trip to the luthier's... in the morning.
The luthiers in most town and city markets, like the other craftspeople, make decent instruments - but not the masterworks required by true virtuosi.

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darkstorme · « **Reply #219 on:** March 25, 2011, 03:00:10 am »

A valuable tool a Dorandite would use to stoke the fire in his forge:

Bellows

A bellows (bell-lows) is a device with an air bladder connected to a nozzle and compressed between two hinged panels - example here. In a smithy, its primary use was to blow air onto the coals of the forge to heat it up. A large bellows could allow even a wood-fired forge to reach surprising temperatures.

Bellows were also employed to provide the wind power for pipe organs. The name was also co-opted for a variety of similarly-designed structures, like the air reservoir in an accordion. It has also been used to refer to the lungs - which, in all fairness, operate somewhat similarly. (Of course, the lungs are expanded by the diaphragm producing a negative pressure in the body cavity, and air is forced out by the relaxation of the muscle, rather than compression, but the principle is similar.)

It might also be a present-tense conjugation of the verb "to bellow" but the two meanings have very different roots and simply evolved into the same word - at least in our world. The tool evolved from the Old English for, literally, "blowing bag". The verb is much older, its origins lying in a pre-English word for the sound a bull makes.

Usage:

The massive bellows was built into the forge itself, and was powered by a donkey walking on a treadmill. As the donkey picked up speed, the coals flared into incandescence.
Vrebel picked up the small hand-bellows, using it to heat the coals in the furnace. The iron bars glowed a cherry red, only just starting to soften around the edges. He wiped the sweat off his brow and pumped harder. Oh, for a big-city forge.

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