kassiber
noun • a letter smuggled out of jail, a secret coded message.
this german loanword is derived from the yiddish word kessaw meaning “written.”
(Source: ragbag)
¶ Posted by ragbag 89 notesnoun • a letter smuggled out of jail, a secret coded message.
this german loanword is derived from the yiddish word kessaw meaning “written.”
(Source: ragbag)
¶ Posted by ragbag 89 notesaread (verb) • to divine the meaning of obscure words, interpret a dream, or solve a riddle or enigma.
serendipitist (noun) • a person with an aptitude for making lucky discoveries by accident.
ululate (verb) • to howl or wail; to lament loudly.
these are some of the unusual words that make a cameo in the first chapter of a novel-length book that i wrote.
¶ Posted by ragbag 173 notesover at the ragbag (a component of the internet) i recently wrapped up my word summer series. i have cross-posted a few of these here throughout the summer but because of trust issues, i have not posted all of them…until…now…so…here…you…go…
noun • the road-sign language of hobos
the pictographic language has a rich history which is said to have been introduced into england in the time of henry viii. here is a great resource for many of these long-lost signs.
(Source: ragbag)
¶ Posted by ragbag 89 notesnoun • a so-called improvement that makes things worse
(Source: ragbag)
¶ Posted by ragbag 338 notes tages / 3d movies / botoxnoun • a boat that has purposely sailed away, for love, adventure, or suicide
tagavaka is a word from the tokelauan lanugauge. this article from gentlemen’s quarterly magazine explains:
Some-times boats are blown off course; there’s even a Tokelauan word for this: lelea. It’s theorized that the very existence of people on the island—it has been inhabited for a thousand years—is because a Polynesian canoe drifted off course. But there is also another, more complicated Tokelauan word: tagavaka. This applies to boats that have purposely sailed away—for love, adventure, or suicide. These days, Tokelauans commit suicide by driving into the open ocean until the gas runs out.
(Source: ragbag)
¶ Posted by ragbag 313 notesverb • /frĭbˈəl/ • to waste; to fritter (something) away.
noun • a frivolity; a trifle; frivolous person.
¶ Posted by eush 115 notesadjective • (US) voluptuous, well-proportioned (to describe a woman)
From Yiddish זאַפֿטיק (zaftik, “juicy, fat”), from German saftig “juicy”.
¶ Posted by kbkarma 128 notesnoun • /’blaT͟Hərˌskīt/ • 1) a babbling, foolish person; a person who talks nonsense at great length. 2) foolish talk, nonsense.
¶ Posted by eush 248 notesnoun • the ability to endure a boring activity
from German sitzen ‘to sit’ and fleisch ‘flesh’
(Source: ragbag)
¶ Posted by ragbag 408 notesnoun • a narration or recitation.
From Ancient Greek διήγησις (diegesis, “narration”), from διηγέομαι (diegeomai, “(I) narrate”).
(Source: en.wiktionary.org)
¶ Posted by kbkarma 60 notes tages / greeknoun • IPA: /pɹoʊˈlɛpsɪs/ • 1) the assignment of something to a period of time that precedes it (rhetoric). 2) the anticipation of an objection to an argument (logic). 3) a construction that consists of placing an element in a syntactic unit before that to which it would logically correspond (grammar, rhetoric). 4) a so-called “preconception”, ie a pre-theoretical notion which can lead to try knowledge of the world (philosophy). 5) growth in which lateral branches develop from a lateral meristem, after the formation of a bud or following a period of dormancy, when the lateral meristem is split from a terminal meristem (botany)
From Latin prolepsis, in turn from Ancient Greek πρόληψις (prolepsis, “preconception, anticipation”), from the verb προλαμβάνω (prolambano, “(I) take beforehand, anticipate”), itself from προ- (pro, “before”) and λαμβάνω (lambano, “(I) take”).
(Source: en.wiktionary.org)
¶ Posted by kbkarma 53 notes tages / greek / latin