Alternately, if you don't know some of them, you can choose to make up a funny false definition.
To those for whom English is not your native tongue, don't feel bad if you don't know any of these words; they're not the kind you'll typically hear in conversation or web chats!
01. demesne
02. bucolic
03. blunderbuss
04. hoary
05. piebald
06. enervated
07. mendacious
08. bellicose
09. torpid
10. numinous
11. elucidate
12. abjure
Good luck! No cheating (please)!
10 comments:
1. Demesne tossed her hair and strode off, flicking her cigarette ash on Tarquin's shoes as she left.
2. "Open your mouth Freddie, it's time for your dose of bucolic."
3. After the blunderbuss broke down for the third time that day, most passengers were deeply regretting not having gone by Glitchrail.
4. "Hoary? That's rich coming from you Kittybelle!" she snapped.
5. Oh dear. I don't think we can serve this apple tart to the guests dear. It's gone piebald.
6. Many people dislike the way the bubbles in enervated drinks go up their noses.
7. "For God's sake Margaret. Must you always be so mendacious? Buy the boy a new pair of trousers and chuck those old things away."
8. In his later years, as Gordon became more corpulent, his shirts gaped across his middle and in order to keep warm he was forced to wear a woolen bellicose.
9. "Torpid boy!" yelled the teacher as he aimed a piece of chalk at Brian's left ear.
10. The flashlight batteries were running out producing only a faint and numinous glow.
11. Judging by the vile trails of elucidate on the ground, he was forced to admit that the slug traps had not been a success.
12. After the second bottle of abjure, most of the guests were out in the shrubbery looking for pixies.
I do know what about 8 of these mean, but this was much more fun! :-)
Hahahaha. Brilliant!!! Love it. =)
Someone likes playing with words! No wonder you like Word Imperfect.
Thanks for this, made me larf.
Glad it made you smile! x
LOL, excellent post Magdalene! I only really know how to use "enervated" of these words.
I wonder what the word challenge (hard) would hold?
Pia, those would be the words that I look up. ;-)
My vocabulary is not good enough, sorry.
I guess I would label those words as more than medium difficult!
Maybe so, but then what would I call the really hard ones? Extra difficult?
English has so many words, and so many that are almost impossible to know because they are so obscure they're hardly ever used.
I get a 'word of the day' in my email (quite obscure ones), and I hardly ever know them, and I consider myself to have a pretty decent vocabulary.
Oh well, I guess I'll never master them all :| Fun to continue to learn, though.
I finally made it:
1. Demesne: the area or territoty controlled by a ruler. My cats´ desmesne is currently much reduced thanks to the next door neighbours´ dog.
2. Bucolic: Idyllic, rural.
3. Blunderbuss: a type o gun. Used to shooting elephants?
4. Hoary: old and grizzled.
5. Piebald: of two colours, black and white or brown and white. Used to describe horses.
6. Enervated: lacking energy.
7. Mendacious: dishonest.
8. Bellicose:
9. Torpid: fat and lazy, lethargic.
10. Numinous: this one I have no idea about.
11. Elucidate: to provide/discover an answer.
12. Abjure: to avoid because of strong dislike.
This reminds me of times spent in the postgrad office at Cardiff. Every time one of us had to look a word up we´d share it with the others in there. That´s how I learnt ´hubris´.
10/12. "Bellicose" means belligerent or aggressive (actually one of the easiest on the list, I thought, but each person has a different specific vocabulary of course), and "numinous" is a lovely, euphonious word meaning spiritual, mysterious, or supernatural.
I don't really appreciate you posting your answers so late, especially after explicitly stating in a private email to me some time ago that since others weren't doing so well, that even though you knew most all the words you didn't want to post and look like a know-it-all. I didn't respond, leaving the decision to you, but then suddenly, and inexplicably late, you did post.
So are you trying to show people up? I doubt it, but your failure to appreciate subtlety (such as when I answered your assertion that you knew all but a couple of these words with the curt phrase "I'm quite sure you do," with obvious sarcasm, I must admit once again has me just shaking my head.
You seem so competitive in every aspect of life; it gets tiring. I enjoyed Sara's prompt, humorous responses much more than your typically greatly delayed response in which you do seem to show off a bit. Especially after our email exchange in which you clearly stated you'd most likely just email the answers to me privately rather than post them, I was surprised you again went against your word and posted them anyway.
Please refrain from doing this again. You are free to read my blog, as is everyone, but a little etiquette is in order, I believe.
I'm sorry if this hurts your feelings, but your continued insensitivity over a number of issues and over a number of years has gotten to me. Please keep your comments in the team spirit, if indeed you decide to comment at all after reading this.
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