Sunday, June 12, 2005
Will Geek for Words, Part 7: The I-J Words!
Being part 7 of an ongoing parade/tirade of entries from Word Lover's Dictionary: Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words by Josefa Heifetz (New York: Carol Publishing, 1974, 1994) For previous entries in this series, please see Part 1 and Part 2. If you want to find other posts in the series, search on the title "Will Geek for Words." Part 7 encompasses I and J words, necessary letters for daily health and nutrition.
- iatrogenic, adj.: illness or disease caused by doctors; resulting from prescribed treatment.
- ignoscency, n.: forgiveness; a forgiving nature.
- illth, n.: being poor or miserable, the opposite of wealth.
- imagism, n.: early twentieth-century free-verse style stressing clarity and simplicity and favoring everyday speech and rhythm.
- immerd, v.t.: to cover with excrement.
- immorigerous, adj.: rude, boorish.
- inchoate, v.t. & i.: to begin, start, initiate.
- incondite, adj.: crude, unfinished.
- infandous, adj.: too horrible to mention; unspeakably awful. [Strange, I don't recall H. P. Lovecraft ever using this word. Why not?]
- inscient, adj.: having insight.
- interpellation, n.: demanding explanation of a government official's act or policy.
- interregnum, n.: time between government changes or rulers.
- ithyphallic, adj.: pertaining to the phallus carried in Bacchanalian festivals; lewd.
- jactancy, n.: boasting, bragging.
- jamais, n.: the denial of having experienced something actually experienced; opposite of déjà vu. (from Fr. meaning never).
- janfu, adj.: Joint Army and Navy Fuck-Up. see snafu for more of the same (slang).
- jargoneer, n.: a jargon-monger.
- jawboning, adj.: using governmental power to steer business and labor toward national interests. [See? Bush didn't just make this up. I'm moderately surprised.]
- jimjams, n.: delirium tremens.
- jingoism, n.: warmongering in the name of patriotism. [Yes, I knew this one. It's still quite an apt word for our times, n'est pas?]
- jobation, n.: tedious criticism.
The CR FAQ - An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism
