Word of the Day Challenge

[Chasing Dreams]

querulous
adjective| KWAIR-yuh-lus
 

Definition

1 : habitually complaining
2 : FRETFUL, WHINING


Weekly Theme

Mythical Creatures

Did You Know?

English speakers have called fretful whiners querulous since late medieval times. The Middle English form of the word, querelose, was an adaptation of the Latin adjective, querulus, which in turn evolved from the Latin verb queri, meaning "to complain." Queri is also an ancestor of the English words quarrel and quarrelsome, but it isn't an ancestor of the noun query, meaning "question." No need to complain that we're being coy; we're happy to let you know that query descends from the Latin verb quaerere, meaning "to ask."

[Chasing Dreams]

She had been blindsided by a coworker who had asked her to help with a project her coworker was assigned. She spent hours working on it with her coworker not knowing her coworker had an ulterior motive. When the project was due, she found out what her coworker's motive was. She found out that her coworker didn't even mention her involvement and was selected for a promotion because their boss thought her coworker had done all the work on her own.

[Chasing Dreams]

Her friend had all but told her that holding on to the vintage dresses was something that they needed to do for the off chance of attending a themed party. She didn't want to agree as she was spring cleaning, but the same week, they had received invitations to a Great Gatsby themed party. The vintage dresses were germane for at least one more night.

[Chasing Dreams]

There was so much she needed to for the company party because there weren't many helping with the setup this year. She knew there was a surprise for two of the employees, who earned recognition even if others would disagree. She knew their obeisances were important to how far the company had come in the last five years with their contributions and hours of overtime they put in to ensure the company's success 

[Chasing Dreams]

She had no clue had she was supposed to emulate the cake that her friend wanted her to create for her. She liked to bake, but she wasn't a pro at it by any means and knew there was no way she was going to be able to do the cake any justice. She also knew her friend was going to be disappointed by how it was going to turn out even if she tried her best.

[Chasing Dreams]

When she had transferred universities, she had no clue what she was walking into. She had heard rumors about the place and those that went to school there, but she hadn't met anyone other than those on the admissions board. She noticed very quickly that a certain hegemony of the wealthiest universities students seemed to run the place and could do as they pleased without consequences.

[Chasing Dreams]

blarney
noun| BLAR-nee
 

Definition

1 : skillful flattery : BLANDISHMENT
2 : NONSENSE, HUMBUG


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

The village of Blarney in County Cork, Ireland, is home to Blarney Castle, and in the southern wall of that edifice lies the famous Blarney Stone. Legend has it that anyone who kisses the Blarney Stone will gain the gift of skillful flattery, but that gift must be attained at the price of some limber maneuvering—you have to lie down and hang your head over a precipice to reach and kiss the stone. One story claims the word blarney gained popularity as a word for “flattery” after Queen Elizabeth I of England used it to describe the flowery (but apparently less than honest) cajolery of McCarthy Mor, who was then the lord of Blarney Castle.

[Chasing Dreams]

tawdry
adjective| TAW-dree
 

Definition

1 : cheap and gaudy in appearance or quality
2 : morally sordid, base, or distasteful


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

In the 7th century, Etheldreda, the queen of Northumbria, renounced her husband and her royal position in order to become a nun. She was renowned for her saintliness and is said to have died of a swelling in her throat, which she took as a judgment upon her fondness for wearing necklaces in her youth. Her shrine became a principal site of pilgrimage in England. An annual fair was held in her honor on October 17th, and her name became simplified to St. Audrey. At these fairs various kinds of cheap knickknacks were sold, along with a type of necklace called St. Audrey's lace, which by the 16th century had become altered to tawdry lace. Eventually, tawdry came to be used to describe anything cheap and gaudy that might be found at these fairs or anywhere else.

[Chasing Dreams]

allege
verb| uh-LEJ
 

Definition

1 : to assert without proof or before proving
2 : to bring forward as a reason or excuse
3 archaic : to adduce or bring forward as a source or authority


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

These days, someone alleges something before presenting evidence to prove it (or perhaps without evidence at all). But the word allege comes directly from the Middle English verb alleggen, meaning "to submit (something) in evidence or as justification." (Alleggen traces back to the Anglo-French word aleger, meaning "to lighten, free, or exculpate.") Our word has at times in the past carried a meaning closer to that of its ancestor's: it was once applied when bringing someone or something forward as a source or authority in court, as in "a text alleged in support of the argument." The word has also been used to mean "to bring forward as a reason or excuse," as in these lines from Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel Jane Eyre: "I did not like to walk at this hour alone with Mr. Rochester in the shadowy orchard; but I could not find a reason to allege for leaving him."

[Chasing Dreams]

There was nothing she could do about the volunteer roster until everyone checked in. She knew many from other volunteer projects, but there was one person she had hoped wouldn't volunteer because the person was hard to get along with. The woman's querulous behavior made it difficult to work with and often ended up with people refusing to be partnered with her. The woman seemed to love to complain about anything and everything, so she was hoping that they'd get lucky and she just wouldn't show up even though they needed help.

[Chasing Dreams]

flora
noun| FLOR-uh
 

Definition

1 : a treatise on or list of the plants of an area or period
2 : plant, bacterial, or fungal life
   especially :  such life characteristic of a region, period, or special environment


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

You may be familiar with the common phrase “flora and fauna,” which broadly refers to just about every visible living thing. While fauna specifically refers to the animals of a region, flora represents the plants. Flora made its way into English from New Latin via the Latin word flōra, which comes from the name of the Roman goddess of flowers and the flowering season (the time of the year when flowers bloom). Flora, who was depicted as a beautiful young woman in a long, flowing dress with flowers in her hair, strewing flowers over the earth, was especially known for wildflowers and plants not raised for food. Her name also lives on and continues to thrive through the related words floral, floret, and flourish.

[Chasing Dreams]

scurrilous
adjective| SKUR-uh-lus
 

Definition

1a : using or given to coarse language
  b : vulgar and evil
2   : containing obscenities, abuse, or slander


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

Scurrilous (and its much rarer relation scurrile, which has the same meaning) comes from the Middle French word scurrile, which comes ultimately from the Latin noun scurra, meaning “buffoon” or “jester.” Fittingly, 18th-century lexicographer Samuel Johnson defined scurrilous as “using such language as only the licence of a buffoon could warrant.” Qualities traditionally associated with buffoonery—vulgarity, irreverence, and indecorousness—are qualities often invoked by the word scurrilous. Unlike the words of a jester, however, “scurrilous” language of the present day more often intends to seriously harm or slander someone than to produce a few laughs.

[Chasing Dreams]

dragoon
noun| druh-GOON
 

Definition

1 : a member of a European military unit formerly composed of heavily armed mounted troops
2 : CAVALRYMAN


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

A dragoon was a mounted European infantryman of the 17th and 18th centuries armed with a firearm called by the same name. No arm-twisting should be needed to get you to believe that the firearm's name, which came to English from French, is derived from its semblance to a fire-breathing dragon when fired. History has recorded the dragonish nature of the dragoons who persecuted the French Protestants in the 17th century during the reign of Louis XIV. The persecution by means of the dragoons led to the use of the word dragoon as a verb.

[Chasing Dreams]

She had been able to take a vacation to Europe and visit several countries. She ran into an Irish local who had blarney and she heard the legend of the blarney stone. She was certain the man just had the talent of speaking as though he had the gift of gab as he had assured her he hadn't kissed the blarney stones and never would.

[Chasing Dreams]

She knew that the host of the party tended to be over the top when it came to decor and this party was no exception.  When she walked into the mansion with her friends, she could help but think how unusual the place was. The tawdry decor make the place look awkward and definitely not as grand as the place felt walking up to the front doors.

[Chasing Dreams]

She was surprised when her rival alleged that she didn't know about the time of the meet up when she was late arriving to it. Her rival blamed her despite not having proof she was never told the time.  Her rival was able to prove the other knew about it because she had the group text chain in which everyone had responded to the time of the meet up.

[Chasing Dreams]

Her latest assignment for her new job was to learn the flora that successfully grew in the dry arid weather of Arizona because she was helping her uncle out at his landscaping shop which sold plans of all types even those that might not do well in the desert heat. She was beginning to learn the flora that did well with very little water throughout the week.

[Chasing Dreams]

One of her friends had convinced her her to go with her to a comedy show. They weren't her favorite things to go to, but she decided to give it a chance. She regretted her choice because most of the scurrilous act was something she didn't find amusing at all.

[Chasing Dreams]

When she was doing her research on history and warfare on other countries, she learned about dragoons and the need for them in history.  She often thought about what it would be like to see dragoons in person back when they were used and important.

[Chasing Dreams]

pedantic
adjective| pih-DAN-tik
 

Definition

1 : of, relating to, or being a pedant
2 : narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned
3 : UNIMAGINATIVE, DULL


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

In Shakespeare’s day, a pedant was a male schoolteacher. The word’s meaning was close to that of the Italian pedante, from which the English word was adapted. Someone who was pedantic was simply a tutor or teacher. But some instructional pedants of the day must have been pompous and dull because by the early 1600s both pedant and pedantic had gained extended senses applying to anyone who was obnoxiously and tediously devoted to their own academic acumen. When describing arguments, pedantic can be used for instances where one relies too heavily on minor details as a way to show off one’s intelligence.

[Chasing Dreams]

megillah
noun| muh-GHIL-uh
 

Definition

1   : a long involved story or account
2a : an elaborate, complicated production or sequence of events
  b : everything involved in what is under consideration : BALL OF WAX


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

Megillah comes from the Yiddish word megile, which itself comes from the Hebrew noun mĕgillāh, meaning “scroll” or “volume.” (Mĕgillāh is especially likely to be used in reference to the Book of Esther, which is read aloud at Purim celebrations.) It makes sense, then, that when megillah first appeared in English in the early 20th century, it referred to a story that was so long (and often tedious or complicated) that it was reminiscent of the length of the mĕgillāh scrolls. The Hebrew word is serious, but the Yiddish megile can be somewhat playful, and English’s megillah has also inherited that lightheartedness.

[Chasing Dreams]

genuflect
verb| JEN-yuh-flekt
 

Definition

1a : to bend the knee
  b : to touch the knee to the floor or ground especially in worship
2  : to be humbly obedient or respectful


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

Today we give reverence to genuflect, which comes from the Late Latin word genuflectere, formed from the noun genu ("knee") and the verb flectere ("to bend"). Flectere appears in the etymologies of a number of more common verbs, such as reflect ("to bend or throw back light") and deflect ("to turn aside"). By comparison genu has seen little use in English, but it did give us geniculate, a word used in scientific contexts to mean "bent abruptly at an angle like a bent knee." Despite the resemblance, words such as genius and genuine are not related to genuflect; instead, they are related (genius directly, and genuine indirectly) to the Latin verb gignere, meaning "to beget."

[Chasing Dreams]

kismet
noun| KIZZ-met
 

Definition

1 : a hypothetical force or personified power that determines the course of the future events : FATE, DESTINY
2 : an inevitable and often bad outcome, condition, or end that a particular person or thing will experience : FATE sense 2a


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

Is it your fate to tie macramé while drinking coffee and eating sherbet in a minaret? That would be an unusual destiny, but if it turns out to be your kismet, you will owe much to Turkish and Arabic. We borrowed kismet from Turkish in the 1800s, but it ultimately comes from the Arabic word qisma, meaning "portion" or "lot." Several other terms in our bizarre opening question (namely, macramé, coffee, sherbet, and minaret) have roots in those languages too. In the case of macramé and minaret, there is a little French influence as well. Coffee and macramé also have Italian relations, and sherbet has an ancestor in a Persian name for a type of cold drink.

[Chasing Dreams]

auxiliary
adjective| awg-ZILL-yuh-ree
 

Definition

1a : offering or providing help
  b : functioning in a subsidiary capacity
2 of a verb  : accompanying another verb and typically expressing person, number, mood, or tense
3a  : SUPPLEMENTARY
  b  : constituting a reserve
4 of a boat  : equipped with sails and a supplementary inboard engine



Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

What would we do if you sang out of tune—would we stand up and walk out on you? Not likely! Instead, we would provide auxiliary harmonies, joining our voices with yours in support. And if you need a little help from your friends in understanding the meaning of auxiliary, we’re here for that, too—just lend us your ears. Auxiliary, which comes from the Latin noun auxilium, meaning “aid,” “assistance,” or “reinforcement,” is used in a wide range of capacities in English to describe a person or thing that assists another. A fire department may bring in auxiliary units, for example, to battle a tough blaze, or a sailboat may be equipped with an auxiliary engine to supply propulsion when the wind disappears. In grammar, an auxiliary verb assists another (main) verb to express person, number, mood, or tense, such as have in “They have now been informed about the meaning of auxiliary.” Isn’t auxiliary fab?

[Chasing Dreams]

flout
verb| FLOUT
 

Definition

: to treat with contemptuous disregard : SCORN
: to indulge in scornful behavior


Weekly Theme

Folk Tales

Did You Know?

If you flout a rule or societal norm, you ignore it without hiding what you're doing, or showing fear or shame; you flout it "out" in the open. The similar-sounding word flaunt is sometimes used in the same way, though that word's older and more common meaning is "to display ostentatiously," as in "people who flaunt their wealth." Critics have been objecting to the confusion of these two words since the early 1900s, but use of flaunt with the meaning "to treat with contemptuous disregard" is found in even polished, edited writing, and so that meaning is included in dictionaries as an established use of the word. Nonetheless, you may want to avoid it: there are still many who judge harshly those who (they feel) are flouting proper English usage.