Thursday, August 26, 2010

Ww: Want

v. want·edwant·ingwants
v.tr.
1.
a. To desire greatly; wish for: They want to leave. She wants a glass of water. See Synonyms atdesire.
b. To desire (someone to do something): I want you to clean your room.
2.
a. To request the presence or assistance of: You are wanted by your office.
b. To seek with intent to capture: The fugitive is wanted by the police.
3. To have an inclination toward; like: Say what you want, but be tactful.
4. Informal To be obliged (to do something): You want to be careful on the ice.
5. To be without; lack. See Synonyms at lack.
6. To be in need of; require: "'Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter" (Lewis Carroll).
v.intr.
1. To have need: wants for nothing.
2. To be destitute or needy.
3. To be disposed; wish: Call me daily if you want.
n.
1. The condition or quality of lacking something usual or necessary: stayed home for want of anything better to do.
2. Pressing need; destitution: lives in want.
3. Something desired: a person of few wants and needs.
4. A defect of character; a fault.
Phrasal Verbs:
want in Slang
1. To desire greatly to enter: The dog wants in.
2. To wish to join a project, business, or other undertaking.
want out Slang
1. To desire greatly to leave: The cat wants out.
2. To wish to leave a project, a business, or other undertaking.

[Middle English wantento be lacking, from Old Norse vanta; see eu- in Indo-European roots.]

Context: My pastor was using the second definition of want when we were discussing the word.   My mind was stuck on the first want which is a desire to do something out of a wish for, or a desire.   Often the words we use can have multiple meanings and our presupposition has captured only one of the two meanings. A mad hatter argues semantics without looking up a word in the dictionary. However, sometimes it is a fine thing to be crazy, for than you are free to say what you want to say, when you want to say it.



Thursday, August 19, 2010

Ss: Sizar


n
(Social Science / Education) Brit (at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and Trinity College, Dublin) an undergraduate receiving a maintenance grant from the college
[from earlier sizer, from size1 (meaning ``an allowance of food, etc.'')]
sizarship  n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
In Context:

Chapter XLI: Spenser--The "Shepherd's Calendar" ....


Edmund Spenser was born in London in 1552, and was the son of a poor clothworker or tailor. He went to school at the Merchant Taylors' School, which had then been newly founded. That his father was very poor we know, for Edmund Spenser's name appears among "certain poor scholars of the schools about London" who received money and clothes from a fund left by a rich man to help poor children at school.
When he was about seventeen Edmund went to Cambridge, receiving for his journey a sum of ten shillings from the fund from which he had already received help at school. He entered college as a sizar, that is, in return for doing the work of a servant he received free board and lodging in his college. A sizar's life was not always a happy one, for many of the other scholars or gentlemen commoners looked down upon them because of their poverty. And this poverty they could not hide, for the sizars were obliged to wear a different cap and gown from that of the gentlemen commoners.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Ee: Erie


n
1. (Placename) the Irish Gaelic name for Ireland1: often used to mean the Republic of Ireland
2. (Placename) a former name for the Republic of Ireland (1937-49)
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

Found in Los Angeles Crossword Puzzle Clue: 46 Across (Dublin's Land).  

Friday, August 13, 2010

aegis

Wikipedia-the concept of doing something "under someone's aegis" now means doing something under the protection of a powerful, knowledgeable, or benevolent source. The word aegis is identified with protection by a strong force with its roots in Greek 

In Context: (Shutter Island)  "You find yourself under the aeigis of that exception. You will not be allowed to pass through this gate with your firearms."  pg 29

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Oo: Oleo



Oleo is a term for oils. It is commonly used to refer to a variety of things:
I was looking for a stick in the supermarket,  I found a stick of butter, margerine, and rubbed it all over my hair then I went to the check out and smiled and said, thanks, "It's like butter baby!"
Crossword Puzzle Clue: A stick in the supermarket.   

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Hh: Horse Opera

n.
A film or other theatrical work about the American West; a western.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.




A GREAT example of the Fifties horse opera, with Richard Egan's legendary gunslinger finding he can't leave his gun-toting past behind him, no matter how hard he tries. All the key elements of the genre are here, including the final showdown, but if it gets snagged on the odd cliche, the stunning photography gets it off the hook


Found in Clue to today's Los Angeles Crossword Puzzle: One may be set on a stage.