Friday, January 29, 2010

And the Winner Is...

by G.Parker

Okay. How many of you were familiar with the words? Were you able to use them in your regular sentences? I spotted another one this morning that I thought I would add. It's not even out of 200 year old papers...this is one Elder Scott used in November. Vicissitude. That's a mouth full. Any idea what it means? Here we go:

Vicissitude - n. 1. A. A change or variation.
B. The quality of being changeable; mutability.

2. One of the sudden or unexpected changes or shifts often
encountered in one's life, activities, or surroundings.
Often used in the plural.

I guess it fits. Elder Scott was speaking about how the Spirit helps guide us through the vicissitudes of life.

Exhortations -- n. 1. The act or an instance of exhorting.
2. A speech or discourse that encourages, incites,
or earnestly advises.

Our founding fathers were big on exhorting... many of us would use that with our children.

Debauched -- v.tr. 1. a. To corrupt morally.
b. To lead away from excellence or virtue.

2. To reduce the value, quality, or excellence of; debase.

I have read several articles that talk about the society of England at the time the founding fathers were setting up the constitution and the worries that their debauchery would spread to our lands. I find that interesting, considering what's going on in our nation now.

Statuary -- This one's easy, I hope everyone knows it means statues that are decorative. Stuff that sits in your yard, like the little gnomes.... There wasn't any online dictionary meaning for it, so it's my blurb. Grin.

Nonentity -- n. pl. non·en·ti·ties

1. A person regarded as being of no importance or significance.

2. Nonexistence.

3. Something that does not exist or that exists only
in the imagination.

This could mean many things then. They could have been talking about how the slaves were viewed, while today we would use this to describe imaginary things. Have you heard this word used recently?

Indefatigable -- adj. Incapable or seemingly incapable of being fatigued; tireless.

Today we need to be indefatigable in our efforts to support each other and our beliefs.

Now that class is over...grin. I just thought you might enjoy the words and their meanings. Now what 'new' ones can you find?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love all of those words and I love the sound of "Vicisiitude." It just rolls right off the tongue.