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David Theobald

The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… hummock (noun): 1: a rounded knoll or hillock 2: a ridge of ice Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Having trouble telling a hummock from a hammock from a hillock? Not to worry: all three words refer to a small hill or earthen mound. Hummock, in fact,

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… augur (noun, verb): noun 1: an official diviner of ancient Rome 2: one held to foretell events by omens verb 1: to foretell especially from omens 2: to give promise of : presage Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :In ancient Rome, augurs were official diviners whose function

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… magnaminous (adjective): 1: showing or suggesting a lofty and courageous spirit 2: showing or suggesting nobility of feeling and generosity of mind Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :When you see anima, animus, or a similar formation in a word, it’s often an indicator of something

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… crucible (noun): 1: a vessel of a very refractory material (such as porcelain) used for melting and calcining a substance that requires a high degree of heat 2: a severe test 3: a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… intoxicate (verb): 1a: to excite or stupefy by alcohol or a drug especially to the point where physical and mental control is markedly diminished b: to excite or elate to the point of enthusiasm or frenzy 2: poison Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :From scents to

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… doughty (adjective): : marked by fearless resolution Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :There’s no doubt that doughty has persevered in the English language—it’s traceable all the way back to the Old English word dohtig—but how to pronounce it? One might assume that doughty

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… bilious (adjective): 1a biology : of or relating to a yellow or greenish fluid that is secreted by the liver and that aids especially in the emulsification and absorption of fats : of or relating to bile b biology : marked by or suffering from liver dysfunction and

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… supine (adjective, noun): adjective 1a: lying on the back or with the face upward b: marked by supination 2: exhibiting indolent or apathetic inertia or passivity especially : mentally or morally slack 3 archaic : leaning or sloping backward noun 1: a Latin verbal noun having an

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… encapsulate (verb): 1: to enclose in or as if in a capsule 2: epitomize, summarize Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Encapsulate and its related noun, capsule, come to us from capsula, a diminutive form of the Latin noun capsa, meaning “box.” (Capsa also gave us the

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… thespian (noun, adjective): noun :actor adjective often capitalized [from the tradition that Thespis was the originator of the actor’s role] : relating to the drama Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Greek drama was originally entirely performed by choruses. According to tradition, the Greek dramatist Thespis, of

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wore a mask
NZ

I Don’t Wear Masks

I was asked to wear a mask yesterday. I said, and I quote, ‘I don’t wear masks’. I was then asked if I had an exemption. I showed, without comment, a two-year-old screen shot of something that had a yellow and white chevron border and the moment

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… serendipity (noun): : the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Serendipity is a noun, coined in the middle of the 18th century by author Horace Walpole (he took it from the Persian fairy tale The Three

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… collate (verb): 1a: to compare critically b: to collect, compare carefully in order to verify, and often to integrate or arrange in order 2a: to assemble in proper order b: to verify the order of (printed sheets) Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :In terms of printing

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… gauche (adjective): 1a: lacking social experience or grace b: crudely made or done 2: not planar – e.g.gauche conformation of molecules Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Although it doesn’t mean anything sinister, gauche is one of several words (including sinister) with ties to old

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… monopoly (noun): 1: exclusive ownership through legal privilege, command of supply, or concerted action 2: exclusive possession or control 3: a commodity controlled by one party 4: one that has a monopoly Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :You’re probably familiar with the word monopoly, but

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The BFD Word of the Day

The BFD Word of the Day

The word for today is… mastodon (noun): 1: any of various extinct mammals of the elephant family existing from the Miocene through the Pleistocene that are distinguished from the related mammoths chiefly by molar teeth with cone-shaped cusps 2: one that is unusually large Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :borrowed

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