A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Dec 1 00:03:23 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kerf X-Bonus: The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -Bertrand Russell kerf n. [AS. cyrf a cutting off, fr. ceorfan to cut, carve. See Carve.] A notch, channel, or slit made in any material by cutting or sawing. Camp, David Mukamal, Table saw safety., Mother Earth News, 02-12-1997, pp 18(3). "In some boards, stresses caused by irregular growth of the tree can cause the kerf to close as the wood is being cut. " Much Ado About Nothing -- Words designating empty spaces of various kinds. In a vocabulary abundant in substantives, it is sometimes awkward to speak about what is insubstantial such as empty space. (An old Gahan Wilson cartoon depicts people worshiping around an altar labeled "Nothing." A passer-by asks, "Is Nothing sacred?") Most words for spaces refer, implicitly or explicitly, to what surrounds the space, that is, to what is about nothing. Sometimes, indeed, it is difficult to tell whether a word refers to the doughnut or the hole. -Tom Kysilko (pdsATwavefront.com) (In his various incarnations, this week's Guest Wordsmith, Tom, has been a high school math teacher, college philosophy instructor, homemaker, musical instrument technician and computer programmer. -Anu) -------- Date: Tue Dec 2 00:03:27 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lacuna X-Bonus: Very few profundities can be expressed in less than 80 characters. la.cu.na n.; pl. L. Lacun[ae]; E. Lacunas. [L., ditch, pit, lake, orig., anything hollow. See Lagoon.] 1. A small opening; a small pit or depression; a small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus. 2. (Biol.) A small opening; a small depression or cavity; a space, as a vacant space between the cells of plants, or one of the spaces left among the tissues of the lower animals, which serve in place of vessels for the circulation of the body fluids, or the cavity or sac, usually of very small size, in a mucous membrane. Lewis, Jim, Cezanne, Harper's Bazaar, 1 Mar 1996. "It is the purpose of a major museum show to provide the context for just such a reestimation of an artist's work, but it has, astonishingly, been 60 years since Cezanne was given a full retrospective. That lacuna is now closed..." This week's theme: Words designating empty spaces. -------- Date: Wed Dec 3 00:03:29 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fissure X-Bonus: You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love. fis.sure n. [L. fissura, fr. findere, fissum, to cleave, split; akin to E. bite: cf. F. fissure.] A narrow opening, made by the parting of any substance; a cleft; as, the fissure of a rock. fis.sure v. t. To cleave; to divide; to crack or fracture. Kenneth Labich, Joyce E. Davis, Managing: Will United Fly? Fortune, 08-22-1994, pp 70. "The turmoil has opened up fissures -- and fissures within fissures -- across the company. United's name has never seemed less appropriate." This week's theme: Words designating empty spaces. -------- Date: Thu Dec 4 00:03:07 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--breach X-Bonus: Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. -Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) breach n. [OE. breke, breche, AS. brice, gebrice, gebrece (in comp.), fr. brecan to break; akin to Dan. br[ae]k, MHG. breche, gap, breach. See Break, and cf. Brake (the instrument), Brack a break] 1. The act of breaking, in a figurative sense. 2. Specifically: A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment; as, a breach of contract; a breach of promise. 3. A gap or opening made made by breaking or battering, as in a wall or fortification; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence; a break; a rupture. 4. A breaking of waters, as over a vessel; the waters themselves; surge; surf. 5. A breaking up of amicable relations; rupture. 6. A bruise; a wound. 7. (Med.) A hernia; a rupture. 8. A breaking out upon; an assault. breach v.t. To make a breach or opening in; as, to breach the walls of a city. breach v.i. To break the water, as by leaping out; -- said of a whale. Shakespeare, William, King Henry V: Act II, Scene iii., The Complete Works of Shakespeare, 01-01-1994. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; And let us be victorious, Or close the wall up with our English dead!" This week's theme: Words designating empty spaces. -------- Date: Fri Dec 5 00:03:14 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aperture X-Bonus: I think, therefore I am. I think. ap.er.ture n. [L. apertura, fr. aperire. See Aperient.] An opening; an open space; a gap, cleft, or chasm; a passage perforated; a hole; as, an aperture in a wall. 3. (Opt.) The diameter of the exposed part of the object glass of a telescope or other optical instrument; as, a telescope of four-inch aperture. Cellini, Benvenuto, Autobiography Of Benvenuto Cellini: Part LXXV., Great Works of Literature, 01-01-1992. "It was built of bricks, so interlaced, the one above the other that numerous apertures were left for the fire to exhale at." This week's theme: Words designating empty spaces. -------- Date: Sat Dec 6 00:03:13 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--interstice X-Bonus: It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it. -Dan Quayle in.ter.stice n. [L. interstitium a pause, interval; inter between + sistere to set, fr. stare to stand: cf. F. interstice. See Stand.] 1. That which intervenes between one thing and another; especially, a space between things closely set, or between the parts which compose a body; a narrow chink; a crack; a crevice; a hole; an interval; as, the interstices of a wall. Whitehead, A. N., Process_and_Reality, Harper & Row, New York, 1960, p. 161 "The conclusion to be drawn from this argument is that life is a characteristic of `empty space' ... . Life lurks in the interstices of each living cell, and in the interstices of the brain." This week's theme: Words designating empty spaces. -------- Date: Sun Dec 7 00:03:07 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--weir X-Bonus: Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. -Ralph Waldo Emerson weir n. [OE. wer, AS. wer; akin to G. wehr, AS. werian to defend, protect, hinder, G. wehren, Goth. warjan; and perhaps to E. wary; or cf. Skr. v[.r] to check, hinder. Cf. Garret.] 1. A dam in a river to stop and raise the water, for the purpose of conducting it to a mill, forming a fish pond, or the like. 2. A fence of stakes, brushwood, or the like, set in a stream, tideway, or inlet of the sea, for taking fish. 3. A long notch with a horizontal edge, as in the top of a vertical plate or plank, through which water flows, -- used in measuring the quantity of flowing water. Kozloff, Keith Lee, Rethinking development assistance for renewable electricity sources. Vol. 37, Environment, 11-01-1995, pp 6(16). "Similarly, local haulers were used instead of motor vehicles during the construction of the weir, obviating the need to build an expensive and environmentally intrusive access road." This week's theme: Words designating empty spaces. -------- Date: Mon Dec 8 00:03:21 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--isthmus X-Bonus: Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches; \ Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth. -Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) [Sand and Foam] isth.mus n. [L. isthmus, Gr. 'isqmo`s a neck, a neck of land between two seas, an isthmus, especially the Isthmus of Corinth; prob. from the root of 'ie`nai to go; cf. Icel. ei[eth] isthmus. See Issue.] (Geog.) A neck or narrow slip of land by which two continents are connected, or by which a peninsula is united to the mainland; as, the Isthmus of Panama; the Isthmus of Suez, etc. Whitman, Walt, Works of Walt Whitman: Starting From Paumanok., Monarch Notes, 01-01-1963. "See the revolving globe, The ancestor-continents away group'd together, The present and future continents north and south, with the isthmus between." Sometimes we want to get away from the busy and hectic city life to find solace in the raging waves of the ocean pounding on the rocks or the turbulent splashing of a bubbling waterfall. At other times we are amazed by the immovable silence of a mountain or the gentle caress of a river overjoyed at its union with the sea. The topography of a region speaks to each one of us -- a secret language that people from all facets of life understand and relate to. -Stuti Garg (stutiATwordsmith.org) -------- Date: Tue Dec 9 00:03:04 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--contour X-Bonus: Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils. H.Berlioz con.tour n. [F. contour, fr. contourner to mark the outlines; con- + tourner to turn. See Turn.] 1. The outline of a figure or body, or the line or lines representing such an outline; the line that bounds; periphery. 2. The outline of a horizontal section of the ground, or of works of fortification. Edward Sandford Martin, A Girl of Pompeii., The World's Best Poetry on CD (tm), 03-20-1995. "Her charming contours fixed in clay The universal law suspend, And turn Time's chariot back, and blend A thousand years with yesterday." This week's theme: words related to topography. -------- Date: Wed Dec 10 00:04:55 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--culvert X-Bonus: If you consult enough experts, you can confirm any opinion. cul.vert n. [Prob. from OF. coulouere, F. couloir, channel, gutter, gallery, fr. couler to flow. See Cullis.] A transverse drain or waterway of masonry under a road, railroad, canal, etc.; a small bridge. Steinbeck, John, Works of John Steinbeck: The Grapes Of Wrath: Chapters 23 - 30., Monarch Notes, 01-01-1963. "...after that the family apprehensively moves on, stopping at a point where they hope to pick some cotton, and hiding Tom in a culvert with a blanket." This week's theme: words related to topography. -------- Date: Thu Dec 11 00:03:05 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--strand X-Bonus: Always hold your head up, but be careful to keep your nose at a friendly level. -Max L. Forman strand n. [Probably fr. D. streen a skein; akin to G. str["a]hne a skein, lock of hair, strand of a rope.] One of the twists, or strings, as of fibers, wires, etc., of which a rope is composed. strand v. t. To break a strand of (a rope). strand n. [AS. strand; akin to D., G., Sw., & Dan. strand, Icel. str["o]nd.] The shore, especially the beach of a sea, ocean, or large lake; rarely, the margin of a navigable river. Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village., The World's Best Poetry on CD (tm), 03-20-1995. "Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand." This week's theme: words related to topography. -------- Date: Fri Dec 12 00:03:15 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--agglomerate X-Bonus: Don't anthropomorphize computers. They don't like it. ag.glom.er.ate v. t. [L. agglomeratus, p. p. of agglomerare; ad + glomerare to form into a ball. See Glomerate.] To wind or collect into a ball; hence, to gather into a mass or anything like a mass. ag.glom.er.ate v. i. To collect in a mass. ag.glom.er.ate a. 1. Collected into a ball, heap, or mass. 2. (Bot.) Collected into a rounded head of flowers. ag.glom.er.ate n. 1. A collection or mass. 2. (Geol.) A mass of angular volcanic fragments united by heat; -- distinguished from conglomerate. A. E. Alexander, George D. Skinner, Diamond., Vol. 8, Colliers Encyclopedia CD-ROM, 02-28-1996. "Diamonds have also been found in river gravels and sea deposits into which they were washed as a result of erosion of the volcanic agglomerate in which they originally occurred." This week's theme: words related to topography. -------- Date: Sat Dec 13 00:03:09 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--terrace X-Bonus: Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. -William James ter.race v. t. To form into a terrace or terraces; to furnish with a terrace or terraces, as, to terrace a garden, or a building. ter.race n. [F. terrasse (cf. Sp. terraza, It. terrazza), fr. L. terra the earth, probably for tersa, originally meaning, dry land, and akin to torrere to parch, E. torrid, and thirst. See Thirst, and cf. Fumitory, Inter, v., Patterre, Terrier, Trass, Tureen, Turmeric.] 1. A raised level space, shelf, or platform of earth, supported on one or more sides by a wall, a bank of tuft, or the like, whether designed for use or pleasure. 2. A balcony, especially a large and uncovered one. 3. A flat roof to a house; as, the buildings of the Oriental nations are covered with terraces. 4. A street, or a row of houses, on a bank or the side of a hill; hence, any street, or row of houses. 5. (Geol.) A level plain, usually with a steep front, bordering a river, a lake, or sometimes the sea. Reservoirs and Aqueducts., Earth Explorer, 02-01-1995. "In the Andes range of South America, ancient Inca engineers built a vast network of canals. These stone channels directed water to terraced slopes and to coastal areas." This week's theme: words related to topography. -------- Date: Sun Dec 14 00:03:08 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--plateau X-Bonus: It is difficult to believe that someone can differ from us and be right. pla.teau n. [F., fr. OF. platel, properly a little plate. See Plate.] 1. A flat surface; especially, a broad, level, elevated area of land; a table-land. Aisling Irwin, Science Correspondent, Expedition to unlock Capricorn's secret., The Daily Telegraph, 11-17-1997. "It is larger than the Great Barrier Reef and almost divides the Indian Ocean in two, stretching from the ocean floor to within 50-100 feet of its surface. On either side of the plateau the drop is several miles deep." This week's theme: words related to topography. -------- Date: Mon Dec 15 00:03:22 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--skedaddle X-Bonus: Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God. -Karl Barth ske.dad.dle v.i. [Of uncertain etymology.] To betake one's self to flight, as if in a panic; to flee; to run away. [Slang, U. S.] Herge, The Castafiore Emerald, 1963. Tintin: "I may as well tell you, your photographer skedaddled off under cover of the darkness..." All good things come in small numbers and perhaps that explains why there are only two dozen Tintin comics. Originally written in French and meticulously drawn by the Belgian artist Herge between 1929 and 1986, every page of Tintin is truly a feast for the eyes. It's no wonder Tintin is read by fans in over 50 languages around the world. In his adventures the boy reporter Tintin is accompanied by a small white fox terrier Snowy, absent-minded Professor Calculus, bumbling fools Thompson & Thomson, and of course, Captain Haddock with the unforgettable curses that betray his expansive vocabulary. The official Tintin Web site is www.tintin.be . This week's AWAD features words from the English translation of Tintin comics. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Dec 16 00:03:11 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anacoluthon X-Bonus: Problems are only opportunities in work clothes. -Henry J. Kaiser an.a.co.lu.thon n. A want of grammatical sequence or coherence in a sentence; an instance of a change of construction in a sentence so that the latter part does not syntactically correspond with the first part. Herge, Explorers on the Moon, 1954, p. 176 Captain Haddock: "Blistering barnacles, this is a serious interrogation! In other words, anacoluthons, you keep out of it." This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Wed Dec 17 00:03:57 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tattle X-Bonus: May you live your life as if the maxim of your actions were to become universal law. -Kant tat.tle v.i. [Akin to OE. tateren, LG. tateln, D. tateren to stammer, and perhaps to E. titter.] 1. To prate; to talk idly; to use many words with little meaning; to chat. 2. To tell tales; to communicate secrets; to be a talebearer; as, a tattling girl. tat.tle n. Idle talk or chat; trifling talk; prate. Herge, The Castafiore Emerald, 1963. Professor Calculus: "The Captain had to tell someone. He's already tattled to the papers about my new rose, the old gossip!" This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Thu Dec 18 00:03:12 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anthropophagus X-Bonus: To my mind to kill in war is not a whit better than to commit ordinary murder. -Albert Einstein an.thro.poph.a.gus n. [L. anthropophagus, fr. Gk anthropophagos, man-eating : anthropo-, anthropo- + -phagos, -phagous.] A man-eater, cannibal. Herge, The Calculus Affair, 1956, p. 38. Captain Haddock: "Bandit!... Anthropophagus!... Steam-roller!... Highwayman!... Travelling at that speed! I suppose you want to break the sound-barrier. You thundering misguided missile, you." This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Fri Dec 19 00:03:16 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--oculist X-Bonus: Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have. Spend it wisely. oc.u.list n. [L. oculus the eye: cf. F. oculiste.] One skilled in treating diseases of the eye; ophthalmologist. 2. One skilled in testing vision and prescribing corrective lenses; optometrist. Herge, The Calculus Affair, 1956, pp. 37 Wife to her motorist husband: "And I say Jules, that it's time you went to the oculist and ordered stronger glasses." This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Sat Dec 20 00:03:10 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dowse X-Bonus: Before we set our hearts too much on anything, let us examine how happy are those who already possess it. -La Rochefoucauld dowse n. A blow on the face. dowse v. t. [Cf. 1st Douse.] 1. To plunge, or duck into water; to immerse; to douse. 2. [Cf. OD. doesen to strike, Norw. dusa to break.] To beat or thrash. [Prov. Eng.] dowse v. i. To use the dipping or divining rod, as in search of water, ore, etc. Herge, Prisoners of the Sun, 1949, p. 51 Thomson: "Dowsing, my dear Thompson, like Professor Calculus; that'll put us on their track." This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Sun Dec 21 00:03:07 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ungulate X-Bonus: He is happiest, be he king or peasant who finds peace in his home. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) un.gu.late a. [L. ungulatus. See Ungula.] 1. Shaped like a hoof. 2. (Zool.) Furnished with hoofs. See the Note under Nail, n., 1. un.gu.late n. (Zool.) Any hoofed quadruped; one of the Ungulata. Herge, Tintin in Tibet, 1960, p. 26. Captain Haddock: "You odd-toed ungulate!... Macrocephalic baboon!..." This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Mon Dec 22 00:04:57 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--perfidious X-Bonus: The way to become boring is to say everything. -Voltaire per.fid.i.ous a. [L. perfidious.] 1. Guilty of perfidy; violating good faith or vows; false to trust or confidence reposed; treacherous; faithless; as, a perfidious friend. Herge, The Red Sea Sharks, 1958, p. 31. Ben Kalish Ezab: "The perfidious Bab El Ehr will learn this one day, to his cost!" This week we continue with more words from Tintin and his buddies. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Dec 23 00:03:08 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--menagerie X-Bonus: Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry. -Mark Twain men.ag.er.ie n. [F. menagerie, fr. menager to keep house, menage household. See Menial, Mansion.] 1. A place where animals are kept and trained. 2. A collection of wild or exotic animals, kept for exhibition Herge, The Black Island, 1956, p.56. Snowy: "About time too. I've had enough of this mediaeval menagerie!" This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Wed Dec 24 00:03:18 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sigillography X-Bonus: Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life. -Sandra Carey sig.il.log.ra.phy n. The science or study of seals. Herge, King Ottokar's Sceptre, 1947, p.2. Professor: "Yes, sigillography is an absorbing study. One look at my collection will convince you." This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Thu Dec 25 00:03:40 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--palaver X-Bonus: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead pa.la.ver n. [Sp. palabra, or Pg. palavra, fr. L. parabola a comparison, a parable, LL., a word. See Parable.] 1. Talk; conversation; esp., idle or beguiling talk; talk intended to deceive; flattery. 2. In Africa, a parley with the natives; a talk; hence, a public conference and deliberation; a debate. pa.la.ver v. t. & i. To make palaver with, or to; to used palaver; to talk idly or deceitfully; to employ flattery; to cajole; as, to palaver artfully. Herge, Tintin and the Picaros, 1976, p. 24. Tintin: "But anyway, why all the palaver?" This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Fri Dec 26 00:03:29 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--diabolical X-Bonus: The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. -Albert Einstein di.a.bol.ic.al a. [L. diabolicus, devilish, slanderous: cf. F. diabolique. See Devil.] Pertaining to the devil; resembling, or appropriate, or appropriate to, the devil; devilish; infernal; impious; atrocious; nefarious; outrageously wicked; as, a diabolic or diabolical temper or act. Herge, Flight 714, 1968, p. 30 Papa Rastapopoulos: "And all the time I'd made a plan to eliminate you when the job was done... Diabolical, wasn't it?" This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Sat Dec 27 00:03:11 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--palliasse X-Bonus: When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. -Helen Keller pal.liasse (also paillasse) n. [F., fr. paille straw. See Pallet a bed.] An under bed or mattress of straw. Herge, Tintin and the Picaros, 1976, p.41. Peggy: "The general promised me a palace in Tapiocapolis! And all the general provides is a beat-up palliasse crawling with bugs and roaches!" This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Sun Dec 28 00:03:22 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pestilential X-Bonus: A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. pes.ti.len.tial a. [Cf. F. pestilentiel.] 1. Having the nature or qualities of a pestilence. mischievous; noxious; pernicious; morally destructive. Herge, The Castafiore Emerald, 1963, p.15. Captain Haddock: "No... not you!... I'm talking to this pestilential parakeet!" This week's theme: words from Tintin comics. -------- Date: Mon Dec 29 00:03:26 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--precocious X-Bonus: Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a Zealous one asking what you can do for your country. -Kahlil Gibran, 1883-1931 [The New Frontier] pre.co.cious a. [L. praecox, -ocis, and praecoquus, fr. praecoquere to cook or ripen beforehand; prae before + coquere to cook. See 3d Cook, and cf. Apricot.] 1. Ripe or mature before the proper or natural time; early or prematurely ripe or developed; as, precocious trees. 2. Developed more than is natural or usual at a given age; exceeding what is to be expected of one's years; too forward; -- used especially of mental forwardness; as, a precocious child; precocious talents. "It dealt with two sisters, Mrs Slater and Mrs Jordan, their husbands, Henry Slater and Ben Jordan, and the precocious girl, Victoria Slater,..." As a Guest Wordsmith for this week, I'd like to feature words from my own novels. I write because it's my form of self-expression. Nothing gives me quite the same high as seeing an article or story that's flowing smoothly. I mostly concentrate on humorous writing, mainly because I feel that there are too many people writing deep, profound articles, and too few people concentrating on humour. -Maya Chandrasekaran (mcshekarATgiasbg01.vsnl.net.in) (Maya published her first novel with HarperCollins India at age 13. So far she has published four novels and numerous short stories and articles. She goes to college in Bangalore, India. -Anu) -------- Date: Tue Dec 30 00:03:24 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--condescend X-Bonus: Go often to the house of thy friend, for weeds choke the unused path. -Ralph Waldo Emerson con.de.scend v.i. [ME condescenden, fr. OF condescendre, fr. LL condescendere : L com-, intensive pref.; see com- + descendere, to descend; see descend.] 1. To descend to the level of one considered inferior; lower oneself. See Synonyms at stoop1. 2. To deal with people in a patronizingly superior manner. "Namrata didn't even condescend to look at her." This week's theme: Words from Maya Chandrasekaran's novel "Changes at the Manor." -------- Date: Wed Dec 31 00:03:24 EST 1997 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--oblivious X-Bonus: If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come. -Chinese Proverb ob.liv.i.ous a. [L.obliviosus: cf.F. oblivieux.] 1. Promoting oblivion; causing forgetfulness. 2. Evincing oblivion; forgetful. "They were getting quite worried when the class council and the teachers appeared, with the two sinners in tow, who had, apparently, been drinking juice, quite happily oblivious of the time." This week's theme: Words from Maya Chandrasekaran's novel "Changes at the Manor."