Special Events Best ShowSpecial Events March 10th show featuring The Blues Brothers was one of the most entertaining shows this season. The tribute band was a professional act with experienced entertainers who not only knew how to do a sound check but knew how to check the sound and feel of the audience, who quite…
A new Cruise. Click on the link for information about this trip to the British Virgin Islands, Barbados, Dominica and all the ocean you can look at. This ten day cruise is scheduled for January 2025. PastedGraphic-1
Raad Ra-ad Noun An electric catfish Ralph was shocked when it turned out he had caught a raad. I am not quite sure where raad are found, but the name comes from the Arabic word ra”ad, meaning threatener or striker, which still strikes me as an odd term for a fish.
Quoll Kwal Noun A small spotted marsupial found in Australia and New Guinea It is amazing that this species survives since the northern male quoll dies after mating a single time. This dates back to 1770 and comes from the Australian aboriginal language Guugu Yimidhirr word je-quoll for the little critters.
Pretermit pre·ter·mit A transitive verb To leave undone or neglect; To let pass without notice or to omit; To suspend indefinitely Shirley would never pretermit cleaning the litter boxes. This one goes back to the 15th Century!
Orthographer Or-thog-ra-fer Noun A person that is skilled in orthography; an expert speller Barbara once again proved she was an orthographer when she won the Spelling Bee for the third year in a row. It comes from late Latin, of course.
Napoo Na-poo Adjective A British slang term meaning finished, done, dead, over, terminated (you get the idea). Teresa May’s political career is napoo at this point. Oddly enough our cousins across the Atlantic somehow got this one from the French phrase il n’y en a plus , meaning it is done or over.
Murine Mu-rine Adjective Of, like, or pertaining to mice and/or rats The scientist was constantly constructing new and more elaborate mazes for the rats to run in the course of his studies of murine intelligence. Yes it’s ultimately from Latin and goes back to 1607 in English. I suspect London.
Lochetic Lo-chet-ic Adjective Lying in wait for prey or waiting in ambush There are many insects that display a lochetic attitude while hunting. We cobbled this one from late Greek word lochētikos, which came from lochan, meaning to lie in wait.
Knickknackatory or knick-knackatory Nick-nack-ato-ry Noun A repository or collection of knick-knacks. As Zelda started trying to dust her shelves, she realized her living room had become a knick-knackatory. Merriam Webster gives the word history as being a combination of knickknack and atory – which is pretty darned obvious.