Wednesday 20 June 2018

Words

It is a while since I did a post about 'new' or interesting words I have come across recently.  So here are a few...

Manichaeism
noun
a dualistic religious system with Christian, Gnostic, and pagan elements, founded in Persia in the 3rd century by Manes ( c. 216– c. 276) and based on a supposed primeval conflict between light and darkness. It was widespread in the Roman Empire and in Asia, and survived in eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang) until the 13th century.
To be Manichean is to follow the philosophy of Manichaeism, which  breaks everything down into good or evil. ... If you believe in the Manichean idea of dualism, you tend to look at things as having two sides that are opposed.

Sophistry
noun
Specious but fallacious reasoning.  The employment of arguments which are intentionally deceptive.

Frowst
verb
To lounge about in a warm stuffy atmosphere.
noun
A warm stuffy atmosphere.
"I've got better things to do that frowst in bed on a morning like this."  P G Wodehouse "The Luck of the Bodkins"

Gibber
verb  (pronounced jibber)
To speak rapidly and unintelligibly; typically through fear or shock.  (Hence  -
Gibberish
noun
Unintelligible or meaningless speech or writing; nonsense.

Duologue
noun
A play, or part of a play, with speaking parts for only two actors.

Thrimilce
noun
Old English word for the month of May.  It meant three milks - the season when you could milk cows three times between sunrise and sunset. 




8 comments:

  1. I hate-love definitions consisting of other words that I have to look up as well! (LOL) - had to check specious and fallacious (actually I think I've heard sophistry but not sure I ever heard specious!)
    Frowst was a surprise (sounds to me like the opposite of what it means)
    Gibberish I knew, duologue I could guess at; thrimilce I'm pretty sure I've never come across!!!
    I may have seen Manichaeism mentioned in some theological context but would not be able to explain it...

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  2. That photo is a treasure! Truly a step way back in time.

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  3. I knew some of this, but definitely have never heard Thrimilce before. It sounds like an illness. "My thrimilce is particularly bad today, I'm afraid."

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  4. Oh, to milk three cows between sunrise and sunset.
    Have you ever milked a cow? I did once, it is not as easy as it looks. Or may be, that is just me and my lack of skills.
    Interesting words!

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  5. Fascinating stuff! I have frowsted and gibbered often over the years... oh, to be a cat during Thrimilce...!!

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  6. It’s been a long time since comparative religion class, i hadn’t heard anything about the Manichaens in years. My thought is they were too simplistic.

    Nice list of words!

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  7. Those are very interesting. The only one I really knew was Gibber..as in Gibberish..probably because that describes my blog! Ha! Now to use all those in a sentence tomorrow! Take care John!

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