HOME | DICTIONARY | FUNNY STUFF | RANTINGS | TECH | COURTSHIP | PUBLISHED

NANCYisms

This guide is provided as a means at aiding the effort of comprehending a conversation with Nancy.

better to be over the hill, than under the hill

A phrase suggesting that the subject is better old than dead.

can't see the forest for the trees

A phrase suggesting that the subject is focusing on minute details, rather than looking at the big picture.

ecumenical

Pronunciation: "e-ky&-'me-ni-k&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Late Latin oecumenicus, from Late Greek oikoumenikos, from Greek oikoumenE the inhabited world, from feminine of oikoumenos, present passive particle of oikein to inhabit, from oikos house
Date: circa 1587
1 : worldwide or general in extent, influence, or application
2 a : of, relating to, or representing the whole of a body of churches b : promoting or tending toward worldwide Christian unity or cooperation
- ec·u·men·i·cal·ly  /-k(&-)lE/ adverb

harpy

Pronunciation: 'här-pE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural harpies
Etymology: Latin Harpyia, from Greek
Date: 1513
1 capitalized : a foul malign creature in Greek mythology that is part woman and part bird
2 a : a predatory person : LEECH b : a shrewish woman

kafuffle

Chaotic situation; fuss; sometimes an argument.

kerfuffle

Pronunciation: k&r-'f&-f&l
Function: noun
Etymology: alteration of carfuffle, from Scots car- (probably from Scottish Gaelic cearr wrong, awkward) + fuffle to become disheveled
Date: 1946
chiefly British : DISTURBANCE, FUSS

luddite

Pronunciation: 'l&-"dIt
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from Ned Ludd, 18th century Leicestershire workman who destroyed machinery
Date: 1811
: one of a group of early 19th century English workmen destroying laborsaving machinery as a protest; broadly : one who is opposed to especially technological change
- Luddite adjective

pedantic

Pronunciation: pi-'dan-tik
Function: adjective
Date: circa 1600
1: of, relating to, or being a pedant
2: narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned
3: UNIMAGINATIVE, PEDESTRIAN
- pe·dan·ti·cal·ly /-'dan-ti-k(&-)lE/ adverb

peon

Pronunciation: 'pE-"än, -&n also pA-'On for 2, British also 'pyün for 1
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural peons or pe·o·nes /pA-'O-nEz/
Etymology: Portuguese peão & French pion, from Medieval Latin pedon-, pedo foot soldier
Date: 1609
1 : any of various workers in India, Sri Lanka, or Malaysia: as a : INFANTRYMAN b : ORDERLY
2 [Spanish peón, from Latin pedon-, pedo] : a member of the landless laboring class in Spanish America
3 plural peons a : a person held in compulsory servitude to a master for the working out of an indebtedness b : DRUDGE, MENIAL

vamoose

Pronunciation: v&-'müs, va-
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): vaúmoosed; vaúmoosúing
Etymology: Spanish vamos let us go, suppletive 1st plural imperative (from Latin vadere to go) of ir to go, from Latin ire
Date: 1840
: to depart quickly