FANO

01.31.08 6:59 PM

n. a cape worn by the pope

found: while trying to find a hook for 'fan' in a non-challenge scrabulous game (i get to try words and see if they work)

also: is an alternate spelling of FANON

notes: I love surprise hooks. Send me any good ones you have.

KALEWIFE

01.30.08 3:33 PM

n. a female vegetable vendor

found: after seeing an eatmorekale.com bumpersticker

notes: This word reminded me of a T stop (public transportation) in Boston, which I looked up- ALEWIFE. No, it's not a female beer vendor. It's a marine fish. Makes for a good hook. That was a pun.

SHIRTY

01.30.08 11:25 PM

adj. angry

found: While listening to an book-on-CD by Robert Goddard. I think it's a British word?

also: Nice to know that 'shirt' can become an adjective.

QUINSY

Yes! Another page that randomly gets a lot of visits because, apparently, no one else has a webpage or blog post devoted to the word QUINSY. Well, you're welcome.

01.28.07 9:55 PM

n. an inflammation of the tonsils

found: on the National SCRABBLE Association website. They have a 'word of the day' feature.

also: I can't add anything that the NSA website hasn't already covered. Blana-grams? Whoa.

notes: Gotta love those Q words. Good to know quins has a hook.

(ed. note: I just discovered, nearly 3 years later, that QUINSIED is the adjective form of this word.)

STOURIE

If you googled STOURIE, you probably ended up on this page. Congratulations! Hopefully you also enjoy competitive scrabble, because that's what this blog is really about.

01.28.08 5:08 PM




adj. dusty

found: flipping through the OSPD 4. Words that are at the tops of the pages denoting the alphabetical span of words catch my eye.

also: alternate spellings: STOURY... root word is STOUR/ STOURE. plus, it can be an extension of OURIE (adj. shivering with cold)

notes: I like this word because a. it's 7 letters, and b. because it sort of looks like the word 'story'.. I'm hoping that will help me remember it.

KERMES

01.25.08 11:44 AM

n. a red dye

found: on a poster. see STYRAX.

also: plural is also KERMES. similar words, all with the same meaning: KERMES, KERMESSE, KERMIS (n. a festival)

notes: apparently there's a tree called the kermes oak. go Israel for having cool plant names! if you ever are staring at your rack and think 'kermit', this is the closest word group to that name. (which, by the way, is a way I learn new words- think of a name and look it up to see what it's close to.) but kermit is green. kermes is red.

GERMANE

01.24.08 4:35 PM

adj. relevant

also: similar words: GERMAN an elaborate dance, GERMEN something that serves as an origin

found: while reading a paperback... I feel like I should know this word, but have to confess that I didn't. As a bonus, I learned three new words at once.

notes: I find that learning words in groups (that is, alternate spellings of the same word, or similar words) is an easy way to learn more than one word at a time....

ICTIC

01.24.08 9:04 AM

adj. pertaining to a recurring stress or beat in a poetical form

also: from the word ICTUS

found: while studying a list of words with two i's at work. what, don't you study word lists?

notes: two c's and two i's? I'm sold. Couldn't find a pic for this one.

STYRAX

01.23.08 12:48 PM

n. a fragrant resin (from the styrax plant?)

also: spelled STORAX

found: while delivering mail to a jewish school; posters of Israeli plants on the door...

notes: I love words that: a. have only one vowel, and b. contain the letter x. Also of interest: both STY and RAX are valid words. Reminds me of the word SMILAX. Which I used to think was just something from a Batman movie.

OIDIOID

01.23.08 1:50 AM

adj. pertaining to a type of fungus

from: OIDIUM (plural- OIDIA)

found: While feeding my 6 month old daughter in the middle of the night and simultaneously observing a high-ranked game on isc.ro. Apparently it's the hip thing to choose a username that's an obscure/ unusual word.

notes: This has to be the coolest word I've encountered so far- I mean, it uses up three I's! I think if I'm ever able to play this in a game, I'll pee my pants.

Let's get started....

What is this that I'm doing? Well, I have a podcast, 'WORD UP: a scrabble podcast', that can be found on iTunes. This blog is a more frequent posting of words that I've learned that no normal person would use. However, SCRABBLE players will find them useful, and hopefully in a slightly entertaining setting. Stay tuned.