There has been a suitably lengthy time between my WWW posts for me to have discovered some great ‘new to me’ words to share with you all – although, perhaps some of you are already familiar with my selection and it will be fun to know how you discovered them …
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1. – From coverage of our recent UK General Election campaign …
John Curtice, the UK’s most prominent psephologist and the man behind the general election exit poll, says there is not now “any way at all that the Conservatives can get to the 326 mark” and win an outright majority.
PSEPHOLOGIST – A person who studies how people vote in elections.
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2. – From a BBC local online news broadcast …
A 16-year-old boy who used a 45-letter word in Parliament has missed out on making a House of Commons record. Michael Bryan said the word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis at a Youth Select Committee meeting on 14 July. However, as it was not a parliamentary proceeding it will not be officially recorded in Hansard. MP Jacob Rees-Mogg’s use of 29-letter floccinaucinihilipilification in 2012 remains the longest recorded. A House of Commons spokeswoman said although Mr Bryan’s use of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis would not appear in Hansard, it would appear on the British Youth Council website.
PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS – An invented long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust.
FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION – The action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
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3. – From a book I have recently received for promotion and review …
Spike Sanguinetti walked alone up Engineer Road, scuffed leather briefcase swinging from one hand. His destination – Her Majesty’s Prison, Windmill Hill – had replaced the old gaol at the Moorish Castle, a medieval fortress whose crumbling walls had proven a little too porous to criminals intent on escape. Though it was under a mile from Spike’s office, most of the journey was uphill, and the levanter breeze laden with moisture from its passage up the Mediterranean, brought the usual film of sweat to his high tanned brow.
LEVANTER – An easterly wind in the W Mediterranean area, especially in the late summer
LEVANTER – An inhabitant of the Levant – The Levant has been described as the “crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and northeast Africa”, and the “northwest of the Arabian plate”. The populations of the Levant share not only the geographic position, but cuisine, some customs, and a very long history. They are often referred to as Levantines.
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WONDROUS WORDS WEDNESDAY
… Is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we have encountered in our reading. It is hosted by Kathy, over at ‘BermudaOnion’s Weblog’. You can either stop by and leave a link to your own ‘mystery’ words of the week, or just browse the eclectic mix of words that others have discovered, there is always a great selection.
Don’t forget that Kathy and the rest of us, all love to read your comments as well, so that we can visit and share your words of the week!
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