Guess the Definition

Vorondil said:

Here's a word:


Spifflicate.

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Is this an action which is strictly associated with a particular occupation?

Is this a modern word; i.e. a made up word of the 20th or 21st C.?

david_wendelken said:

Here's a challenge that's a bit different. When I was editing my first book, I learned that I used the word 'looked' a bazillion or more times. I usually used it when I should have used one of these. I'm not interested in meanings that have nothing to do with the topic of "looked"

glance
look
glare
gawk
squint
see
gaze
stare
peer
view
watch
observe
behold
survey
inspect
regard
scrutinize
peep
glimpse
scan
spot
examine
peruse
ogle
gape
glower
gander

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Do you not own a Thesaurus?

Deimos said:

Do you not own a Thesaurus?

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Maybe you have always been such a fine writer that you always, from word one, use the perfect word for what you mean. Many of us are not. We struggle first to figure out what the story actually is, then we go back and tidy up the wording.

It's a word game to inspire people to learn more words that might help them with their writing, which is precisely where and why this thread was created.

david_wendelken said:

Maybe you have always been such a fine writer that you always, from word one, use the perfect word for what you mean. Many of us are not. We struggle first to figure out what the story actually is, then we go back and tidy up the wording.

It's a word game to inspire people to learn more words that might help them with their writing, which is precisely where and why this thread was created.

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I think perhaps Deimos was asking more out of curiosity than mockery. At least, that seems the more charitable assumption to me.

WatcherWraith said:

I think perhaps Deimos was asking more out of curiosity than mockery. At least, that seems the more charitable assumption to me.

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You are right, it would be the more charitable assumption.

I've been working my heart out to learn how to write and edit to a professional level of skill. It just went down wrong.

@Deimos, my apologies for taking offense.

david_wendelken said:

Maybe you have always been such a fine writer that you always, from word one, use the perfect word for what you mean. Many of us are not. We struggle first to figure out what the story actually is, then we go back and tidy up the wording.

It's a word game to inspire people to learn more words that might help them with their writing, which is precisely where and why this thread was created.

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What I was suggesting is.... maybe you should invest in a Thesaurus (Latin [orig. Greek] a treasury or treasure house)
And I'm not a writer, because I cannot write stories or papers or essays to save my life (which I realized in 3rd grade).**
But I am a reader, and not being able to write never prevented me from enriching my vocabulary.
I stumbled upon my first Thesaurus when I was 12, and got lost in it.
I was dumbfounded to discover there were so many different words and phrases(!) to describe one concept or action; and even foreign phrases.
And the antonyms! It even provided antonyms too! Better and better!

I was reading other stuff, mostly fiction and of that mostly SF. But from that point on I always had the Thesaurus at hand to browse through.
Not to assist me in what I was reading--that was what a dictionary was for (and also close at hand)--- but just for fun, for the sheer joy of learning so many different words and expressions. And being 12-13 (tho' maybe not quite a tabula rasa) a lot of those words and phrases stuck.
Indeed it was from "reading the Thesaurus" I later decided to learn Latin.
Really, you will find having access to one very helpful.

** I had a love-hate relationship with all the Lit classes I took in HS and College. Loved reading the works, hated having to write anything about them.
Assigmnent: "Compare and contrast the characters of Petruchio and Lucentio". Ummm... No, I don't think I will.

Ashley said:

Does it relate in any way to liquids?

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No.

WatcherWraith said:

Is this an action which is strictly associated with a particular occupation?

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No.

Deimos said:

Is this a modern word; i.e. a made up word of the 20th or 21st C.?

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Nope. It first appeared in 1749.

Vorondil said:

No.

No.

Nope. It first appeared in 1749.

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I haven't a clue about this. I can't even make out one thing about the etymology.
So... throwing in the towel. 😕

Deimos said:

I haven't a clue about this. I can't even make out one thing about the etymology.

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It has no etymology, it was invented around the mid-18th century and was intended to sound like it had Latin roots.

Deimos said:

So... throwing in the towel. 😕

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I don't think anyone else will get it either, so here's the meaning of spifflicate:

Treat roughly or severely; destroy.
e.g. "the mosquito was spifflicated"

Actually, Holmes, I did look it up after I threw in the towel.
One of the usage examples given was by Dorothy L. Sayers, author of the Lord Peter Whimsy mysteries.
From Have His Carcase (445): "Don’t you see [...] that it completely busts up and spifflicates the medical evidence?"

Vorondil said:

Treat roughly or severely; destroy.
e.g. "the mosquito was spifflicated"

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Aha! Second cousin to "squished"!
Truly a funny word :]

Vorondil said:

I don't think anyone else will get it either,

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Don't feel bad about it taking us a while; sometimes we find a word which requires much more stretching of our brains than we anticipated. Such puzzles can be quite good for us! Nevertheless, it is ultimately up to the Word-Giver when to unfurl the riddle and dazzle our eyes with the word's meaning. Thank you for playing :>

Someone else can have a go.

For the record, I have a thesaurus embedded in my word processor. I use two different online ones. I have a general purpose printed one and ten - count'em ten - specialty ones in printed format. I bought those ten the moment I discovered they were available.

But I won't take offense at your suggestion; I'll take it as a compliment. I mean, how many people can produce a list of similar words this long without at least one thesaurus?

glance
look
glare
gawk
squint
see
gaze
stare
peer
view
watch
observe
behold
survey
inspect
regard
scrutinize
peep
glimpse
scan
spot
examine
peruse
ogle
gape
glower
gander

Writing is hard. Writing well is orders of magnitude harder. It requires both training and practice. And it requires editing. Lots of editing.
Every writer's process may be different. They have to find what works for them. I've found that I first need to "worry about the story" before I "worry about the word choice". If I try to write perfect prose when I don't quite know what the story is, I make slow progress. As I edit more, I find that my first word choice is correct more and more often. Many other writers have discovered the same thing for themselves.

david_wendelken said:

For the record, I have a thesaurus embedded in my word processor. I use two different online ones. I have a general purpose printed one and ten - count'em ten - specialty ones in printed format. I bought those ten the moment I discovered they were available.

Writing is hard. Writing well is orders of magnitude harder. It requires both training and practice. And it requires editing. Lots of editing.
Every writer's process may be different. They have to find what works for them. I've found that I first need to "worry about the story" before I "worry about the word choice". If I try to write perfect prose when I don't quite know what the story is, I make slow progress. As I edit more, I find that my first word choice is correct more and more often. Many other writers have discovered the same thing for themselves.

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I'll take your word for it.
As I said I'm not a writer so any explanation/exposition of writing techniques is lost on me.

Vorondil said:

It has no etymology, it was invented around the mid-18th century and was intended to sound like it had Latin roots.

I don't think anyone else will get it either, so here's the meaning of spifflicate:

Treat roughly or severely; destroy.
e.g. "the mosquito was spifflicated"

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How utterly spifflicating!

david_wendelken said:

Here's a challenge that's a bit different. When I was editing my first book, I learned that I used the word 'looked' a bazillion or more times. I usually used it when I should have used one of these. I'm not interested in meanings that have nothing to do with the topic of "looked"

glance
look
glare
gawk
squint
see
gaze
stare
peer
view
watch
observe
behold
survey
inspect
regard
scrutinize
peep
glimpse
scan
spot
examine
peruse
ogle
gape
glower
gander

Click to expand...

Do you feel comfortable explaining what each of these mean, and how they differ from one another?

david_wendelken said:

Do you feel comfortable explaining what each of these mean, and how they differ from one another?

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I look forward to giving it a shot, as soon as I have the time to do so.
Currently I'm working a long shift, and it's a busy day, but later I'll see what I can do! :}

david_wendelken said:

Do you feel comfortable explaining what each of these mean, and how they differ from one another?

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A number of them are nearly synonymous, e.g. watch, view, look; others describe a specific kind of "seeing", e.g., glower, ogle, scan, scrutinize, that comprehend a concomitant mental process.
Pretty sure I can differentiate most, if not all, of them.