vatic VAT-ik, adjective:
Of or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy; prophetic; oracular.

Vatic comes from Latin vates, “a prophet, a soothsayer, a seer.”

I’ve heard that the Mir space station was being consumed by a mysterious steel- and plastic-eating space fungus and that this was why whole sections of it were closed off. Is there any truth to this? If so, does this mean, now that Mir has reentered the atmosphere, that the Earth has been exposed to this plague from space?
Continue reading the straight dope on space fungus →

longueur long-GUR, noun:
A dull and tedious passage in a book, play, musical composition, or the like.

Longueur is from French (where it means “length”), ultimately deriving from Latin longus, “long,” which is also the source of English long.

spoliation spo-lee-AY-shun noun

1. The act of pillaging and plundering.
2. Seizure of neutral ships at sea in time of war.
3. The deliberate destruction or alteration of a document.

From Middle English, from Latin spoliation, past participle of spoliare, from spoil.

riposte rih-POST, noun:
1. A quick thrust given after parrying an opponent’s lunge in fencing.
2. A quick and effective reply by word or act.

Riposte derives from Italian risposta, “an answer,” from rispondere, “to answer,” from Latin respondere, “to promise in return, to answer,” from re- + spondere, “to promise.”

fetial FEE-shuhl adjective, also fecial

Relating to declarations of war and treaties of peace.

From Latin fetialis, a member of Roman college of priests, who performed the rites in such matters.

solecism SAH-luh-siz-um, noun:

1. A nonstandard usage or grammatical construction; also, a minor blunder in speech.
2. A breach of good manners or etiquette.
3. Any inconsistency, mistake, or impropriety.

Solecism comes from Latin soloecismus, from Greek soloikizein, “to speak incorrectly,” from soloikos, “speaking incorrectly,” literally, “an inhabitant of Soloi,” a city in ancient Cilicia where a dialect regarded as substandard was spoken.

Synonyms: bad grammar, faulty grammar; slip of the pen, slip of the tongue; lapsus linguae; impropriety.

louche LOOSH, adjective:
Of questionable taste or morality; disreputable or indecent; dubious; shady.

Louche is from French louche, “shady, suspicious,” from Old French losche, “squint-eyed,” from Latin luscus, “one-eyed.”

casus belli KAY-suhs BEL-y, BEL-ee noun, plural casus belli

An action or event that causes or is used to justify starting a war.

From New Latin casus belli, from Latin casus, occasion, belli, genitive of bellum, war.

tirade TY-raid; tih-RAID, noun:
A long angry speech; a violent denunciation; a prolonged
outburst full of censure or abuse.

Tirade comes from French, from Italian tirada, properly, “a
pulling”; hence, “a lengthening out, a long speech, a tirade,”
from tirare, “to pull, to draw.”

suberic soo-BEHR-ik adjective

Of or pertaining to cork.

[From French suberique, from Latin suber, cork.]

As in: The vinyard overseer went on a suberic tirade when the last batch of bottles turned to vinegar, due to improper sealing.

cudgel KUH-juhl, noun:
A short heavy stick used as a weapon; a club.

transitive verb:
To beat with or as if with a cudgel.

Cudgel derives from Old English cycgel.

The Grand Vizier Kuprili of Constantinople, for example,… closed the city’s coffeehouses. Anyone caught drinking coffee was soundly cudgeled.
–-Mark Pendergrast, Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World

You know, I’d trade a good whomp for some 7-11 coffee right about now.