Milquetoast (noun, adjective) – The word milquetoast (MILK-tohst) defines a very timid, unassertive, spineless person.As used in today’s journal entry: “Now I feel mired in a milquetoast existence that slowly rusts my soul away.”
Bamboozle (verb) – To bamboozle (bam-BOO-zuhl) is to deceive by trickery, deception, flattery, etc. As used by Walter Lippman: “Successful politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies.”
Crapulous (adjective) – Crapulous (KRAP-yuh-lus) means intemperate; marked by gross excess in drinking or eating. As used by Jack Kerouac: “Oh little Cody Pomeray if there had been some way to send a cry to you even when you were too little to know what utterances and cries are for in this dark sad earth, with your terrors in a world so malign and inhospitable, and all the insults from heaven ramming down to crowd your head with anger, pain, disgrace, worst of all the crapulous poverty in and out of every splintered door of days….”
Evince (verb) – To evince (ih-VINS) is to show clearly; prove. As used by Samuel Adams: “Let us awaken then, and evince a different spirit, a spirit that shall inspire the people with confidence in themselves and in us….”
Sequester (verb) – To sequester (sih-KWES-ter) is to segregate; set apart. As used by Paul Dini: “To overcome any form of adversity, to not give up, to not give up on yourself, your dreams, to not sequester yourself away from people – that’s the most important thing to do with your life.”
Ubiquitous (adjective) – Ubiquitous (yoo-BIK-wih-tus) means existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time. As I used it today: “Note to people worried about the end of American culture. It won’t happen because it is already ubiquitous. It’s not high culture… but, hey, it’s American.”
Impedimenta (noun) – Impedimenta (im-ped-uh-MEN-tuh) is baggage of any kind that impedes progress. As used by David Roberts: “When you sling a saddle atop a llama’s back, just after he’s rolled in the dirt to scratch the unscratchable tickle of having lugged an ungrateful hiker’s 90 pounds of impedimenta another eight miles along the trail, you’re struck by how matted, coarse, and snarly the wool seems. But that’s why it makes for versatile outdoor wear.”
Linguaphile (noun) – A linguaphile (LING-wuh-file) is a language and word lover. As used by Judith Strauss: “I never met a linguaphile I didn’t like.”
Viva voce (adverb) –(vye-vuh VOH-see) means by word of mouth; orally rather than in writing. As used by Alexander Graham Bell: “Grand telegraphic discover today… Transmitted vocal sounds for the first time… With some further modification I hope we may be enabled to distinguish… the ‘timbre’ of the sound. Should this be so, conversation viva voce by telegraph will be a fait accompli.”
Evenfall (noun) – Evenfall (EE-vuhn fawl) is twilight; dusk. As used by George Allan England in Darkness and Dawn: “Haze drew its veils across the world, and the air grew brown with evenfall.”