Wednesday, September 2, 2009

the Word for Thursday

And it's a lovely word..obfuscate, a verb, 1 a : darken b : to make obscure <obfuscate the issue>, 2 : confuse <obfuscate the reader>


Obfuscated code is source code in a computer programming language that has been made difficult to understand. Programmers may deliberately obfuscate code to conceal its purpose, to deter reverse engineering, or as a puzzle or recreational challenge for readers.


I suppose you could say to someone..please don't be so obfuscatory, using it as an intransitive verb..of course you're likely to get a blank stare or equally disdainful response. In essence, it's making something more difficult to understand than is necessary.

OMG Mythical chupacabra found

chupacabra

It really does exist! Maybe! The famed chupacabra has apparently been found, and it's a Texan.
Or at least it was. The beast is now dead, but news of its capture near Blanco, Texas, inspired Bigfoot-sized searches. Lookups on "chupacabra" surged a whopping 571%, and related queries on "what does chupacabra mean" also roared. (For the record, its rough translation is "goat sucker.") The find also inspired renewed interest in the equally notorious Montauk Monster.
Jerry Ayer, owner of Blanco Taxidermy School, has possession of the mythical beast's body. According to CNN, the animal was discovered by one of Ayer's students. The student had "placed poison...to catch an unidentified animal that had gotten into a family member's barn." Little did the student know the animal in question was (maybe) the chupacabra.
In the video from CNN (which is pretty gross, so beware), Ayer shows off some of the unusual features of the animal, including abnormally long legs and teeth. It looks a bit like the world's ugliest (and meanest) dog.
Of course, this is hardly the first time someone has claimed to have captured the chupacabra. In years past, brave souls have spotted it in places ranging from Russia to Maine to the Philippines. Often the animal is spotted by folks who conveniently forget to snap a photo.
Not so this time. Ayer says he plans to preserve the animal and then donate it to a local museum so it can be enjoyed by others. As the taxidermist puts it, the beast is "a tremendous conversation piece." Sort of like the Mona Lisa or a really stellar collection of garden gnomes.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2009/09/01/roldan.chupacabra.KSAT?iref=videosearch

new feature..the Daily Word

I am a long-time lover of words. I love the way a word can express an intonation of thought in much the same way that artists create a slightly different color to express what they want. For me, etymology has always held a definite fascination; how words evolve, how they become more or less popular and the degree to which they are used.

To that end, I will try to bring forth a new word each day. Expect that these won't be your typical, run-of-the-mill words. My mind does not work that way..LOL. Speaking of which and forgive the aside but, when will the 'word' LOL appear in spoken language; when someone will actually say those three letters in response to something humorous? And isn't it interesting that as books have become more expensive, newspaper readership has suffered a steep drop-off, the proliferation of internet created words enjoys a lot of growth and along with it the abreviations such as 'omg', 'tmi' and 'btw' to name a couple of the more kind ones.

So without further ado I give you today's word with a definition and most often the derivation and application of that word.

Absquatulate, meaning to make off, decamp, or abscond, to get up and depart quickly. So with that, please forgive but I must blow this popcorn stand or to use today's word..I must now absquatulate forthwith.

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