anachronism - [uh-nak-ruh-niz-uhm], noun

(definition via Dictionary.com)

because a lot of people get this wrong - it neither means genius, nor the opposite of genius. here’s what it really does mean…

Ingenious

1. (of a person) Clever, original, and inventive
2. (of a machine or idea) Cleverly and originally devised and well suited to its purpose.

Tiny Radio-Powered Device Swims Through Your Veins, Proves Scientists Wrong.

…The transmitter and the antenna connect magnetically, so any change in current flow from the transmitter produces voltage in the coiled-wire receiver, which powers the device. It’singenious.

—Jason Kennedy, PC World

(via Newswordy)

a word that is just really fun to say

persnickety \per-SNIK-i-tee\, adjective:

1. Overparticular; fussy.
2. Snobbish or having the aloof attitude of a snob.
3. Requiring painstaking care.

The point here is to make your animal understand that its upstairs neighbour is exceptionally persnickety about territory.

— Yann Martel, Life of Pi

Persnickety dates back to the late 1800s. It is a variant of the Scots word pernickety, which is of uncertain origin. Pernickety is perhaps related to other Scots words with the per- prefix, like perskeetwhich meant “fastidious.”

(via Dictionary.com)

pretty sure i’m just going to keep thinking it’s “douchedly” though

deucedly \DOO-sid-lee, adverb:

Devilishly; damnably.

When I went in I had seen that there was a deucedly pretty girl sitting in that particular seat, so I had taken the next one.
— P. G. Wodehouse, Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories

It’s most important. You will put me in a deucedly awkward position if you don’t.
— C. S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew

Deucedly is related to the word deuce which refers to the face of a die with one dot, as in “to roll deuces.” It comes from the Latin word for two, duos. In the mid-1600s, it became associated with bad luck, probably because it was the lowest score you could get when playing dice.

(via Dictionary.com)

i’ve been trying to commit this fucker to memory all week. figured it might help if i made it the word of the day 

remind you of anyone you know?

gasconade \gas-kuh-NEYD, noun:

1. Extravagant boasting; boastful talk.

verb:
1. To boast extravagantly; bluster.

The British officers laugh, because they are well armed and many, and Kemal’s men are pitifully few, but they enjoy and admire Kemal’s swashbuckling gasconade, and they let his party pass.
— Louis de Bernières, Birds Without Wings

The papers, barely days old, were full of boastful malarkey and gasconade, but of much more evident value when it came to information about the state of things in France, and in the local area.
— Dewey Lambdin, Troubled Waters

Gasconade originally referred to people who were from the Gascony region of southwest France, bordering Spain. Gascons reputedly boast and exaggerate their success, and their toponym took on a life of its own. It became common in English in the early 1700s.

(via Dictionary.com)

since i’m stuck in the woods and all

weald \weeld, noun:

1. Wooded or uncultivated country.
2. A region in SE England, in Kent, Surrey, and Essex counties: once a forest area; now an agricultural region.

I am tempted to give one other case, the well-known one of the denudation of the Weald.
— Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

And your advertisements must refer to the other, which is Great Willingden or Willingden Abbots, and lies seven miles on the other side of Battle. Quite down in the weald.
— Jane Austen, Sanditon

Related to the word wild, weald comes from the Old English word weald meaning “forest.”

(via Dictionary.com)

rankle \RANG-kuhl, verb:

1. To cause keen irritation or bitter resentment in.2. To continue to cause keen irritation or bitter resentment within the mind; fester; be painful.

She holds that scornful expression long enough to make sure I notice. I make believe I don’t. I try not to let it rankle me.— Joseph Heller, Something Happened

The section of it which chiefly rankled in Charteris’s mind, and which had continued to rankle ever since, was that in which the use of the word “buffoon” had occurred.— P. G. Wodehouse, Tales of St. Austin’s

Rankle has a complex history. It derives from the Middle English word rancler meaning “to fester” which is a derivative of draoncle, late Latin for “a sore” which itself comes from the Latin draco meaning “a serpent.”

(via Dictionary.com)

(the actual meaning of this word surprised me, since i had thought it to mean something slightly different - mainly, something along the lines of “irrelevant.” also, how  cruel is that last example sentence???)

moot \moot, adjective:

1. Open to discussion or debate; doubtful.
2. Of little or no practical value or meaning; purely academic.
3. Chiefly Law Not actual; theoretical; hypothetical.

verb:
1. To present or introduce (any point, subject, project, etc.) for discussion.
2. To reduce or remove the practical significance of; make purely theoretical or academic.
3. Archaic To argue (a case), especially in a mock court.

noun:
1. An assembly of the people in early England exercising political, administrative, and judicial powers.
2. An argument or discussion, especially of a hypothetical legal case.
3. Obsolete A debate, argument, or discussion.

“What do you mean, ‘moot’?” “I mean moot. It’s taken care of. The documents are notarized. I’m recouping my lawyer’s fees and that’s the end of it.”
— Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections

As for Maddy, my only point would be that a suitable age for dating becomes moot if nobody’s asking.
— Marion K. Douglas, Dance Hall Road

Moot is derived from the Old English gemot ”meeting.” The adj. senses of “debatable” and “not worth considering” arose from moot case, earlier simply moot (n.) “discussion of a hypothetical law case” (1530s), in law student jargon, in reference to students gathering to test their skills in mock cases.

(via Dictionary.com)