theWORDjunkie

… more bullshit than a cattle ranch …

Perdition

Root: Latin, per-dare, meaning to destruction and put.

Definition: A state of eternal punishment and damnation in the after-life.

Examples:

  1. He was sure that his sinful ways had paved his path to perdition.
  2. The willful raping of Earth’s resources and our negligent pollution are creating a future perdition for the human race.

twj says:

A cheeky word this. Powerful. Of course, a word like this is going to be appropriated by the Abrahamic religions. A nice twist is to use the word to describe a current state of affairs, suggesting the damnation is wrought on ourselves through our actions or inactions.

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Loth | Loath

Root: Old English, lath, meaning hostile, spiteful.
Definition: Reluctant, unwilling.

Examples:

  1. The Prime Minister was loth to let petrol prices rise once again with elections on the horizon.
  2. He was loth to spend another night in this damned house, with these damned in-laws.

twj says:

This word can also be spelt Loath, but we’re all for brevity here at theWORDjunkie.com.
I’m not happy with the definition that the dictionary proffers. I’d never use the word loth to indicate reluctancy. And to synonomise* it with the word unwilling is injust. Loth carries a strong emotion with it when it’s used. I wouldn’t say, “She was reluctant to part with her baby”, I’d say, “She was loth to part with her baby”. Feel me? It’s obvious from the root of the word.
What do you think?

* Yes, I just verbed an adjective. My meaning is, “To make a word synonymous with another.” I imagine it popping up in conversation like this, “Don’t you synonomise me with that piece of trash!”

Of course, it is very close to the word sodomise.

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Quandary

Root: Perhaps from Latin, quando, meaning when.

Definition: A state of uncertainty or puzzlement/perplexity about how to proceed in a difficult situation.

Examples:

  1. Now that Lara had split up with her boyfriend, she was in a quandary with regard to whether she should tell him about the baby.
  2. I can never decide. Everything is so difficult, I’m always in a quandary.

twj says:

The root of this word is not known for certain, and that’s a pity. I’d love for it to refer to a well-known historical incident involving an elephant and a castle tower in a town called Quandary in the south of France. But alas, its roots are to remain hidden in the darkness of time.

It’s not quite synonymous with the term dilemma, though it shares a similar notion. Dilemma has more of a dichotomous feeling to it, either/or, whereas Quandary refers, in my mind, to the state a person experiences when faced with a difficult situation. One could be in a quandary over a dilemma, but not in a dilemma over a quandary. I’m sure it’s possible, but we’d have to puzzle and piece that one together. Can anyone give an example of being in a dilemma over a quandary?

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Fulminate

Root: Latin, fulminat–, struck by lightning

Definition: To explode violently (emotionally or medically).

Examples:

  1. The introduction of a tax on sex would certainly give rise to nation-wide fulmination.
  2. Tests would have revealed the fulminating appendicitis in time to save the patient.
  3. He fulminates against capitalism and globalism whenever politics arise in a conversation.

twj says:

I found this in the dictionary: The earliest sense was [to denounce formally,] and later [issue formal censures] (originally said of the pope).

I guess the early sense implied that being struck by lightning was a direct message from Zeus saying no. He he. I like it, and I guess I’d take it that way too.

In proclaiming himself greater than god many feared he risked divine fulmination.

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