Thursday 13

These are words from my Shorter Oxford Dictionary, which comes in two volumes. They're chosen at random, using today's day (2nd page, 11th word, hour of day as I work on this, etc.) and the open-the-page-put-a-finger-down style.

1. ABA. abbreviation. American Boxing Association. American Bar Association, American Bookseller's Association (I prefer the last abbreviation, myself!)

2. Kinaesthesia - the faculty of being aware of the position and movement of parts of the body, by means of sensory nerves (proprioceptors) within the muscles, joints, etc.,; the sensation producing such awareness.  (I guess that is like when you're suddenly aware of your tongue. Are you now aware of your tongue?)

3. Paralyse (I think we normally spell it paralyze.) - (1) Wound. (2) Deprive of the power to act; make powerless, helpless, inactive, or ineffective, halt the normal activity of (a factory, community, etc.) (3) Affect with paralysis. (My entire community was paralyzed by the announcement that historic structures would be moved to make way for an industrial prospect building.) 

4. Galore - adverb: in plenty; abundantly. noun: A plentiful supply of. (I have taken pills galore in the last 10 days because of an upper respiratory infection.)

5. Veilleuse - (French). A small and usually highly decorative night-light or night-lamp. Also, a small decorative bedside foot warmer, usu. with an enclosed burner under a bowl or teapot, and made of pottery or porcelain so as to give out some light. (Here's a link to a picture of the teapot kind, if you want to see what that looks like. Go check out your kid's nightlight to see that. )

6. Screamy - Given to screaming; having a screaming voice or sound, violent or exaggerated in expression, color, etc. (The night owl's screech was screamy and scary.)

7. Hyperbola - A conic section consisting of two identical curves formed where a plane intersects . . . (Ok, that's math, so enough of that definition!)

8. Qualified - (1) adj. Posessing qualities or qualifications fitting or necessary for a certain office, function, or purpose. (2) Capable of doing or being something., esp. by law or custom. (3) Possessing certain qualities. (4) Belonging to the upper classes of society (obsolete). (Are any of the current nominees in 2016 qualified to be President of the United States?)

9. Distortion - (1) The action or an act of distorting or twisting out of shape. (2) The actin of perverting words, facts., etc. from their nature interpretation or intent. (3) A distorted form or image. (4) The process of converting repressed elements to an acceptable form before they are presented to the conscious or dreaming mind (that's an interesting definition).  (The psychiatrist distorted the memories pulled from hypnosis before telling the patient what she had learned.) (Did I use that correctly?)

10. Trump - (1) a playing card of a suit ranking above the others. (2) An obstruction, a hindrance. (3) An admirable, excellent, or reliable person. (Well, that explains some things I wasn't understanding before. Hmm. A little psychiatric distortion going on in the minds of the populace, eh?) (His ace trumped my jack and I lost the card game.)

11. Joget - a popular Malay dance in which the dancers improvise to music; a place where such dancing occurs. (Here's a link to a video of that kind of dance. It's like line dancing.)

12. Operon - a unit of linked genes which is believed to regulate other genes responsible for protein synthesis. (Yikes.)

13. Miswrite - Write incorrectly or by mistake. (I miswrite when I am sleepy; when I read it in the morning I wonder what I was thinking.)


Whew. That's actually kind of difficult, looking up all those words before 8 a.m. on a Thursday! :-) But I have increased my knowledge for the day!

_____________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 434rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.