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Epeolatry: Worship of words.

That’s about as obsure a word as you can find. The only reason I know about is from Anu Garg’s word of the day email. Every day I check my email and a handful of other sites for new and obscure words to explore. Given that I’ve just put out my list of words of the year, I decided it’d be a good time for a Word of the Day article. Below are websites that offer up a word (or a handful of words) every day for your linguaphilistic pleasures.

Dictionary.com: I’ve been checking this site every day for almost four years.
NYTimes
Wordsmith.org: This is Anu Garg’s site. They also have a word of the day email you can subscribe to. It’s consistantly well-written and informative.
Marriam-Webster: I don’t tend to care much for their popup advertizements.
Oxford English Dictionary
OneLook: This one is cool. It shows 5 of the words most often searched for on their dictionary.

If you have any more, send em my way!

Lucullan: adj, (esp. of banquets, parties, etc.) marked by lavishness and richness; sumptuous.

Welcome, good sir to the House of Licinius Luccullus. It’s not for nothing that feasts these days are described as Lucullan, or not. Would you like to see what is meant by that? Come, I will show you. And here, have some bread. You may choose a wine from any continent in the empire, as well.

In that dish there we have caviar, brought in by the general’s own fisherman. Delicious and fresh and I assure you. Beside that is the honeyed formice, fattened conger eels, camel’s foot and more. Giraffe and Flamingo will be brought out later.

And this, this is not to be missed. Lemons, apples, plums, pears, quinces, grapes, apricots, peaches, pomegranates, and cherries. Beside the artichokes and carrots are bowls of almonds, pistachios, and walnuts.

You are perhaps thinking this is too mundane for the great Luccullus and his feasts of renown? Yes. It is true. This is a very middling feast so far. He would perhaps serve this if a lesser diplomat of little repute and unpleasant demeanor was visiting, but today is quite special. I assure you the cranes, grouse, ducks, geese, and, the general’s favorite peacock, are all being cooked as we speak.

The general also greatly enjoys fish. They are being caught. The general demands his fish be as fresh as possible. The boats are likely arriving as we speak.

No, there are no other guests arriving. It is most unfortunate that you are not here during an actual feast. Today you will not be offered anything. It is true this is likely the finest feast you have ever seen. Pssht, likely. It is for my master, Luccullus has made it so. This is the finest of even his own fine feasts, but tonight he dines alone. Tonight Luccullus is to host Luccullus.

Another Word of the Day Story: Bivouac

noun:
1. An encampment for the night, usually under little or no shelter.

intransitive verb:
1. To encamp for the night, usually under little or no shelter.

Van Morrison is crooning another round of “Moondance”. It’s been playing on repeat for hours. The damn CD player is broke. What can you expect from a second-rate beater purchased from a chop shop in Tucson. It was damn lucky the car has even made it this far.
I’m turning out of the parking lot. Another day of work done, some freelance ‘jack-of-all-tradesing’ that has kept the car full of gas, my landlord off my ass, and enough change to buy Saltines and tequila. Bad habits both of them.
I’m not much used to the forest. Taller than builders, but none of the glass. Don’t really care for it. I always speed until I get to the lights of the town. During the day it’s small and not worth caring about, barely more than a gas station and a Home Depot, but at night it almost looks like Phoenix. No Carl’s Jr., though. It’s a damn shame, but I guess it doesn’t matter. That shit’s too expensive anyway.
Highway is always crowded. I’m not a fan. Can’t speed, can’t lag about, can’t even flash my brights when the signs are too small to read. It’s better past Newburgh. Not that many people go past that. It’s usually just me and a few 18-wheelers with Quebec plates. What the hell are the Canucks transporting all the time, anyway?
My exit. Last one before a long drive north. I’ll head that way one of these days. Me and my car will bivouac in Quebec for a bit, pretend we got the Oregon trail backwards. Probably wait till summer first. Car already grumbles about the cold. Landlord thinks he’s got me in a lease too. Whatever.
Not sure where I’d go after that. Keep going farther, one bridge at a time. We’ll see how that goes. Right now I’m just gonna enjoy the last few city lights. Might as well. Never know when you might not make it outta the forest.

Word of the Day is a little writing exercise I occasionally task myself with. I log into dictionary.com, go to the word of the day, and then write something using or about that word. Sometimes it’s a poem, sometimes a short story, sometimes just a little vignette. It’s been a useful exercise and tends to be a lot of fun. I wrote this particular article long before it got onto Wordpress, but the word of the day for this post is:

Limn: –verb (used with object)

1. to represent in drawing or painting.
2. to portray in words; describe.
3. Obsolete. to illuminate (manuscripts).

An interesting word.

The student sat beside the man-made pond and watched the geese sail aimlessly around the green algae that covered the surface. A stack of well-worn books sat precariously beside him, threatening with each gelid breeze to crumble onto the ground and crush the frosted grass. The student ignored them with frigid indifference.
He cautiously grabbed a drawing pad from the top and conjured a pencil out of his curly hair. His fingers limned the ducks and their irreverence, crafting beaks from parchment and sketching ruffled feathers with the side of the pencil. He moved onto the algae.
Flickers of crystal began to strike the page, leaving moist stains and faded charcoal. The student looked up. His cheek fizzled and he was retreat from the blizzard. Slowly and with a heavy sigh, the student closed his tablet, bowed to the ducks, and walked to class.

Hopefully this will be the first of many examples. Enjoy!