Word of the day

WORD: scapegrace SKAYP-grayss (noun)

: A reckless, unprincipled person; one who is
wild and
reckless

SYNONYMS: * rascal
* scoundrel
* miscreant

WORD WISE: Scapegrace is from scape (a variant of
escape) +
grace.

QUOTE: "He is a happy-go-lucky scapegrace of a
boy, often a
younger brother, who, by the exercise of cunning
and a quick
tongue but, above all, by good luck, overtakes
his worthy
betters to rise from rags to riches and get the
girl as well.
--Roland Huntford, Nansen: The Explorer as Hero

BONUS WORD OF THE DAY: malinger muh-LING-guhr
(intransitive verb)

: To feign or exaggerate illness or inability in
order to
avoid duty or work.

Malinger derives from French malingre, "sickly,"
perhaps
from Old French mal, "badly" + heingre, "lean,
thin."



OBSCURE AND UNUSUAL WORDS
*************************

1) vraisemblance vray saan blaans (noun)
: the quality of seeming to be true or likely

Early 19th century. From French, literally
"true
appearance."

2) gobbledygook gobb'ldi gook (noun)
: language that is difficult or impossible to
understand,
especially either nonsense or long-winded
technical
jargon

Mid-20th century. An imitation of the sound
made by a
male turkey.