couturier (kōō-TŎŎR-ē-ər) Definition (Noun) A male dressmaker or fashion designer. In Context "The couturier, today the god of women's fashion, came into existence only in the final decades of the nineteenth century." Joan DeJean, The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafés, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour, 2005.
Doilies Jacqueline Bishop In the house off Constant Spring Road, the one with the short spreading Julie mango tree in the front yard, the lime tree with their dark green leaves and delicate white flowers; the palm-sized burnt orange hibiscuses, poisonous butter yellow allamandas, I remember, I remember, how my mother’s hands kept moving as she produced one white crochet doily after another. The slender silver hook and the fragile symmetry. A Ford Escort was parked in the garage of that house. Oil-slicked men tried stealing that powder blue Ford Escort one night as we slept uneasily in the house— Discussions began immediately about leaving one [...]
Oracle Jacqueline Johnson for Gloria Foster Neo and Morpheus are looking for you in between the in between. You sit like any wise woman, sister in your kitchen. Forget the walnut wood table, platter of cookies against a corner wall like some kind of altar where all truth is dispensed. No time to play with cowrie shells, tea leaves, coins, objects of performance; no time for ritual either. You stand cooking much of nothing, offering neither tea nor directions to the way. What light can you shine into brilliance of an overly lit sky? Just cookies. You offer fresh from the [...]
prestidigitation (prĕs-tĭ-dĭj-ĭ-TĀ-shən) Definition (Noun) Sleight of hand, legerdemain; conjuring. In Context "But like a magician who focuses his audience's attention on one hand while performing feats of prestidigitation with the other, Ponzi knew that the details of the transactions were less interesting than the promised results." Mitchell Zuckoff, Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend, 2005.
Word of the Week: tomfoolery (tŏm-FŌŌ-lə-rē) Definition (Noun) The action or behavior of a tom-fool; foolish or absurd action; silly trifling. In Context “‘She’s gadding off somewhere with Diana, writing stories or practicing dialogues or some such tomfoolery, and never thinking once about the time or her duties.’” Lucy Maud Montgomery, Ann of Green Gables, 1908.
Haiku Geoffrey Philp Between Babylon and the sea, I’ve built a home with the sea’s whispers. Copyright © 2024 by Geoffrey Philp. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 5, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.
Balance Anton Nimblett slides were my favorite. one in Irving Park, one on a hillside in Claxton Bay, under canopy of trees, part slide, part tunnel— but I’m thinking of the seesaw today one on a hillside in Claxton Bay— lever, a simple machine of sides shifting. I’m thinking of that seesaw today: balance, lifting weight and lowering lever, a simple machine of sides shifting. battered dry good scale in Pa Lee’s shop balance, lifting weight and lowering, doing the magic of measuring, making even— battered dry good scale in Pa Lee’s shop one demi-bowl, one shelf, round [...]
fustigate (FUSS-tuh-gayt) Definition to beat with or as if with a short heavy club : cudgel to criticize severely In Context "Ontario Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt…fustigated them all, effectively characterizing the charges against Duffy as an abuse of power. " Neil Macdonald, CBC.ca, 23 Apr. 2016
A Tale for the Time Being (2013) by Ruth Ozeki Critical Evaluation "Whenever the word "time" comes up —“wasting time,”“about time,” “in time” — the reader must stop and think about the many angles of approach to that subject in Ruth Ozeki’s delightful yet sometimes harrowing new novel, “A Tale for the Time Being.” “Ozeki takes on big themes in “A Tale for the Time Being” — not just the death of individuals but also the death of the planet. In doing so, she ranges widely, drawing in everything from quantum mechanics and the theory of infinite possibilities in an infinite [...]
Word of the Week: opusculum (oh-PUSK-yuh-lum) Definition (noun) a minor work (as of literature) — usually used in plural In Context "[Maria] Artamonova offers short summaries of most of Tolkien's satellite opuscula in roughly their order of composition—The Father Christmas Letters, Roverandom, Mr. Bliss, Farmer Giles of Ham, "Leaf by Niggle," and Smith of Wootton Major." Jason Fisher, Mythlore, 22 Sept. 2016
