word of the day

bedaub: to smudge over; to besmear or soil with anything thick and dirty.

photographs by jeffrey milstein

bih.DOB.

 the patient's signature is less neat than usual, not only because of his agitated state but also, quite possibly, because the pen is so bedaubed  with chocolate that it slips through his fingers.
- marcel beyer, "the karnau tapes"

word of the day

kismet: destiny; fate

posters of the japanese avant-garde

KIZ.met

it's pure kismet when these two find each other.
- janet maslin, "the mighty': talents to make buddies

word of the day

verisimilitude: the appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true

paintings by kim manfredi

ver.uh.suh.MIL.uh.tood

 in an attempt to create verisimilitude, in addition to the 
usual vulgarities, the dialogue is full of street slang.
- wilborn hampton, "sugar down billie hoak'

word of the day

bumptious: crudely, presumptuously, or loudly self-assertive.

paintings by james jean

BUMP.shuhs

still a tremendous singer and a man so confident of his own sex appeal that he could make the most outrageously bumptious  behavior seem not only engaging but also entirely natural.

- david sinclair, "larger than life and twice as rocky"

word of the day

truckle: to yield or bend obsequiously to the will of another; to act in a subservient manner.

spanish graphic design from 1939 - 1975

TRUHK.uhl

only where there was a "defiance," a "refusal to truckle," a "distrust of all authority," 

they believed, would institutions "express human aspirations, not crush them."

- pauline maier, "a more perfect union", new york times

word of the day

largess: generous giving (as of gifts or money), often accompanied by condescension

lar.JES

photo by samuel bradley

 the recipients of johnson's largesse were understandably indifferent to what propelled him.
- robert dallek, flawed giant: lyndon johnson and his times

word of the day

prolix: extending to a great length; unnecessarily long; wordy

pro.LIKS.

it was a cumbersome book, widely criticized for being 

prolix in style and maddeningly circular in argument.

- simon winchester, "word imperfect", the atlantic, may 2001

word of the day

aver: to affirm with confidence; to declare in a  positive
manner, as in confidence of asserting the truth

photos by irena wening

 

 

 

 

uh.VUR.

although it was not quite true, as he liked to aver, that almost forty years passed
between his departure for germany and his eventual return to austria, he did
not hurry back to vienna after emigrating to the united states.

- patrick mcgilligan, fritz lang: the nature of the beast