Wednesday Words

...a day late.

deipnosophist - someone skilled at table talk

jeremiad - a tale of sorrow, disappointment or complaint; derived from the French jeremiade after Jeremiah the prophet

bijouteie - a collection of trinkets or ornaments

grouse - (the verb, not the noun) to grumble, complain


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Today, I go to Toastmasters, and although I am scheduled to be vote counter today, not grammarian, I will ask to be the host of the word-of-the-day, a job of the grammarian. And guess what word I will share? Deipnosophist, someone skilled at table talk.

At every Toastmasters meeting, we have Table Topics in which an assigned person asks three people to answer a question about the topic of the day. Last week the topic was seafood. I am not good at extemporaneous speaking. At all. I think better when I am at the computer typing. But last week, I won Table Topics with my little story of an experience my sister and I had eating seafood, langoustines, to be exact, at the beach. It was a hilarious event at which we still get so tickled we cannot speak for laughing. I would like to get more adept at communicating off the top of my head--one reason for going to Toastmasters.

So today I will share my new-found word, deipnosophist. (FYI, it is pronounced dipe-NOS-uh-fist.) Since we also have a word card visible during Toastmasters, I typed and printed this on cardstock and have had it sitting on my desk all week to take to the meeting. Because I have seen the word several times a day and cannot help but say the word when I see it (it has an interesting feel in the mouth) , the word has worked its way into my usage a bit easier. I think keeping it visible is the key. MagistraMater Carol mentioned this earlier about sticky notes in various places with new words. It does help!