Wordplay Wednesday™ October 26, 2016 – Numen

High Spirited for Halloween! 

How many ways can you define “spirit”? So many that its definition takes up three inches in teeny-tiny type in the dictionary!

Of course, this time of year, thoughts go to Halloween and thinning of the veil between the spirit world and the living.

And I’m floating over them with the perfect word to impress your friends at your Halloween party! When you think “spirit” is overused, whip out …  

NUMEN (nōō'mɘn) – n. an indwelling, guiding force or spirit. [WW #83] 

For added spookiness, Words With Friends’ definition: “divine power or spirit; a deity, esp. one presiding locally or believed to inhabit a particular object.”

Crystal balls and Ouija boards, witches’ cauldrons and magic wands, party hearty or nostalgia night, prayer for the dearly departed or feast of fall (bountiful with chocolate!)—however you celebrate Halloween, be sure to put lots of numen into it!

Word Challenge: NUMEN. Make friends with your inner numen and keep it close to you this Halloween! Can you fit more numen into your week of otherworld writings?

 

'Til next time ... cheers to a weird, wonderful "wordful" week …

                       

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

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Wordplay Wednesday™ October 12, 2016 – Quale

Do You Sense It? Spooky … 

If you play Words With Friends, it’s very likely you (like me) frantically poke at letters to create words you’ve never heard of, hoping to hear the WWF trill of a “good” word. You play it, rarely caring what the hell it means.

In full disclosure (in case you’re about to splash my indiscretion across social media with Donald and Hillary), I clap in glee with these words; but I began this weekly word odyssey for innocent reasons: 1) I wanted to learn the meaning of an unfamiliar word; 2) I wanted to call WWF’s bluff.

Early on in my WWF game days, I quickly discovered their oft-used “fallback” definition blurb “… is a valid Words With Friends word. Sorry, no definition is available at this time!” Uh-huh.

In other words, you’re bluffing dude! Of course, if I played the word … well, ok. Especially if it resulted in twenty points or more! ;-)  Obscure but high-scoring works … but when it isn’t in a common dictionary, I feel just a little guilty … only a little.  

QUALE (kwāʹlē, kwäʹ-; pl. qualia) n. – (Philosophy) a quality, as whiteness, loudness, etc., abstracted as an independent, universal essence from a thing. [WW #81]

Although quale is in the dictionary and often a high-scoring WWF word, after playing it more times than I can count, its unique philosophical qualia finally caught my attention.

 

Consider it the sense datum of your perceptions … or, as we head into Halloween, quale might be a good word to spook the spirit of your psyche. Behold … your eeriness element. Boo!

Word Challenge: QUALE. We talk about our senses often … but do we really think about them? Can you fit quale into your week of ethereal writings?

 

'Til next time ... cheers to a wonderful "wordful" week …

                       

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

Facebook

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Wordplay Wednesday™ October 7, 2015 – Ghostly fears

Six Weeks of Weird Halloween Words ~ Week #3

Boo! Did I scare you?

So, do you avoid the den at Uncle Henry’s because you feel the specter of Aunt Phoebe in the room? Do you quake at the thought of apparitions, and literally run through a “cold spot” in your home? You might have … 

Ghostbusters 1984

PHASMOPHOBIA (fas′mō-fō′bē-ă): n. exaggerated fear of ghosts. [Not in Webster’s dictionary, but that just means they can be a bit behind the times. It appears all over the ‘Net! And we know … if it’s on the ‘Net it must be real! LOL]

Spirits and ghosts have existed in another realm (or in your mind – whichever you believe) since the first human died and returned to finish harassing his or her nemesis. Do you believe …?