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Drive
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100 greatest Nicolas Cage quotes
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1909 recording of Tolstoy reading an essay he translated into english:
"That the object of life is self-perfection, the perfection of all immortal souls, that this is the only object of my life, is seen to be correct by the fact alone that every other object is essentially a new object. Therefore, the question whether thou hast done what thou shouldst have done is of immense importance, for the only meaning of thy life is in doing in this short term allowed thee, that which is desired of thee by He or That which has sent thee into life. Art thou doing the right thing?"
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The late-David Foster Wallace was incredibly fond of collecting words he found to be noteworthy, either by scribbling on the pages of the books he was currently reading, circling specific words in his personal dictionary, or compiling standalone vocabulary lists. The latter method is illustrated below, in the form of just two pages from the hundreds of word lists he amassed over the years.
Transcripts follow each image. Both images courtesy of the Harry Ransom Center.
Transcript
VOCAB 3/97
lee (n) -- place sheltered from wind / side of ship away from wind
ruck -- a multitude of people mixed together / (v) to crease or fold
plication -- act or process of folding / condition of being folded
rimple -- a fold or wrinkle
pinchbeck -- any cheap imitation / zinc and copper alloy used as fake gold
scored -- scarred or marked in parallel lines
bolo -- long heavy Phillipine machete
wrack (n) -- damage from devastation, volence / ruin
neap (adj.) -- from NEAP TIDE, lowest possible tide
flitch -- longitudinal cut in tree; a bunch of long planks bound together to make a beam
abrogate (adj.) -- abolished or annulled by authority
detinue -- act of unlawfully detaining personal property OR a legal action to recover property wrongfully detained
murenger -- wallmaker
maugre -- in spite of, notwithstanding
laciniate -- fringed
antipodal -- situated on opposite sides of the world
antipode -- direct or diametrical opposite
primipara -- woman who's pregnant for the first time
minim -- tiny or insignificant portion
aquarelle -- drawing in transparent watercolor
belvedere -- open, roofed structure built to command a view, like a PRESS BOX
celadon -- pale to very pale green
Guttate -- In the form of drops / spotted as if from drops
Trochar / Trocar -- Sharp device used by mortician to remove blood for embalming
Transcript
gastine -- ?? ghost??
***SCILICET -- adverb, Latin for 'that is to say,' 'namely' (like "viz."?) -- abbreviations are sc., scil., ss, ss.
scissile -- adj. for cut or split easily; "a scissile mineral," "a scissile peptide bond."
satyromaniac -- male version of nymphomaniac
sciolism -- pretentious air of scholarship; superficial knowledgability
descry -- to discern, catch sight of something hard to see
excursus -- long intellectual digression in a speech or piece of writing
confute (v) -- like refute, show to be false or contradictory / or to prevent, forestall
tardive (adj) -- having symptoms that develop slowly or appear long after inception -- used of disease
tarantism -- disorder where you have uncontrollable need to dance
parol (adj) -- spoken, not written
pareve (adj.) -- prepared w/o meat or milk or derivatives and so OK for orthodox Jews to eat w/ meat & dairy; kosher
parfleche -- untanned animal hide soaked in lye to get hair off and then dried on a stretcher / a shield made of this material
flambeau -- lit torch / a decorative candlestick
flake (n) -- a frame or platform for drying produce
recto -- right-hand page of book
verso -- left-hand page of book
rectilinear -- moving in or bounded by straight lines -- "rectilinear pattern in wallpaper"
recrudence -- to break out anew after period of quiescence
palmette -- stylized palm leaf used as decoration in classical moldings, reliefs, vase paintings
Maltese cross -- 4 arrowheads joined at point; looks like ragged tear; dictionary 1089
malocclusion -- faulty contact between upper & lower teeth when jaw is closed
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