verisimilitude

verisimilitude

(n)

(ve-ree-suh-mil-uh-tyood)

"appearance of being true or real"

It will take some convincing by both parties that their promises have verisimilitude.

(in reference to the election announced yesterday)

propitious

propitious

(adj)

(pruh-pish-uhs)

"favourable,auspicious"

"well-disposed"

It was not a propitious start to the week for me, when my computer decided to have some problems.

splenetic

splenetic

(adj)

(spluh-net-ik)

"bad tempered, peevish"

I am feeling very splenetic today - I didn't get enough sleep last night and I am getting the run around today. 

While I had a feeling it may have been derived from the latin word for spleen - why does spleen mean bad tempered?

cornucopia

cornucopia
(n)

(kaw-nyuh-koh-pee-uh)

"a symbol of plenty" or "abundant supply"

A rural news story drew my attention to this lovely word - which I always thought meant a mixture, a jumble, a potpourri.

This headline may just be an editors play on words - but it is a visual one.

"Cornucopia of corn"
A semi truck and trailer was completely buried by corn after knocking the loading chute off the Dillwyn elevator, Thursday.

My turn

We had a cornucopia of dishes to chose from at the party last weekend.

(to one of my friends)

decoction

decoction

(n)

(duh-kok-shuhn)

"the resulting liquid" from "boiling down to extract an essence"

Another crossword clue - and it immediately made me think of concocting or mixing something.

It wasn't too hard then to get me closer to answering the clue correctly without checking the dictionary first.

"Have you ever tried boiling down balsamic vinegar? It creates an amazing decoction which is a great base for a decadent salad dressing-  drizzled on rocket, blue cheese, toasted walnuts and slices of pear or apple."