[‘ Very fervid; ardent, impassioned.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /pəːˈfəːvɪd/, pəˈfəːvɪd, U.S. /ˌpərˈfərvɪd/ Etymology: < post-classical Latin /perfervidus/ (chiefly in the phrase perfervidum ingenium Scotorum the impassioned genius of the Scots, founded on G. Buchanan’s Scotorum praefervida ingenia (Rerum Scoticarum Historia (1582) xvi. li.)) < classical Latin /per-/ per- prefix + /fervidus/ fervid adj. Compare earlier praefervid adj. Perfervidus, though quite regular in form, is not recorded in classical Latin; an instance of perfervida formerly cited from Columella 5.

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*Pronunciation:* ˈætɪsɪz(ə)m *Etymology:* < Greek Ἀττικισμός.  *1.* Siding with, or attachment to, Athens. 1628 T. Hobbes tr. Thucydides Peloponnesian War viii. xxxviii, Tydeus and his accomplices were put to death for atticism. 1837 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece IV. xxxi. 188 The charge of Atticism.  *2.* The peculiar style and idiom of the Greek language as used by the Athenians; hence, refined, elegant Greek, and gen. a refined amenity of speech, a well-turned phrase.

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n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.

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[‘ An adult who has retained the interests, behaviour, or lifestyle of adolescence. Cf. kidult n. and adj., /Middle Youth/ n. at middle adj. and n. Special uses 1.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /ˌadʌlˈtɛsnt/, U.S. /ˌædəlˈtɛs(ə)nt/ Etymology:Punning alteration of adolescent n., after adult n. Compare -escent suffix.  Chiefly Journalism (orig. Marketing).  An adult who has retained the interests, behaviour, or lifestyle of adolescence. Cf. kidult n. and adj., /Middle Youth/ n.

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[‘ Characterized by or accompanied by a smile or smiles; wearing a smile; smiling.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /səˈbrʌɪd(ə)nt/, U.S. /səˈbraɪdnt/ Etymology: < classical Latin /subrīdent-, /subrīdēns, present participle of subrīdēre to smile (see subride v.).  Chiefly literary. Now rare.  Characterized by or accompanied by a smile or smiles; wearing a smile; smiling. 1826 /Sporting Mag./ Dec. 132/1 A knowing and subrident look. 1884 /Critic/ 22 Nov. 243/2 The Duke of Wellington.

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In honor of discussion I’ve had on the irregularity of sneak vs snuck.

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[‘ A person likened in some way to Mazeppa, esp. in being the unwilling rider of a wild horse.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /məˈzɛpə/, U.S. /məˈzɛpə/ Etymology: < the name of Ivan Stepanovyč Mazepa (1644–1709), Ukrainian Cossack leader, popularized in English in the form Mazeppa by Byron’s poem of that name (1819). In Byron’s version of the story, based on a passage in Voltaire’s Histoire de Charles XII (1731), Mazeppa is discovered to have been having an affair with the wife of a Polish nobleman, and is punished by being tied naked to a wild horse, which is lashed into madness and then let loose.

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[‘ Mania for ballooning; balloon madness.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /bəˈluːnəsi/, U.S. /bəˈlunəsi/ Forms: 18– *balloonacy*, 19– *ballunacy*. Etymology:Blend of balloon n. and lunacy n. Compare earlier balloonatic n. and balloonomania n.  Mania for ballooning; balloon madness. 1864 /Daily Tel./ 19 Feb., We live in an age of balloonacy. 1882 /West. Daily Press/ 27 Mar. 3/1 A sharp epidemic of balloonacy. 1896 /Daily News/ 15 Feb. 5/3, I see that the Swedish Government has sent out a circular inviting the Geographical Society to assist him [/sc.

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[‘ A mischievous trick; a frolic.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈplɪski/, U.S. /ˈplɪski/ Forms: α. /Sc./ 17–18 *plisk*. β. /Eng. regional/ (Cumberland) 18 *pliskit*, 19– *plisket*; /Sc./ 18 *plasket*, 19– *plisket*. γ. /Eng. regional/ (north.) 18– *plisky*; /Sc./ 17– *pliskie*, 17– *plisky*, 19– *pliskey*, 19– *plistrie* /Orkney/; /Irish English/ (north.) 19– *plisky*. Etymology:Origin unknown. The β and γ forms apparently show different suffixation (compare -et suffix1, -y suffix6). The form plasket is apparently attested only in Galt (compare quot.

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[‘ /intr./ To emit an odour or smell, esp. an unpleasant one; to stink.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /nɪf/, U.S. /nɪf/ Forms: 19– *nif*, 19– *niff*. Etymology:Perhaps < sniff v., with unexplained dropping of initial s-, but this does not have the sense ‘to emit an (unpleasant) odour’, or perhaps a blend of some word with initial n- and whiff n.1 3a (in which case niff n.2 may have been the earlier formation, despite the available evidence: whiff v.

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