Vocabulary
noblesse oblige

French phrase that means "nobility obligates". It's used to describe the idea that people of high social rank or wealth have a responsibility to help others.
misology

Misology is a noun that means a hatred of reasoning, argument, or enlightenment.
Viticulture

the study, production, and practice of cultivating grapes, including the agricultural activities involved in growing them up to the time of harvest. It's a branch of horticulture
Remonstrance

An earnest expression of opposition or protest, a formal presentation.
Fluffle

Bunnies
Probity

the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.
Business

Ferrets
Occam's Razor

The simplest explanation is usually correct.
Feijoada

Brazil's national dish, is a stew loaded with black beans and meats of every description: smoked pork loin, bacon and sausage such as chorizo.
Scurry

Squirrels
Internecine

destructive to both sides in a conflict.
Metacognition

An awareness that you don't know everything is often called "metacognition"; it essentially means "thinking about thinking" and includes the ability to recognize your own knowledge gaps and limitations
caisson

Military: A chest or wagon used to carry ammunition or to transport the casket of a fallen military member. The casket is carried in a horse-drawn caisson.
Vituperative

bitter and abusive
Eclat

brilliant display or effect.
Ineluctable

unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable. "the ineluctable facts of history"
Rod of Asclepius

The Rod of Asclepius, also known as the Staff of Aesculapius, is a symbol of medicine and healing that depicts a rod with a single serpent wrapped around it. Re: Greek god Asclepius, who was the deity of medicine and healing. official insignia of the American Medical Association. It is also used by the World Health Organization and the American College of Physicians.
Peregrinations

A journey, especially a long or meandering one.
catafalque

a decorated wooden framework supporting the coffin of a distinguished person during a funeral or while lying in state.
Confusion

Weasels
Kenson

Self deprivation (Japanese)
Voussoir

Wegde shaped block used in construction of roman arch.
Flush

Mallards
Oshibori

Hot hand towels, Japanese
Apricity

The warmth of sun in winter
Anthropocene

a term used to describe the current period in Earth's history when human activity has had a significant impact on the planet. The term is used in a variety of contexts, including the Earth sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Apostacy

the total rejection of Christianity by a baptized person who, having at one time professed the Christian faith, publicly rejects it.
Extant

(especially of a document) still in existence; surviving. "the original manuscript is no longer extant"
Cloud

Bats (in flight)
Disposessed

deprive (someone) of land, property, or other possessions.
Ken

one's range of knowledge or sight.
Epic

Use e.g. he lacked that level of physical wit, physical improvisation, and epic, his story was a good one... .
Committee

Vultures
Flaneur

A person who strolls through the city often observing life and their surroundings with curiosity and without a specific purpose.
Omakase

a meal consisting of dishes selected by the chef.
Murmuration

Starlings
Injunction

a judicial order that restrains a person from beginning or continuing an action threatening or invading the legal right of another, or that compels a person to carry out a certain act, e.g., to make restitution to an injured party.
Baader-Meinhof

The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon is a cognitive bias that causes people to notice something more often after they become aware of it. It's also kno
Koan

a paradoxical anecdote or riddle used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to provoke enlightenment.
Kaiseki

Multi-course Japanese meal
Empathy

...only came into popular use in the early twentieth century to describe the imaginative act of projecting oneself into a work of art in an effort to understand why art moves us
Recrudesence

The renewal or reappearance of something, especially something dangerous or unhealthy. The return of something terrible after a time of reprieve.
Hegelian Dialectic

Refers originally to a dialogue between people holding different ponts of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argumentation. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis.
Question inflection

the use of a rising pitch at the end of a sentence to indicate a question
Recursive Self Improvement

AI ability to correct its own coding
Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht was made up of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy), and the Luftwaffe (air force). The term "Wehrmacht" is German for "defense force".
Elided

(of a sound or syllable) omitted when speaking. "elided consonants"
Tautology

The saying of the same thing twice in different words
Polymath

an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems
Diffident

modest or shy because of a lack of self-confidence.
Mountebank

a person who deceives others, especially in order to trick them out of their money; a charlatan.
Encomium

a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly.

InterReference.com

Monday, October 13, 2025

Quote
Who needs these thoughts?

As Good As It Gets / Helen Hunt
CHIPS Act (2022) - 80% to red (Republican) states

Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS)
Wage Peace

Former President Jimmy Carter's Funeral, Carter's grandson