Word: nam pla, n. Thai term for fish sauce.

Word: semordnilap [sem-ORD-nih-lap] a word that spells a different word when written backwards ("semordnilap" is "palindromes" spelled backwards). "Drawer" is a semordnilap, because backwards it spells reward. If this makes you uneasy, you might have aibohphobia, ‘fear of palindromes.’

Word: momo, n. [perh. redup. of "moron"; perh. fr. dial. It. "mammoccio" 'stupid rascal'] a stupid or useless person; blockhead.

Word: greentailing, n. the sale of goods that are not harmful to the environment or were produced in conformity with environmental standards: organic gardening is part of our commitment to greentailing. ORIGIN: blend of "green" ('not ecologically harmful') and "retailing."

Word: skeuomorph [SKYOO-oh-morf] a decoration that takes its form from the nature of the material used or the method used to make it. The word is also used for an object that copies the design of a similar object made in another material-- a plastic Adirondack chair would be a skeuomorph. From Greek words meaning 'form' and 'vessel.'

Word: lobby louse, n. a person (esp. a nonguest) who habitually lounges about a hotel lobby.

Word: dictionary attack, n. an attempted illegal entry to a computer system that uses a dictionary headword list to generate possible passwords.

Word: architricline [ar-chee-TRIK-lin] the master of a feast. In medieval legend, Architricline was thought to be the name of a rich lord. It comes from Greek words meaning 'chief' and 'dining couch.'

Word: double shuffle, n. duplicitous treatment; doublecross. -- constr. with "the."

Word: superfine sugar, n. finely granulated white sugar that dissolves quickly and is used in cold drinks and baking.

Word: bouffage [boo-FAHG] a filling meal. From an Old French word glossed in the OED with a quote from Cotgrave as 'any meat that (eaten greedily) fills the mouth, and makes the cheeks to swell; cheeke-puffing meat.'

Word: hobo coffee, n. coffee grounds boiled in water without a filter.

Word: high-maintenance, adj. needing a lot of work to keep in good condition. informal (of a person or relationship) demanding a lot of attention.

Word: medkniche [MED-nitch] a bundle of hay, usually measured as being as much as the hayward could lift with his middle finger as high as his knee. It was one of the perks of being the hayward, whose job was to keep the cows out of the common fields.

Word: deke n. 1. Hunting. a decoy. 2. Sports. a feint made to deceive a player and draw him out of position. Also as v.

Word: button man, n. informal, a hired killer.

Word: sukebind [SYOOK-bind] an imaginary plant used by Stella Gibbons in Cold Comfort Farm, associated with superstition and fertility, especially (as the OED puts it) 'intense rustic passions.'

Word: Boob McNutt, n. [protagonist of eponymous comic stript (1915-34) created by cartoonist Rube Goldberg] a foolish or crazy person. -- used derisively.

Word: one-trick pony, n. informal, a person or thing with only one special feature, talent, or area of expertise.

Word: nullo [NULL-oh] someone who has undergone an elective amputation for the purposes of body modification, usually of a toe, but sometimes of a hand or limb.

Word: okey-doke, n. Esp. Black E., 1. a swindle; trick or deception. 2. foolishness; pretense.

Word: areligious, adj. not influenced by or practicing religion: "the sexual mores of today's secular and areligious culture."

Word: megacryometeor [meg-uh-KRY-oh-mee-tee-ur] a large chunk of ice that falls from the sky, often without a clear cause or origin.

Word: armpiece, n. Esp. Journ. an attractive woman escorted to social functions chiefly for the sake of her appearance.

Word: spork, n. a spoon-shaped eating utensil with short tines at the tip. ORIGIN: blend of "spoon" and "fork."

Word: petrichor [PET-rih-kor] the pleasant smell that sometimes accompanies rain, especially the first rain after a period of warm dry weather.

Word: ape hangers, n. pl. exceptionally sweeping V-shaped handlebars, as on a customized motorcycle. Hence, as attrib., "apehanger."

Word: genomics, plural n. [treated as sing.] the branch of molecular biology concerned with the structure, function, evolution, and mapping of genomes. ORIGIN: 1980s: from genome 'the complete set of genes present in an organism' + -ics.

Word: panyarring [puh-NYAR-ing] the act of kidnapping someone into slavery. The verb is panyar. It comes from a Latin word meaning ‘pawn.’ It was mostly used in West Africa.

Word: headache rack, n. Trucking. a rack positioned over or behind the cab of a truck to prevent injury from shifting cargo.

Word: insourcing, n. the practice of using an organization's own personnel or other resources to accomplish a task: "offshore insourcing of expense reporting processing." � the practice whereby an organization provides its own personnel to accomplish specialized tasks for a client, at the client's place of business. DERIVATIVES: insource, v. ORIGIN: on the pattern of outsourcing.

Word: ainhum [AYN-hum] a disease in which a fibrous constriction around the base of a finger or toe leads to its spontaneous amputation. Perhaps from a Yoruba word meaning ‘saw.’

Word: nimwad, n. [prob. alter. "nimrod"] a fool.

Word: overbreed, v. breed or cause to breed to excess: "the husband and wife were forcing the female dogs to overbreed, and litters grew up with several health problems."

Word: maisterel [MAYS-ter-ell] a rare and obsolete term for an imp or familiar. Perhaps from Middle French maistral, meaning ‘servant.’

Word: loogin, n. 1. a clumsy or stupid person; oaf; lug; (hence) esp. Und. a newcomer. Also "lugan." 2. a habitual fighter or brawler; ruffian; petty criminal; thug. Also "loogan."

Word: HIPAA, abbr. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a 1996 Federal law that restricts access to individuals' private medical information: [as adj.] HIPAA regulations.

Word: singultus [sing-GUL-tus] a rare word meaning ‘a sob.’ From a Latin word meaning ‘speech broken by sobs.’ Singultient is a rare word that means ‘sobbing.’

Word: lobscouser, n. Naut. a seaman, esp. if old or superannuated.

Word: crippleware, n. (informal, Computing) software distributed with reduced functionality with a view to attracting payment for a fully functional version.

Word: frapaille [fruh-PAIL] a disparaging term for camp-followers of an army. It’s also obsolete, but whether that’s because there are no longer so many camp-followers or because they are no longer held in such disrepute is not determined.

Word: cop-spotter, n. a rearview mirror. Joc.

Word: Tardis, n. 1. a time machine. 2. a building or container that is larger inside than it appears to be from outside. ORIGIN: the name (said to be an acronym from time and relative dimensions in space) of a time machine that had the exterior of a police telephone box in the British TV science-fiction series Doctor Who, first broadcast in 1963."

Word: feminisma [fem-in-EEZ-muh] a word used by the novelist Agnes Rossi, formed on the model of machismo, to describe the quality and display of feminine pride, especially based on childbearing and child-rearing.

Word: kookaboo, n. a crazy person. [poss. alter. "kookaburra" 'Australian bird whose call resembles human laughter.']

Word: wrapper application, n. a computer program that works only with another fully developed program, which it enhances in some way: "we have created a viewer that is a simple wrapper application for the underlying multimedia system."

Word: chelidonize [che-LYE-dun-ize] to twitter like swallows, or to sing the "swallow song" of Rhodes, which was a kind of trick-or-treating activity where boys, after seeing the first swallows arrive, would go around in bands singing for food 'for the swallow.' In more recent times it has been performed on March 1st by boys carrying a wooden swallow on a pole.

Word: magoo n. [orig. unkn.; perh. an elab. of GOO] 1. Theat. a cream pie thrown in slapstick comedy. 2.a. an important person. [Popularized in the 1932 Broadway comedy by Hecht and Fowler, "The Great Magoo."] b. a useless or foolish person. 3. sex appeal; (also) stuff; thing; situation; the right stuff, etc. -- used in a vague way to indicate the subject of conversation. -- usu. constr. with "the."

Word: bunker buster (also bunker-buster), n. a bomb designed to penetrate deep into the ground or rock before exploding.

Word: kebbie [KEB-bee] a staff with a hooked head, like a shepherd’s crook.

Word: bogue, adj. [from "bogus"] 1. a. counterfeit, fake. b. contemptible; no good; offensive. 2. Narc. suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Word: romcom n. informal (in movies or television) a romantic comedy. ORIGIN: blend.

Word: boukie [BOO-kee] a flower made of fabric or leather, worn as an accessory.

Word: hard-shell n. 1. a. (usu. cap.) a member of the Primitive Baptist Church. Now colloq. b. an obstinate, uncompromising, tough, or extremely conservative person; (specif., in 1850's) a conservative member of the New York State Democratic party. 2. Naut. a sailor who has been initiated in a Crossing-the-Line ceremony; shellback.

Word: SWOT analysis, n. a study undertaken by an organization to identify its internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as its external opportunities and threats. ORIGIN: acronym from strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.

Word: Mountweazel [MOWNT-wee-zul] a fake word or name invented by reference-book editors to trap plagiarists. It comes from Lillian Virginia Mountweazel, whose (fake) entry in an edition of the New Columbia Encyclopedia was a triumph of the form. (“Mountweazel” died in an explosion while on assignment for Combustibles magazine.)

Word: lollipop factory, n. an insane asylum.

Word: West Nile virus, n. a flavivirus of African origin that can be spread to humans and other mammals via mosquitoes, causing encephalitis and flulike symptoms, with some fatalities.

Word: whigmaleery [whig-muh-LEER-ee] a Scottish word for any whimsical thing or fanciful notion.

Word: egg in your beer: a bonus; something for nothing; the good life. -- usu. in phr. What do you want -- egg in your beer? Stop complaining; are you never satisfied? -- usu. ironic. [Esp. common during WWII.]

Word: SIM (also SIM card), n. a smart card inside a cellular phone, carrying an identification number unique to the owner, storing personal data, and preventing operation if removed. ORIGIN: 1980s: acronym from subscriber identification module.

Word: souteneur [sut-uh-NYER] an old word for 'pimp,' or a man who lives on the earnings of prostitutes. From a French word meaning 'protector.'

Word: geetus n. money. Also variants: gheetas, geetas, geedus. [Origin unknown.]

Word: structured settlement, n. a legal settlement paid out as an annuity rather than in a lump sum, usually with certain tax advantages for the recipient and a savings for the payer.

Word: verdugoship [ver-DOO-go-ship] an obsolete word meaning 'the personality of an executioner.' A verdugo is a hangman or executioner. The word comes from Italian verduco, meaning 'a narrow-bladed sword.'

Word: kiyoodle n. [orig. unkn.; perh. infl. by coyote] 1. a small noisy dog. Also kyoodle. 2. a worthless person; an oaf.

Word: e-book, n. an electronic version of a printed book that can be read on a personal computer or hand-held device designed specifically for this purpose; a dedicated device for reading electronic versions of printed books.

Word: thurse (thurs) an obsolete word used to refer to giants in heathen mythology, or goblins and hobgoblins.

Word: mushfaker n. Und. and Hobo. an itinerant umbrella mender, tinker or pitchman; a repairer or deviser of small, cheap contrivances; (hence) (used among tramps, etc., as a vague term of opprobrium); a no-account.

Word: hoophead, n. informal a basketball player or devoted fan.

Word: brabbling [BRAB-ling] noisy arguing or hair-splitting. From obsolete "brabble," to argue noisily about insignificant things.

Word: kybo, n. a lavatory or toilet commode, esp. at a campground. Also kibo. [orig. unkn.; perhaps from "keep your bowels open."]

Word: Chicken Little, n. an alarmist or doomsayer. "my beloved capital sounds more and more these days like a barnyard filled with Chicken Littles." ORIGIN: 1990s: from the name of a character in a children's story who repeatedly warns that the sky is falling.

Word: alexithymia [ay-leks-ih-THY-mee-uh] a disorder in which the sufferer is unable to recognize emotions or express them.

Word: liquid death, n. cheap, powerful liquor. Joc. Also: liquid crime. 1862 "E. Kirke" Among Pines 228: "Mine host" and two assistants were dispensing "liquid death," at the rate of ten cents a glass.

Word: obtention, n. the action of obtaining something: "their protests serve no purpose and will only make their obtention of a diploma almost impossible." ORIGIN: early 17th cent.: French, or from late Latin, obtentio(n-), from obtinere, 'obtain, gain.'

Word: mascaron [MAS-kuh-run] an image of a (usually grotesque) face, human or animal, used as an architectural ornament.

Word: hoolihan, n. West. 1. (among cowboys) a backhand thrown loop for roping horses. 2. an exciting or extraordinary event. In phrase: "throw the hoolihan" [fr. sense of (1), above] (among cowboys) to celebrate riotously.

Word: cybershop , v. (-shopped , -shopping) [intrans., often as noun cybershopping] purchase or shop for goods and services on a Web site: more than half of American workers cybershop on company time. n. a Web site that sells or provides information about retail goods or services: the retailer's cybershop sometimes has different prices than in its mail-order catalog. Also called cyberstore. DERIVATIVES: cybershopper n.

Word: croquembouche [KRO-kum-boosh] a pyramid of pastries, usually cream-filled, covered with spun caramel. When used as a wedding cake, the bride and groom traditionally smash the hard caramel coating with a hammer. From a French word that means crunches in the mouth.

Word: clothespin vote, n. [sugg. by the cartoon-inspired idea that voters must use a clothespin to protect their noses from the supposed stench of such candidates] Pol. a vote or votes made unenthusaistically for a candidate who is regarded as the least objectionable. Joc.

Word: sleeper cell, n. a secretive group with suspected links to a terrorist organization that is planning or believed capable of carrying out an attack.

Word: stilo novo [STEEL-lo NOH-vo] when used with a date, this means 'according to the Gregorian calendar.' It's also used figuratively to mean any innovation. From Latin words meaning 'new style.'

Word: okey-doke n. Esp. Black E. 1. a swindle; trick or deception. 2. foolishness; pretense.

Word: nostalgic adj. characterized by or exhibiting feelings of nostalgia. n. a nostalgic person. "to see classmates' e-mail addresses, nostalgics pay $36 a year." DERIVATIVES: nostalgically adv.

Word: igry [IG ree] painfully embarrassed by someone else's poor behavior. It can also be used to describe someone else's poor behavior. This word was invented by John Chaneski, Peter Gordon, Kevin West, and Francis Heaney, in part because they were annoyed by the -gry puzzle. The -gry puzzle ("Apart from angry and hungry, what other common English word ends in -gry?") is a broken puzzle -- until igry, there was not another common word in English that ended in -gry. (And I suppose igry is not actually common yet.) The original puzzle was most likely something like "Think of words ending in -gry. Angry and hungry are two of them. What is the third word in the English language? You use it every day, and if you were listening carefully, I've just told you what it is." That puzzle is trying to get you to say language (i.e., the third word in the phrase "the English language") but someone broke it, and the broken version has been circulating on the Internet ever since. The Igry Men, avid puzzlers, decided to invent a new -gry word, so that when they were asked about the broken puzzle, they could say "Oh, it's igry, I thought everyone knew that word!" Perhaps someday everyone will.

Word: moldy fig n.1. Jazz. a person who admires older styles of jazz. - used derisively. Now hist. 2. a person having outdated or conservative ideas.

Word: molecular electronics, plural n. [treated as singular] a branch of electronics in which individual molecules perform the same function as microelectronic devices such as diodes. DERIVATIVES: molecular electronic, adj. molecular electronic materials and inorganic particles.

Word: wurp [wurp] an obsolete word meaning a stone s throw.

Word: from hell (used as an intensive); formidable, effective, or extraordinary (esp. in a negative way); bad or offensive; good or pleasing. 1965 in W. King Black Anthol. 305: Mac's copping me a number from hell for a nickel!