Author Archives: bethoffreshair

\ en-SEYNT \ , adjective; 1.Pregnant; with child noun: 1.A wall or enclosure, as of a fortified place. In my younger days, the days of Fisher Price and OshKoshBeGosh, I imagined myself as an enceinte 22-year-old.  My blue stereo had a microphone and it got a lot of playing time as I sang every Wilson Phillips song I knew, which was all of them, to no one butContinue reading “enceinte.”

\ trep-uh-DAY-shuhn \, noun; 1.[Archaic] An involuntary trembling; quaking; quivering. 2.A state of dread or alarm; nervous agitation; apprehension; fright. Halloween is the frequent cause of trepidation.  It was for me in 4th grade.  I went to a Halloween Party for the Little Ladies Club.  Being the smallest lady in the club, I was named President.  So I attended the party, even though I heard we were going to a haunted house. Continue reading “trepidation.”

\ in-KOH-it \  , adjective; 1.In an initial or early stage; just begun. 2.Imperfectly formed or formulated. My job is still in its inchoate stage.  Not just my experience in the job, but the job position itself.  I’m the marketing director for the Dining Hall.  Keep in mind the inchoate stage…but my thinking thus far is that my marketing angle is opposite of normal business’ marketing angle.  The students purchase theirContinue reading “inchoate.”

 \ SLUHG-uh-bed \ , noun; 1.One who stays in bed until a late hour; a sluggard. I was tempted to take out the part after the semicolon in the definition.  Since a semicolon separates two complete thoughts, I could’ve.  “One who stays in bed until a late hour” makes me sigh and say Mmmm.  This morning, a Monday, a forgotten red bull, and pouring down rain, I could’veContinue reading “slugabed.”

 \ kri-PUS-kyuh-lur \, adjective; 1.Of, pertaining to, or resembling twilight; dim. 2.(Zoology) Appearing or active at twilight. Hogwarts has an all around crepuscular feel to it.  Even the celebration banquets are a bit dim.  I am not sure if the Twilight books have a crepuscular feel.  People tell me that even though they’re about vampires, they’re not scary.  I don’t really trust these people because they do not knowContinue reading “crepuscular.”

\ an-tih-duh-LOO-vee-uhn \, adjective; 1.Of or relating to the period before the Biblical flood. 2.Antiquated; from or belonging to a much earlier time. noun: 1.One who lived before the Biblical flood. 2.A very old (or old-fashioned) person. Though the word ‘antediluvian’ is old and means of old…I think it can become a new hip thing to say.  It can mean, “man, that’s so out of style.  That’s like, before the flood type old.”  “Those are some terribly antediluvian sandals.” “Nice antediluvian coat you have there.  MadeContinue reading “antidiluvian.”

luh-KON-ik \ , adjective; 1. Using or marked by the use of a minimum of words; brief and pithy; brusque.    A tall coffee at Starbucks goes for $1.75.  Their coffee is not organic.  But the Green Mountain Coffee at the dining hall is.  And it is 12 Beth-steps away from my desk.  Probably 10 Bill-stepsContinue reading “laconic.”

\ in-EF-uh-buhl \  , adjective; 1. Incapable of being expressed in words; unspeakable; unutterable; indescribable.   How did F. Scott Fitzgerald make Gatsby so great?  How does Almighty God, creator of the Blue Ridge Mountains, desire relationships with ragamuffins mostly concerned with their own well-being, popularity, and mp3 players?  Why is starting to floss asContinue reading “ineffable.”

 \ smith-uh-REENZ \, noun; 1.Small pieces; bits. I’ve blown any sort of plot or narrative arch to smithereens with this blog.  Hopefully ‘blog’ implies that there will be no conflict, conflict resolution, denouement…if it does not imply that, I shall state it now.  These are all pointless.  But what they lack in point, they make up for in enjoyment inContinue reading “smithereens.”

\ HOP-skoch \ , verb; 1.To journey quickly and directly from one usually far place to another. noun: 2.A children’s game in which a player tosses or kicks an object into one of several numbered sections of a diagram marked on the ground. verb: 3.To move or pass through something, as a geographical area or a field of endeavor, making many brief stops. Today I learned that I have never officially played hopscotch.  I guess I never understood it because I have never kicked or tossed anything while playing. I hopscotched over to the Dean’s office while hopping on bright red, orange, and yellow leaves.  I grabbed some on myContinue reading “hopscotch.”