New Game: What's the Word?

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: CONVERSANT

pronunciation: [kən-VER-sənt]

 

Part of speech: adjective

Origin: Middle English, 13th century

 

Meaning:

1. Familiar with or knowledgeable about something.

 

Examples:

"Charlene was conversant with wines, so we let her choose the vintage."

"Video games have made some players surprisingly conversant with minute details of history."

About Conversant

“Conversant” is related to the Latin word “converse,” meaning to live in a place and among people, or to associate with. In its earliest iteration, “conversant” referred to living consistently in one place. By the 15th century, “conversant” was coming to mean living or associating with something or someone. By the 17th century, it was common to use “conversant” with its modern meaning of being well-versed in a subject.

 

Did you Know?

Both “conversant” and “conversation” relate to the Latin root “converse,” which can be read in many different ways. Over the years, to “converse” has meant to live or associate with others, to have sexual intercourse, to make business deals and trade in goods, to hold inward communion with, and to engage in conversation. “Conversant” refers less to the conversational aspects of its root word and more to the idea of proximity. One who is conversant with a subject is someone who has lived close to it for a long time and knows it intimately.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: JUDDER

pronunciation: [JUH-dər]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Chiefly British, early 20th century

 

Meaning:

1. (Especially of something mechanical) shake and vibrate rapidly and with force.

 

Examples:

"The gearshift would judder every time Mike started the car."

"The girl juddered in the cold breeze because she wasn’t dressed warmly."

About Judder

This word was first used around the 1930s, likely as an imitative of the word “shudder.”

 

Did you Know?

When the motion is a little choppy on the TV, this is known as “judder.” In more technical terms, it occurs when the frame rate of the content on the screen doesn’t divide evenly into the refresh rate of the TV it’s playing on. This often happens when displaying cinematic 24p content on a panel that uses a refresh rate of 60 Hz — meaning the display refreshes 60 times every second.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: FOSSICK

pronunciation: [FAH-sik]

 

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Australia and New Zealand, mid-19th century

 

Meaning:

1. (informal) Rummage; search.

2. Search for gold in abandoned workings.

 

Examples:

"Alvin went to the flea market to fossick for interesting trinkets."

"The prospectors went to great lengths to fossick for gold."

About Fossick

This term was coined in the 1850s by Australians and New Zealanders, but it may be rooted in a word known to British immigrants: “fussock,” a dialect term meaning "to bustle about" or "to fidget."

 

Did you Know?

“Fossick” is a term that became popular with 19th-century Aussies and Kiwis who picked over abandoned mining excavations to search for gold or gemstones. In Australia, "fossicking" is protected by a number of laws which vary from state to state. For example, in Queensland, fossickers must obtain a license, but in New South Wales, there is no such requirement. Interestingly, searching for opal has its own specific term: “noodling,” which is also a term for catfish fishing in the southern United States.