Word of the Day

Posted on April 26, 2005 by glasscastle

When
we saw it this morning in the Boston
Globe Sports section, we thought it was a typo.  It
still amazes us that after 45 years of doing crossword puzzles and
playing Scrabble (not to mention almost 30 years of teaching English),
there are words as, shall we say intriguing, which we have never
even heard of, other than as an affectionate nickname
for the bushes outside our old Fraternity House.

During Games 1 and 2, Ainge shuttled between the locker room, coach
Doc Rivers’s office, the vomitories on both ends of the court, and seats
where friends and family sat. He was nowhere to be found on the Jumbotron.

Looking “vomitory” up in the online
dictionary revealed its existence, as well as it’s " Etymology:
Late Latin vomitorium, from Latin vomere; from its disgorging the spectators:
an entrance piercing the banks of seats of a theater, amphitheater, or
stadium.” Obviously Roman in origin, as the original vomitories were undoubtedly in the Collesium, from whence the gladiators, Christians and lions inevitably errupted.

Googling
"Vomitory" produced the icing on the cake; a German
heavymetal band by the same name, rubbing our faces in it, so to
speak.
Picture above. We can’t wait to spring this one on our unsuspecting Mom
during a late-night Scrabble showdown….

original
column from the Boston Globe
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3 Responses to Word of the Day

  1. Jerry Bragstad says:
    April 26, 2005 at 7:59 pm

    Michael……

    While your at it………..a new word to me is “munge.” A, sorta, computer term. Has to do with making computer data unintelligble.

    Try that one on Sally.

    JB
    Mill Valley, CA

  2. Mom says:
    April 30, 2005 at 11:01 am

    Michael, who could guess that I would get into the act re. Vomitory. I taught youah mothah that word long ago. It had amused us when first discovered at GSD. In c.1963 I took my Jeff on a NY exploration trip. We did the Circle Line cruise, attended a show + went to the new Madison Square Garden for a hockey game. It was magnificent. A great oval on five tiers and columnless! At the four “corners” were strategically located stairs + escalators for filling + emptying the seated fans. The only problem, we discovered, was that it worked admirably for fans as they arrived over a period of time, it failed miserably at the end of the event when everyone tried to depart simultaneously! The architects never thought out what would happen as the numbers descending increased precipitously at each level of descent and that they had not increased the escalator/stair capacity towards street level. As a result, people were thrust down to the next floor where, of course, there was no room to receive them. A dangerous condition. Rather akin to packaging sardines. I have never beeen back but assume the building commissioner called for changes. Peter.

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