Word Love

Haboob

A haboob (Arabic: هَبوب‎ habūb "blasting/drafting") is a type of intense dust storm carried on an atmospheric gravity current. Haboobs occur regularly in arid regions throughout the world.

Haboobs occur mostly during the summer months in Phoenix, but are not restricted to the monsoon period. These dust storms are much more serious than dust devils. The wind during a haboob is usually up to about 30 mph and dust can rise high into the air as it blows over the Valley. A haboob can last for up to three hours.

A friend in Phoenix posted an image of Thursday’s dust storm with the text “Last night's haboob.” I’d never heard the word before. Such a great word! Pics at the link.

Salubrious

adjective
favorable to or promoting health; healthful
Origin: 1540–50;  < Latin salūbr ( is ) promoting health (akin to salūs  health) + -ious

“The salubrious waters of the Blue Lagoon, just outside Reykjavik, would work a treat on that ache at the base of my spine.”

Why does this come to mind this morning? Dunno. Just love the way the word rolls off the tongue. That and I really want to go back to the Blue Lagoon and just sit in that awesome geothermal seawater. Now please!

 Anile

[an-ahyl, ey-nahyl]
adjective
of or like a foolish, doddering old woman.
Origin:
1645–55;  < Latin anīlis  pertaining to an old woman, equivalent to an ( us ) old woman + -īlis

Anneal

verb \ə-ˈnēl\
: to heat and then slowly cool (metal, glass, etc.) in order to make it stronger
transitive verb 

a :  to heat and then cool (as steel or glass) usually for softening and making less brittle; also :  to cool slowly usually in a furnace
b :  to heat and then cool (double-stranded nucleic acid) in order to separate strands and induce combination at lower temperature with complementary strands

I had an oopsie while playing Scrabble. Unsure of the correct spelling of a term from college jewelry class, I played anile when I meant anneal. It worked anyway AND I learned a new way to describe myself. Win/win.

Grebe, specifically the Horned Grebe
Podiceps auritus 
Order: Podicipediformes, Family: Podicipedidae

Familiar to most North American birders in its black-and-white winter plumage, the Horned Grebe is more striking in its red-and-black breeding feathers. Its "horns" are yellowish patches of feathers behind its eyes that it can raise and lower at will.

Another Scrabble word BUT it also happens to be a gorgeous bird that I enjoyed watching while in Scotland (Grebes in general but specifically the Slavonian babe).

And just randomly:

Putz

Literally, vulgar slang for penis, not to be used lightly. More offensive than the schmuck, which can be used affectionately or teasingly. Rarely used to describe the member, schmuck does that. What a putz! Used the same as What an asshole!

Yutz

someone who is either unaware of the situation, or is uneducated, and does stupid things.
After the kid spoke out of turn in class, the professor called him a yutz.

Shmutz

Unidentifiable globule of something or other
You've got some shmutz on your shirt.

Chutzpah

bloody cheek with a real nerve
A man is up in court for killing his mother and father. He pleads to the court for leniency  because he is an orphan. Now that's a chutzpah!

Chuppah

The chuppah is a tapestry attached to the tops of four poles. The word chuppah means covering or protection, and is intended as a roof or covering for the bride and groom at their wedding.

NOT to be confused with the Chupacabra

The legend of "El Chupacabra" began when goats and chickens started turning up dead in Puerto Rico in the 1990's, drained of blood and with telltale puncture wounds in their necks but otherwise completely intact. Literally translated as "goat sucker" in Spanish...

You’re welcome.