WORD OF THE WEEK #41 – prurient

prurient – adjective  – pronounced PRURR eeunt – also an adverb – pruriently

This is another great word that I recently came across in a novel.  It is perfect for Word of the Week, as it is a word you may have seen or heard but did not know its meaning.

It means as having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex.  I might argue that this definition could be subject to individual interpretation.

Examples:

“She’d been the subject of much prurient curiosity”.

And here is an interesting recent example from the Washington Post July, 2020 with the headline “The Post Pub survived D.C.’s ups and downs for 43 years, but it couldn’t survive the pandemic.”

“So Beaulieu removed the tables and installed a counter to accommodate his more prurient patrons.”

I need to think about that one.

To learn more about this word and to hear it pronounced correctly visit this site:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prurient

A previous Word of the Week revisited:

assuage – to make a situation or feeling less intense as famously written in a letter by A. Lincoln….”I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief”.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assuage.

Quote of the Week:

In July, 1863 the battle of Fort Wagner, outside of Charleston, NC, took place.  Although the blacks had recently been allowed to fight for the Union they had not yet proven their courage. There were doubters.

Fort Wagner was well protected, and the first assault was unsuccessful.  It then fell to the 54^th Massachusetts, an all-black Volunteer Regiment, to carry-out the next attack. The army was not integrated. Due to the strategic position of Fort Wagner it was clear that the casualty rate would be high.  Further it was understood that any black soldiers, if captured, would face far worse treatment than whites.  Of the 650 black men deployed, over 250 were killed, wounded, or captured.  It was in that battle that the blacks proved their courage beyond any doubts.

During the attack, the soldier carrying the US flag (color guard), was killed. Sergeant William Carney scooped up the flag and, although severely wounded, continued the attack.

For his actions in that battle, Carney received our nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor.  It was the last given out for the Civil War and the first given to a black man.

When returning from the battle he is quoted as saying….

“Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground.”

To learn more about this famous battle….

https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-54th-massachusetts-and-the-second-battle-of-fort-wagner.htm

Below is another photo to perhaps put a smile on your face.

Until next Saturday,

Gramps

Forty one weeks of great words:

1 –   exacerbate – to make worse “Your input just exacerbates an already difficult situation.”
2 – assuage – to make a situation or feeling less intense. “I pray our heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief.”
3 –   force majeure’ –  unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.
4 –   sanguine – optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. “I’m trying to be sanguine about this, but I see a major roadblock”
5 –   segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause.  “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
6 –   bifurcate – to cause to divide into two branches or parts. “We have decided to bifurcate this large project.”
7 –   indolent –  habitually lazy – “His failure in life may stem from his indolent ways as a youth”.
8 –   ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable –  “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
9 –   truncate – to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – coming or having recently come into existence  “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine”
11 – béchamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free béchamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.”
12 – anarchy –  absence of government – “The revolution began when anarchy took root in just one city”.
13 – rhetorical question – a question not intended to require an answer. “Is this a beautiful day or what?”
14 – milieu – the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops.- “His discipline is a result of growing up as part of the military milieu”
15 – nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”
16 – black swan event – comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
17 – myopic – narrow in perspective and without concern for broader implications.  “Your myopic view of this project is disturbing”.
18 – quixotic –  foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals – “His quixotic pursuit for her affection was quite simply foolish.”
19 – prescience – human anticipation of the course of events – foresight.  “His intuitive prescience helped to make him a success”
20 – laconic and laconic riposte – use of a minimum of words, and a short clever response to an insult or challenge.  In response to a demand to immediately surrender he sent back the following: “Nuts”.
21 – protean – ability to change, versatile.  “The coronavirus is protean in its ability to either make you sick or not.”
22 – ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”
23 – catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.  From the novel “Catch-22”.
24 – arrogate – to take or claim something without justification. “In order to accomplish his dream he arrogated to himself controversial powers”.
25 – obtuse – difficult to understand, lacking intellect.  “The responses to his remarks this week were even more obtuse.” 
26 – purloin – to appropriate wrongfully (steal), often pertaining to a theft that is a breach of trust.  “When she opened her new office she purloined one of my listings”.
27 – salience – the quality of being particularly noticeable or important.  “It is not clear that raising the electoral salience of the Supreme Court will work to the president’s advantage.
28 – confabulate – to talk normally or to hold a discussion.  “He likes to confabulate.”
29 – animus – a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. “I have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.”
30 – puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. “His puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews”.
31 – regnant – having the greatest influence – “The regnant belief”.
32 – roil – to be agitated or chaotic – “the politics of slavery was roiling the United States”.
33 – sonder – The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 – inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. “They will try to inculcate you with a respect for culture.”
35 – mendacity – untruthfulness, lying. “He blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.”
36 – pejorative – Expressing contempt or disapproval.  Having negative connotations.   “Permissiveness is often used a pejorative term”.
37 – dystopian – A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. “The dystopian future of a society bereft of reason”.
38 – Occam’s razor – The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 – execrate or execrable – very bad – “The execrable hotel food.”
40 – immutable – unchangeable – Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable.   
41 – prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex. 
 “She’d been the subject of much prurient curiosity”.