tare
weight: (noun) the weight of
an unladen container, so by subtracting the tare weight from the total weight, the weight of the goods can be determined.
If you want that goofy scale to measure anything accurately, you first need to know the tare weight.
tarn: (noun) a small mountain lake. Sedge grew along
the banks of the tarn.
tarnation: (noun) a euphemism for “darnation,” which
is a euphemism for “damnation.” Well damn it all! You got me cursin’ instead of sayin’
tarnation!
tarry: (verb) to delay; to be tardy in acting or doing.
If Terry tarries, she'll be tardy.
tatty: (adj.) worn and shabby; in poor condition. If you're going on an interview, it's
best not to dress in tatty clothes.
tautology: (noun) (pronounced: toe-tall-oh-gee) the
saying of the same thing twice in different words; redundancy. You need to stop messing with me, and you need to leave
me alone, even if I do use tautology when I speak, or if I tend to repeat what I'm saying in different words. Now go
away, or get out of here, or just leave.
tawdry: (adj.) cheap, gaudy, flamboyant. You misunderstand; when I said the dress was
tawdry I didn’t mean that I didn’t like it.
tchotchke: (noun) (Yiddish; pronounced: chach-ka) knick knacks; gewgaws; worthless
trinkets; that stuff you bring home from vacations. What would be the use in taking vacations if we didn't bring home
tchotchkes?
teem: (verb) to be full of or swarming with; to abound. The President's strategy of
forming a Cabinet teeming with morons to make him look better only ended up making them all look worse.
teleology: (noun) the explanation of phenomena by the purpose they
serve rather than by what actually causes them. It is teleological thinking to conclude that Larry’s getting run
over by a bus was all part of Vishnu’s plan, rather than Larry’s just stepping out in front of the bus, being
in the wrong place at the wrong time.
tempestuous: (adj.) passionate; turbulent; uncontrolled; violent.
Their tempestuous affair was doomed before it began.
temporality: (noun) having a relationship with time; the possessions of
the clergy. For a organization where its members take a vow of poverty, the Church certainly has a lot of temporalities.
temporize: (verb) to stall; to avoid making a decision to gain time.
And here comes the pitching coach yet again. At this point he's only temporizing until the reliever is warmed up.
tempter: (noun) a person or thing that tempts; the devil.
Heed my warning! The Tempter waits for thee!
temptress: (noun) a woman who tempts a man; a seductress; the feminine opposite of a Lothario –
a woman who behaves selfishly in her sexual relationships with men. Larry joined all the other guys on the swim team,
with his heart broken by the temptress Lou Ellen.
tendentious: (adj.) (pronounced: ten-den-chus) having the tendency to favour a particular
point of view; biased. Of course we're not hiring you because of your tendentious beliefs. But if you're wanting
to be the pastor of our church, it is rather important that you actually believe in God.
tenet: (noun) belief, vow, canon, creed. It is a tenet of mine to hold no creed.
tenuity: (noun) lack of solidity or substance; thinness.
The tenuity of your soul fills me with sadness.
tergiversation: (noun) (pronounced:
ter-jiv-er-say-tion) the act of giving statements that differ from each other so they both cannot be true; evasion;
equivocation; desertion of a cause, party, or faith. Finally tired of his tergiversations, even the most stalwart of
the president's supporters abandoned him.
termagant: (noun) a harsh-tempered or overbearing woman. Whether
or not she is a termagant is beside the point. She is still your mother, and you shall do as you are told.
tessellated: (adj.) a pattern of repeating shapes that fit together with no gaps or overlays.
See how all the tiles are shaped like little stop signs that all fit together? Yeah. That's tessellated.
testiculation: (noun) the act of talking complete malarkey while waving
your arms about. Well, we're once again in the election cycle, and once again the candidates are all out in force, and
all at the height of testiculation.
testimonialist: (noun) one who gives testimonies. If a testimonialist
is paid to give that testimony, then it means that testimony isn't worth squat… unless you're the one getting paid.
theodolite: (noun) a rotating telescope used for surveying.
I brought my theodolite in case we need to measure anything while we're camping.
theosophy: (noun) (pronounced: thee-os-oh-phy) the branch of philosophy that claims a knowledge of God – or anything –
may be achieved through individual intuition, and, really, nothing else. I appreciate that you are convinced that
lizard people exist through your theosophical beliefs, but don't you think it would be better to have actual proof before
dragging people you believe are shape-shifting aliens out of their homes and having them shot?
thew: (noun) muscular strength; vitality. Few have the
thew that I found in you.
thitherward (also thitherwards): (adverb) toward that place. If we continue
thitherward, once we get to the library we can look “thitherward” up.
thrall: (noun) being in someone (or something's) power.
When Lois showed up to the party, it was plain to see that all the boys were in her thrall.
threnody: (noun) (pronounced: thren-oh-dee) a lament.
Oh, sure, I have threnodies about breaking up with Sharon, but I wanted to be mundivagant, and she wanted to stay put.
So what's a fellow to do?
throes: (plural noun) intense violent pain or struggle, unless
it's sex, and then it's just intense passion. While in the throes of passion, he fell off the pony and broke his tail
bone, which put him in the throes of agony.
throughput: (noun) the amount of data or material passing through
a process or a system. Suffice it to say, the throughput here at the waste water treatment plant is a butt-load.
timeserver: (noun) opportunist; waverer; weathercock. Grab
your carpetbags, all you timeservers, it's time to head North!
tinker: (verb) to putter. Come right in. The professor
is down in the dungeon tinkering with his new creation. Say... you don’t mind if we borrow your brain, do you?
tintinnabulation: (noun; pronounced: tin-ti-nab-yuh-LAY-shuhn) The
ringing or sound of bells. The tintinnabulation in front of the department store at Christmastime drove off potential
shoppers.
tipple: (noun) cocktail; beer; nip. I think I'll have another
tipple, and then it's off to bed!
titillate: (verb) to stimulate or excite, especially in a
sexual way. The boys all found her low cut blouse to be quite titillating.
titter: (verb) to laugh, to show amusement. When Melissa’s halter top fell off during
her presentation, the boys couldn’t help but titter.
titter-tat: (noun) gossip. Never mind the Bessie's titter-tat.
That old cow will repeat anything she hears in the barnyard.
titwillow: (noun) a person of low intelligence; an idiot (from the
song "Tit Willow" – about a bird that kills itself because of unrequited love – in the Gilbert and Sullivan
play The Mikado). Oh, to be a titwillow singing in a tree, I would die my love, for thee.
toadlet: (noun) a young or small toad. I would never
put a toad in the soup. Those are toadlets. They're smaller.
toccata: (noun) a keyboard composition designed to show others
just how good you are; any performance that shows your superior ability. I call it "Annoyance in D Flat."
It's a toccata I wrote for the Gazoo and banjo.
tocsin: (noun) alarm; warning. If the toxin escapes the
room, then a tocsin will sound.
tomfoolery: (noun) foolish behaviour; something trivial; utter nonsense. If you ever
want people to take you seriously, then you need to cease your tomfoolery!
tondo: (noun) a round artwork. My grandparents’
portrait isn’t really a tondo; they just put it in a round frame.
tonsure: (noun) the crown of a monk's head left bare by shaving
off the hair. Of course I like your new hair cut, honey, but I honestly didn’t know what a tonsure was when you
asked.
toponym: (noun) (pronounced: top-ah-nim) the name of a place, any place. Toponymy
(pronounced top-on-ah-me) is the study of place names, such as why anybody would ever call a town Possum Trot. Possum
Trot, on the other hand, is a toponym, a fancy way of saying a place name.
torpor: (noun) inactivity; languor; lethargy; general laziness.
Call it torpor if you like, but I know laziness when I see it. Now get out and get a job!
tortuous: (adj.) circuitous; convoluted; meandering; twisting.
“The Long and Tortuous Road” would’ve been a lousy song title.
tosh: (noun) rubbish; nonsense. That is nothing but tosh!
Now put your supervisor on the line so I can get this matter resolved.
tout: (verb) to solicit business, votes, or what have you
in an importune matter. They were trying to tout their success with the new spending bill by hiring a plane to fly over
the city with a banner telling the tax payers that their money was not being wasted.
tractable: (adj.) obedient, dutiful, biddable. We always considered Rex to be a tractable
dog.
trainspotting: (noun) to be obsessed with one trivial topic; to shoot
up heroin (because doing so leaves dark lines on the skin; also because of the popularity (in Britain) of shooting up heroin
in trainyards, much the same as 4:20 evolved from the popularity of Southern California high school students getting high
after school) No, I am not trainspotting. I am birdwatching... while high on heroin... why do you ask?
tranche: (noun) a portion of something, especially money.
Here’s the tranche for your trench.
transmogrify: (verb) to transform, especially in a surprising or magical
way. Oh, George, don't be such a fuddy-duddy. The Andersons would love to see you transmogrify into that wolf-thingy,
but do promise that you won't eat anybody this time.
trattoria: (noun) (pronounced: tra-tor-ree-ah) an Italian restaurant serving simple
foods. Of course it's not trout almandine; it's a fish sandwich. What did you expect? After all, this is
a trattoria.
treacle: (noun) flattery; sentimentality. Your treacle will
get you... well, a whole lot. Just try to get a raise without it.
trencher: (noun) a wooden
plate or platter for food. You can put all you want on your trencher, but please eat all you take.
trenchant: (adj.) incisive; acerbic; severe. Her trenchant remarks seemed out of place at
the funeral.
trepidation: (verb) to oscillate back and forth; undecided.
He trepidated over the meaning of the word, since the noun form had been used as a verb, which you can do with virtually every
noun, and visa versa.
tricknology: (noun) the techniques of manipulation and deception by one group (especially a white
majority) to disempower a weaker one (especially a black minority); innovative techniques in recording or performing music.
Yes, saying that blacks aren't as smart as whites is an excellent example of tricknology, but if you say it in a song, then
perhaps you can be a tricknologist, too.
tripe: (noun) rubbish; nonsense; drivel; the first or second
stomach of any ruminant used as food. What's all this tripe about you not liking your mother's tripe? Now you'll
eat what's on the table, and that's the end of it!
tristful: (adj.) sad; melancholy. Carl thought having a tryst
would make him happy, but instead it just made him more tristful.
triumvirate: (noun) trio; threesome; troika; triad. Well, there's Billy, Tommy, and Mikey.
That's a triumvirate. If we want to have a decent game of basketball, we're going to need at least one more.
troika: (noun) a Russian vehicle pulled by a team of three horses; a team of three people working
together, especially in an administrative capacity. The troika of Vladimir, Nikoli, and Karl oversaw the construction
of the troikas.
trollop: (noun) a sexually promiscuous woman. Sir, I don't
care how promiscuous you might be. You cannot be a trollop. That's simply the way the language works.
trope: (noun) a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or saying. It was unclear if
the president was using a trope when he spoke of our American freedoms while also wanting to build a wall.
truculent: (adj.) hostile; argumentative; fractious. Their truculence
has turned the village into an abattoir.
trumpery: (adj.) showy, but worthless; a clockwork orange.
The president's trumpery got old in a hurry.
trumpidity: (noun) the belief that truth is determined not
by proof, but by the denial of proof. What?! I caught you in bed with another man. Naked. Having sex.
No amount of trumpidity is going to change that.
truncate: (verb) to shorten; to abbreviate; to trim; to pare.
A truncated marriage sounds so much better than a divorce.
tryst: (noun) rendezvous; meeting; assignation. When
the man found that his wife was having a tryst with his clone, he wasn’t sure whether to be happy or upset.
tsundoku: (verb) buying books
you don't read. Well, it may be tsundoku, but I call it interior decorating.
tucket: (noun) a fanfare on a trumpet. Aside from the tucket every time she enters the
room, she's a pretty good boss.
tulle: (noun) (pronounced: tool) a fine net-like material
used for making veils and dresses. I told you that a toolbelt made of tulle would be useless!
tumbril: (noun) an open cart that tilts backward to empty out its load; it was most famously
used to take condemned prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution. We got a tumbril to use around the
yard, and we found it has so many other uses.
tumid: (adj.) swollen (especially of the body); pompous (especially
of speech) The major's tumid speech about the impending flood was cut short when she was washed away.
tun: (noun) a large beer or wine cask; an imperial measure
of capacity, equal to four hogsheads. This tun weighs a ton.
turbid: (adj.) confused or obscure with meaning or effect; a
chalky-coloured liquid that should normally be less so. We found the novel to be quite turbid.
turgid: (adj.) pompous; pretentious; self-important. If
you keep acting so turgidly, then everybody is going to think you’re a turd.
turgor: (noun) the rigidity of your skin typically caused by the absorption of fluids; the state
of turgidity (just south of Oklahoma). Your turgor is fine. When I said you were turgid, I wasn't referring to
the medical definition. I meant that you were acting like a pompous ass.
turnkey: (noun) a jailer. When the turnkey slammed the door
shut, we all realized how much trouble we were in.
turpitude: (noun) depravity; wickedness; immorality. I object,
your honour. My client's turpitude is not in question here. I mean, he is the Devil. There should be no
question about his lack of morals.
tutelage: (noun) auspices; guidance; support. Under
her tutelage, he became a proficient teacher.
tutelary: (noun) serving as a protector, guardian, or patron. The trouble with the local
tutelary is the lack of tutelage.
twaddle: (adj.) nonsense; claptrap; balderdash. Enough of
your twaddle, Pinchford. Now get on with your report!
tweaker: (noun) somebody who tweaks, such as caused by drugs, or, when
applied to birdwatchers, how they are always looking about for birds. Leon? Hard to tell. When he gets high,
he likes to stare at the birds, so either way you look at it, he's a tweaker.
twidget: (noun) lacking intelligence; clueless. Many people claim Justin Bieber has talent,
but it’s obvious they are all twidgets.
twiggy: (adj.) of or relating to twigs; skinny. Have you tried the new Twiggy diet?
You eat twigs until you're twiggy… or you die. Regardless, you're going to lose weight.
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