It’s time for Wondrous Words Wednesday! For more great words to add to your vocab, visit Kathy at Bermudaonion.net.
I like to listen to the news on the way to school, but my kids complain that it’s always negative. War in Syria, shootings in the US, and fights in Congress. The past few days have had a lot of coverage on the current battle at the Capitol over the budget and the health care bill.
I wish they would stop bickering and get to work.
Anyway, I heard a great word nerdy word:
The bellicose politicians refuse to back down in their fight to defund “Obamacare.”
bellicose \’bel-I-cōs\ adj, from Latin bellicus, of war; favoring or inclined to start quarrels or wars
I knew “bella” means pretty; clearly “belli” has a very different meaning!
Word Nerd Workout
There are TONS of synonyms for this word. What does that say about us? Anyway, leave a few in the comments. I’ve featured one as a word nerd word before. I’ll give you a hint:
Banned Book Week Winner!
Congrats to Nicole Goodman of Work in Sweats Mama. She won a copy of Looking for Alaska or another banned book as part of my giveaway! Thanks everyone for commenting. I hope you all get a chance to read a banned book soon. Visit Nerdy Book Club for a great post with micro reviews of several banned books.
Thanks for getting nerdy with me today!
Julia
I thought bellicose meant grumpy, which I see is partly correct, I didn’t know about the connection with starting wars.
Happy to enlighten you, Louise! Thanks for “working out”!
There could be a whole sub-genre for words about politicians. We could add bombastic, and oxymoron, and twit. Love bellicose. Thanks for that.
Bombastic is a FANTASTIC word! I love the percussion of it. Yes, perhaps I could do an entire post on a lexicon for politicians- you’ve given me a great start. Thanks for stopping by!
I did know the meaning of this word, and it aptly describes the members of Congress who will not pass a budget until they strike down a law they already voted against (and lost the vote). How is that even legal?
I don’t pretend to understand all the ins and outs and implications of the Affordable Health Care Act. But I do know there is something wrong with a country that doesn’t want to see all its citizens have access to health care. You won’t find many other countries like that, unless you go looking in the Third World.
It’s a very frustrating situation, all around. We need less bellicose congressmen and more collaborative ones!
Had no idea. Have seen the word so often.
Love your word. Everyone beat me to pugnacious! How about warlike…or maybe just plain “mean”.
Great synonyms Judy!
That’s a good word.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/10/wondrous-words-wednesday.html
Julia, I’m so excited about winning the banned book contest. Yippee!! I remember bellicose from my two years of Latin and AP English SAT prep. More synonyms: aggressive and for the triple word score, truculent.
Oh, truculent IS worthy of a triple word score. High fives and thanks for working out!
I’m watching the news while writing this and first synonyms to come to mind is confrontational and contentious. . .well, and pugnacious, but Kathy claimed that one 😀
Great synonyms, Stacy!
I’m with your kids when it comes to the news anymore. It is all so depressing.
Synonyms for bellicose include pugnacious and hostile.
Perfect thumbnail image, Julia! There are days my kids were bellicose!