Wednesday Word: Stan
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1word1dayToday's word is brought to you by amaebi
~~
Stan (n.)
slang, often disparaging
: an extremely or excessively enthusiastic and devoted fan
Examples from the Web:
… an abbreviated season that even the most die-hard Westeros stans seemed lukewarm about.— Alan Sepinwall
In a 2007 interview, J. K. Rowling opened up about Albus Dumbledore's sexuality and confirmed that the Hogwarts patriarch is, in fact, gay. The revelation has been a subject of fodder among Potter stans for years.— Christopher Rosa
Etymology:
from Stan, name of such a fan in the song "Stan" (2000) by the American rap artist Eminem (Marshall Bruce Mathers III)
amaebi ~~
Stan (n.)
slang, often disparaging
: an extremely or excessively enthusiastic and devoted fan
Examples from the Web:
… an abbreviated season that even the most die-hard Westeros stans seemed lukewarm about.— Alan Sepinwall
In a 2007 interview, J. K. Rowling opened up about Albus Dumbledore's sexuality and confirmed that the Hogwarts patriarch is, in fact, gay. The revelation has been a subject of fodder among Potter stans for years.— Christopher Rosa
Etymology:
from Stan, name of such a fan in the song "Stan" (2000) by the American rap artist Eminem (Marshall Bruce Mathers III)
Tuesday word: Puny
12 May 2026 10:22 amsimplyn2deep posting in 1word1dayTuesday, May 12, 2026
Puny (adjective)
puny [pyoo-nee]
adjective, punier, puniest
1. of less than normal size and strength; weak.
2. unimportant; insignificant; petty or minor: a puny excuse.
3. Obsolete. puisne.
Other Word Forms
punily, adverb
puniness, noun
Related Words
feeble, frail, inconsequential, measly, paltry, tiny, trivial
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Origin: First recorded in 1540–50; spelling variant of puisne
Example Sentences
Puny mountains would have slowed erosion of the planet’s rocks, limiting the supply of life-giving nutrients for creatures in the oceans.
From National Geographic • Feb. 11, 2021
“Nobody moves away from Winnipeg, especially to Toronto, and escapes condemnation,” she wrote, in “All My Puny Sorrows,” her novel about her sister’s illness and death.
From The New Yorker • Mar. 18, 2019
Not to mention the shabby way he treated the loyal Bob Hobbitt, whose ailing little son, Puny Pete, longed to leave life as a cabin boy for a career as a seamstress.
From New York Times • Dec. 25, 2014
The greatness in "All My Puny Sorrows" comes from Toews' ability to make the reader want to think about that too.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2014
Hallblithe stood speechless a moment, looking past the Puny Fox, rather than at him.
From The Story of the Glittering Plain; or, the land of Living Men by Morris, William
Puny (adjective)
puny [pyoo-nee]
adjective, punier, puniest
1. of less than normal size and strength; weak.
2. unimportant; insignificant; petty or minor: a puny excuse.
3. Obsolete. puisne.
Other Word Forms
punily, adverb
puniness, noun
Related Words
feeble, frail, inconsequential, measly, paltry, tiny, trivial
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Origin: First recorded in 1540–50; spelling variant of puisne
Example Sentences
Puny mountains would have slowed erosion of the planet’s rocks, limiting the supply of life-giving nutrients for creatures in the oceans.
From National Geographic • Feb. 11, 2021
“Nobody moves away from Winnipeg, especially to Toronto, and escapes condemnation,” she wrote, in “All My Puny Sorrows,” her novel about her sister’s illness and death.
From The New Yorker • Mar. 18, 2019
Not to mention the shabby way he treated the loyal Bob Hobbitt, whose ailing little son, Puny Pete, longed to leave life as a cabin boy for a career as a seamstress.
From New York Times • Dec. 25, 2014
The greatness in "All My Puny Sorrows" comes from Toews' ability to make the reader want to think about that too.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2014
Hallblithe stood speechless a moment, looking past the Puny Fox, rather than at him.
From The Story of the Glittering Plain; or, the land of Living Men by Morris, William
Return Home to Vana'diel Campaign Happening Soon!
11 May 2026 04:40 pmalthea_valara posting in finalfantasyIt's Final Fantasy XI's 24th anniversary soon, and to celebrate, they're having a variety of campaigns in game, including the Return Home to Vana'diel campaign! This one allows past subscribers to play FOR FREE for a period of ten days, from May 15th to May 25th. Details here: click me
Never played FFXI and thinking of trying? They're also discounting the game for a period, from May 15th to June 9th.
I was a big player of FFXI in its heyday, and returned to it about a year and a half ago, around the time the first Vana'diel raid happened in FFXIV. If anyone has any questions about the game, let me know! I'd be glad to answer. I did discover recently that they redid the Tutorial NPC quests to make them more in line with today's gameplay. You can get some really nice rewards from doing that questline, so I highly recommend it.
Never played FFXI and thinking of trying? They're also discounting the game for a period, from May 15th to June 9th.
I was a big player of FFXI in its heyday, and returned to it about a year and a half ago, around the time the first Vana'diel raid happened in FFXIV. If anyone has any questions about the game, let me know! I'd be glad to answer. I did discover recently that they redid the Tutorial NPC quests to make them more in line with today's gameplay. You can get some really nice rewards from doing that questline, so I highly recommend it.
Monday Word: Driech
11 May 2026 06:56 amstonepicnicking_okapi posting in 1word1daydriech [dreekh]
(especially of weather) dreary; bleak.
adjective
examples
1. If the weather was driech, Grace would sit on a sheltered bench, where one day a year or so back she had been joined by a gentleman of similar years (which was to say, eight or nine years younger than George). "Trip Trap" by Ian Rankin.
2. During the next three years (and that is a long driech time) I made many excuses for not going down to Eden Valley. The Dew of Their Youth by SR Crockett 1887
origin
Dreich (pronounced dreekh or dreech), the Scots word for wet, dull, and miserable weather, originates from Middle English and has roots in Old English (*drēog) and early Scandinavian, with usage recorded as early as 1420. Originally, it meant "enduring," "persistent," or "slow/tedious," which evolved to describe the unrelenting, slow-moving wet weather common in Scotland
(especially of weather) dreary; bleak.
adjective
examples
1. If the weather was driech, Grace would sit on a sheltered bench, where one day a year or so back she had been joined by a gentleman of similar years (which was to say, eight or nine years younger than George). "Trip Trap" by Ian Rankin.
2. During the next three years (and that is a long driech time) I made many excuses for not going down to Eden Valley. The Dew of Their Youth by SR Crockett 1887
origin
Dreich (pronounced dreekh or dreech), the Scots word for wet, dull, and miserable weather, originates from Middle English and has roots in Old English (*drēog) and early Scandinavian, with usage recorded as early as 1420. Originally, it meant "enduring," "persistent," or "slow/tedious," which evolved to describe the unrelenting, slow-moving wet weather common in Scotland
Gray Catbird
10 May 2026 09:40 ampauraque posting in common_natureAfter spending the winter along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, Gray Catbirds are back in Vermont!
They're named for their characteristic nasal "mreeennnh!" call that sounds like a cat impatient for dinner. They're related to mockingbirds and can also mimic other birds' songs and miscellaneous noises, but unlike mockingbirds which tend to perform an imitation several times in a row clearly, Gray Catbirds do a chattery stream-of-consciousness jumble of bits and pieces of different things.
The all-gray plumage with a darker cap makes them easy to recognize. In this photo you can also see a glimpse of the rust-red undertail coverts. Males and females look alike. Their bills are black; this one's looks mottled because it's got suet on it. We've had two in the yard lately which are both very into the suet, and they will fly in and rudely body-check the other one off the feeder if they feel like it.
They're named for their characteristic nasal "mreeennnh!" call that sounds like a cat impatient for dinner. They're related to mockingbirds and can also mimic other birds' songs and miscellaneous noises, but unlike mockingbirds which tend to perform an imitation several times in a row clearly, Gray Catbirds do a chattery stream-of-consciousness jumble of bits and pieces of different things.
The all-gray plumage with a darker cap makes them easy to recognize. In this photo you can also see a glimpse of the rust-red undertail coverts. Males and females look alike. Their bills are black; this one's looks mottled because it's got suet on it. We've had two in the yard lately which are both very into the suet, and they will fly in and rudely body-check the other one off the feeder if they feel like it.
Sunday Word: Pied-à-terre
10 May 2026 03:07 pmsallymn posting in 1word1daypied-à-terre [pee-ey-duh-tair, -dah-, pyey-]
noun:
a residence, as an apartment, for secondary, part-time or temporary use
Examples:
Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax, which targets high-value second homes that owners use only part of the year, is intuitively appealing. (Robert P Inman and Michael S Knoll, Mamdani Wants to Tax Your Second Home. Here's A Better Idea., Barron's, April 2026)
Indeed, the apartment's proximity to Paris's most iconic attractions, from the Seine and Eiffel Tower, to Hôtel des Invalides, Musée d'Orsay, Musée Rodin and Le Bon Marché make it the ultimate pied-à-terre for its three owners, who plan to use it as both a holiday home and base for longer European sojourns. (Yeong Sassall, This stylishly decorated classic Parisian pied-à-terre is shared by three owners, Vogue Australia, June 2025)
It was situated in one of those quiet squares which lie, like placid backwaters, off the seething rivers of London. And its chief point of interest lay in the fact that it formed the invariable pied-a-terre of Mr Blackton when visiting England in whatever character he might at the moment be assuming. (Sapper, The Third Round)
What they wanted to find was a smallish house in a pleasant village or country town, which they could furnish with the things they did not wish to part from, and keep as a pied-à-terre. They might decide to travel for a time, or pay visits, but there would always be this place of their own to come back to. (Anna Masterton Buchan, quoted in Henry James Warner, The Proper Place)
The house in Wilton Street was a small bijou place which my father had occupied as a pied-à-terre in town, he being a widower. (William Le Queux, Hushed Up! A Mystery of London)
Origin:
'small town house or rooms used for short residences,' 1829, French, pied à terre, literally 'foot on the ground.' (Online Etymology Dictionary)
When your friend talks about his pied-a-terre in the city, it's just his fancy way of mentioning the apartment he keeps there to stay in from time to time. This borrowing from French, literally 'foot on ground,' designates a small second home. Dictionaries are in general content to stop their explanation of the origins of pied-a-terre by simply translating it, as if this were sufficient to explain how it inherited this meaning. On the other hand, it would hardly be a home if you didn't have your foot on the ground there some time. (Vocabulary.com)
Yesterday (8 May 2026), Sir David Attenborough turned 100.
9 May 2026 01:02 pmfull_metal_ox posting in common_natureI’m assuming he’s been a formative influence for a lot of people in this community.
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Friday Phrase: Beige Flag
8 May 2026 10:27 amcalzephyr posting in 1word1dayBeige flag
Originating from TikTok, a beige flag is a personal attribute that is neutral--behaviour that is neither a red flag (warning!) or green flag (proceed!).
A beige flag may be quirky, a little strange, harmless, or mundane--check out a Reddit conversation for some examples.
Do you have a beige flag?
Originating from TikTok, a beige flag is a personal attribute that is neutral--behaviour that is neither a red flag (warning!) or green flag (proceed!).
A beige flag may be quirky, a little strange, harmless, or mundane--check out a Reddit conversation for some examples.
Do you have a beige flag?
Follow Friday 5-8-26
8 May 2026 12:34 amysabetwordsmith posting in followfridayGot any Follow Friday-related posts to share this week? Comment here with the link(s).
Here's the plan: every Friday, let's recommend some people and/or communities to follow on Dreamwidth. That's it. No complicated rules, no "pass this on to 7.328 friends or your cat will die".
Dotted Cloud Sunset
7 May 2026 08:37 pmyourlibrarian posting in common_nature
A recent sunset seemed to be highlighting the dotted clouds in the area, which made the sky look more patterned than usual.
( Read more... )
Thursday Phrase: Ship of Theseus
7 May 2026 07:06 pmmed_cat posting in 1word1day...I believe amaebi told me of this concept, a while back...
The Ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus's Paradox, is a paradox and common thought experiment about whether an object (in the most common stating of the paradox, a ship) is the same object after having all of its original components replaced with others over time.
You can read more about it in this Wikipedia article
amaebi told me of this concept, a while back...The Ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus's Paradox, is a paradox and common thought experiment about whether an object (in the most common stating of the paradox, a ship) is the same object after having all of its original components replaced with others over time.
You can read more about it in this Wikipedia article