10 More Words the Teacher on Scrabble Thinks I Should Know

Image via Wikipedia

A couple of weeks ago I wrote my first blog about 10 words the teacher on Scrabble thinks I should know. You can read that here if you would like. Since that time, the teacher has given me many more suggestions, so I can see that this is going to turn into a serial blog. I won’t subject you to all of the words he suggests, just the ones that look interesting to me.

1. azonic–Not confined to any particular zone or region–not local. Ok, I get that and can see that it may actually be useful. I guess if I were thinking about prefixes and suffixes, I would have guessed the meaning on this one.
2. aliquant–This is a math term now rarely used–something about dividing. Don’t think I’ll find a use for this one in my vocab.
3. icones–Best I can  tell this is Italian or Latin, probably for icon. Okay. I like this one because in this age of iPod, iPhone, iPad I’m always trying to play an iSomething word.
4. olingo–Ha! I love this one–it’s a howler monkey! I thought it had something to do with linguistics. 😀
5. xyst–A long narrow exercise area, or a garden path. The exercise thing was used mainly in winter or stormy weather for athletes to exercise in.
6. vext–This just means vex–to trouble or baffle. Who knew this was a form of vex? Not me.
7. gestic–An adjective related to body movements or gestures, especially dancing. I like this one very much, too.
8. jeon–The chon of South Korea. Huh?
9. epiboly–The growth of a rapidly dividing group of cells around a more slowly dividing group of cells. I’m hoping I don’t ever have to know or use this one.
10. phui–Phooey! Fooey! Urban Dictionary says: a term used to show how stupid you are when said in random context. This one is my favorite of this list just because it’s fun to say!

So there you have it–10 more Scrabble teacher words. I’m increasing my vocabulary. Sorta.

10 Words the Teacher on Scrabble Thinks I Should Know

Image by John Biehler via Flickr

Playing online Scrabble with the Scrabble app on my iPhone challenges my brain which is very good, and one reason I like to play is the teacher component. Lord have mercy that teacher face provokes a variety of emotions in me–anticipation, fear, dread, hope.

After I enter my word, I wonder what face I’ll get from the teacher. Sometimes it’s the flatline lip face. Sometimes it’s a smile. Sometimes I get the big smile with all the teeth. I like that one the most, of course. Then, there’s the dreaded horrified face! I’ve gotten that one a few times and it always makes me scared to put in my next word lest I draw that awful face again!

Sometimes I know the word he suggests, but most of the time I’m like, “What? Huh? Never heard of that one!” And I have a reasonably decent vocabulary.

Without further ado, here are 10 of the words the teacher has suggested recently.

1. deodara—an East Indian cedar–Really? I’m supposed to have Indian vocabulary?
2. booribi—not in the dictionary–Humph.
3. roosing—chiefly dialect–Yes, I use this one all the time.
4. ulema—plural in construction–Ummm, yeah.
5. aas—associate in applied science, or many other abbreviations–I didn’t think abbreviations were allowed!
6. intine—the inner coat of a spore–Yea, buddy, this English teacher knows that word!
7. maqui—an evergreen shrub in Southern California–Well, being in Alabama, I’m not quite familiar with that particular shrub.
8. equivoke—an equivocal term, a pun, double meaning–This one I may have to remember since I like it!
9. viremia—the presence of a virus in the blood–Don’t want to remember this one.
10. bawtie—in Scotland, a name for a dog, and sometimes a hare–I kinda like the way this one rolls off the tongue. 😀

I’m planning on doing this topic again because there are so many odd words suggested by the teacher. If my vocabulary were as good as his, I’d win every game!

My Current 10 Favorite iPhone Game Apps

Talking about my favorite iPhone game apps was on my agenda anyway, so when the postaday2011 topic came up today to review a product, the timing proved perfect to go ahead with it.

I like more than 10 game apps, but these are my current favorites:

1. Angry Birds–I’ve been hooked on these flying fowl from the get-go. What can be more satisfying than smashing a bunch of smirking pigs?
2. Angry Birds Seasons–I like the seasons version even better than the original. There are a few physics problems like things continuing to float even after I’ve knocked down all the supports, but I still love it.
3. Angry Birds Rio–Of the three, I love this one the least, but it is still fun. I really don’t like the monkeys much, though.
4. Bejeweled 2–I think Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook is more addicting with its one minute limit, but this one still sucks me into the time-wasting abyss.
5. Qrank–I like this one because of the questions–Literature, Sports, Money and more. Some days I can blaze through them. Other days it’s like my brain has taken the day off.
6. Bunny Shooter–Bunny Shooter makes me crazy. Trying to get the arrows at the right angle and shooting them at the right target in the right order can make me think more than some of the other games.
7. Oven Break–This is a Christmas game app that is very fast-paced! I got it last year and still haven’t beaten it. My gingerbread man gets impaled on the spears quite frequently.
8. Cut the Rope–Having to cut a rope so that candy falls into a frog’s mouth is more fun than you would think. I have one grandgirl who would list this one as her favorite.
9. Stack the States–My current fav! This is one awesome app. I have learned more about size perspective of the states from this app than I ever knew in my life. The questions aren’t too hard for me, but they provide a good challenge for the grandgirls. Even the ones who can’t read yet play this because stacking the states up is so much fun.
10. Stack the Countries–Also a current fav, but my skills at answering this one are pretty weak. It’s a big world, don’t cha know? Once again, it is fantastic for understanding the size perspective of countries. It’s amazing how tiny some are and how enormous others are.

I really love apps, and the game ones top my list. Words with Friends and Scrabble are actually my top two, but since I mentioned them the other day, I didn’t include them on this list.

I just looked at the app store, and it looks like Line Birds will make it onto my phone next. Any and all suggestions from you are appreciated!

My 10 Favorite iPhone Apps

I’ve been neck-deep in the iPhone app store all day, so after plowing through descriptions of dozens of apps, I wondered just what my favorites are that I use all the time. Here’s the list:

1. Words with Friends–I currently only have three games going, but I’ve had as many as 9 or 10. My daughter and a caching friend are my most reliable opponents. My DH pretty much refuses to play anyone any more.

   

   121 Point Word!

2. Scrabble–My caching friend is the one who plays me on this one. I love the teacher’s faces. It’s great when I get the big smiley face. It’s ego-crushing when I get the horrified face!
3. Geocaching–This app can’t be beat if I don’t have my GPS and I’m in a 3G area where this one will work. I used it just the other day.
4. Grocery IQ–My DH & I finally got the syncing thing figured out on this one, and it works like a charm. I love that you can scan the bar code on a product and add it to the favorites.
5. Notes–I use this app to take notes and then email them to whomever.
6. iBooks–It’s books. I’m an English major. What more is there to say?
7. Kindle–It’s books. I’m an English major. As Thomas Jefferson said, “I cannot live without books.”
8. Holy Bible–It’s THE book. Plus, it has tons of translations.
9. Groovy Grader–If you are a teacher, you must have this! Put in the number of questions, and it will compute all the possible scores for you.
10. Nike+ GPS–When I’m actually walking outside, I love this app. I can listen to music, track my walk, and know how far I walked. I also get voice prompts. It’s awesome!

I know I included two word games on this list, so of course Angry Birds should be on here, but I’ll do a game list another day.