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Jun 30, 2010
This week's theme
Dirty words

This week's words
coprolalia
scoria
scatology
fimicolous
feculent
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

scatology

PRONUNCIATION:
(skuh-TOL-uh-jee)

MEANING:
noun:
1. The scientific study of excrement.
2. An obsession with excrement or excretion.
3. Language or literature dealing with excretory matters in a prurient or humorous manner.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek skato-, combing form of skor (dung). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sker- (excrement) that is also the source of dreck and scoria.

USAGE:
"One fund will be left empty, while the second will contain a steaming pile of what, at the risk of descending into scatology, can only be described as two-year Greek government notes."
Mark Gilbert; Hedge-Fund Guy Seduces Buffett to Safeguard Bonus; BusinessWeek (New York); Jan 14, 2010.

See more usage examples of scatology in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I don't hate my enemies. After all, I made 'em. -Red Skelton, comedian (1913-1997)

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