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Apr 24, 2009
This week's themeThere is a word for it This week's words perendinate moirologist prosopagnosia xanthodontous borborygmus Next week's theme Words for him and her Roll the dice Get a random word from A.Word.A.Day archives Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargborborygmus
PRONUNCIATION:
(bor-buh-RIG-muhs)
MEANING:
noun: A rumbling noise caused by the movement of gas through the intestines.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek borborygmos (intestinal rumbling), an onomatopoeic word to
describe the sound.
NOTES:
Borborygmi are usually harmless, they are simply a result of gas movement
around the stomach. And the rumbling sound doesn't mean one is hungry either.
We can't really do anything about the sound of a stomach growling, but we can
take comfort in the fact that at least we know a fancy word to describe it.
USAGE:
"And the piece de resistance:'He was woken early by borborygmus as his insides fermented and his intestines ballooned with gas beyond their capacity.'" Ruth Dudley Edwards; Book Review / Straying Into A Dark, Ugly And Sick World; The Independent (London, UK); Sep 21, 1994. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE)
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