# Word for the day miasma



## Josiah (Mar 21, 2015)

miasma

[mahy-az-muh, mee-] 

noun

1. noxious exhalations from putrescent organic matter; poisonous effluvia or germs polluting the atmosphere.


2. a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or atmosphere.


Example: A miasma of extreme old age pervaded the entire nursing home.

To many men ... the miasma of peace seems more suffocating than the bracing air of war.   George Steiner


----------



## hollydolly (Mar 21, 2015)

That's an entirely new word for me Josiah... is it archaic or still used do you think?

I'd imagine if it's still in common usage it would be in hospitals and mortuaries


----------



## Josiah (Mar 21, 2015)

I'm surprised you hadn't heard it, Holly. Maybe you just don't travel in the same macabre circles that I frequent.


----------



## Shirley (Mar 21, 2015)

I've never heard it spoken but I have read it, mostly in fiction books. The second definition is the one I am used to seeing.


----------



## Ameriscot (Mar 21, 2015)

My husband loves that word but I won't say in what sense he uses it.  nthego:


----------



## hollydolly (Mar 21, 2015)

Josiah said:


> I'm surprised you hadn't heard it, Holly. Maybe you just don't travel in the same macabre circles that I frequent.




    I think you're right ..  and unlike Shirley I don't read Fiction..( only on some internet forums lol)...so I've not seen it written down..


----------



## lovemylittleboy (Mar 21, 2015)

Well this word stinks :lol1::lofl:  or am I reading the definition wrong . What does effluvia mean? There is your word for tomorrow Josiah! lol


----------



## 911 (Mar 21, 2015)

This word of the day thread is driving me crazy. I used to deal with lots and lots of lawyers. Every time I spoke with them they used words that I would have to ask them what the meant. They would go through about a two minute ramble using words that I didn't understand and then when they finished I would ask, "What? Can you ask or say it, so that I can understand?" Oh, I know a lot of legal words and their meaning, but outside of that, my vocabulary is weak. Our Lt. once told all of us that he can judge a man's intelligence just by his vocabulary. I didn't say anything to him, but I felt like saying, "That's BS." But, then I would have given myself away.


----------



## AZ Jim (Mar 21, 2015)

I won't be using that one Josh.


----------



## Josiah (Mar 21, 2015)

I don't remember when or where I learned this word, but like Shirley I tend to associate the word with the 2nd meaning (a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or atmosphere) and I find it wonderfully evocative of film noir imagery. I might suggest to 911 that it's an after 2 am kind of word.


----------



## Cookie (Mar 21, 2015)

Not relevant in my lifestyle, although we occasionally get a whiff when passing a sewer grate. Maybe it would be found in the vocabulary of  a forensic pathologist.


----------



## Falcon (Mar 21, 2015)

I think it's used in reference to swamps and junkyards.


----------



## Ameriscot (Mar 21, 2015)

Funny that I just read it in a book I'm reading.  Something about this woman exuding a ****** aura.


----------



## Cookie (Mar 21, 2015)

:eeew:  I hope that would be different, otherwise, ick.


----------



## Ameriscot (Mar 21, 2015)

Cookie said:


> :eeew:  I hope that would be different, otherwise, ick.



If you mean the ****** reference it would have to do with the second definition - a dangerous influence or atmosphere.  The character was evil and against the wishes of the man she was trying to lure into doing something bad he didn't want to and he was trying not to be distracted by her ****** attraction.  Nothing to do with odor.


----------



## Cookie (Mar 21, 2015)

Right you are, of course, AS ......  LOL


----------



## Ameriscot (Mar 21, 2015)

Cookie said:


> Right you are, of course, AS ......  LOL



LOL.    Otherwise I think of a miasma as bean-related.  layful:


----------



## Cookie (Mar 21, 2015)

Agree AS, that is a drawback of being vegetarian, although I notice that with chickpeas I seem to be completely miasma-free.  LOL  So humus is one of my favorites.


----------



## lovemylittleboy (Mar 21, 2015)

Me too.  But I like seeing Josiah's words! Learn something new everyday:grin:


----------



## Ameriscot (Mar 21, 2015)

Cookie said:


> Agree AS, that is a drawback of being vegetarian, although I notice that with chickpeas I seem to be completely miasma-free.  LOL  So humus is one of my favorites.



We're mainly vegetarian at home.  DH uses a pressure-cooker to cook the beans and that's supposed to help.  

I love hummous as well.


----------



## lovemylittleboy (Mar 21, 2015)

:eeew: !!!Ameriscot  lol lol


----------



## Ameriscot (Mar 21, 2015)

lovemylittleboy said:


> :eeew: !!!Ameriscot  lol lol



Everybody does it!!!  A Scottish saying:  Better oot than in.


----------



## oakapple (Mar 22, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Everybody does it!!!  A Scottish saying:  Better oot than in.


I beg to disagree, better in than oot(or out)
I have read of a miasma, but never used the word or heard anyone using it.


----------



## Ameriscot (Mar 22, 2015)

oakapple said:


> I beg to disagree, better in than oot(or out)
> I have read of a miasma, but never used the word or heard anyone using it.



Oot is the Scots word for out.    I won't expand on why oot is better than in.  layful:


----------



## Josiah (Mar 22, 2015)

Yes, but I understand why oakapple begs to differ. Oot may be healthier but in is more socially acceptable.


----------



## Ameriscot (Mar 22, 2015)

Josiah said:


> Yes, but I understand why oakapple begs to differ. Oot may be healthier but in is more socially acceptable.



That's why it's best to choose your location wisely.  Outdoors maybe.


----------



## oakapple (Mar 23, 2015)

Josiah said:


> Yes, but I understand why oakapple begs to differ. Oot may be healthier but in is more socially acceptable.


Yes, exactly Josiah!


----------

