Word for the day miasma

J

Josiah

Senior Member
Location
50 miles east of Cincinnati, OH
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
 

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
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.

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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.
 
Cookie said:
:eeew: I hope that would be different, otherwise, ick.
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If you mean the sexual 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 sexual attraction. Nothing to do with odor. :D
 
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.:eek:
 
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.:eek:
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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.
 
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