fame, noise

in the dictionary, the archaic definition of fame is rumor.
the contemporary definition of a rumor is a 'story or statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts, or, gossip, hearsay.
the archaic definition of rumor is a continuous, confused noise, clamor, din.

fiction

–noun

1. the class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration, esp. in prose form.

2. works of this class, as novels or short stories: detective fiction.

3. something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story: We've all heard the fiction of her being in delicate health.

4. the act of feigning, inventing, or imagining.

5. an imaginary thing or event, postulated for the purposes of argument or explanation.

6. Law . an allegation that a fact exists that is known not to exist, made by authority of law to bring a case within the operation of a rule of law.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME < L fictiōn- (s. of fictiō ) a shaping, hence a feigning, fiction, equiv. to fict ( us ) molded (ptp. of fingere )

—Synonyms
3. fable, fantasy. Fiction, fabrication, figment suggest a story that is without basis in reality. Fiction suggests a story invented and fashioned either to entertain or to deceive: clever fiction; pure fiction. Fabrication applies particularly to a false but carefully invented statement or series of statements, in which some truth is sometimes interwoven, the whole usually intended to deceive: fabrications to lure speculators. Figment applies to a tale, idea, or statement often made up to explain, justify, or glorify oneself: His rich uncle was a figment of his imagination.

—Antonyms
3. fact.

source: fiction. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fiction (accessed: October 15, 2010).


fiction

late 14c., "something invented," from L. fictionem (nom. fictio ) "a fashioning or feigning," from fingere "to shape, form, devise, feign," originally "to knead, form out of clay," from PIE *dheigh- (cf. O.E. dag "dough;" see dough). As a type of literature, 1590s.

source: fiction. Dictionary.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fiction (accessed: October 15, 2010).

fermata

"The burst of loneliness when, whether in conversation or lecture, a speaker pauses to search for a word, and you silently arrive at the word they want, and the speaker then settles on that very word, not without some relish, and the strange fermata quickly recedes in the wake of further talk, and you turn to watch it shrink against the horizon."
from: http://www.theawl.com/2010/10/varieties-of-things-that-one-rarely-bothers-to-mention-or-document

fermata

Music .

1. the sustaining of a note, chord, or rest for a duration longer than the indicated time value, with the length of the extension at the performer's discretion.

2. a symbol placed over a note, chord, or rest indicating a fermata.

Origin:
1875–80; < It: stop, pause, n. use of fem. of ptp. of fermare to stop < L firmāre to make firm.

romance (see abrasive)

we must find romance in this, or at least some love. the day before, he wrote about leaving the country, the impetus quickly falling short in a painful crushing of ego and spirit. romantic spirit arrives in character, conversation and circumstances lacking those that are abrasive, those reminding us of reality, of the present situation and its negative connotations and considerations of mortality or the unseemly, seedy and unkempt aspects of life. the on-going fantasy, deeply embedded in the senses while maintaining a denial, parallel, or escape from them, provides the romantic narrative and prose, a realm where conversation defies and denies logistics, forgives the scene, prompts the imagination and proliferates the dream.


etymology
c.1300, "story of a hero's adventures," also (early 14c.), "vernacular language of France" (as opposed to Latin), from O.Fr. romanz "verse narrative," originally an adverb, "in the vernacular language," from V.L. *romanice scribere "to write in a Romance language" (one developed from Latin instead of Frankish), from L. Romanicus "of or in the Roman style," from Romanus "Roman" (see Roman). The connecting notion is that medieval vernacular tales were usually about chivalric adventure. Literary sense extended by 1660s to "a love story." Extended 1610s to other modern languages derived from Latin (Spanish, Italian, etc.). Meaning "adventurous quality" first recorded 1801; that of "love affair, idealistic quality" is from 1916. The verb meaning "court as a lover" is from 1942.

dictionary
–noun
1. a novel or other prose narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry, romantic exploits, etc., usually in a historical or imaginary setting.
2. the colorful world, life, or conditions depicted in such tales.
3. a medieval narrative, originally one in verse and in some Romance dialect, treating of heroic, fantastic, or supernatural events, often in the form of allegory.
4. a baseless, made-up story, usually full of exaggeration or fanciful invention.
5. a romantic spirit, sentiment, emotion, or desire.
6. romantic character or quality.
7. a romantic affair or experience; a love affair.
8.( initial capital letter ) Also, Romanic. Also called Romance languages. the group of Italic Indo-European languages descended since a.d. 800 from Latin, as french, spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Provençal, Catalan, Rhaeto-Romanic, Sardinian, and Ladino. Abbreviation: Rom.

–verb (used without object)
9. to invent or relate romances; indulge in fanciful or extravagant stories or daydreams.
10. to think or talk romantically.
–verb (used with object)
11.Informal .
a. to court or woo romantically; treat with ardor or chivalrousness: He's currently romancing a very attractive widow.
b. to court the favor of or make overtures to; play up to: They need to romance the local business community if they expect to do business here.

(un)equivocal

equivocal

e·quiv·o·cal    /ɪˈkwɪvəkəl/ –adjective
1.allowing the possibility of several different meanings, as a word or phrase, esp. with intent to deceive or misguide; susceptible of double interpretation; deliberately ambiguous: an equivocal answer.
2.of doubtful nature or character; questionable; dubious; suspicious: aliens of equivocal loyalty.
3.of uncertain significance; not determined: an equivocal attitude.


"By the time I reached college, words were my “thing.” As one teacher equivocally observed, I had the talents of a “silver-tongued orator”—combining (as I fondly assured myself) the inherited confidence of the milieu with the critical edge of the outsider. Oxbridge tutorials reward the verbally felicitous student: the neo-Socratic style (“why did you write this?” “what did you mean by it?”) invites the solitary recipient to explain himself at length, while implicitly disadvantaging the shy, reflective undergraduate who would prefer to retreat to the back of a seminar. My self-serving faith in articulacy was reinforced: not merely evidence of intelligence but intelligence itself. " (from: "Words" by Tony Judt, New York Review of Books, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/jul/15/words/)

[unequivocal
—Synonyms
1. certain, direct, obvious, unmistakable. ]

fear, an oxymoron

d feared waking up, changed, feared the shifted state of consciousness as a state of permanence. i feared staying awake, of knowing these things, of being so conscious. neither of us approached the question of not waking, or he did, as one personality would lie dormant as another pursued the day, a life.

it is always a shame when opportunists get ahead

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