This is another word that I found in Richard Dawkins' new book, The God Delusion. I am nearly finished with this book, so I will probably have a new word from a new book for you tomorrow.
fillip (FIL-uhp) [Origin: 1425-75; late ME philippe to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger; expressive word of uncertain origin]
verb (used with object)
- to strike with the nail of a finger snapped from the end of the thumb.
- to tap or strike smartly.
- to drive by or as by a fillip: Anticipation filliped his passion.
verb (used without object)
- to make a fillip with the fingers.
noun
- an act or instance of filliping; a smart tap or stroke.
- anything that tends to rouse, excite, or revive; a stimulus: Praise is an excellent fillip for waning ambition.
Usage: He has no truck with them: they don't contribute even a minor fillip to his numerical estimate of God's likelihood.
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More like this
I'm pretty darn sure after seeing the trailer that I want to see this movie, but there's one little fillip, one name that gets briefly
The Catholic church is always ripely ridiculous, and it's a fine fillip on the rococo elaborations of their dogma when some silly news organization tries to turn them into a poll.
The Catholic church has instructions for you before you get down to business with your sweetie: you're supposed to say a little prayer. This one.
It's hard to believe, but Mother Teresa is getting her own US postage stamp.
Are you okay? Your Nov 6th, 2006 entry on your old blog doesn't look good.
http://girlscientist.blogspot.com/
I'm debating whether it would be helpful to raise this on more popular blogs - like PZ's.