Words of the Day: deicide, mondegreen

Status quo ante: means "the way things were before"

chicanery

usage: He drew accusations of insider trading chicanery in 1999 when he made nearly $800,000 in three trades of Kopin Corporation stock in a single day

altercation: A vehement quarrel.
[Latin altercari to quarrel]

usage: Despite his busy schedule, he still found time to get into an altercation with a stockbroker at a Knicks game in 1993 and later unsuccessfully lobbied for pardons for his drug-dealing chums.

bumpkin:

caper:

1. A playful leap or hop.

2. A frivolous escapade or prank.

3. Slang An illegal plot or enterprise, especially one involving theft.

hyperbole: A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton.

incorrigible:

1. Incapable of being corrected or reformed: an incorrigible criminal.

2. Firmly rooted; ineradicable: incorrigible faults.

3. Difficult or impossible to control or manage: an incorrigible, spoiled child.
[Middle English, from Latin incorrigibilis : in-, not; see in-¹ + corrigere, to correct; see correct.]

Deicide is the killing of a god, goddess, or similar deity.

mondegreen: A series of words that result from the mishearing or misinterpretation of a statement or song lyric. For example, I led the pigeons to the flag for I pledge allegiance to the flag.