The state of being stimulated, refreshed, or elated.  

[Latin exhilarare, exhilarat- : ex-, intensive prefix + hilarare, to make cheerful (from hilaris, hilarus, cheerful, from Greek hilaros) + -tion.]  

Salvage: (SAL-vij) noun                 

            1. The rescue of a ship, its crew, or its cargo from fire or shipwreck. The ship, crew, or cargo so rescued. Compensation given to those who voluntarily aid in such a rescue.                 

            2. The act of saving imperiled property from loss. The property so saved.                 

            3. Something saved from destruction or waste and put to further use.   

verb tr.                

            1. To save from loss or destruction.                 

            2. To save (discarded or damaged material) for further use. 

[Obsolete French, from Old French salvaige, right of salvage, from Late Latin salvare, from Latin salvus, safe.]

In the early evening, there was the familiar feeling of exhilaration to be out with a banker's son; but, as dawn approached, Maraj wanted only to salvage what was left of her gown by carefully searching the carpet for the delicate glass beads the clod ripped from her neckline. -- N

 
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Sniglet: (SNIG-lit) noun                 

            Any word coined for something that has no specific name.   

[Said to be derivative of obsolete sniggle to snicker, with -let]  

Omnibus: (OM-ni-bus) noun      

            1. A long motor vehicle for passengers; a bus.      

            2. A printed anthology of the works of one author or of writings on related subjects.   

adjective      

            Including or covering many things or classes.

[French, from Latin, for all, dative pl. of omnis, all.]

Frank was upset. During the long, drawn out, take-forever, omnibus-like presentation that bitch Greta made to the board of directors, she sneaked in a sniglet Frank recognized as a slam about his inability to think about more than one thing at a time or react, to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. She used the word polymoronic instead of polymorphic to describe Frank's handling of the company's new compound crystallization process, and then pretended it was an accident. But right now Frank couldn't think about that. He could only think about lunch. -- N

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Background: 

Along with countless other people the world over, I enjoy my subscription to A. Word. A. Day. that results in a daily email message with interesting, sometimes completely unknown-to-me words, along with pronounciation guide, etymology typical usage and more.

The New York Times hailed AWADmail as: "The most welcomed, most enduring piece of daily mass e-mail in cyberspace."

One day way back when, I decided that for learning, it would be helpful and fun to use the words AWAD sent to me in a sentence or two. Of course I found myself going beyond that and using them in not-so-obvious ways that entertained my friends as well as myself. Sometimes I use words incorrectly on purpose. But if you know the meaning, you get the joke. It is kind of a backward way of doing things, but that's creativity, right?

The first character inspired by AWAD was Maraj (not her real name.) She has quite a few fans. At the encouragement of several persistent friends, I decided it was time to share her and the others with my new friends here at OS, and begin on the first day of 2010. 

I'm offering vocabulary words I received from AWAD and what I wrote to practice using them. Tell me this isn't a much more fun way to work on improving one's vocabulary. Enjoy. Maraj and more will be back – and check out www.wordsmith.org to sign up for the free subscription. They don't know me, but for fun tell them I sent you. Like OS, it can be addictive. -- Natalie