Wheaty Flakes of Goodness - Gone.

It's officially over. The cereal diet is no more. Long live the cereal diet.
I lost 6lbs and 2½ inches in two weeks. Not bad, although I fear that the curry on Friday night and the one-off stop at the Hard Rock Cafe last night did a fine job on all my hard work. And I haven't even stepped foot in Las Vegas yet. Maybe North West airlines should consider chartering a separate plane for my return journey. I'm going to need at least two seats.

Finally finished Douglas Coupland's All Families are Psychotic. Not sure what I made of this one. I liked the characters but not so much the plot. Much preferred Girlfriend in a Coma, Miss Wyoming and Microserf's but it was entertaining nonetheless. Not having a great memory, especially for words rarely used in everyday language, I thought it would be interesting to corner the pages of Coupland's book that contained a word I didn't know or couldn't remember the meaning of. He also uses a lot of words out of normal context that throws me a bit e.g., "mobile sarcophagus" and "joyless stucco mayonnaise" but they don't count.

You're never too old to learn, so here we go:

Pg 116 - Milquetoast

n. One who has a meek, timid, unassertive nature.
n. A timid man or boy considered childish or unassertive

Pg 123 - Seropositivity

adj. Showing a positive reaction to a test on blood serum for a disease; exhibiting seroconversion.

(note: neither seropositivity or seroconversion come up in my UK dictionaries although seropositive is there. Must be a North America thing - will ask Lando C).

Pg 160 - Invective

n. Denunciatory or abusive language; vituperation.
n. Denunciatory or abusive expression or discourse.
adj. Of, relating to, or characterized by denunciatory or abusive language.

Pg 220 - Neophyte

n. A recent convert to a belief; a proselyte.
n. A beginner or novice: a neophyte at politics.
n. a) Roman Catholic Church. A newly ordained priest.
b) A novice of a religious order or congregation.
n. A plant that is found in an area where it had not been recorded previously

They say the best way to learn a new word is to use it. Can't see getting Milquetoast into any conversation but then perhaps I'm pronouncing it wrong in my mind. Invective is a goer.

Lesson over.