M

mabuhay (interjection)

Philippines

Tagalog word for:  Long live! (used in the Philippines as a greeting or to express good wishes). (OD)

Used for telling someone that you wish them success. (MD)

May also mean may you live, cheers, welcome, and hurrah. (Wikipedia)

Somewhat analogous to aloha.

malarkey (noun)
Insincere or foolish talk; bunkum. (MW)
Meaningless talk; nonsense. (OD)
See:  balderdash, drivel, guff, piffle, taradiddle

malediction (noun)

A magical word or phrase uttered with the intention of bringing about evil or destruction; a curse. (OD)

malfeasance (noun)

Wrongdoing or misconduct, especially by a public official. (OD)

Wrongdoing. (OED)

In addition to public officials, we can extend this term to anyone in a position of responsibility and certainly to fiduciaries.  For instance, we read about corporate malfeasance.  Generic term for wrongdoing or misconduct, especially of a business or financial nature. (RM)

See:  fiduciary

malinger (verb)
Exaggerate or feign illness in order to escape duty or work.  Pretend to be ill in order to escape duty or work. (OD)

mamil (noun)
Acronym:  Middle-Aged Man in Lycra.
Humorous and somewhat depreciative. (OED)
Note:  The OED may well describe as humorous and somewhat depreciative, but I use this term quite derogatorily.  In fact all non-professional bike riders who dress like they are entering the Tour de France deserve nothing but derision.

man (noun)

A human being whose 23rd pair of chromosomes (the sex chromosomes) are composed of one X chromosome and one Y chromosome.  As chromosomes are located in the nucleus of each and every cell in the body, this chromosomal composition is immutable.  No amount of body mutilation or hormones (new or suppressed) will change the chromosomal makeup.  Thus if you are born male, you will remain male until the day you die. (RM)

Note:  How sad is it that today, this word needs to be defined?

See:  woman

mass formation psychosis (theory of the psychology of totalitarianism)

Theory put forth by Mattias Desmet, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium.  Summary:

Totalitarianism is characterized by processes of large scale mass formation.  Four conditions are needed for large scale mass formation:

1.  A large amount of people must feel alone and isolated. 

2.  Their lives must feel pointless and meaningless. 

3.  There must be high levels of free floating anxiety, and 

4.  There must be high levels of free-floating frustration and aggression.

If under these conditions a narrative is distributed through the mass media which indicates an object of anxiety and provides a strategy to deal with this object of anxiety, then all the free floating anxiety might be associated to this object and a huge willingness might be observed to participate in the strategy to deal with the object of anxiety.

At the same time, the field of attention gets narrower until it only contains the part of reality that is indicated by the narrative and people lose their capacity to take into account the other aspects of reality – this is what makes them often utterly irrational.  (Mattias Desmet)

In short, large groups of people become victims of fear and lose the ability to reason, and that makes them vulnerable to authoritarianism.  It is interesting to consider, what happens to a society that first becomes largely uneducated and loses all ability to reason, and then a fear element is widely introduced. (RM)

Note:  Some have aptly compared the American reaction to Covid to the rise of Nazi Germany.

See:  mass hysteria, social contagion

mass hysteria (noun)

A condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness. (DC)

A frenzied emotional state that affects a large number of people at the same time. (CDC)

American Psychological Association:  The spontaneous outbreak of atypical thoughts, feelings, or actions in a group or social aggregate.  Manifestations may include psychogenic illness, collective hallucinations, and bizarre actions.  Also called group hysteria; epidemic hysteria; collective hysteria.

See:  mass formation psychosis, social contagion

mercurial (adjective)
Of a person:  Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind. (OD)
Not necessarily derogatory.  Lively, impulsive; given to changes of mood.
(Evans & Wollard, Capricious/Mercurial, Word-Detective.com, 2013)
See:  capricious

meretricious (adjective)

Apparently attractive but having no real value. (OD)

merle (noun)

A coat color pattern of some dogs (such as the border collie, dachshund, and great dane) that consists of a typically bluish- or reddish-gray mixed with splotches of black or reddish- brown and that occurs as a result of the lightening or dilution of the normal base coat color so that only dark patches of normal melanin remain.  Also:  A dog displaying the coat color pattern of merle. (MW)

Merle refers to a dog’s coat pattern.  Merle dogs have mottled patches of color in a solid or piebald coat.  They could have a patched skin color on their nose and/or paw pads, and blue (or possibly odd-colored) eyes.  This is caused by inherited genes from one or both parents.  Merle is also known as dapple in some breeds, like dachshunds.  Merle dogs can come in a range of coat colors, but the pattern is usually patches of darker shades, marbled against lighter backgrounds.  The size of these patches can vary from dog to dog. (Purina.co.uk)

See:  roan

metadata (noun)
A set of data that describes and gives information about other data. (OD)
Note:  Not necessarily digital, think old school library card catalog.

metrosexual (noun)
A heterosexual urban man who enjoys shopping, fashion, and similar interests traditionally associated with women or homosexual men. (OD)
A usually urban heterosexual male given to enhancing his personal appearance by fastidious grooming, beauty treatments, and fashionable clothes. (MW)

mien (noun)
A person’s look or manner, especially one of a particular kind indicating their character or mood. (OD)
Air or bearing especially as expressive of attitude or personality; demeanor. (MW)

milksop (noun)
An unmanly man; a pampered or effeminate boy or man; a weak or cowardly man. (MW)
A person who is indecisive and lacks courage. (OD)

milquetoast (noun)
A timid, meek, or unassertive person. (MW)

mind how you go (British colloquialism)

Said when you say goodbye to someone, meaning take care. (CD)

Used for saying goodbye to someone who you know well. (MD)

See:  all right

mirth (noun)
Amusement, especially as expressed in laughter. (OD)

misandry (noun)

A hatred of men. (MW)

Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against, men. (OD)

misandrist (noun)

misandrous (adjective)

mollycoddle (verb)
To treat with an excessive or absurd degree of indulgence and attention. (MW)
Treat (someone) in an indulgent or overprotective way. (OD)

monoglot (adjective & noun)

Using or speaking only one language (adjective); a person who speaks only one language (noun). (OD)

Note:  Contrast with polyglot (usually defined as several languages, not two or more).  Leaving what?  Bilingual.  Examples:  My monoglot roommate, my polyglot roommate, or my bilingual roommate.

monopsony (noun)
In economics:  A market situation in which there is only one buyer. (OD)

moocher (noun)

A person who lives off others without giving anything in return. (NOA)
One who exploits the generosity of others. (MW)

To Ayn Rand, moochers are those unable to produce value themselves, who demand others' earnings on behalf of the needy, but resent the talented upon whom they depend, and appeal to moral right while enabling the lawful seizure by governments (always at the point of a gun). (Mostly Wikipedia)

mooncalf (noun)
A foolish or absentminded person; simpleton. (MW)

morena (adjective)

Philippines

Tagalog word for brown or brown-skinned. (Tagalog.com)

Note:  For instance, when we speak of a morena Filipina, we mean a brown or darker skin toned woman.  This is the natural color of Filipinos, as opposed to the artificially whitened or lightened skin that is so common, especially among Filipino women.

mot juste (noun)
The exactly right word or phrasing. (MW)
The precisely appropriate word or expression.  Frequently in "le mot juste." (OED)
For example:  He was searching for le mot juste.  Or, the mot juste.

mountebank (noun)
A person who deceives others, especially in order to trick them out of their money; a charlatan. (OD)

mumpsimus (noun)
A traditional custom or idea adhered to although shown to be unreasonable.  A person who obstinately adheres to old customs or ideas in spite of evidence that they are wrong or unreasonable. (OD)

Munchausen Syndrome (psychological disorder)
A mental disorder in which a person repeatedly feigns severe illness so as to obtain hospital treatment. (OD)
Also known as:  Factitious disorder imposed on self, a type of mental illness in which a person repeatedly acts as if he has a physical or mental disorder when, in truth, he has caused the symptoms.
(Factitious Disorder Imposed on Self (Munchausen Syndrome), Cleveland Clinic)
Munchausen syndrome by proxy:  A mental disorder in which a person seeks attention by inducing or feigning illness in another person, typically a child. (OD)
See:  factitious

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