Recently in Word of the Day Category

Function: noun
Etymology: Exact etymology unknown. Combination of the words psycho, from Gr. psychh meaning the soul, the mind, or a person afflicted with psychosis; and biddy, adult female chicken, 1913. Literal meaning of combined words is "crazy chicken."
Date: circa 1960
Definition: 1) a dangerous, insane or mentally unstable woman of advanced years; 2) a colloquial term for a sub-genre of the horror/thriller movie also known by the name "Older Women in Peril," which was most prevalent from the early 1960s through the mid-1970s (see Wikipedia entry).

We watched the film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? a few nights ago and can honestly say that "crazy chicken" does not even begin to describe Bette Davis's character in the film.  Just the clumped mascara she wore alone is enough to give you the willies.

Pronunciation: nō'mən-klā'chər
Function: noun
Etymology: 1610, "a name," from Fr. nomenclature, from L. nomenclatura "calling of names," from nomenclator "namer," from nomen "name" + calator "caller, crier," from calare "call out." Nomenclator in Rome was the title of a steward whose job was to announce visitors, and also of a prompter who helped a stumping politician recall names and pet causes of his constituents. Meaning "list or catalogue of names" first attested 1635; that of "system of naming" is from 1664; sense of "terminology of a science" is from 1789.
Earliest Usage Date: 1610
Definition: 1) a system of names used in an art or science: the nomenclature of mineralogy; 2) the procedure of assigning names to the kinds and groups of organisms listed in a taxonomic classification: the rules of nomenclature in botany.

Alternates: rigamarole
Function: noun
Etymology: Alteration of obsolete ragman roll, catalog, from Middle English ragmane rolle, a long roll of verses descriptive of personal characters, used in a medieval game of chance called Rageman, perhaps from Anglo-Fr. Ragemon le bon "Ragemon the good," which was the heading on one set of the verses, referring to a character by that name + Middle English rolle, list (from Old French, from Latin rotula, wheel). Sense transferred to "foolish activity or commotion."
Date: 1523
Definition: 1) confused or meaningless talk; 2) a complex and ritualistic procedure.

Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Old French fricons, pl. of fricon, a trembling, from Vulgar Latin *frīctiō, *frīctiōn-, from Latin frīgēre, to be cold
Date: Unknown
Definition: A moment of intense excitement; a shudder or thrill: The story's ending arouses a frisson of terror.

Function: noun
Etymology: From French brouhaha (1552), said to have been in medieval theater "the cry of the devil disguised as clergy." Perhaps from Hebrew barukh habba' "blessed be the one who comes," used on public occasions.
Date: 1890
Definition: 1: loud confused noise from many sources; 2: a confused disturbance far greater than its cause merits.

Damn, you gotta love a word with haha in it.

Function: noun, slang
Etymology: Combination of v. beat and adv. down. Beat: Middle English beten, from Old English bEatan; akin to Old High German bOzan. Down: Middle English doun, from Old English dune.
Date: c. 1990. Beat, c. 1200. Down, 1508.
Definition: 1: repeated strikes or blows that causes one to drop towards the ground or floor (sometimes in a fetal position), an ass-kicking; 2: act of beating someone as a means of initiating them into a street gang; 3: extreme mental pain or anguish, stress; 4: afflicted with misfortune and/or misery.

With work and school, I've been suffering a serious daily beatdown.

Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English arbitre, from Middle French, from Latin arbitr-, arbiter
Date: 1549. Earliest English form: 1340, female noun, arbitress, "a woman who settles disputes."
Definition: a person with power to decide a dispute, a judge; a person or agency having the power of deciding an outcome.

My whole life I thought that this word was spelled arbitor, but that is the Latin spelling of the word, not English. Arbiter is also more common than the alternate Engligh word, arbitrator.

Function: adjective
Etymology: Misspelling of 'humongous' found in Big 4 email communications.
Date: 2004
Definition: humongous; huge; enormous; extremely large; "testing of in-scope applications and their interfaces would be humnagas task" --Big 4 Manager

Function: noun
Etymology: German, from Katze cat + Jammer distress
Date: 1849
Definition: 1: hubbub, uproar, loud confused noise from many sources; 2: hangover, a disagreeable after effect from the use of drugs or alcohol.

I had some wine last night and woke up with a small katzenjammer.

Function: transitive verb, inflected form
Date: 1702
Definition: 1: feeling mental pain or anguish; 2: tormented or harassed by nightmares or unreasonable fears; 3: physically being ridden by an old hag; 4: "hagridden...by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth" --C.S. Lewis

Oh yeah, with work and school, this is exactly like I feel right now. I love the power of language. This is the first entry in this category and I promise there will be many more to come.