bagatelle -- Mom and Gretchen

bag·a·telle  (bg-tl) n. 1. An unimportant or insignificant thing; a trifle. 2. A short, light piece of verse or music. 3. A game played on an oblong table with a cue and balls. [French, from Italian bagatella, diminutive of dialectal bagata, little property, possibly from Latin bca,berry.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Mom and Gretchen should sing a bagatelle together. 

cosset -- Ann

cos·set  (kst) tr.v. cos·set·ed, cos·set·ing, cos·sets To pamper. n. A pet, especially a pet lamb. [Possibly from Anglo-Norman coscet, pet lamb, from Middle English cotsete, cottage-dweller, from Old English cotsta : cot, cottage + sta, -ste, inhabitant; see sed- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 

 

As a child, Ann would cosset her sheep. 

patristics -- Todd

pa·tris·tics  (p-trstks) n. (used with a sing. verb) 1. The study of the lives, writings, and doctrines of the Church fathers. 2. The writings of the Church fathers.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 

 

I'm sure that Todd, like any good Catholic, reads patristics when he's not doing crossword puzzles. 

deontology -- Sister Jen

de·on·tol·o·gy  (dn-tl-j) n. Ethical theory concerned with duties and rights. [Greek deon, deont-, obligation, necessity (from neuter present participle of dein, to need, lack; seedeu-1 in Indo-European roots) + -logy.] de·onto·logi·cal (-t-lj-kl) adj. deon·tolo·gist n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

 

As a law student, Sister Jen must have studied deontology. 

diaphenous -- Ann

di·aph·a·nous  (d-f-ns) adj. 1. Of such fine texture as to be transparent or translucent: diaphanous tulle. 2. Characterized by delicacy of form. See Synonyms at airy. 3. Vague or insubstantial: diaphanous dreams of glory. [From Medieval Latin diaphanus, transparent, from Greek diaphans, from diaphainein, to be transparent : dia-, dia- + phainein, phan-, to show; see bh-1 in Indo-European roots.] dia·pha·nei·ty (d-f-n-t), di·apha·nous·ness n. di·apha·nous·ly adv.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

 

Ann drives a Honda that is painted a diaphenous "opal."