A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri Jan 1 00:04:19 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--atomy X-Bonus: One of the greatest gifts you can get as a writer is to be born into an unhappy family. -Pat Conroy atomy (AT-uh-mee) noun Archaic. 1. A tiny particle; a mote. 2. A tiny being. [From Latin atomi, pl. of atomus, atom.] Archaic. A gaunt person; a skeleton. [From an atomy respelling of anatomy.] "That eyes, that are the frail'st and softest things, Who shut their coward gates on atomies, Should be call'd tyrants, butchers, murderers!" Shakespeare, William, As You Like It: Act III, Scene V. This week's theme: words created by false splitting. -------- Date: Sat Jan 2 00:04:23 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nuncle X-Bonus: Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know. -Michel de Montaigne nuncle (NUNG-kuhl) noun Chiefly British. An uncle. [From the phrase an uncle.] "Fool: Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a madman be a gentleman or a yeoman?" Shakespeare, William, King Lear: Act III, Scene VI. This week's theme: words created by false splitting. -------- Date: Sun Jan 3 00:04:25 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--umpire X-Bonus: Everything considered, work is less boring than amusing oneself. -Charles Baudelaire umpire (UM-pyre) noun 1. Sports. A person appointed to rule on plays. 2. A person appointed to settle a dispute that mediators have been unable to resolve; an arbitrator. verb tr. To act as referee for; rule or judge. verb intr. To be or act as a referee or an arbitrator. [Middle English (an) oumpere, (an) umpire, alteration of (a) noumpere, a mediator, from Old French nonper : non-, + per, equal, even, paired (from Latin par.] "Let me be umpire in this doubtful strife." Shakespeare, William, King Henry VI, Part I: Act IV, Scene I. This week's theme: words created by false splitting. -------- Date: Mon Jan 4 00:04:39 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--topiary X-Bonus: The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men. -Leonardo da Vinci topiary (TOE-pee-er-ee) adjective Of or characterized by the clipping or trimming of live shrubs or trees into decorative shapes, as of animals. topiary noun 1. Topiary work or art. 2. A topiary garden. [Latin topiarius, from topia, ornamental gardening, from Greek topia, pl. of topion, field, diminutive of topos, place.] "Well, the question is what is the role of topiary in animal life? Because topiary is both animal art and plant art." A Tour of Animal Art and Architecture in New York, All Things Considered (NPR), 22 Jan 1994. Imagine using the earth as a canvas, clippers as the brushes, and trees as the paint and what you get is topiary. While the alphabet, animals, and other shapes are often used to form topiaries, in Columbus Ohio a whole painting ("Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by the French painter Georges Pierre Seurat) has been brought alive as a half-acre topiary. The topiary: http://www.artsednet.getty.edu/ArtsEdNet/Images/Ecology/Lankford/topiary.html The painting: http://hyperion.advanced.org/17142/chef-doeuvre/sunday-afternoon.htm This week's theme features more words about trees. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Jan 5 00:04:23 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--deciduous X-Bonus: Some people approach every problem with an open mouth. -Adlai Stevenson deciduous (di-SIJ-oo-uhs) adjective 1. Falling off or shed at a specific season or stage of growth. 2. Shedding or losing foliage at the end of the growing season. 3. Not lasting; ephemeral. [From Latin deciduus, from decidere, to fall off : de-, de- + cadere, to fall.] "Even leafless deciduous trees can block 25-60% of the sun's energy." Glickman, Marshall, Money does grow on trees. (using landscaping to improve energy conservation in the home)., Mother Earth News, 10-01-1994, pp 18(2). This week's theme: words about trees. -------- Date: Wed Jan 6 00:04:28 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bosky X-Bonus: There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) bosky (BOS-kee) adjective 1. Having an abundance of bushes, shrubs, or trees. 2. Of or relating to woods. [From Middle English bosk, bush, from Medieval Latin bosca, of Germanic origin.] "And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown My bosky acres, and my unshrubb'd down," Shakespeare, William, Tempest, The: Act IV. This week's theme: words about trees. -------- Date: Thu Jan 7 00:04:25 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--coppice X-Bonus: Life: a spiritual pickle preserving the body from decay. -Ambrose Bierce coppice (KOP-is) noun A thicket or grove of small trees or shrubs, especially one maintained by periodic cutting or pruning to encourage suckering, as in the cultivation of cinnamon trees for their bark. [Old French copeiz.] "`There will be no gravestones and land management will be governed by sound ecological principles,' says Mr Bradfield. `People will be encouraged to use shrouds instead of coffins. Stretchers could be made from coppice poles cut from woodland, which would allow friends and relatives to do something physical and creative together.' Marina Cantacuzino, A natural place to be buried: Forget cemeteries, you can, Independent, 26 May 1994. This week's theme: words about trees. -------- Date: Fri Jan 8 00:04:26 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--arborescent X-Bonus: Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others. -Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968) arborescent (ahr-buh-RES-uhnt) adjective Having the size, form, or characteristics of a tree; treelike. [Latin arborescens, arborescent-, present participle of arborescere, to grow to be a tree, from arbor, tree.] "Because he considers creation in the image of God to be the ultimate pedestal, (Stephen Jay) Gould judges Darwinism to be the ultimate pedestal-smasher because it proves that humans are merely `a fortuitous cosmic afterthought, a tiny little twig on the enormously arborescent bush of life.'" Jonathan Wells, The Retreating Revolutionary, The World & I, 1 Mar 1996. This week's theme: words about trees. -------- Date: Sat Jan 9 00:04:36 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sylvan X-Bonus: The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. -William Wordsworth sylvan also silvan (SIL-vuhn) adjective 1. Relating to or characteristic of woods or forest regions. 2. Located in or inhabiting a wood or forest. 3. Abounding in trees; wooded. sylvan noun One that lives in or frequents the woods. [Medieval Latin sylvanus, from Latin Silvanus, god of the woods, from silva, forest.] "In that delightful land which is washed by the Delaware waters, Guarding in sylvan shades the name of Penn the apostle, Stands on the banks of its beautiful stream the city he founded." Poems Of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Part The Second IV - V, Great Works of Literature, 1 Jan 1992. This week's theme: words about trees. -------- Date: Sun Jan 10 00:04:24 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pollard X-Bonus: My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. -Thomas Paine (The rights of Man) pollard (POL-uhrd) noun 1. A tree whose top branches have been cut back to the trunk so that it may produce a dense growth of new shoots. 2. An animal, such as an ox, a goat, or a sheep, that no longer has its horns. pollard tr.verb To convert or make into a pollard. [From poll.] "There is a row of pollarded willows standing parallel to our front, a hundred and fifty yards away. Up, or in, one of these lives Zacchaeus." Beith, Captain Ian Hay, (Translation: Dewalterstorff, H. G.), True Stories of the Great War: II - Story Of Zacchaeus: 'He Lives Up A Tree', History of the World, 1 Jan 1992. This week's theme: words about trees. -------- Date: Mon Jan 11 00:04:41 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--argy-bargy X-Bonus: The best lack all conviction, while the worst \ Are full of passionate intensity. -William Butler Yeats [The Second Coming] argy-bargy (ahr-gee-BAHR-gee) noun Chiefly British. A lively or disputatious discussion. [Scots, reduplication of argie, argument from argue.] "Business is not much interested in the political argy-bargy of claim and counter-claim on potential job losses." Bassett, Philip, Please, sir, can I have some more? New Statesman, 21 Jun 1996. It's time again for "The Reduplicatives." That could be the name of a rock band - the one known for razzle-dazzle and their hoity-toity demeanor. They come in pairs, make a little chit-chat, and then hurry-scurry off to their next gig. So let's not shilly-shally or be wishy-washy but look at the mish-mash of their seven other super-duper cousins this week. -Anu (To see a recording of their previous appearance, find the AWAD archive for Sep 98 at https://wordsmith.org/awad/archives.html or send a blank message to wsmith@wordsmith.org with subject "archive 0998"). -------- Date: Tue Jan 12 00:04:27 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dilly-dally X-Bonus: The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. -Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) dilly-dally (DIL-ee-dal-ee) intr.verb To waste time, especially in indecision; dawdle or vacillate. [Reduplication of dally.] "A strong leader makes decisions. Whether they are right or wrong, they get made, and they are clear. A weak executive dilly-dallies and gives false signals, leaving subordinates tocharge off in different directions." Harvey Mackay, Of monogrammed cuffs, ego size and leadership, Star Tribune, 15 Feb 1996. This week's theme: reduplicatives. -------- Date: Wed Jan 13 00:04:24 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tittle-tattle X-Bonus: When you see a man led to prison say in your heart, "Mayhap he is escaping from a narrower prison." \ And when you see a man drunken say in your heart, "Mayhap he sought escape from something still more unbeautiful." -Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) [Sand and Foam] tittle-tattle (TIT-l-tat-l) noun Petty gossip; trivial talk. intr.verb To talk idly or foolishly; gossip. [Reduplication of tattle.] "Yet the tittle-tattle has performed a useful service, by prompting the royal family itself to open the debate." An idea whose time has passed. (British monarchy), The Economist, 22 Oct 1994. This week's theme: reduplicatives. -------- Date: Thu Jan 14 00:04:21 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fiddle-faddle X-Bonus: Loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910) fiddle-faddle (FID-l-fad-l) noun Nonsense. verb intr. To fritter away one's time; dally. [Reduplication of fiddle.] "The big event: after an hour of fiddle-faddle the stage darkens." Cherry-picking California's strawberry industry; a new way to breakdance. New Statesman, 18 Apr 1997. This week's theme: reduplicatives. -------- Date: Fri Jan 15 00:04:29 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--palsy-walsy X-Bonus: If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? -Ed Dussault palsy-walsy (pal-zee-WAL-zee) adjective Slang. Having or appearing to have the close relationship of chums. [Reduplication of palsy alteration of pally.] "But melodrama, an iffy proposition at best, requires more discipline than is evidenced by this palsy-walsy crew, whose acting styles range from moustache-twirling to half-baked naturalism." F. Kathleen Foley, Theater Beat; Taking an Obscure 'New York' Over Top; Home Edition, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 1997. This week's theme: reduplicatives. -------- Date: Sat Jan 16 00:04:27 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--slipslop X-Bonus: Talent develops in tranquillity, character in the full current of human life. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) slipslop (SLIP-slop) noun 1. Trivial conversation or writing; twaddle. 2. Archaic. Unappetizing liquid or watery food; slops. [Reduplication of slop.] "(A) good many Russians still cling to this slipslop nurse for fear of finding disorders worse." Murray Kempton, Freedom Exceeds Nostalgia Russia, Newsday, 15 Dec 1993. This week's theme: reduplicatives. -------- Date: Sun Jan 17 00:04:43 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ticky-tacky X-Bonus: We are all born into the world with nothing. Everything we acquire after that is profit. -Sam Ewing ticky-tacky (TIK-ee-tak-ee) noun Shoddy material, as for the construction of standardized housing. ticky-tacky adjective 1. Made of shoddy material; cheaply built. 2. Marked by a mediocre uniformity of appearance or style. Tawdry; tacky. [Reduplication of tacky.] "And while the actress does not receive entrance applause when she walks onto the wonderfully ticky-tacky hotel-room set in the Vineyard Theater, it's not hard to envision a future stage appearance when that might change." Peter Marks, 'The Batting Cage': Veanne Cox Takes Comic Lead, New York Times, 18 Nov 1997 This week's theme: reduplicatives. -------- Date: Mon Jan 18 00:04:53 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epicurean X-Bonus: The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature. -Marcus Aurelius, philosopher, writer, and Roman emperor (121-180) epicurean (ep-i-kyoo-REE-uhn, -KYOOR-ee-) adjective 1. Devoted to the pursuit of pleasure; fond of good food, comfort, and ease. 2. Suited to the tastes of an epicure. 3. Epicurean. Of or relating to Epicurus or Epicureanism. epicurean noun 1. A devotee to sensuous and luxurious living; an epicure. 2. Epicurean. A follower of Epicurus. [Middle English Epicurien, from Epicure.] "Michael and Ariane Batterberry, founding editors of the trade magazine Food Arts, report on the hottest food and dining-out trends several times a year for USA TODAY. Today, in an epicurean epitaph, left, and excerpts from the December issue of Food Arts, they look back on the major dining trends of 1996." Michael Batterberry; Ariane Batterberry, Regional cuisines tickled the taste buds, USA TODAY, 10 Dec 1996. A carefully selected word can have the same effect on a message as the right seasoning has on a culinary preparation. It can flavor the communication or make it unpalatable. This week's words describe the shades of differences in words related to people who like and prepare food. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Jan 19 00:04:41 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gastronome X-Bonus: The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. -Anatole France gastronome (GAS-truh-nome) also gastronomer (ga-STRON-uh-muhr) noun A connoisseur of good food and drink; a gourmet. Also called gastronomist. [French, back-formation from gastronomie, gastronomy.] "More precisely, wrote the 19th century gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, `tell me what you eat, and I'll tell you what you are.'" John Elson, Reviews Books: Food for Thought, TIME, 15 Mar 1993. This week's theme: words about people and food. -------- Date: Wed Jan 20 00:04:38 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--glutton X-Bonus: If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. -Latin proverb glutton (GLUT-n) noun 1. A person who eats or consumes immoderate amounts of food and drink. 2. A person with an inordinate capacity to receive or withstand something. 3. A solitary, burrowing carnivorous mammal (Gulo gulo) of northern forest regions, related to the weasel and having a heavyset body, short legs, and dark fur with a bushy tail. Also called carcajou, glutton, skunk bear. [Middle English glotoun, from Old French gloton, from Latin glutto, glutton-.] "He was usually a great glutton, and I promised myself some diversion in half starving him." Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin: Part III, Great Works of Literature, 1 Jan 1992. "I'm looking forward to playing with more Windows CE machines. I'm a glutton for punishment ... " David Coursey, It makes me WinCE, Computerworld, 3 Feb 1997. This week's theme: words about people and food. -------- Date: Thu Jan 21 00:04:24 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gourmand X-Bonus: O senseless man, who cannot possibly make a worm and yet will make Gods by the dozen! -Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) gourmand (goor-MAHND, GOOR-muhnd) noun 1. A lover of good food. 2. A gluttonous eater. [Middle English gourmant, glutton, from Old French gormant.] "Not only had Alice long since recovered, but he was discovering the downside of being identified as a gourmand: Food fanatics were collecting around him like crows." Pope Brock, Bio: Calvin Trillin Forsaking Ironic Distance, the writer faces himself while recalling a friend, People, 28 Jun 1993. This week's theme: words about people and food. -------- Date: Fri Jan 22 00:04:27 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gourmet X-Bonus: The world, we are told, was made especially for man--a presumption not supported by all the facts... Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation? -John Muir, naturalist and explorer (1838-1914) gourmet (goor-MAY, GOOR-may) noun A connoisseur of fine food and drink. gourmet noun attributive Often used to modify another noun: gourmet cooking; gourmet restaurants. [French, from Old French, alteration (influenced by gourmand, glutton. of groumet, servant, valet in charge of wines, from Middle English grom, boy, valet.] "Sellers plays a television gourmet in search of fun, and Hawn becomes the disruptive force in his life." Cineman Syndicate, Movie Review: There's A Girl in My Soup, Cineman Syndicate, 1 Jan 1994. This week's theme: words about people and food. -------- Date: Sat Jan 23 00:04:26 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cellarer X-Bonus: Let this be an example for the acquisition of all knowledge, virtue, and riches. By the fall of drops of water, by degrees, a pot is filled. -The Hitopadesa cellarer (SEL-uhr-uhr) noun A person, as in a monastic community, who is responsible for maintaining the supply of food and drink. [Middle English celerer, from Old French, from Latin cellarius, steward, from cella, storeroom.] "Firm in time he is out of date-- like a cellarer for altar wines tasting many summers in one glass ... " Gilbert, Sandra M, The presence of absence, Women's Review of Books, 1 Oct 1998. This week's theme: words about people and food. -------- Date: Sun Jan 24 00:04:24 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--victualer X-Bonus: But they are useless. They can only give you answers. -Picasso, on computers. victualer also victualler (VIT-l-uhr) noun 1. A supplier of victuals; a sutler. 2. Chiefly British. An innkeeper. 3. Nautical. A supply ship. "Philip Morris, whose Kraft General Foods is top Yankee victualer on the global scene, recorded $9.4 billion in food sales abroad last year." Edmund Faltermayer, et al, The Economy: Competitiveness How U.S. Companies Stack Up Now, Fortune, 18 Apr 1994. This week's theme: words about people and food. -------- Date: Mon Jan 25 00:04:38 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bibliolatry X-Bonus: The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it. -Mother Teresa bibliolatry (bib-lee-OL-uh-tree) noun 1. Excessive adherence to a literal interpretation of the Bible. 2. Extreme devotion to or concern with books. "A bibliophile is a lover of books; a bibliomane, a wildly enthusiastic collector. An abandoned fanatic, once he succumbs to bibliolatry, graduates into a bibliomaniac. While a bibliomaniac's spouse might easily become a bibliophobe, his arch nemesis would be a biblioclast: a destroyer of books." Bill Strubbe, A Bibliophile in Britain, The World & I, 1 Aug 1994. A saying goes, "Show me the books you read and I'll tell you who you are." In the same vein it wouldn't be untrue to say, "Show me the words you use and I'll tell you who you are." Add a few more pages to your verbal catalog with this week's words about books. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Jan 26 00:04:31 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--libretto X-Bonus: If you always give You will always have. -Chinese Proverb libretto (li-BRET-oe) noun 1. The text of a dramatic musical work, such as an opera. 2. A book containing such a text. [Italian, diminutive of libro, book, from Latin liber, libr-.] "Maxwell Davies's libretto is in the best British ghost-story tradition." Edward Seckerson and Stephen Johnson, Double Play: Ghosts and visions, Independent, 27 Aug 1994. This week's theme: words about books. -------- Date: Wed Jan 27 00:04:25 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--frontispiece X-Bonus: Men will wrangle for religion, write for it, fight for it, die for it, anything but live for it. -Charles Caleb Cotton frontispiece (FRUN-ti-spees) noun 1. An illustration that faces or immediately precedes the title page of a book, book section, or magazine. 2. Architecture. A facade, especially an ornamental facade. A small ornamental pediment, as on top of a door or window. 3. Archaic. A title page. [Alteration (influenced by piece), of French frontispice, from Late Latin frontispicium, facade of a building : Latin frontis, genitive of frons, forehead, front + Latin specere, to look at.] "Though not an original, the most interesting image of Poe in the Tane collection is the frontispiece to George Woodberry's 1909 `The Life of Edgar Allan Poe.'" Lloyd Rose, Destination: Virginia, Los Angeles Times, 5 Jul 1998. This week's theme: words about books. -------- Date: Thu Jan 28 00:04:26 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--antiquarian X-Bonus: Life is the childhood of our immortality. -Goethe (1749-1832) antiquarian (an-ti-KWAR-ee-uhn) adjective 1. Of or relating to antiquaries or to the study or collecting of antiquities. 2. Dealing in or having to do with old or rare books. antiquarian noun One who studies, collects, or deals in antiquities. "For the few black buyers chasing black antiquarian books, the problem is that most are either available only in the US or on a short print run in the UK, making them almost impossible to find." The Bookshop for black folks, Weekly Journal, The, 4 Mar 1997. This week's theme: words about books. -------- Date: Fri Jan 29 00:04:24 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pseudepigrapha X-Bonus: Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. -Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968) pseudepigrapha (soo-di-PIG-ruh-fuh) plural noun 1. Spurious writings, especially writings falsely attributed to biblical characters or times. 2. A body of texts written between 200 BCE and A.D. 200 and spuriously ascribed to various prophets and kings of Hebrew Scriptures. [Greek, from neuter pl. of pseudepigraphos, falsely ascribed : pseudes, false. pseudo- + epigraphein, to inscribe : epi-, epi- + graphein, to write.] "What is interesting, however, is that, despite his ignorance of things biblical, Mr. Redfield has unwittingly placed himself in a long tradition of pseudepigrapha -- that is, of post-biblical writings, many indeed composed in Aramaic, that have been spuriously attributed by their authors to various biblical characters and periods." Philologos, On Language, Forward, 12 Aug 1994. This week's theme: words about books. -------- Date: Sat Jan 30 00:04:25 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--recto X-Bonus: What really flatters a man is that you think him worth flattering. -George Bernard Shaw recto (REK-toe) noun A right-hand page of a book or the front side of a leaf, on the other side of the verso. [From Latin (folio) recto, (the leaf) being right, ablative of rectus, straight, right.] "This concern was also expressed in efforts to control the speech of poor women. Insult and blasphemy cases very often involved women: see for example ASO Giudiziario Exgravator II, 4 verso; Registro I, 15 recto," Lansing, Carol, Gender and civic authority: sexual control in a medieval Italian town., Journal of Social History, 22 Sep 1997. This week's theme: words about books. -------- Date: Sun Jan 31 00:04:38 EST 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--belles-lettres X-Bonus: When you say that you agree to a thing in principle, you mean that you have not the slightest intention of carrying it out. -Otto von Bismarck belles-lettres (bel-LET-ruh) plural noun (used with a singular verb) 1. Literature regarded for its aesthetic value rather than its didactic or informative content. 2. Light, stylish writings, usually on literary or intellectual subjects. [French : belles, fine + lettres, letters, literature.] "Unlike official or traditional poetry, the poetry of survival is not made up of consolations but of solutions. Unlike our belles-lettres, this book is fact-dependent, not word-dependent." Miroslav Holub, The Invaders; Virus X: Tracking the New Killer Plagues Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb 1997. This week's theme: words about books.