A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri Feb 1 00:03:04 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ethology X-Bonus: It is only when the rich are sick that they fully feel the impotence of wealth. -Charles Caleb Colton, author and clergyman (1780-1832) ethology (ee-THOL-uh-jee) noun The study of animals' behavior in their natural environments. [From French éthologie, coined by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, zoologist (1805-1861).] "Field biologists such as Poole and Goodall, who've each spent decades studying the behavior of animals in their natural habitats, do not doubt that elephants, chimpanzees and other creatures feel intense, humanlike emotions - from happiness, sadness and anger to perhaps even love and embarrassment... Research by (Marc) Bekoff and others - in fields ranging from ethology to neurobiology - is beginning to provide scientific support for the notion that animals feel a wide range of emotions." Laura Tangley, Natural Passions, International Wildlife (Vienna), Sep/Oct 2001. This week's theme: coined words. -------- Date: Mon Feb 4 02:03:04 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chautauqua X-Bonus: There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910) Chautauqua (shuh-TAW-kwuh, chuh-) noun An annual summer school offering education in the form of public lectures and cultural activities, often held outdoors. [After Chautauqua, the name of a lake and county in southwestern New York state where such a program originated in 1874.] "In this Chautauqua I would like not to cut any new channels of consciousness but simply dig deeper into old ones that have become silted in with the debris of thoughts grown stale and platitudes too often repeated." Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, 1974. No matter where we stand on miles and miles of this earth, they all afford an equally wondrous view of the stars. Yet the age-old wisdom tells us there are three important things to look for when the aim is to call a few yards of this land ours: location, location, location. And location is what we want to pay attention to when it comes to this week's words for they all came from the names of some locations. They are known as toponyms, words derived from places. Whether it's when we drink champagne (from Champagne, France), make a solecism (after Soloi, an Athenian colony in Cilicia), or when we meet our Waterloo (Waterloo, Belgium) we are (perhaps unknowingly) alluding to a distant land and its history. This week's words take us to New York, Rome, Ireland, Germany, and the Mediterranean. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Feb 5 00:03:05 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pax romana X-Bonus: There's nothing that keeps its youth, / So far as I know, but a tree and truth. -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894) Pax Romana (PAKS ro-MAH-nuh) noun 1. A peace imposed by a powerful state on a weaker or vanquished state. 2. An uneasy peace. [From Latin, literally Roman peace. After the state of peace during the life of the Roman Empire.] The idea of pax romana is vividly illustrated in "The Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola" by Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus (translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb) when Calgacus, a Celtic chieftain, says, "To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make a solitude and call it peace." -Anu "In his book on globalism, `The Lexus and the Olive Tree,' Thomas L. Friedman argues that no two countries with McDonald's franchises have ever gone to war. The price of this supersized Pax Romana is, well, a McDonald's in every country." Rick Marin, The Least Likely Burning Man, The New York Times, Sep 10, 2000. This week's theme: toponyms or words derived from place names. -------- Date: Wed Feb 6 00:03:04 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gibraltar X-Bonus: My theology, briefly, is that the universe was dictated but not signed. -Christopher Morley, writer (1890-1957) Gibraltar (ji-BROL-tuhr) noun An impregnable stronghold. Rock of Gibraltar Something or someone whose strength one can rely on. [After Gibraltar, a British colony on the southern coast of Spain; home of the Rock of Gibraltar.] Here are pictures of the Rock of Gibraltar: http://www.1gibraltarplaza.gi/gibraltar/views.html "And it could, at long last, rattle Gibraltar. After all, it's only made of clay." John Carman, Rivals Chip Away At NBC's Gibraltar / Thursday Night Lineup Isn't What it Used to Be, The San Francisco Chronicle, Oct 12, 2000. "In this Gibraltar of propriety mediocrity gets intrenched, and consolidated, and founded in adamant. An Englishman of fashion is like one of those souvenirs, bound in gold vellum, enriched with delicate engravings, on thick hot-pressed paper, fit for the hands of ladies and princes, but with nothing in it worth reading or remembering." Ralph Waldo Emerson, English Traits, 1856. This week's theme: toponyms or words derived from place names. -------- Date: Thu Feb 7 00:03:03 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--seltzer X-Bonus: It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English -- up to fifty words used in correct context -- no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996) seltzer (SELT-suhr) noun 1. Naturally effervescent mineral water. 2. Artificially carbonated water. [From German Selterser (literally, from Selters), after Selters, a village near Wiesbaden in Germany where such springs were discovered.] "The Randolphs, who live in Towson, also made ginger ale with fresh ginger, seltzer and sugar water. `It may not have been the most nutritious [drink],' but, `just getting them involved with the whole process' was the most important part of the project, says Randolph, a registered dietitian at the Urban Medical Institute in Baltimore." Stephanie Shapiro, Food-smart, The Sun (Baltimore), Sep 19, 2001. This week's theme: toponyms or words derived from place names. -------- Date: Fri Feb 8 00:03:05 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kilkenny cats X-Bonus: Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein. -Joe Theismann, Former quarterback kilkenny cats (kil-KEN-ee kats) noun People who fight relentlessly till their end. [From a pair of proverbial cats in Kilkenny who fought till only their tails were left.] According to a story, some people in the town of Kilkenny in Ireland enjoyed tying the tails of two cats and watching them fight till only their tales were left behind. Most likely the story is a parable of a contest between Kilkenny and Irishtown, two municipalities which fought about their boundaries till little more than their tails were left. Here is a popular limerick (another word that takes its origins from the name of an Irish town) about the cats: "There wanst was two cats of Kilkenny Each thought there was one cat too many So they fought and they fit And they scratched and they bit 'Til instead of two cats there weren't any." "When Lord Cranborne placed Hatfield House at the disposal of Unionists to talk things through in November 1997, the result was a meeting after the style of the fighting Kilkenny cats." A Man of Parts, The Economist (London), Apr 15, 2000. This week's theme: toponyms or words derived from place names. -------- Date: Mon Feb 11 00:37:07 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--eximious X-Bonus: The beginnings and endings of all human undertakings are untidy. -John Galsworthy, author, Nobelist (1867-1933) eximious (eg-ZIM-ee-uhs) adjective Excellent, distinguished. [From Latin eximius (select, choice), from eximere (to take out, remove).] "Example" and "exempt" are examples of a few other words that are derived from the same root. "The dead greatness of the past is something Argentina is unable to forget. In the last few years, two eximious episodes have been added to this endless funeral minuet." Tomas Eloy Martinez, Tombs of Unrest, Transition (Durham, North Carolina), 1998. Usually the words in AWAD are organized in a theme but once in a while we simply feature words that are engaging by themselves. Consider this a cross-country drive through the dictionary, with no itinerary in hand. We'll make several stops along the way, but who knows where we might stop and why. Let's see what kind of words we might come across. Perhaps we'll meet words that are long and short and unusual and uncommon, but all of them, just like people, are interesting only if we care enough to learn about them. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Feb 12 00:03:05 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--apodictic X-Bonus: Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (1903-1974) apodictic (ap-uh-DIK-tik) adjective, also apodeictic Demonstrably true. [From Latin apodicticus, from Greek apodeiktikos, from apodeiknynai (to demonstrate), from apo- + deiknynai (to show).] "The very best philosophy is apodictic. It proceeds slowly, carefully, skeptically, via demonstration and argument, until suddenly something new comes to light." Peter Marin, Good Will Hunting; Existentialists and Mystics, The Los Angeles Times, Apr 12, 1998. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Wed Feb 13 00:03:04 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fetor X-Bonus: As soon as man does not take his existence for granted, but beholds it as something unfathomably mysterious, thought begins. -Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobelist (1875-1965) fetor (FEE-tuhr) noun, also foetor A strong offensive odor; stench. [From Latin fetor, from fetere (to stink).] "Just imagine yourself trying to pick out fresh fruit while your olfactory nerve is bombarded with the fetor of a bait shop run by some flea-bitten old coot called Gooey." Dell Poncet, Odors, Clinton and Fat, Philadelphia Business Journal, Jan 19, 1996. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Thu Feb 14 00:03:08 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nitid X-Bonus: When one has too great a dread of what is impending, one feels some relief when the trouble has come. -Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824) nitid (NIT-id) adjective Bright; shining; glossy. [From Latin nitidus (shining), from nitere (to shine).] Etymologically speaking, the word "neat" is a cousin of today's word. "The last rays of the sun linger, hanging on to clouds whose bizarre formation is never more apparent, while the evening gently settles in, erasing the nitid contours of objects and people." Celeste Olalquiaga, The Artificial Kingdom: A Treasury of the Kitsch Experience, Pantheon Books, 1998. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Fri Feb 15 00:03:04 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--haver X-Bonus: Never be haughty to the humble; never be humble to the haughty. -Jefferson Davis, confederate president (1808-1889) haver (HAY-vuhr) verb intr. To vacillate. [Of uncertain origin.] In Scotland and Northern England, it means to talk nonsense. "British lag behind again in race to fill IMF vacuum. While we haver, the French are backing an Italian." William Keegan, Observer (London), Mar 5, 2000. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Mon Feb 18 00:03:11 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sockdolager X-Bonus: I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers. -Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet and artist (1883-1931) sockdolager (sok-DOL-uh-juhr) noun 1. A decisive blow or remark. 2. Something exceptional or outstanding. [Of unknown origin, apparently from sock.] "This year's storm was a sockdolager. The white stuff pounded the East Coast." Be Prepared, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), Jan 17, 1996. This sockdolager of a word has an unusual claim to fame in the US history. It turned out to be the cue on which John Wilkes Booth fired his shot at President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was watching the play "Our American Cousin" in Ford's Theater on that fateful night. His killer, Booth, an actor himself and aware of the dialog, knew the line that brought the loudest burst of laughter from the audience was: "Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you sockdologising old man-trap." Booth fired his gun at that precise moment to muffle the loud noise of his shot with the guffaws from the audience. Today is Presidents' Day in the US. It's observed on the third Monday of February to commemorate two of the most popular US presidents: George Washington (born Feb. 22, 1732) and Abraham Lincoln (born Feb. 12, 1809). Until 1971 both of these birthdays were observed as public holidays, Then, with typical American efficiency, we took the average of the two dates and marked a single day -- third Monday of February -- to honor not only Lincoln and Washington but all US presidents. In fact, almost all US holidays are now observed on Mondays to create a nice three-day long week-end. It's an interesting exercise to look into this best-known office in the world. It lasts only four years yet billions of dollars are spent to reach that fabled post. The job entails extensive travel, public speaking, commanding a large army, and making decisions that affect, for better or worse, the remotest corners of this earth. To celebrate Presidents' Day, this week we'll look at a few words with presidential connections. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Feb 19 00:03:05 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bloviate X-Bonus: Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe. -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer (1564-1642) bloviate (BLO-vee-ayt) verb intr. To speak pompously. [Pseudo-Latin alteration of blow, to boast; popularized by 29th US President, Warren G. Harding (1865-1923).] "The Legislature bloviates about protecting our youth and being sure that no one is left behind. But at the first sign of trouble, it's showing indications that it's more concerned with politics than education." Backing Off in Albany, The Buffalo News, Nov 8, 1999. This week's theme: words with presidential connections. -------- Date: Wed Feb 20 00:01:04 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--watergate X-Bonus: Until it is kindled by a spirit as flamingly alive as the one which gave it birth a book is dead to us. Words divested of their magic are but dead hieroglyphs. -Henry Miller, novelist (1891-1980) Watergate (WOH-tuhr-gayt) noun A scandal involving abuse of office, deceit, and cover-up. [After Watergate office and residential complex in Washington, DC, the site of a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 that resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon two years later.] Watergate, a scandal of mammoth proportions, has given us a useful suffix for describing a wide variety of subsequent scandals, from monicagate to enrongate, to the recent icegate or skategate, and hot off the press, gategate. "On this (campaign finance reform) bill and other political reforms, Congress should give primacy to the rights and needs of voters. Reform should not have to wait for a tangled election like the one just concluded - or a Watergate." A Step Toward Reform, The Boston Globe, Mar 30, 2001. This week's theme: words with presidential connections. -------- Date: Thu Feb 21 00:01:05 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pocket veto X-Bonus: The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad. -Salvador Dali, painter (1904-1989) pocket veto (POK-it VEE-toh) noun An indirect veto of a bill as a result of the president's failure to sign it within ten days of the adjournment of Congress; a similar holding of a bill by a state governor or other executive. [From the notion that the bill is held in the pocket unsigned. From Latin veto (I forbid).] "President Clinton blocked a similar bill from becoming law with a pocket veto last December." Jake Lewis, Bankrupt Policies, Multinational Monitor (Washington), May 2001. This week's theme: words with presidential connections. -------- Date: Fri Feb 22 00:01:04 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--throttlebottom X-Bonus: To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. -Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900) Throttlebottom (THROT-l-bot-uhm) noun A purposeless incompetent in public office. [After Alexander Throttlebottom, a Vice Presidential character in Of Thee I Sing, a 1932 musical comedy.] In honor of Presidents' Day, this week we've been looking at words with presidential connections. It's about time we paid our dues to the Vice President too. A VP, by very nature, is meant to play a second fiddle though it's not uncommon to find an eminence grise in that office. Here's how the term throttlebottom came to represent VPs and other similar (mostly) harmless figures: The first musical comedy to win the Pulitzer Prize, "Of Thee I Sing" is a brilliant political satire that gave us today's word. In this masterly operetta (music: George Gershwin, lyrics: Ira Gershwin, libretto: George Kaufman and Morris Ryskind), presidential candidate John P. Wintergreen runs a political campaign based on the theme of love. His National Party sponsors a beauty contest, with Wintergreen to marry the winner. Instead, Wintergreen falls in love with Mary Turner, a secretary at the pageant, and marries her on the day of his inauguration. Diana Devereaux, the contest winner, sues President Wintergreen for breach of contract; France threatens to go to war, since Devereaux is of French descent; and Congress impeaches him. Wintergreen points out the United States Constitution provision that when the President is unable to perform his duty, the Vice President fulfills the obligations. VP Throttlebottom agrees to marry Diana and forever etches his name in the dictionaries. -Anu "Every Vice President from John Nance Garner to at least Lyndon Johnson went into the office vowing: `I will not be a Throttlebottom.'" J. Roberts, Throttlebottoms's Legacy, National Review (New York), Jun 25, 1990. This week's theme: words with presidential connections. -------- Date: Mon Feb 25 00:13:12 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--impresario X-Bonus: An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens. -Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect and author (1743-1826) impresario (im-pruh-SAR-ee-o) noun 1. An organizer, promoter, or manager of public entertainments, such as a ballet, opera, concert, or theater company. 2. Any manager or director. [From Italian impresario (one who undertakes a business), from impresa (undertaking), from imprendere (to undertake).] "Even on Broadway, few stars have crashed as spectacularly as Garth Drabinsky, the impresario behind Ragtime, theatreland's highest-grossing show." From Riches to Ragtime, The Economist (London), Aug 15, 1998. "All the world's a stage, / And the men and women merely players: / They have their exits and their entrances; / And one man in his time plays many parts." So wrote our friend Bill Shakespeare some 400 years ago in one of his most profound observations on human condition. Yet, we often treat this life as if we really are the people we're playing. Imagine how few troubles we might have if we remember it's only a role we are playing. All we need to do is to play it as best we can and then gracefully exit the stage. This week AWAD features words from the world of theater. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Feb 26 00:01:05 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--buskin X-Bonus: Don't confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other. -Erma Bombeck, author (1927-1996) buskin (BUS-kin) noun 1. A thick-soled, laced boot, reaching to knee or calf, worn by actors of ancient Greek and Roman tragedies. Also known as cothurnus. 2. A tragic drama. [Perhaps from Middle French brousequin.] Words often form and come to acquire new meaning for peculiar reasons. Because those big shoes were often worn by tragedians, we came to refer to a tragedy itself as a buskin. A counterpart of buskin is sock (a comedy) after soccus, a lightweight low shoe worn by Greek and Roman comic actors. -Anu "`My vein,' wrote Corneille, `often combines the lofty buskin with the comic sock, and ... pleases the audience by striking contrasting notes.'" Linda Winer, Corneille With Kushner's Help, Newsday (New York), Jan 20, 1994. This week's theme: words from theater. -------- Date: Wed Feb 27 00:01:04 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dramaturg X-Bonus: So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world. -Immanuel Kant, philosopher (1724-1804) dramaturg (DRAM-uh-turj) noun, also dramaturge or dramaturgist 1. A playwright, especially one affiliated with a specific theater company. 2. A member of a theater company staff who selects, edits, and adapts plays for performance, and writes program notes. [From French, from Greek dramatourgos.] "The script, Shakespeare's second-longest, has been very well cut by Russotto and dramaturg Cam Magee (who did the impressive surgery on `Cymbeline'). It retains its vigor while losing all the extraneous stuff about Richard's dull, royal relatives." Lloyd Rose, `Richard III': A Slithering Monarch for Our Times, The Washington Post, Nov 20, 1997. "In his turn, George C. White, the founder of the O'Neill center and its board chairman, said of Mr. Richards: 'What is known as the O'Neill Process should rightfully be known as the Richards Process. Lloyd instituted the practice of dramaturgs who work as go-betweens between director and playwright.'" N. Graham Nesmith, A Stage Champion's Summertime Good-bye, The New York Times, Jul 18, 1999. This week's theme: words from theater. -------- Date: Thu Feb 28 00:01:04 EST 2002 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--proscenium X-Bonus: The mind commands the body and the body obeys. The mind commands itself and finds resistance. -St. Augustine (354-430) proscenium (pro-SEE-nee-uhm) noun The part of the stage that is in front of the curtain. [From Latin proscenium, from Greek proskenion, from pro- (before) + skene (scene).] "A certain elegant artificiality borders this novel (Gertrude and Claudius) like the proscenium of a stage. Updike has laced his own Shakespearean aphorisms through the narrative." Ron Charles, To Be or Not to Be a Good Parent, That is the Question, Christian Science Monitor (Boston), Feb 3, 2000. This week's theme: words from theater. Note: You can listen to yours truly on KPBS 89.5 FM San Diego on Sunday, March 3, 2002. Those outside the broadcast range can listen at the KPBS Web site: http://kpbs.org/_nav/frameset_radio_stream.html The program times are 10-11 AM Pacific (6-7 PM GMT) and 5-6 PM Pacific (1-2 AM GMT, next day). -Anu