A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Tue Mar 1 00:01:23 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sitophobia X-Bonus: I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this. -Emo Phillips, comedian, actor (1956- ) sitophobia (sy-tuh-FO-bee-uh) noun Morbid aversion to food. [From Greek sito- (food) + -phobia (fear, aversion).] The word is also spelled as sitiophobia. Two related words are sitomania (abnormal craving for food), and sitology (the study of nutrition). "By the time (Mollie) Fancher took to her bed, sitophobia had turned into 'chlorosis', a type of anaemia." Kate Bolick; The Girl Who Lived On Air; The Guardian (London, UK); May 6, 2002. "To lower a child's weight is important, but (Jitsuo) Kitada warns there are pitfalls in dieting as it places children in danger of contracting sitophobia." Overweight Children a 'Growing' Concern For Japanese Parents; The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo, Japan); Jul 6, 1996. This week's theme: words related to eating and drinking. -------- Date: Wed Mar 2 00:01:12 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--polyphagia X-Bonus: He that is the author of a war lets loose the whole contagion of hell and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death. -Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (1737-1809) polyphagia (pol-ee-FAY-jee-uh) noun 1. Excessive appetite or eating. 2. The habit of feeding on many kinds of food. [From Modern Latin, from Greek polyphagia, from polyphagos, from poly- (much, many) + phagy (eating).] "Various diseases, drugs and even stress can cause polyphagia. Your first step should be to have Buster examined by your veterinarian and have the caloric intake calculated." Bernhard Pukay; Various Things Can Make Puppy Eat Like a Pig; The Ottawa Citizen (Canada); Jan 27, 2003. This week's theme: words related to eating and drinking. -------- Date: Thu Mar 3 00:01:13 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bibacious X-Bonus: A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation." -Stephen Crane, writer (1871-1900) bibacious (by-BAY-shuhs) adjective Overly fond of drinking. [From Latin bibere (to drink).] "Seriously though folks, there are certain caveats that I have learned from standing before both overly sober and overly bibacious audiences." Ed Harvey; Media musings; Advertising/Communications Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); Nov 2001. "Banfield's bibacious drongo was not so much flushed as drunk, having gorged itself on the nectar of a native melaleuca or paperbark tree." Mark Chipperfield; Drunken Drongos And Suntanned Soap Stars; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Mar 27, 2004. This week's theme: words related to eating and drinking. -------- Date: Fri Mar 4 00:01:19 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--postprandial X-Bonus: I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784) postprandial (post-PRAN-dee-uhl) adjective After a meal, especially dinner. [From Latin post- (after) + prandium (meal). Ultimately from Indo-European root ed- (to eat or to bite) that has given other words such as edible, comestible, obese, etch, and fret.] Two siblings of this word are preprandial (before a meal) and prandial (relating to a meal). "A plate of the fashion petits fours accompanied Mrs. Barsky's postprandial iced cappuccino." Rebecca Mead; Off the Runway; New Yorker (New York); Feb 6, 2005. "There (in France) it (cognac) is still seen as a conservative postprandial tipple enjoyed by elderly bourgeois males." Susan Bell; Beau selecteur; Scotland on Sunday (Edinburgh); Feb 6, 2005. This week's theme: words related to eating and drinking. -------- Date: Mon Mar 7 00:41:10 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gamboge X-Bonus: In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn than to contemplate. -Rene Descartes, philosopher and mathematician (1596-1650) gamboge (gam-BOJ, -BOOZH) noun 1. A reddish yellow color. 2. A gum resin obtained from the sap of trees of the genus Garcinia, used as a yellow pigment and as a cathartic. [From New Latin gambogium, variant of cambugium, after Cambodia where, among other places in southeast Asia, this tree is found.] "In his (Li Nong's) works, the marshy environment is shown as something mysterious, pleasant and beautiful even, and his play of tones probably spanning the repertoire of gamboge, and cadmium, with streaks of impastoes, add to the tactile quality." Ooi Kok Chuen; For the Zhangs, East meets West; New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia); Mar 9, 2001. "What do you make of synaesthesia*? Since a lot of your work is sensual, is finding a way of making visual emotions or reactions to particular natural or made stimuli, do you think thus, that happiness is gamboge, ennui is grey and so on?" Jonathan Meades; True colours; The Times (London, UK); Mar 31, 2001. (* See https://wordsmith.org/words/synesthesia.html ) I'm back in the Seattle area after my trip to South America. I enjoyed the trip and got to practice my Spanish in Buenos Aires. Though there were a few places where I'd hoped for a good bilingual offering. Banks, for instance. Surely, the bank ATMs offered the choice of castellano or inglés (Spanish or English). That was one place I didn't want to trust my Spanish, so I promptly chose Inglés. All went well; the ATM conversed in my preferred tongue... until it was time for an error message. It spewed it out in Spanish and never reverted to English. That reminds me of one of the numerous Akbar-Birbal stories -- tales from the court of King Akbar and his wisest courtier Birbal -- I grew up listening in India. Once, long ago, a linguist visited the court of Akbar. The visitor spoke fluently in dozens of languages. The King was curious to know the guest's mother tongue. Akbar had his many courtiers interview the linguist but they reported that he had a flawless command of all of his languages. The King then sought help from Birbal, his most trusted courtier. Birbal walked over and promptly kicked the linguist in the backside, making him stumble. The linguist gave vent to a few choice invectives. Birbal then announced the native language of the visitor. He explained that we may speak in any language, but when it's time to select the best insults, we revert to our native tongue. Well, that's what the ATM did too. It was late at night; there was a man pounding at the bank door (he should have swiped his ATM card at the glass door to open it). The first translation of the ATM error message that came to my mind was "All of your money has been transferred to the account of the person who developed the ATM software. Press OK to continue." Trying to keep my sanity, I latched on to the keyword "menor" in the error message and figured the ATM wanted me to enter a smaller amount than the one I had entered ($200). I punched in "$100" and got the same message back. That routine went on and on until I went down to $10. Then the error message changed, asking to enter an amount in multiples of $50. I think the ATM was too proud to admit that it was out of currency notes. Apart from Argentina's economic problems, I was impressed by its people's courtesy and generosity. One evening I hopped into a taxi and told the driver the address: "Paraguay cuatro cinco cero" (450 Paraguay Avenue). After a while, he stopped the taxi near 4050 Paraguay. That's when I showed him a card with the address printed on it. He tapped his forehead and continued driving to the right address. The first thought that came to mind was the classic "taken for a ride" but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and quietly chalked it up to my broken Spanish. When we reached the destination and I paid him, he returned more than he should have, according to the fare shown in the meter. When I pointed that out to him, he waved it away. He refused to charge for the distance he drove to the wrong address. Once, before heading back to the hotel, I stopped by a nearby grocery store to pick up some fruit. When it came time to pay, I found I didn't have enough pesos. I offered the woman at the counter a Visa card but she didn't accept credit cards. She didn't take dollars either. Well, I started to remove some of the fruit from the bag but she stopped me with "Está bien" (that's OK), "No importa" (it doesn't matter). I later managed to extract some local currency from an ATM and paid her the balance. While I get over the jet-lag, I'll let you travel the world: this week we'll see a few toponyms - words derived from place names. You'll visit Cambodia, Africa, Finland, and the UK. -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) -------- Date: Tue Mar 8 00:01:12 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vernissage X-Bonus: A man does not look behind the door unless he has stood there himself. -William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, educator and writer (1868-1963) vernissage (ver-nuh-SAZH) noun A private showing or preview of an art exhibition before the public opening; also the reception celebrating the opening of an art exhibition. [From French vernissage (varnishing), from vernis (varnish), ultimately from Berenik, the name of an ancient city in Cyrenaica in northern Africa where natural resins were first used as varnish.] Traditionally, the day before the official opening of an art exhibition was reserved for the artist to varnish or put finishing touches to their paintings. "On the night of the Vernissage, which must surely provide perfect art-buying conditions - lashings of bubbles and money in the same rooms - the red stickers are going up." Michele Hewitson; Kiwi Hard-sell in Aussie Art-land; The New Zealand Herald (Auckland); Oct 10, 2004. "Marsden, the artist, has become the art, as she swims under the water in a gold vernissage of late summer light." For Marsden Swimming at the Quarry: Christian Science Monitor (Boston); Jul 2, 1991. This week's theme: toponyms. -------- Date: Wed Mar 9 00:01:10 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--finlandization X-Bonus: I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900) Finlandization (fin-luhn-duh-ZAY-shuhn) noun The policy of neutrality of a country under the influence of another more powerful one without being formally allied to it, similar to the neutralization of Finland with respect to the Soviet Union after 1944. [After Finland.] "When Sri Lanka's President Junius Jayewardene was asked whether this implied a Finlandization of Sri Lanka or Sri Lanka's acknowledgment that it was within India's sphere of influence, he quickly brushed aside such concerns." Neelan Tiruchelvam; Sri Lanka's First Steps Toward Peace; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Aug 10, 1987. "Conciliation does not have to mean Finlandization." Takashi Inoguchi; For East Asians, Engagement With China Is the Only Option; International Herald Tribune (Paris, France); May 19, 1997. This week's theme: toponyms. -------- Date: Thu Mar 10 00:01:14 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Fleet Street X-Bonus: I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others. -Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (121-180) Fleet Street (fleet street) noun The British press. [After Fleet Street in London, where many British newspapers used to be published.] "Pecker on Wednesday named a new editor in chief to lead that overhaul: Fleet Street veteran Paul Field." Christina Hoag; National Enquirer Moves Operations to the Big Apple; Miami Herald; Feb 17, 2005. "Cut to the Premier League footballer, telling Fleet Street that he's no hooligan, as slow-motion replays from 19 angles reveal him gobbing in the ref's eye." Tom Eaton: A New Dictionary of Received Ideas; Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg, South Africa); Mar 4, 2005. This week's theme: toponyms. -------- Date: Fri Mar 11 00:01:10 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hackney X-Bonus: When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us. -Alexander Graham Bell, inventor (1847-1922) hackney (HAK-nee) adjective 1. Trite. 2. Let out for hire. verb tr. 1. To make banal or common by frequent use. 2. To hire out. noun 1. A breed of horses developed in England, having a high-stepping gait. 2. A horse suitable for routine riding or driving. 3. A carriage or coach for hire. [Probably after Hackney in East London, where such horses were raised. The word hack, in related senses, is a short form of hackney.] "Is this 80-minute underwater romp, studded with celebrity voice roles, Pixar's somewhat hackneyed answer to Dreamworks' Finding Nemo? You decide." Look & Listen; Prague Tribune (Czech Republic); Mar 3, 2005. "The move was pioneered by safety chiefs from the Shrewsbury Shop and Pub Watch scheme, with cameras also being installed in two hackney carriages in the town." Taxi Drivers Feel Safer As Cars Get CCTV; The Shropshire Star (UK); Mar 2, 2005. This week's theme: toponyms. -------- Date: Mon Mar 14 00:00:12 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--undecennary X-Bonus: What I like in a good author isn't what he says, but what he whispers. -Logan Pearsall Smith, essayist (1865-1946) undecennary (uhn-di-SEHN-uh-ree) noun 1. A period of eleven years. 2. An eleventh anniversary. adjective 1. Of or pertaining to a period of eleven years. 2. Occurring every eleven years. [From Latin undecim (eleven), from unus (one) + decem (ten), + -ennary, from annus (year).] "It appears from an undecennary account laid before Parliament." E. Stiles; 1847. Eleven, onze, once, elva, undici... some people see double but this week we're seeing eleven (from Old English endleofan, literally "one left" after counting 10). Today, March 14, marks the eleventh anniversary of the founding of Wordsmith.org. On this undecennial we thank you, our readers, for being part of us. To mark the occasion, this week we'll feature words connected in some way with eleven. By a happy coincidence, the number of letters in today's word is eleven. -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) -------- Date: Tue Mar 15 00:00:18 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--elevenses X-Bonus: There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. -French proverb elevenses (i-LEV-uhn-ziz) noun A midmorning break for refreshments taken between breakfast and lunch, usually around 11am. [Double plural of eleven, perhaps as ellipsis of eleven hours (eleven o'clock).] "There at Delecta Dyer's elevenses became his (Geoff Dyer's) heaven, so much the focus of his life that impatiently he took his elevenses earlier and earlier until they were finished by 8.45am and the day lay before him, empty as a donut hole, all happiness shot." Anne Simpson; President Who Needs a Wooster to Get Out of Bed; The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland); Feb 21, 2005. "And if you really must stay for a bite of lunch after you've finished off your elevenses, there are sandwiches, salads, and soups freshly prepared each day." Dottie Evans; You Can Taste The Bean At Mocha Coffeehouse; Newtown Bee (Connecticut); Feb 10, 2005. This week's theme: words related to the number eleven. -------- Date: Wed Mar 16 00:00:18 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hendecagon X-Bonus: And Silence, like a poultice, comes / To heal the blows of sound. -Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894) hendecagon (hen-DEK-uh-gon) noun An eleven-sided polygon. [From Greek hendeca- (eleven), from hen, neuter of heis (one) + deka (ten) + -gon (angled), from gonia (angle).] Another name for hendecagon is undecagon. A solid having eleven faces is called a hendecahedron or an undecahedron. The Canadian dollar coin, nicknamed Loonie, is a hendecagon: http://mint.ca/en/catalogue/3dview/loon.htm And a hendecagon surrounds the portrait on the US Susan B. Anthony dollar coin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony_dollar "This is an 11-sided polygon, which may also be called a hendecagon." Thomas H. Sidebotham; The A to Z of Mathematics: A Basic Guide; Wiley-Interscience; 2002. "The setting is decadent forests inhabited by 'truncated undecagon figures', fragments of selves." Suzanne Nalbantian; Anais Nin: Literary Perspectives; Palgrave Macmillan; 1997. This week's theme: words related to the number eleven. -------- Date: Thu Mar 17 00:00:23 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--eleventh hour X-Bonus: Be kind to thy father, for when thou wert young, / Who loved thee so fondly as he? / He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue, / And joined in thy innocent glee. -Margaret Courtney, poet (1822-1862) eleventh hour (i-LEV-uhnth our) noun The last moment. [From the parable in the Bible where laborers hired at the eleventh hour of the twelve-hour workday were paid the same as those hired earlier.] World War I ended in 1918 when the armistice was declared on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. "It is understood the women's premier side pulled out at the eleventh hour alongside Nadi's Votualevu women's team." Lautoka Women Miss Challenge; Fiji Times; Feb 24, 2005. "Agriculture Minister Kipruto arap Kirwa, who was invited, failed to show up and is suspected to have developed cold feet at the eleventh hour." Andrew Teyie and Martin Mutuak; Secret Plot to Purge Cabinet Graft Barons; East African Standard (Nairobi, Kenya); Feb 10, 2005. This week's theme: words related to the number eleven. -------- Date: Fri Mar 18 00:00:16 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hendecasyllabic X-Bonus: There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) hendecasyllabic (hen-dek-uh-si-LAB-ik) adjective Having eleven syllables. noun A word or line of eleven syllables. [From Latin hendecasyllabus, from Greek hendekasyllabos, from hendeca- (eleven), from hen, neuter of heis (one) + deka (ten), + syllabic.] Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Hendecasyllabics: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hendecasyllabics-2/ "There are those long, elaborate, beautifully balanced sentences, with their trailing clusters of dependent clauses, frequently so arranged as to reproduce the characteristic hendecasyllabic rhythms of Italian poetry." T. Gwynfor Griffith; Obituary: Professor G. H. McWilliam; Independent (London, UK); Jan 11, 2001. "If he were alive today, the great Roman poet, Catullus, master of the hendecasyllabic metre, would likely be front and centre in the savage war on words and the importance of hourly grammar drills in the Alberta education system." Bill Sass; The Savage War on Words And the Particulars of Grammar; Edmonton Journal (Canada); Nov 8, 2001. This week's theme: words related to the number eleven. -------- Date: Mon Mar 21 00:00:09 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fractious X-Bonus: And none will hear the postman's knock / Without a quickening of the heart. / For who can bear to feel himself forgotten? -W.H. Auden, poet (1907-1973) fractious (FRAK-shuhs) adjective 1. Irritable; cranky. 2. Unruly. [From Middle English fraccioun, from Late Latin fraction-, stem of fractio (act of breaking), from Latin fractus, past participle of Latin frangere (to break). Ultimately from Indo-European root bhreg- (to break) that's also the progenitor of words such as break, breach, fraction, and fragile.] "Filling the streets from curb to curb, the normally fractious Lebanese set aside political and religious differences to unite in an unprecedented outpouring of anger at Syrian meddling in their affairs." Michael Matza; Lebanese Unite For Ex-leader's Farewell; The Philadelphia Inquirer; Feb 17, 2005. "President Bush welcomed the fractious members of the National Governors Association to the White House yesterday morning." Dan Froomkin; Bush vs. the Governors; Washington Post; Mar 1, 2005. "I love mankind. It's the people I can't stand." Do you ever find yourself repeating these words of cartoonist Charles Schulz? Maybe you just happen to be around persons described in this week's AWAD. We have all been somewhere when almost everyone around seems less than charming. But remember, just like the fingers of a hand, it takes all kinds to make this world. -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) -------- Date: Tue Mar 22 00:00:37 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--subdolous X-Bonus: Our admiration of fine writing will always be in proportion to its real difficulty and its apparent ease. -Charles Caleb Colton, author and clergyman (1780-1832) subdolous (SUB-duh-luhs) adjective Sly; crafty; cunning. [From Latin subdolus, from sub- (slightly) + dolus (deceit).] "A little attention to the subdolous artifices of those pretended patriots would soon have discovered those darlings, those revered guides of theirs, to have been their most pestilent enemies, wolves in sheep's clothing." Bernard Bailyn; The Origins of American Politics; Vintage Books; 1970. "'You haven't reported.' 'I reported all you said you wanted.' 'That's subdolous.' Rex Stout; The Final Deduction; Bantam Books; 1981. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Wed Mar 23 00:00:10 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--incogitant X-Bonus: Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation. Tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego. -Jean Arp, artist and poet (1886-1966) incogitant (in-KOJ-i-tuhnt) adjective Thoughtless; inconsiderate. [From Latin incogitant-, from cogitare (to think), from agitare (to agitate), from agere (to drive). Ultimately from Indo-European root ag- (to drive, draw) that's also the fount of such words as act, agent, agitate, litigate, synagogue, and ambassador.] "Setting aside the inane assumption that NASA and its co-conspirators were too incogitant to have thought of this, there are actually three sources of light: the sun, the earth (reflecting the sun) and the moon itself, which acts as a powerful reflector, particularly when you are standing on it." Michael Shermer; Fox's Flapdoodle; Scientific American (Washington DC); Jun 1, 2001. "Jimmy just nodded like some incogitant beast, looked down at the folio, and saw that the man had written J. Quirinus Publicas for his name." Frederick Barrows; Hothouse Gods; Xlibris; 2003. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Thu Mar 24 00:00:11 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--execrable X-Bonus: Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. -Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931) execrable (EK-si-kruh-buhl) adjective Detestable; wretched. [From Middle English, from Latin execrabilis (accursed), from execrari (to curse), from ex- + sacrare (to consecrate). Ultimately from Indo-European root sak- (to sanctify) that is also the source of other words such as saint, consecrate, and sacred.] "They (The Patriots) were execrable, failing to record a first down in the first half." Bob Ryan; They Stand Atop the Division, But Footing Seems Quite Shaky; Boston Globe; Dec 1, 1997. "She persuades us to admire an execrable ('lovable', she says) woman who was doggedly, arrogantly and treacherously misguided." Mosley's final insult; Sunday Times (London, UK): Aug 24, 2003. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Fri Mar 25 00:00:11 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--refractory X-Bonus: The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself. -William Blake, poet, engraver, and painter (1757-1827) refractory (ri-FRAK-tuhr-ree) adjective 1. Hard to manage; stubborn. 2. Resistant to usual methods or treatment. 3. Difficult to fuse: resistant to high temperature. noun A heat-resistant material. [From alteration of refractary, from Latin refractarius (stubborn), from refractus, past participle of refringere (to break up), from re- + frangere (to break).] "There is nothing so awful - whether a week's-worth of rain, a marital quarrel, a refractory child - that it cannot be resolved in the kitchen." Keith Botsford; Season of Soups and Mellow Vegetableness; The Independent (London, UK); Nov 6, 1993. "Though the Nobel laureate (William Faulkner) could often be indulgent with children, he was essentially a withdrawn and refractory man." Michael Dirda; Mississippi in the Summer!; The Washington Post; Aug 11, 2002. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Mon Mar 28 01:00:15 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--antanaclasis X-Bonus: If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. -Noam Chomsky, linguistics professor and political activist (1928- ) antanaclasis (ant-an-uh-KLAS-is) noun A play on words in which a key word is repeated in a different, often contrary, sense. [From Greek antanaklasis (echo or reflection), from anti- (against) + ana- + klasis (breaking or bending).] Some examples of antanaclasis: o Your argument is sound, nothing but sound. -Benjamin Franklin o If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm. -Vince Lombardi o Learn some craft when young, that when old you may live without craft. -Anonymous "Other types of puns, apart from antanaclasis, paronomasia and syllepsis, are also frequently used... Antanaclasis; repetition of a word in two different senses; Our frequent fliers can frequent other fliers. (British Airways)" James H. Leigh; The Use of Figures of Speech in Print Ad Headlines; Journal of Advertising; Jun 1994. What do you expect when you mess around with a wordy pal? Wordplay, of course! And that's what you are going to get for the next five days. In this week's AWAD, we feature words about words, words that describe play with words. In case you haven't figured this out yourself by now, 'wordplay' is an anagram of 'wordy pal'. You can make your own anagrams at: https://wordsmith.org/anagram -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) -------- Date: Tue Mar 29 01:00:09 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--paralipsis X-Bonus: Readers may be divided into four classes: 1. Sponges, who absorb all that they read and return it in nearly the same state, only a little dirtied. 2. Sand-glasses, who retain nothing and are content to get through a book for the sake of getting through the time. 3. Strain-bags, who retain merely the dregs of what they read. 4. Mogul diamonds, equally rare and valuable, who profit by what they read, and enable others to profit by it also. -Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet, critic (1772-1834) paralipsis (par-uh-LIP-sis) noun, plural paralipses (-seez) Drawing attention to something while claiming to be passing over it. [From Late Latin paralipsis, from Greek paraleipsis (an omission), from paraleipein (to leave on one side), from para- (side) + leipein (to leave).] Paralipsis is especially handy in politics to point out an opponent's faults. It typically involves these phrases: "not to mention" "to say nothing of" "I won't speak of" "leaving aside" An example from Moby Dick: "We will not speak of all Queequeg's peculiarities here; how he eschewed coffee and hot rolls, and applied his undivided attention to beefsteaks, done rare." "Political correctness has breathed new life into the paralepsis, the rhetorical device whereby we make a statement by first announcing that we are not going to make it. When pundits write 'No one is suggesting...' the American eye reads 'I'm suggesting.'" Florence King; If 'Words Mean Things,' Then All Is Lost; Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia); Feb 19, 1995. This week's theme: words about wordplay. -------- Date: Wed Mar 30 01:00:11 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--antiphrasis X-Bonus: A kiss can be a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point. -Mistinguett, singer (1875-1956) antiphrasis (an-TIF-ruh-sis) noun The humorous or ironic use of a word or a phrase in a sense opposite of its usual meaning. For example: "Brutus is an honorable man." -Antony in Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) [From Late Latin, from Greek antiphrazein (to express by the opposite), from anti- + phrazein (to speak).] "He was murmuring something between lips decorated by a little mustache, which gave a sarcastic touch to his clerk-like expression, a mustache folded over his mouth like an antiphrasis, which tinged whatever he said with maliciousness, no matter how solemn it was." Edoardo Albinati & John Satriano; Story Written on a Motorcycle; Antioch Review (Yellow Springs, Ohio); Summer 1992. "Perhaps Charles McGrath, in The New Yorker, sums up the ambivalence most eloquently. 'How good are these books really?' he asks, and answers: not so good--although he does so in the more flattering antiphrasis of 'good enough that you wish they were even better.'" Neil Gordon; The Admiral; Village Voice (New York); Jun 6, 1995. This week's theme: words about wordplay. -------- Date: Thu Mar 31 01:00:11 EST 2005 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--oxymoron X-Bonus: Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny. -Carl Schurz, general and politician (1829-1906) oxymoron (ok-see-MOR-on, -mor-) noun, plural oxymora or oxymorons A figure of speech in which two contradictory terms appear together for emphasis, for example, "deafening silence". [From Greek oxymoron, from neuter of oxymoros (sharp dull), from oxys (sharp) + moros (dull). The word moron comes from the same root.] "A man for whom the term 'business ethics' is not just a polite oxymoron, Edward is shocked when he discovers the secret behind his father's genius with investments. It's a bit like the classic shell game, only with quarterly earning statements." Karen D'Souza; The Family That Cheats Together; Mercury News (San Jose, California); Mar 25, 2005. This week's theme: words about wordplay.